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 General
What is Box Baseball? Box Baseball is the only baseball fantasy game on the market today that allows users to draft a full team (batters, pitchers, bullpen), uses real-life MLB data and plays a full 162 game schedule mirroring that current MLB Season. Box produces:
• Full and complete box scores (click to see an example)
• Game summaries taken from actual plays in the MLB season (click to see an example)
• A full post-season leading to the crowning of the Box League Champion
Results are available almost daily based on real stats produced by your players you drafted, and are based on the outcome of your team playing head-to-head against another team.
The game is played by our proprietary Box Sim Engine and the result of each at-bat is based on the matchup of your hitter versus your opponents pitcher through to the completion of a full nine-inning game. What makes Box different from other fantasy games? 1. Scoresheet. The number one wish that Scoresheet players have is daily results. With Box, we base our sim results from recent performance. Wake up almost every morning with game results (about 5 games a week on average).
More importantly, our Box Sim Engine is a proprietary simulation fantasy engine that we feel is superior to Scoresheet. How many times have you lost to a shutout but then won the next game in a blow out? Our Box Sim Engine is not artificially constrained by context- and team-dependant stats such as ERA (as Scoresheet is), but instead gives you a true outcome from a head to head match up between a pitcher and a hitter.
Box also offers the discerning manager many more options and stats such as the ability to choose a home ballpark (which affects the offensive output in your games), and the distribution of fly balls and ground balls to different parts of a field, based on real MLB data. In other words, just like in real life, not all outs are created equal.
All our features were built with the fantasy player in mind, and are fully available on the web for your convenience. Take the Box challenge today. We’ll migrate your entire leagues and get you set up in Box to get you up and running fast!
2. Rotisserie (Roto). For the diehard baseball fan, Roto leagues just can’t offer the same rich interactive experience that Box can. Roto leagues simply keep rankings of how teams do in different categories. In Box, your team actually plays against other teams. How well you do depends on how well your players do in real life, as well as the settings that you as a manager make to your team.
3. Other Sim games. Other simulation baseball games on the market use previous season stats, which removes the fun of trying to predict how players will do. With Box, you draft a team at the beginning of the year based on how you think players will do. Results are then available almost daily. Simply put, Box is the best combination of fantasy and simulation on the market today.
Game Play Overview
So how does this work? Box Baseball is easy to use yet offers a ton of options for you to manage your team.
First off, you’ll get to draft a full roster (pitchers and batters) using our Box Drafter tool and engage in a real-time draft with your league mates. The Draft consists of 40 rounds of drafting;with our customizable settings, your league can decide to do the entire draft all in one night, or choose to draft over a span of a few weeks.
After your team is drafted, you’ll get to set your lineup – both hitters and pitchers – with full customizable settings on who comes in for pinch hitting, platooning, bullpen roles etc.
Once the lineup is set, we will use real life MLB stats from your players and run the simulation over night of your team playing head to head against your opponent. The next morning, if you had a game scheduled, you will see the box score of the game. League standings will also be updated.
During the year, user our Box Waiver tool to pick up players from the waiver wire (to fill in for injuries and demotions) and use the Box Trader tool to wheel and deal with other league mates. How frequently do I get results? An average week will have about 5 games, similar to real life. You will receive results the day after your team is scheduled to play a game. What statistics do you use? Since Box simulates the outcome of a batter versus a pitcher, stats that are related to individual performance are used. For hitters these include, but are not limited to, singles, doubles, triples, home runs, HBP, walks, strikeouts, stolen bases, etc. For pitchers these include, but are not limited to hits allowed (singles, doubles, triples, home runs), strikeouts, walks, balks etc. Stats that are more team dependent are not used, such as ERA. RBI, wins, losses, etc.
For most hitters, OPS (On Base Plus Slugging) will be the easiest metric to gauge for both Box and MLB performance.
For most pitchers, WHIP (Walks Plus Hits Divided by Innings Pitched) will be the easiest metric to gauge for both Box and MLB performance. Of course, you'll want to keep track of what kind of hits the pitchers allow (obviously pitchers who allow more singles and fewer home runs are more valuable!
