Hello to all homerun derby participants

2008 RULES FOR DAVE'S HOME RUN DERBY

The following is intended to outline the rules for TROJANZ Home Run Derby league of 2007.

There will be EIGHT potential participants invited to this year's derby. DAVE, RON, GARY, STEVE, CHICO, RANDY, ROYCE and JOHN. Each will pay $100. including the Commish. Entry fees are due before the draft.

The goal of each participant is to maintain a six man team of home run sluggers that will out 'home run' everyone else. The scoring is maintained on our website at http://www.trojanz.com/hrderby.htm. There is a link at the top of the TROJANZ football website. It is the US flag logo.

The draft will start roughly ten days before Opening Day depending on everyone's schedule. It will be a telephone draft. There will be no time limit for your selections. Experience suggests that the total time for the drafting process could take as little as three days or as many as seven. Everyone is expected to exercise reasonable judgment with regards to being prepared and being timely with selections. As a courtesy to this year's participants, a list of last year's home run leaders is listed on our website. The list is not a projection for 2008 but rather a wrap up from last year's derby. Anyone can follow the draft by watching the updates to our website.

The draft order will be determined by a double blind lottery. It will be done at a time convenient to everyone. Participants are encouraged to witness. It will be done after all entry fees have been collected.

It isn't a perfect system but seems to work. Everyone will draft 6 players. Should you select a player who is subsequently injured before Opening Day, you will have the option of replacing that player in the time period defined as directly after the draft is completed until before the first pitch is thrown on Opening Day. This rule works on a first come, first serve basis. If you intentionally draft an injured player, he cannot be replaced at this time. He must appear on your opening day roster. The only option for replacing injured players through the All Star break is during the drop and add periods as defined below. After the All Star break owners have the option of replacing any player on their team for any reason by activating their player residing on their reserve list. The player being replaced immediately becomes a free agent and may be picked up at the next round of pick-ups by any owner. The first opportunity that an owner will have to pick up a player to be placed on the reserve list is at the All Star break drop and adds. This would be the last player picked and this player would be placed on the owner's reserve list. A player selected for the reserve list at the All Star break can reside on that owner's reserve list until noon CST, August 25. The owner must inform the Commish that he wishes to activate his reserve player by this deadline or this player returns to the free agent pool and will be available at the September 8 drop and add. A player selected at the September 8 drop and add for the reserve list may be activated at any time at the owner's discretion but must be done by noon CST, September 22. After this deadline players cannot be activated from the reserve list for any reason. Owners do not have to select a player for their reserve list nor do they have to activate a player on their reserve list. Each owner may retain only one player on his reserve list. Should the owner exercise his option and activate his reserve player he may not replace that player until the next drop and add period.

Trades are free and highly encouraged. This includes draft picks and selections in the first three of the four drop and add periods during the season. Players residing on the owners reserve list may be traded but only after being activated by that owner. Experience suggests a trade deadline of August 15. Our trade deadline is at noon CST, August 22. All trades are subject to the "Brother-in-Law" rule. The Commish will veto any obvious "collusion" trades. Colluding owners are subject to loss of their franchise.

Sept 8 if owners are available: Final pickup. Change all the players you want. After the first round of pickups, totals will be recounted and the draft order for the second round will be established before the second round begins. Each owner has the option of selecting a player for his reserve list with his final pick-up.

The actual pick up dates will be held as close as possible to the target dates listed above. However, experience tells us that owners are often unavailable and the actual pick up dates will vary depending on their availability. The Commish will schedule the pick up dates as best possible. Owners who can't live with the pick up date issue, the rules listed above and/or refuse to be be reasonable should a dispute arise will be thrown out of the league. They will forfeit their privilege of future invitations and be forever banned from any type of communication with TROJANZ.

Try to remember this is a marathon and not a sprint. The key to competing is to use last year's numbers as a guide but also remember that each year there are lots of surprises. Unofficial totals will be kept by Dave on his website. Updates are usually done before 6:00 A.M. on a twice a week basis. Allow for some vacation days. If you're in the running, checking the website each morning can be a lot of fun. Totals will be verified and made official before payouts and pickups. You are encouraged to watch your players and let Dave know when the numbers get out of whack. Despite popular belief, Dave is not perfect and welcomes all help to maintain the stats. Any questions???