My MLB Dice Baseball League

[wdm1219inpenna]

As a hobby, I am going to begin a dice baseball league for myself. I will incorporate the 30 MLB teams plus 2 "new" teams, bringing the total to 32.

The Milwaukee Brewers will be moved back to the A.L. A 16th franchise, the Portland Meadowlarks, have been added to my league. This will prove to be a natural geographic rival to the Seattle Mariners. Portland of course failed to lure the Expos to their town. The meadowlark is the state bird of Oregon, hence the nickname.

In the N.L. the Montreal Expos will be reborn, and will be the 16th NL team, replacing the Brewers. The Washington Nationals will remain.

With an even number of teams per league (16), each league will be divided into 4 divisions (East, North, Central, West). They may not all be geographically correct, however I will attempt to justify my choices.

American League East = New York, Boston, Baltimore, Tampa Bay

American League North = Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Toronto

American League Central = Kansas City, Chicago, Minnesota, Texas

American League West = Seattle, Oakland, Anaheim, Portland

National League East = Philadelphia, Florida, New York, Washington

National League North = St. Louis, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Montreal

National League Central = Atlanta, Cincinnati, Houston, Colorado

National League West = Arizona, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego

While St. Louis and Chicago are more "central" than North...and Cincinnati and Atlanta may not necessarily be central, let alone Colorado, there were no other place to fit them in my opinion. I wanted to keep the Cards & Cubs together in the same division, since theirs is a long and storied rivalry. Ditto the Dodgers & Giants as well as the Yankees & Red Sox.

A 162 game regular season game schedule will remain in tact. BOTH leagues will use the Designated Hitter in my dice league.

Each team will now play a 12 game interleague schedule, 6 games at home, 6 games on the road, all will be 3 game series.

Each team will play 54 divisional games, 18 games vs each of the other 3 divisional rivals.

Each team will play the other 12 league opponents 8 times each, 4 at home, 4 on the road, for a total of 96 games.

12 + 54 + 96 = 162 games.

Post Season Play: In using/modifying the 2005 calendar, my regular season will end on Wednesday, September 28, 2005. The playoffs will run from September 30, 2005 - October 30, 2005 if necessary.

Each division champion will be seeded 1 - 4, based upon their regular season winning percentage. Tiebreakers will be used if necessary.

Two wildcard teams from each league will be seeded 5 and 6.

In the Wildcard Round, 6 seeds play at 3 seeds, and 5 seeds play at 4 seeds. It is the best 2 out of 3 series, the winners advancing to the DIVISION SERIES. The lowest remaining seed will play at the 1 seed, and the highest remaining seed will play at the 2 seed.

Division Series will have the higher seeds hosting games 1, 2 and 5 if necessary.

LCS will also be subject to seeding, as will the World Series. Whichever League champion has the best regular season winning percentage will have the "home field" in the World Series.

Just some basic stuff for you to look over, and gnaw at. I'll be curious to read your replies.

Regards,

Bill McD.

[CC97]

I like the Jays division, that's for sure

I used to do dice leagues too, they can be fun.

[randyc]

the MLB should do that, i like the looks of the league with that alignment. just like chris said i like the jays division

[CaolinaJoe]

ummmm, what is a dice league?

[CaolinaJoe]

the MLB should do that, i like the looks of the league with that alignment. just like chris said i like the jays division

They might actually be able to win.

[randyc]

ha-ha

[Suigi]

Herm.

Where can I find rules for this...dice league?

And is there a hockey verison? VIVE LES NORDIQUES!

[wdm1219inpenna]

Thank you all for your feed back, so very quick too. All of it was very positive and I appreciate it, especially from the maestro of this most spectacular of webpages, Mr. Creamer, you humble me with your kind words and response sir.

To answer one question, I have the "rules" for the dice league here. About 15 years ago Toys R Us sold a dice baseball game with Jose Canseco's name on it (Steroids not included). I revamped it slightly and I have spreadsheet charts, and I actually use a handheld Yahtzee electronic game to simulate the dice rolls. It's faster, and quieter too.

If there is more interest in the "rules", let me know and I can post them here, or email them to you if you'd like.

Very humbly,

Bill McD.

P.S. Thanks again all for the kind words!

[youcan'tseeme]

Sounds good to me keep us posted on the standings.

[Suigi]

Yes, please post 'em here.

I have a set of rules, so I might run something similar.

Or why not use MLB Showdown 2004/2005 from Wizards of the Coast?

[BigMac12]

The only thing I don't like is that the Chicago teams are separated. Other than that, good job.

[Suigi]

Something just beaned me on the head at school today.

If Cincinnati and Cleveland are in the same state, why are they in different divisions? And how come the White Sox are in the AL Central, but the Cubs in the NL North?

I suggest reworking the National league as follows, in order to keep the Cubs/Cards rivalry.

National League East = Philadelphia, Florida, New York, Washington

National League North = Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Colorado

National League Central = St. Louis, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston

National League West = Arizona, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego

Would that work?