Box also uses real life stats of to what part of the field your players make outs to. So for example, an out can be defined as a flyball out to deep right field based on that batter’s historical tendencies.
Game Play: The Box Sim Engine
What is the Box Sim Engine? The Box Sim Engine is the heart of Box Baseball. It is our proprietary engine using complex algorithms and formulas to crunch stats and determine outcomes for your team’s play. You won’t see the Box Sim Engine, but just like the engine of a car it is under the hood and powering Box Baseball. The Box Sim Engine is the result of over 5 years of development, and is the most realistic fantasy baseball simulation engine on the market today. What makes the Box Sim Engine Special? The combination of the following four features makes the Box Sim Engine truly one of a kind:
1. Predictive – unlike other simulation games, Box makes you predict how to manage your team based on how you think they will perform in real life.
2. Realistic – the Box Sim Engine is the most realistic simulation algorithm on the market today, incorporating numerous factors that make baseball the game of champions: ballpark effects, where a ball is hit to what field, defense.
3. Statistically Valid – the Box Sim Engine has been stress tested for scenarios up to 1 million times. The outcome is found to be statistically similar to real-world outcome, confirming the validity of the Box Sim Engine. No ERA matching, no luck balancing and no more skewed results.
4. Daily (well, almost) – just like real baseball, Box games happen on an almost daily basis. No more waiting for a week to get results like other games. So you’re really saying there’s nothing else on the market like Box? Yes, no other game combines predictive, realistic, statistically valid and almost daily results in an easy and fun fantasy baseball game. What process does the Box Sim Engine go through? Step 1: Each week you will set your pitching starting rotation for the upcoming week. You can set your “Frozen Rotation” a week at a time. E.g. Starting rotations are frozen as of 11:59pm on Sunday night.
Each day you can set your batting lineup before real life games start. E.g. Batting lineups are frozen as of 11:59pm for the following day’s game.
Step 2: Games take place in real life MLB.
Step 3: Box Baseball takes the stats from those games and processes them via our Box Sim Engine during the night.
Step 4: The Box Sim Engine goes through a set process which includes the following: Stats from Pitchers and Batters are weighted so that the latest games have more of an effect on the actual outcome. Using a randomization process against the current Batter and Pitcher statistics will create the result of the at-bat.
When a hit occurs, the Batter statistics (weighted towards the previous MLB game that he has played) will decide what type of hit it will be. As an example, if the batter's statistics show that 15% of his hits are doubles than there is a 15% chance that the hit will be recorded as a double.
Outs are calculated in a similar manner as to if it is a ground out or fly out and to determine the zone that was involved.
When the play is run, errors, base advancements and double plays are all part of the game and these items are again determined using the statistics from the MLB games. So does that mean my pitcher/hitter will perform exactly as he performed in real life? The short answer is no, not exactly. If your pitcher goes 6 innings and gives up 2 runs based on 8 hits and 3 walks in real life, it doesn’t necessarily mean that is how he will perform in Box. Your pitcher is one half of the equation.
The other half is your opponent’s hitting. If you face an extraordinarily hot-hitting team, the Box results will likely reflect that. You can be sure that our results are statistically valid after all is said and done. We have stress-tested the program, running millions of scenarios to ensure the validity of our algorithm.
The most important thing to keep in mind with runs is that runs are very context dependent. One pitcher may give up 8 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings and escape with no runs given up because he got lucky with a few double plays that his team pulled and his ability (in this game) of spacing out the hits. For this game, this pitcher’s WHIP is 1.57 while his ERA is 0.00
Yet another pitcher who gave up the same 8 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings may give up 4 runs in a particular game due to lumping the hits and walks together. This pitcher was unlucky unlike the earlier pitcher, who came out unscathed. This second pitcher’s WHIP is also 1.57 while his ERA as of this game is 5.14.
Box does NOT factor in ERA into the SIM. Of course, all things being equal (look for pitchers who give up fewer homer and doubles), look at the WHIP for pitchers when evaluating.
