Welcome to Damn Herb!
TIMES BASEBALL LEAGUE CONSTITUTION:
Last Updated: 07/17/2025 - GM
Updates include:
#1: Increased roster size;
#6 & #7: The LIst - MLB & TBL;
#12: Revised the wording on MLB Rainouts / Teams Not Scheduled
#13: Revised the wording on Makeup Games - 2025;
#14: Updated League Fees
#15: Updated 2025 Payouts
#16: Removed TBL Playoff and Championship Series Info;
#20: Revised Division Alignment;
#21: Revised TBL League Champions;
#22: Revised Number of TBL Championships;
#23: Added 2025 Schedule, Makeup & Playoff Dates
#24: Process For Creating The TBL Schedule
#25: Process For Entering The TBL Schedule On Rotowire Site
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. TBL ROSTERS
2. POSTING LINEUPS
3. PLAYER POSITION ELIGIBILITY
4. THE LIST
5. ADDING AND DROPPING PLAYERS AS LIST PITCHERS
6. THE LIST - TBL
7. THE LIST - MLB
8. WEEKLY FREE AGENT CLAIMS
9. ADDING A CLAIMED PLAYER
10. ADDING AND DROPPING PLAYERS FROM ROSTER
11. DOUBLE HEADER CLARIFICATIONS
12. MLB RAINOUTS / TEAMS NOT SCHEDULED
13. MAKEUP GAMES
14. TBL LEAGUE FEES
15. TBL PAYOUTS
16. GAME TIE-BREAKER PROCEDURE
17. TBL TRADE DEADLINE
18. THE "DAMN HERB"
19. SPRING DRAFT ORDER
20. DIVISION ALIGNMENT
21. TBL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
22. TOTAL TBL CHAMPIONSHIPS
23. 2025 TBL SCHEDULE, PLAYOFF AND MAKEUP DATES
24. PROCESS FOR CREATING THE TBL SCHEDULE
25. PROCESS FOR ENTERING THE TBL SCHEDULE ON THE ROTOWIRE SITE
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1. TBL ROSTERS:
Beginning in 2025, TBL Rosters will be increased to 50 players. There is no requirement as to how many pitchers or position players a team carries as long as each team's roster is maintained at 50 players maximum. Players on a roster may be: MLB players; MiLB players; college or high school prospects; foreign players or family members. In short, a TBL owner can stock his roster with virtually anyone. Players are rostered through the Spring Draft and the weekly free-agent pickups (See procedure #8 for FA pickups.)
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2. POSTING LINEUPS:
All TBL lineups must be posted on the website prior to the first pitch of the first game of the day. If an owner does not post a lineup by this time, his most recent default lineup will be used, including his SP preferences.
Absolutely no changes may be made to a TBL lineup after the first pitch of the first game has been thrown.
Beginning in 2023, teams will list three relief pitchers on their lineup. In addition, a "Hold" category was added to the scoring procedure.
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3. PLAYER POSITION ELIGIBILITY:
The first position listed in a MLB box score is the only position a TBL player can appear in a game. For instance, if Pujols starts at 1B and moves to third base later in the game, the only position that he can be used at in our game is 1B (or DH, if you've listed him and he qualifies there.) Doesn't matter if you had him listed as a starter at 3B, he can't be used there.
Also - If a hitter is listed at both a position and as a DH, the position takes precedence. For instance, if you have Pujols listed at 1B and also as a DH, if he plays 1B, that's where you have to play him.
However - If you've got Pujols listed at 1B and DH but not 3B, but he starts at 3B, he should be used as your DH if he qualifies there.
(Revision approved on 3/03/2017) The first player listed who starts at a position will be the TBL starter. Example: Your #1 listed player at 1st base comes in as a sub, and gets an official at bat, but your #2 at the position starts, your #2 is your starter. If none of your listed players start. We default back to our previous rule and that is:
If you list 4 players at 1B and none of them start, but say the #3 guy on the list comes in as a sub, gets an official at bat, plays the position defensively, and none of the other players listed ahead of him appear, then #3 is your guy and his stats count.
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4. THE LIST:
The List is used to ensure that every TBL team has a Starting Pitcher going on a scheduled TBL game day. If a TBL team does not have a Starting Pitcher available on a TBL game day, they must refer to The List in order to obtain a Starting Pitcher for that day.
Owners cannot refuse, for any reason, to use an active pitcher on their roster if he's scheduled to pitch.
MLB standings from the previous season will determine the order of The List. MLB teams are listed (see below) starting with the worst won-loss percentage to the best won-lost percentage.
If only one team is using The List on a given day they will simply go down the MLB list of teams until they find a MLB team that is using a Starting Pitcher that is not on a TBL roster.
If more than one team needs a Starting Pitcher, then last years TBL standings from best W/L record to the worst W/L record (see below) will be used to determine the order.
