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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
• Game summaries taken from actual plays in the MLB season
• 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 weighted probability process against the current Batter and Pitcher statistics will create the result of the at-bat.
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 you sum up the Platoon Factors for me? Positive numbers are good for hitters, negative numbers are good for pitchers. 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. 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.
Game Play: Hitting 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 automatically moved into either your bench or lineup by the Box Sim Engine. 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. Refer to Box Baseball Manager's FAQs for the latest information. 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! I have players with banked games but they aren't coming in! Remember that in order for hitters' banked games to be eligible for use, he must have played in real life in the last 5 days. 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. Refer to Box Baseball Manager's FAQs for the latest information. 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.
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 a banked appearance? A banked appearance is one that happened in the past and was not yet used in Box. Refer to Box Baseball Manager's FAQs for the latest information. I have a starting pitcher who is out but Box isn't using his banked games! Remember that in order for starters' banked games to be eligible for use, he must have played in real life in the last 10 days. 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 relievers to use. Refer to Box Baseball Manager's FAQs for the latest information. 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. How much can my starting pitcher pitch over and above what they pitched in real life? Your pitcher can only pitch 10% above what they did in real life. This is to prevent a starter who went only 5 innings in real life go 10 innings for you in Box, which wouldn't be realistic.
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. How much can my pitcher pitch over and above what they pitched in real life? Your pitcher can only pitch 10% above what they did in real life. This is to prevent a reliever who threw for 1 inning in real life to go for multiple innings in Box, which wouldn't be realistic. 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. 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 he's given up. What is a banked game for relievers? Real life appearances for relievers that aren't used in Box are accrued for future use as a banked game. I have a reliever who has been out but Box isn't using his banked games! Remember that in order for banked games to be eligible for use in Box, the reliever must have played in real life within the last 6 days.
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. 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
How does Box's Defensive Ratings work? For all details on Box's Defensive Ratings (DR), log into your account and go to My Team, My Roster, Defense Tab. The first 2 sub-tabs have full details on how DR works. There is also a thread on Box Community, Message Boards on Defense. In a nutshell, Box has a proprietary DR which blends together most of the well-known defensive measures. A plus DR decreases the probability of an opponent's hit; a negative DR increases the probability of an opponent's hit. 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. How do players qualify at a position? Players need to have played 15 games last season or just 1 game this season to qualify to play at a position. Once they qualify at the new position, they are automatically granted a default Defensive Rating (DR) of 0.
If a player plays only 1 game at the position this season, while he qualifies there for the current season, he will lose the eligibility next season unless he starts 1 more game.
Remember, this only applies to C, 1B or OF playing at a "different" position. In Box, a 3B is already qualified to play any infield position with or without a penalty.
For all details on Box's Defensive Ratings (DR), log into your account and go to My Team, My Roster, Defense Tab. The first 2 sub-tabs have full details on how DR works. There is also a thread on Box Community, Message Boards on Defense. How many players qualify at a different position, and what is their Defensive Rating (DR) there? Remember in Box, "different" position means a situation where a player is in a qualitatively different position:
-a non-catcher gets newly-qualified as a C
-an OF qualifies as an IF
-an IF qualifies as an OF
For 2011, there are only 5 players with this type of dual positions:
Here they are, along with this POS2 Defensive Rating:
Ryan Raburn, 2B, -2
Jose Bautista, 3B, 2
Bill Hall, LF, -1
Ben Zobrist RF, 4
Omar Infante, RF, 1 What is Pitch Around? For each team, you can designate ONE player on that team as a "pitch around" candidate, just like real life. What is the positional hierarchy? In other words, how does Box determine what positional players can play at other positions? For all details on Box's Defensive Ratings (DR), log into your account and go to My Team, My Roster, Defense Tab. The first 2 sub-tabs have full details on how DR works. There is also a thread on Box Community, Message Boards on Defense.
Game Play: Playoffs
What stats does Box use for playoffs? Box uses the following weighting to run playoff games:
-April, May, June, July each at 10% weighting
-August 25% weighting
-September 35% weighting
To qualify to play for you in the playoffs, players must have appeared at least once in a real life game in the month of September (1 at bat or 1 plate appearance).
How much they can play for you in the Box playoffs depends on how much they played throughout the year. We use a simple formula that takes the number of games played divided by the total number of games in a season. What this does is prevent some players who only played part time or appeared as pinch hitters/situational relievers to play every single Box playoff game for you. Are playoff results batched or sent daily? Just like our regular season, Box playoffs is sent daily as the games are played. This means that as you enjoy the excitement of the regular MLB playoffs, you receive daily game results of Box playoffs. The anticipation builds through the Fall Classics!
Keeper/Continuous Leagues
How will Box determine who is considered a rookie status? We follow the MLB qualification: 130 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 AAA players and star A/AA 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? Leagues will play a total of around 100 games in Box Minors for one season. That works out to anywhere from 3 to 5 games per week. 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? All paid managers in Box Minors who win their leagues will receive the coveted Box Baseball Minors Championship plaque. How will position qualifications work in Box Minors? Refer to Box Baseball Manager's FAQs for the latest information. 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)
•Star players from Double A and Single A, selected by Box Baseball 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 Baseball cost? 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. Box Baseball Minors only costs $19 for a full season! 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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