Then how do I know the results are accurate? Can I see what your formula is? As you can understand, the Box Sim Engine is a proprietary formula that is the result of years of hard work. Thus, just like the secret formula for Coke, we can’t reveal the exact component. But just like Coke, you can enjoy the results. We do give you all the tools you need in the Roster management so you can set your lineup to field the best possible team. On the backend, we carefully review and manage results to ensure validity. Our team has run multiple tests of up to 1,000,000 occurrences to ensure the generated results are statistically valid. What if there is a mistake? In the rare event that a mistake occurs, Box may choose to re-run the game results after the error has been identified and corrected. Will the Box Sim Engine change? We view the Box Sim Engine as a living and evolving algorithm. Our team will be continually tweaking and improving the formula to ensure the most enjoyable gameplay. If changes are made, ample notice will be given so you can make adjustments in your strategy. Also, please do forward us any suggestions or questions you have on the Sim Engine. Box Baseball is entirely built around your enjoyment. Can I use the Box Sim Engine for our fantasy game? Contact us for any inquiries regarding use or licensing of the Box Sim Engine for any other fantasy baseball game. Do you use platoon splits? Yes, we use them for both the pitcher and batter. Furthermore, we drill down to specific types of hits such as doubles, triples, homeruns. What if my player gets traded from one league to another during the season? Say, from the NL to the AL? If a player in an AL-only or NL-only league is traded to a different league during the course of the season, you will be able to continue to use him with his new league's stats. If you are in a keeper league, you may wish to protect him with a "crossover" spot. Most leagues allow 2 crossovers per team.
Game Play: Hittng Bench Usage
What is my Batting Lineup? Your batting lineup is comprised of 9 hitters (using DH if AL or MLB/mixed league, pitcher if NL league). The Box Sim Engine will use your lineup and their real life stats to come up with results versus your opponent’s team. What is my Bench? Your bench comprises of backup players who come into your lineup in the event your starters do not play or you need pinch hitters; the Box Sim Engine will use your bench automatically based on your settings.
Make sure to rank all of your hitters according to how you would like them to enter the game if and when needed (as replacement players at the beginning of the game or as pinch hitters during the game). What are Inactive hitters? With a 40 man roster and a limit of 30 active, hitters not in your lineup or on your bench are considered Inactive. Inactive players are never moved into either your bench or lineup by the Box Sim Engine. What is the qualification rule for a hitter to be available in Box? First of all, hitters must have appeared once in the past 5 days in real life in order to be eligible in your lineup or come in from your bench. This means that in order for your hitter to appear in the for example, June 17th game, he must have played in real life on either June 13, 14, 15, 16, or 17. We provide this flexibility because we know that your Box League players and their real life MLB team don't always play games on the same nights.
If the hitter has played in the last 3 days, we'll use the most recent available game as the basis for his appearance. We will always use the most recent "unused" appearance first – this is important to note as this means that if had stashed away a player and you saw him with a recent hot streak and wanted to capitalize on them, the SIM will force you to use up the recent appearances, thereby ensuring the predictability aspect of them game.