The team with the higher standing from last year will then get the worst MLB team from list below that is not using a H2H roster pitcher.
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5. ADDING AND DROPPING PLAYERS AS LIST PITCHERS:
You are allowed to temporarily add a free agent pitcher as needed to your roster for a specific game based on "The List."
You do NOT need to Drop a player when using a List PItcher.
Your roster will be at 48 players until you Drop the List Pitcher on the day AFTER he pitches for your team.
There is no PENALTY or FEE for using the List Pitcher (other than they often really suck which is why they are on The List in the first place.)
See the below for directions on using and identifying a List Pitcher.
1. Log-in to the Sam Swami account
2. Select Admin Tools under Commish Admin on left side of main page
3. Select Edit Teams under the Admin Tools Menu on left side of page
4. Select the Add/Drop Players radio button from the Edit Teams menu on the page and Click Submit.
5. You will see the Add/Drop Players page. Select the Team you want to work with (upper left side of page)
6. Select your designated List Pitcher from the Free Agent Player list on the left hand side (Note: the default view is Pitchers). Click the Add Player button.
7. Select the DATE you want to Pickup the List Pitcher so he appears on your roster. This is important. You must the select the DATE of the GAME you want the List Pitcher to appear on your roster. The default view is the current date.
8. Click SUBMIT
9. To DROP a LIST PITCHER - follow steps #1-4 from above. Select the List Pitcher from your team roster on the right hand side of the page.
10. Select the DATE you want to DROP the pitcher from your roster. This should be the DAY AFTER he pitched. This is important.
11. Click SUBMIT. The player will be removed from your roster effective the date you selected for the Drop. That player goes back into the Free Agent pool and is now available to other teams as either a List Pitcher or a Player to be claimed at a future date.
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6. THE LIST: TBL 2025 (Based on 2024 TBL Final Standings - Best W/L Record to Worst W/L Record)
Skid Row
Generation X
Squeeze Bunts
Phillies West
Signal Hill Mudmen
The Ol' Cats
Sabermetrics
Naturals
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7. THE LIST: MLB 2025 (Based on 2024 MLB Final Standings - Worst W/L Record to Best W/L Record)
White Sox
Rockies
Marlins
Angels
A's
Nationals
Blue Jays
Pirates
Reds
Rangers
Giants
Rays
Red Sox
Twins
Cards
Cubs
Mariners
Royals
Tigers
Astros
Braves
Mets
Diamondbacks
Orioles
Guardians
Brewers
Padres
Yankees
Phillies
Dodgers
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8. "WEEKLY FREE AGENT CLAIMS" PRIMER
• Each team has $100 to spend on player movements for the entire year.
• The minimum bid allowed for a claim is one cent.
• Money cannot be exchanged between teams.
• Money cannot be included in any trade.
• Players claimed must be on a MLB 26 man active roster at the claim deadline.
• Players claimed must be on an MLB team's active roster as of 12:00 PT midnight Sunday (Sunday night/Monday morning). We will exclusively use mlb.com's transaction page (www.mlb.com/transactions) to determine the effective date of all roster impacting transactions (e.g., IL moves, promotions/demotions to/from minors, etc.). Player movement that occurs after midnight but before the claim deadline will NOT be considered.
• There's no limit to the number of potential pickups you may bid on in a week.
• Any player dropped is not available to be bid on until the following week.
• The coordination of the bidding process will be handled by the website via blind bids.
• Bids should be submitted via the website. You must be logged in as your team, NOT as Sam Swami.
• Bids may be placed anytime during the week, but must be submitted by the bid process deadline of Monday at 12:00PM PST.
• Deadline to place bids: 12:00PM PST Monday.
**** Exception to rule above: On days where TBL games are played on Mondays the deadline to place bids is at 9:00AM Monday****
• The highest bid claims the player.
• If two owners bid the same amount on the same player, the following tiebreakers will be in effect:
1. The team with the most money remaining claims the player;
2. The team lowest in the overall standings claims the player;
3. The team with the least points scored overall claims the player;
4. Coin flip
• The final day to place a bid for the season is the Monday prior to the TBL Playoffs. No further bids may be placed after this time.
• After the claims have been processed, the Commissioner will post a note on the TBL message board noting that the transactions have been verified and completed.
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9. ADDING A CLAIMED PLAYER:
To Add a Free Agent to your roster and Drop a Player from your roster you basically follow the same process as outlined above for List Pitchers.
However, you will need to select the Position of the Free Agent player in order to see him on the free agent list.
Select the position from the horizontal list (just below the Select the Team to Work With list) C 1B 2B 3B SS OF DH P All Hitters
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10. ADDING & DROPPING PLAYERS FROM A ROSTER:
Below are the general guidelines for Adding / Dropping players for your team:
Free Agents - This is a list of players who are available to that team. The list is sorted by last name and grouped by position. Click on one of the position links to change the group of available players.