P.S. I could help with some of the games.

[BigMac12]

I actually expanded the AAA to A minors just for the fun of it.

International League North = Buffalo, Ottawa, Rochester, Syracuse

International League Central = Hartford, Pawtucket, Providence, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre

International League South = Charlotte, Durham, Norfolk, Richmond

International League West = Columbus, Indianapolis, Louisville, Toledo

Pacific Coast League Pacific Conference Northern Division = Colorado Springs, Salt Lake, Tacoma, Vancouver

Pacific Coast League Pacific Conference Southern Division = Fresno, Las Vegas, Sacramento, Tucson

Pacific Coast League American Conference Northern Division = Iowa, Memphis, Nashville, Omaha

Pacific Coast League American Conference Southern Division = Albuquerque, New Orleans, Oklahoma, Round Rock

Eastern League Northern Division = Binghamton, New Britain, New Hampshire, Norwich, Portland, Trenton

Eastern League Southern Division = Akron, Altoona, Bowie, Erie, Harrisburg, Reading

Southern League North Division = Carolina, Chattanooga, Huntsville, Tennessee, West Tenn

Southern League South Division = Birmingham, Jacksonville, Mississippi, Mobile, Montgomery

Texas League North Division = Arkansas, Springfield, Topeka, Tulsa, Wichita

Texas League South Division = Corpus Christi, El Paso, Frisco, Midland, San Antonio

California League Northern Division = Baskerville, Modesto, San Jose, Stockton, Visalia

California League Southern Division = High Desert, Inland Empire, Lake Elsinore, Lancaster, Rancho Cucamonga

Carolina League Northern Division = Fayetteville, Fredrick, Lynchburg, Potomac, Wilmington

Carolina League Southern Division = Columbia, Kingston, Myrtle Beach, Salem, Winston-Salem

Florida State League East Division = Brevard County, Daytona, Jupiter, Palm Beach, St. Lucie, Vero Beach

Florida State League West Division = Clearwater, Dunedin, Fort Meyers, Lakeland, Sarasota, Tampa

South Atlantic League North Division = Delmarva, Greensboro, Hagerstown, Hickory, Lake County, Lakewood, Lexington, West Virginia

South Atlantic League South Division = Ashville, Augusta, Charleston, Columbus, Greenville, Kannapolis, Rome, Savannah

Midwest League Eastern Division = Bowling Green, Dayton, Fort Wayne, Lansing, Muncie, South Bend, Southwest Michigan, West Michigan

Midwest League Western Division = Beloit, Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Peoria, Quad Cities, Wisconsin

I'm working on the New York-Penn League at this moment. Once I'm done, I'll put up the rest.

[Sec19Row53]

Sounds interesting. I've modified a few dice style games over time as well, for both football and baseball.

I tend to do the reverse, however, in terms of teams. I usually find myself using the teams as they were in 1960!

[wdm1219inpenna]

There is a method to my madness. I apologize for not posting sooner folks, these last 2 weeks have been busy to say the very least, and this week coming will be no exception.

I played 1 pre-season game, a 2-1 win by the Montreal Expos over the Portland Meadowlarks in the "Inagural expansion Game".

I'm about 80% completed on my spreadsheet in creating a schedule for all 32 teams. As for the breakdown in divisions, here's the method to my madness...

Were baseball still to have only 4 divisions (East & West) the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, Tigers, Indians, Brewers, Blue Jays & Devil Rays would be in the East, I suspect, while the Royals, White Sox, Twins, Angels, Rangers, A's, Mariners & Meadowlarks all would be in the AL West. So with MY realignment, my AL East & North teams make up one "block" while the AL Central & West make up the other "block". As for teams not being in the same division, in real life, the Astros are in the Central while the Rangers are in the West.

As for the NL, had the old East/West divisions remained, we'd probably have Phillies, Pirates, Cardinals, Cubs, Expos, Mets, Marlins & Nationals in the East, Dodgers Reds, Astros, Giants, Padres, Braves, Rockies & Diamondbacks in the West. Again the "blocks" are divided in my divisions by East/North & Central/West.

Remember too, for decades, Atlanta and Cincinnati were "West" while St. Louis & Chicago were "east".

Anyhow, these are my divisions. I considered renaming them after people, similar to how the NHL used to do (Campbell Conference, Adams division, et al), but decided against it for now. I may implement that however so as not to fray anyone's geographic feathers

The other suggestions would work, and I definitely respect them, however for now I am going to keep the divisions as is. I did want to keep the Yankees/Sox, Cards/Cubs, Dodgers/Giants all in the same divisions, which I accomplished.

I was hoping to keep track of individual players statistics, I was only going to have 9 players per team (1-9 hitters), and not keep pitching stats. With time being such a constraint for me however, I recognize now that doing even that would take a great deal of time, which I have not as much of lately. I will do this as a hobby and keep you all posted, I appreciate all of your awesome feedback, and welcome more of it too.

It's good to have the boards back!

Warmest regards,

Bill McD.