If your hitter has NOT played in the last three days in MLB, then we’ll go to your bench and insert a player based on your rankings. What is a banked appearance? A banked appearance is one that happened in the past and was not yet used in Box. This allows you to field a full and complete team even if your player did not play the previous day. Once an appearance is used up, it is no longer usable in the future. Box starts its season one week after the regular season has begun to accrue both hitting and pitching stats for banked appearances. To help you manage your roster, there is a column for “Banked Appearances” in the roster page. Do Inactive players accrue stats for use as banked appearances? Inactive players do continue to accrue stats and appearances in case they need to be used if brought onto your bench or into your lineup. But remember, once you put these players into your line up, we will ALWAYS use their most recent games. So you won't necessarily be able to capitalize on their hot streak while they sat on your bench. The predictability of the game is something you the manager must control! How does Box figure out where to insert Bench players in my lineup? Box will do everything possible to make sure your best players are as high in the lineup as possible. Box will only adjust the batting order from the bottom up for added players. The added player will be inserted after the first batter with a lower rank is found starting from the bottom of the lineup. The exception if Joe Minor. If Joe Minor is used (either you've been hit hard with a sudden rash of injuries or shame on you being lazy and not using the Box Waiver wire to pick up some more active players), he comes in the batting order spot that vacated by your regular player. What if my regular batter has not played in the last 3 days in real life? In this case Box will bring in the highest ranked player sitting on the Box user's bench who also has played in the last 3 days. As you can see, for all batters (regular and bench players), the "last 3 days" is a hard and fast rule. The order in which the bench player omces in is based on the "rank vs."; column. The player also must qualify at the same position based on the POS1 and POS2 settings. More than one backup can be designated at any position, and will be selected in the order of the "rank vs" What if I run out of real life starts and banked appearances for both my Lineup and my Bench? Generally speaking this should only occur rarely, if ever. In the event it does happen, Box will insert a player called “Joe Minor” who will hit at 50% the performance rate of the average player at his position: -Singles, Doubles, Triples, HR, Walks, SB, HBP – less 50%-Strikeouts, Caught Stealing, Errors – double by 100% This is done to create a disincentive for managers who aren’t actively managing their team and rewarding participating team managers. What’s the best way to manage my Lineup, Bench and Inactives? As you probably figure, your best players should be in your Lineup. The next best should be on your Bench. Fringe players, players performing poorly, those in the minors or any player you don’t figure you need at this moment should be Inactive. Do I really have to manage my batting lineup every single day? Box is a daily game and allows managers to make daily changes to their hitting lineup. Take advantage of this and manage your team to victory! Generally speaking though, you can set a lineup of your best players and leave them be unless their performance drastically changes or there are injuries/moves. In summary, it’s to your advantage to actively manage your lineup but not an absolute necessity. It’s up to you how involved you’d like to be. What weighting do you use for batters? We give 80% of the weight to a hitter's last or most recent appearance and give 20% of the weight to his "last few" appearances. We believe this helps smooth out the peaks and valley and provides a more balanced performance.
Game Play: Pitching Rotation Usage
What is my Rotation? Your rotation is comprised of 5 starting pitchers. The Box Sim Engine will use your rotation and their real life stats to come up with results versus your opponent’s team. What are my Inactive pitchers? With a 40 man roster, and a limit of 30 active, pitchers not in your rotation or bullpen are considered Inactive. Inactive players are never moved automatically into either your rotation or bullpen by the Box Sim Engine. Why does the Box season start in Week 2, one week after MLB has begun? This is to give all teams one full week to store up or “bank” pitching statistics. What is the qualification for a starting pitcher to be able to pitch in Box? Starting pitchers must have appeared in real life in the last 10 days. if your starter has not appeared in real life in the previous 7 days before your Box game, he will not qualify. Stats are taken from the first game we can find in the last 10 days. If there is no game in the last 10 days we use a banked game. In addition, starters must have 4 days rest minimum between starts. This is something automatically controlled by Box. This rule is implemented to keep things as real as possible: most MLB pitching staffs abide by the "4 days rest" rule for all their starting pitchers. What is a banked appearance? A banked appearance is one that happened in the past and was not yet used in Box. Once an appearance is used up, it is no longer usable in the future. For pitching purposes, "banked" refers to an appearance and is not applicable to innings pitched. So if a reliever has 3 IP in real life, he comes in for you in Box but only lasts 1 IP, that banked appearance is used up. Why are starting pitching rotations set on a weekly basis, rather than a daily one like for hitters? Box requires that you set your starting rotation on a weekly basis. This ensures predictability to the game by forcing the owner to lock in your rotation for that week. After the week has started, your starting rotation cannot be adjusted. So for the upcoming Week 3, you must set your rotation by 11:59pm Pacific Time on the Sunday at the very end of Week 2. What stats are used to determine my starters’ Box stats? - Box will use your rotation in order as much as possible, from your Ace through to your fifth starter.
- Your starting pitchers must have played in the last 7 days in real life to qualify to start for you in box.
- Stats are taken from the first game we can find in the last 5 days.
- Starters must have 4 days rest minimum between starts (which is automatically determined for you by Box).
- If there is no unused game in the last 5 days, we move to that starter’s banked appearances.
What if my starters don’t have any banked appearances either? In the event your starters don't have any recent starts in the last 5 days or any banked appearances, we will go to your bullpen and search for any relievers designated as Long Relief to come in for an emergency start, using the hook settings of the reliever. Will my starters always appear in order, from Ace to my fifth? Due to the starter requirements, your pitching rotation may not appear in the exact order. But as much as possible we will try and adhere to it. What if my relievers don’t have starts in real life either? In this rare event, Box will bring in a player called “Joe Minor” who will have stats which are 100% worse than league average for the previous year. The result is a 50% increase in on-base results and a 50% decrease in outs. Can my starters pitch more innings for me in Box than they did in real life? Pitchers in Box (both starters and relievers) will never pitch more than 20% of what your pitcher did in real life. If your starter went only 4 inning in one start, he will likely go no more than a maximum of 4.8 (rounded to 5) innings for you in Box (4 x 1.2 = 4.80, round up to the next out). We do provide the 20% buffer in order to ensure that your starter gets some extra flexibility. What are the rules for setting my starters from Ace to fifth? Ace - Only one pitcher can be appointed as Ace. This means that wherever possible the Ace will face off against a) the leader of your division, b) rivals in your division, or c) the leader of the other division)
2 - Only one pitcher can be appointed as 2. This is your second best starter.
3 - Only one pitcher can be appointed as 3. This is your third best starter.
4 - Only one pitcher can be appointed as 4. This is your fourth best starter.
5- Only one pitcher can be appointed as 4. This is your fifth best starter.
What weighting do you use for my starters? We give 80% of the weight to a starting pitcher's last or most recent appearance and give 20% of the weight to his "last few" appearances. We believe this helps smooth out the peaks and valley and provides a more balanced performance.
Game Play: Pitching Bullpen Usage
Where do I set my bullpen? On the main menu, go to My Team, Roster, Pitching Staff, then either the Role tab or the Hook tab. What are the different roles for bullpen pitchers? Anyone familiar with baseball should be relatively familiar with the common roles for bullpen pitchers. Closer – One only. Your best relief pitcher to come in and save games. We believe in the adage that your closer CAN come in the 8th inning if that is when he is needed (see rules below). Set Up – One only. Your second best relief pitcher to come in before your closer if possible. Holder – Unlimited. Your next best relievers. Mop Up – Unlimited. Bad pitchers to soak up innings when you’re losing by 3+ runs. Long Relief – Unlimited.
We’ve created a matrix that can be used for easy reference of the rules for relievers and general strategy: http://www.boxbaseball.com/DesktopModules/MyTeam_Roster_Pitching_Settings/UsefulMatrix.aspx?matrix=role
What does Rank vs. RHB/LHB mean? This is the rank you want your pitchers to come in facing either a Right Handed Batter (RHB) or Left Handed Batter (LHB). For use with your bullpen pitchers only. This determines, in conjunction with their Role, which pitcher comes in first. Set your best reliever in your bullpen as “1” and work your way to your worst reliever. What are the various Hook settings? Hook settings allow you to control when you yank a pitcher based on his performance. What is the Min/Max Outing? The Min/Max Outing and Criteria allow you to set what the minimum and maximum innings or batters you want the pitcher to face. The units you can choose is either Innings or Batters. The minimum value set is the absolute minimum that you want your pitchers "to go" so long as they qualify. The reason for having a minimum is so that even if your pitcher has a rough start, you give them the chance to "stay in the game" and "work it out". Think of someone like Roy Halladay; even if he is hit hard after one inning, you may have him try to work through it and give him a chance to finish what he started. The maximum is primarily for your high leverage relievers; you may want to not use up all their innings in one outing and spread their work across a number of high leverage situations. What is the Hook Condition? The Hook Condition and Criteria allows you to decide if you want to yank your pitcher based on how many runs given up, earned runs given up or even total bases given up. You can choose between Total Bases, Earned Runs, or Total Runs as your hook criterion. If you choose Total Bases, you are taking the sum of all bases given up by the pitcher (e.g. home run = 4, double = 3, BB = 1, HBP =1 etc). This is a good measure of his individual effectiveness. A starter who gives up one homer, 3 doubles and 5 singles and 3 walks is giving up 14 total bases. Somewhere between 10 and 20 bases may be an ideal hook condition. If you choose Earned Runs or Runs you are choosing the total runs (earned or both earned and unearned) that the pitcher gives up. This is more a team-dependant result. Somewhere between 3 and 5 Earned or Total Runs may be an ideal hook condition.As soon as the pitcher hits the target values that you set, they will be very close to being hooked. What is the Platoon Advantage and Action? Does your pitcher have a platoon advantage (for example, is your LHP about to face a LHB)?
If NO, then the pitcher will be removed immediately after he meets the Hook Condition and Criteria.
If YES:
You have the option to set for "One More Batter". This means that your pitcher will get to face one more batter before he is automatically pulled with the next batter.
You have the option to set for "One Plus". This option allows the pitcher to tread carefully as long as he has the platoon advantage and as long as he gets the batters out.
Once a batter reaches base, then the pitcher is pulled. You have the option to "Replace". This option means that even if the pitcher enjoys a platoon advantage, he will be replaced immediately. What are the qualification rules for a pitcher to be eligible to appear out of my bullpen? Bullpen qualification is different than starters. For a member of your bullpen to be eligible to appear in your game they must have appeared in MLB in real life in the last 6 days. No days rest are needed. They can and will appear in consecutive games so long as they qualify, they have banked innings and the game situation calls for them to appear. The stats will be taken first from a game in the last 6 days if available, if there are no games we will go to a banked game. What weighting do you use for relief/bullpen pitchers? We give 80% of the weight to a relief pitcher's last or most recent appearance and give 20% of the weight to his "last few" appearances. We believe this helps smooth out the peaks and valley and provides a more balanced performance.
Game Play: Ballpark Effects
Where can I choose my home ballpark? Go to My Team, Settings. Can I change my home ballpark? You can change your home ballpark all the way up until Opening Day. After that, your home ballpark is frozen for that year. You can go ahead and change it the next year if you wish. What real life stats are used in Ballpark Settings? Ballpark stats show how hitter or pitcher-friendly a ballpark is. If the number is higher than 1, the park favors the hitter. If the number is lower than 1, the park favors the pitcher. For each major league park we show you Runs, HR, H, 2B, 3B and BB. Use your home ballpark and build a team that’s either heavy in pitching to take advantage of Petco Field, or load up on heavy hitters and hammer your opposition into submission in Coors Field.
Game Play: Defense
What are my Defensive Subs? Choose which player you want to be a defensive replacement at each position.
Choose the inning that you wish your substitution to come into game or the score of the game that you wish your substitution to take place. The Box system will take whatever option comes first. For example, if you set Mike Cameron to come in as your CF replacement in the 5th inning / up by 5 runs or more, he will come in when the game is in the 5th inning (automatically) or when your team has a 5 run lead, whichever comes first. This is also one way to split playing time for players (starting your good hit / bad field player in the first few innings and then inserting your bad hit/good field hitter in the latter innings). You don't have to choose a defensive sub if you don’t want to. In that case, leave it blank. How do players qualify at a position? 1. Every player is assigned a position based on where they played in the previous season, minimum 15 games.
2. Furthermore, Box will look to anticipate where a player will be assigned in the upcoming season. For example, prior to 2010 if the White Sox look to move Gordon Beckham to 3B from SS, we will preemptively qualify Beckham at SS for your convenience and flexibility.
3. When the season begins, after a player has played at a position just once, he will qualify at the new position for the rest of the season as well as the next season.
4. Some players (especially rookies) will need to have played at least one game at their position during the regular season for them to qualify. So in the pre-season you may see players listed as 1B when they are not. Don't worry, after one game they will automatically adjust. What is Pitch Around? For each team, you can designate ONE player on that team as a "pitch around" candidate. This means that if the game is "close" (+/- 3 runs in score), and "late" (7th inning or beyond) this player will be intentionally walked all the time, so long as it does not force in a run. You do not need to set a pitch around candidate for every team; this is an optional setting for you. What is the positional hierarchy? In other words, how does Box determine what positional players can play at other positions? Our positional hierarchy follows common sense and standard practice in MLB. It is aimed to provide you positional flexibility yet p[rovide the appropriate penalties for playing a player out of position. Here are the guidlines you should be aware of: - All players can play either 1B or DH.
- Shortstops can also play 2B and 3B without penalties.
- Second basemen can also play 3B without a penalty.
- Only Catchers can only play at C.
- All Outfielders can play any outfield position. Centerfielders can play RF and LF without any penalty while a RFer and LFer can play CF, but with positional penalties.
There is a degrading of defense by playing out of position. For players who are played outside their POS1 or POS2 values, there will be possible downgrades to defense. All ratings can be found in the My Teams > My Roster > Defense page.
Keeper/Continuous Leagues
How will Box determine who is considered a rookie status? We follow the MLB qualification: 100 ABs or 50 IP. Am I in a keeper/continuous league or a one year league? Most managers got to choose their leagues when they signed up, which had information on what type of league they are in. The original email sent out with your draft settings also included this information. If you are still unsure, please contact support@boxbaseball.com. What are the settings for continuous leagues? We want to give you as much flexibility as possible, so all your protection settings are customizable. If your league agrees on the numbers, we can set it. So what are the default settings? Currently the default settings are 12 Major League keepers, unlimited minor league players and 2 crossovers allowed (for NL and AL)
The minor league players are in addition to your 12 MLB keepers. So for example, you could protect 12 MLBers + 2 minors = 14 total.
If you protect 2 minor leaguers, you will have 2 less picks next year starting from the end of the draft and working its way forward. This is to ensure you end up with a 40 man roster when all is said and done.
Crossovers are counted as part of your 12 keepers. Can I protect more major leaguers than the limit? All settings are customizable. If your league can come to agreement for the differences, simply let us know and we can change the league settings for you. My league can’t come to an agreement over the number of keepers. With a 40 man roster, new draftees coming in, players retiring and the constant churn of movement, there should be a lot of opportunities for everyone. Try not to get stuck on a difference of one or two spots. The main goal is to have an enjoyable experience for everyone.
Box Minors
What is Box Minors? Box Minors is everything you love about Box Baseball, but using minor league players. Box Minors is the first fantasy sim game using minor leagues. How is it different from regular Box Baseball? As its name implies, Box Minors uses minor league players. You know those minor league players that used to sit on your bench all season? Make a team of prospects and play against other teams of prospects! We will use their real life minor league stats to run Box Minors fantasy games. Why did we build this game? Many of our customers have played in perpetual fantasy leagues before where often minor league stars were drafted as users hoped that some day those minor league stars would pan out for their MLB team. But instead of having to wait 2,3, 4 and sometimes more years for those young guns to pan out, you can now cheer for them daily and follow how they do in the minor leagues in a meaningful way Is my Box Minors team part of my regular Box team, or is it completely separate? Box Minors is completely separate from regular Box Baseball. The players are not interchangeable. How do games work in Box Minors? You will draft a team of A, AA and AAA players into one Box Minors team. We will use real life stats of the minor league players to run head to head games, hitters versus pitchers. What if my player in Box Minors gets called up to the majors in real life? If your Box Minors player gets called up to the majors in real life, he will NOT be available to you in Box Minors. Just think of it as reversed of regular Box baseball. So be careful in drafting hot prospects that have a strong chance of being called up during the regular season. How many games will we play per week in Box Minors? For the first season we will play on average three games per week. The impact of this means that there’s a very high likelihood that your number 5 starting pitcher won’t appear in games and a good chance that even your number 4 starting pitcher may not come in. In future seasons as we increase the number of games played per week and per season, this won’t be the case. Batters will play in Box Minors as long as they have games remaining. Relievers will come in also as long as they have games remaining, with no days rest requirements. Starting pitchers will still have to have 4 days of rest between starts. How many total games will we play for the season in Box Minors? For the first season we will play about 70 games in total. Will there be playoffs in Box Minors? Yes, there will be playoffs using the same structure as Box Majors. Will there be a prize for league champions in Box Minors? For the first season since Box Minors is free and in beta, we will not be offering a prize. But you will definitely have bragging rights! How will defense work in Box Minors? There are no defense ratings in Box Minors. How will position qualifications work in Box Minors? All OFers are marked as LF. But all OFers can play any OF position. Draft for offense.
2B, 3B and SS can all play each other's position. Anybody can play 1B. Only catchers can play C. What’s a good draft strategy in Box Minors? Why not draft your favorite young players or perhaps draft young players that you drafted for Box MLB? This way you can follow how they are doing and cheer for them on a daily basis. Can I draft someone like Andrew Miller or Daisuke Matsuzaka (MLB players who may spend some time in the minors)? Yes, you can draft anybody that you think may spend some or all of the season in the minors While they are in the minors and while you have them in your roster, their stats count. But as noted earlier, as soon as they get called up to the majors, they longer will appear in your Minor league team. What are some good Minor league sources on the web? There are a number of good sources: Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus, Keith Law at ESPN, Jim Callis at Baseball America all do wonderful jobs of following the career trends and daily exploits of the stars for tomorrow. Which minor leagues are eligible? Players from the following leagues are eligible:
•Triple A (International League, Mexican League, Pacific Coast League)
•Double A (Eastern League, Southern League, Texas League)
•Class A Advanced (California League, Florida State League, Carolina League)
•Class A (Midwest League, South Atlantic League)
Do we pick a ballpark in Box Minors as well? Yes, we’ve got the Park Factors for the Minor leagues for you to choose from.
Technical Troubleshooting
What if I forgot my password? Click on the “I forgot my password” link, enter your email address, and your current password will be emailed to you. How do I change my personal information? Log in to Box, go to My Account, and make any necessary changes. I made changes but they don’t show up? If you’ve saved changes, but they don’t show up, try closing your browser and opening a new one. You may also wish to go to your browser’s Options and delete your “cookies” and “temporary Internet pages”. If you’re still having problems, email or call us and we’ll be happy to help. How come the pages look funny? Try using the latest version of Internet Explorer. Because we’ve built our site using DotNetNuke, there may be some irregularities when viewing in other web browsers. How can I contact Box Baseball? What if there is an error in the Box Sim that leads to me losing a game? Can you rerun the game? We take every inquiry seriously and will research all potential errors immediately. Many times, errors are often falsely attributed to a misunderstanding of the rules for rosters and eligibility. In the event that there is an actual error of the simulation, we will log it, investigate and immediately address it. Since the simulation results are so intricately tied to other teams' results, standings and stats, and because results are sent daily to every owner (and almost impossible to undo after the day has passed).
Payment
How much does Box cost? For 2010, the price for one team is $59. Or pay only $8.97 per month for eight months. Finally, migrate or create an entire league (minimum 10) and pay only $25 per team. All three options are backed by our 100% money back guarantee. Why isn’t your game free? Box Baseball is the culmination of 5 years of research and development. Our dedication to creating the best fantasy baseball game means our customers appreciate the best. Box won’t be for everyone, but will be for the true baseball fan who wants to be part of something special. What forms of payment do you accept? We accept Visa, Mastercard and Discover cards. We also accept payments via Paypal as well. Play Box fantasy baseball and earn reward points at the same time! Is there a guarantee? Yes, we are so confident you will be satisfied that we are offering an unprecedented 100% money back satisfaction guarantee.
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