Start/Drop Date - This is the start date for the player being added to the roster. Players will get credit for MLB games played on this start date. For example, if you want a player to start counting toward a teams stats on Friday, then use Friday's date has that player's start date. If you drop a player, then this will be the first day he is dropped and he will not get credit for games played on that day. For example, if you drop Albert Pujols on 4/15/2012, then you will not get credit for any stats he gets on that date.
Position - This is the position to be used for the player on the team's roster. You can add a player with any position. This position is used to keep the team within the league's position requirements.
Status - This is the status of the player being added to the roster. A = Active, R = Reserve, I = Injured Reserve, M = Minors. Only players with a status of "A" will count toward his team's totals.
Dropping Players - Highlight a player to drop from the list of current players on the team. Click on "Drop Player" to drop the player. The player will be dropped as of the Start Date selected. Once the player is dropped he will be removed from the current players list.
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11. DOUBLE-HEADER CLARIFICATIONS:
When we went to using the website for scoring games this was one of the changes we were forced to make. Previous to using Rotowire we only counted the first game of a DH for a RP and position players. But now that we're using the website to score our games, there is no way to block one game from the feed. So we agreed to use both games for RP's and position players.
The first position in the first game determines eligibility. So if a player is listed as your starting 2B and played game 1 of a double-header at 3B, but game 2 of the double-header at 2B he would not count, and you would go to your backup.
However, if a player is listed as your 2B in your lineup for the first game of a double header, and is a DH in game 2, he counts as your 2B and gets credit for stats from both games. Same goes for a player who is a DH in the first game, and then plays the position that you have him in on your lineup. He gets credit for stats from both games.
If a position player is listed as your starting 3B and he doesn't play in game 1, but does play game 2 at 3B, he counts as your 3B. You do not go to the backup just because he missed game 1.
If a pitcher started game 1 and was a RP in game 2, he could only be used in TBL as a SP (his relief innings would be added to his starter innings).
If a pitcher shows up as a reliever in both games then all his innings count.
If a RP only pitches in game 2 as a RP his innings count.
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12. MLB RAINOUTS / TEAMS NOT SCHEDULED:
Games Cancelled: If a total of 10 MLB teams do not play due to scheduling, weather or any other unforeseen issues, that days TBL games will be canceled and made up at a later date (See #13).
Teams Not Scheduled: Check the MLB schedule to determine if all 30 MLB teams are scheduled to play.
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13. MAKEUP GAMES: 2025
TBL Makeup Games will be the first day following a cancellation when 15 MLB games are scheduled on a day when no TBL games are scheduled.
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14. TBL LEAGUE FEES:
Each TBL Owner must pay League Fees of $200.00. League Fees are due to LeagueSafe by their deadline of April 30th..
NOTE: LeagueSafe charges an extra fee of $9.10 from each team to maintain league funds.
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15. TBL PAYOUTS: 2025
Total TBL Dues Collected: $1600.00
- $147.87 goes to Michael Batton for payment to the RotoWire website setup and subscription to Rotowire Fantasy.
- Balance remaining is $1452.13
- $601.00 goes to TBL Champion
- $351.00 goes to second place finisher
- $300.13 goes to third place finisher
- $200.00 goes to fourth place finisher
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16. GAME TIE BREAKER PROCEDURE:
After all points have been tallied for both teams in a TBL game, and the final score is the same for each team, the tie shall be broken in the following manner:
1. The team that has the most Runs Scored for that contest shall be declared the winner;
2. if each team has the same number of Runs Scored, the team with the most Hits shall be declared the winner;
3. if each team has the same number of Hits, the team with the most Runs Batted In shall be declared the winner;
4. if each team has the same number of Runs Batted In, the team whose starting pitcher has the most Innings Pitched, including thirds, shall be declared the winner;
5. if both starting pitchers have the same number of Innings Pitched, including thirds, the team whose starting pitcher has the most number of Strikeouts will be declared the winner;
6. if both starting pitchers have the same number of Strikeouts, the team whose starting pitcher has given up the fewest Hits shall be declared the winner;
7. if both starting pitchers have given up the same number of Hits, the team with the fewest Errors shall be declared the winner; if a tie still exists at this point, the contest will be declared a draw and both teams given a half-game in the standings.
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17. TBL TRADE DEADLINE:
The deadline for TBL teams to exchange players or draft choices in a trade is 11:59PM, August 31st.
Trades will again be allowed after the final out of the TBL Championship Series has been recorded.
NOTE: All trades should be announced to TBL team owners via a group email as well as a post on the Rotowire forum.
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18. THE "DAMN HERB":
(DAMN "HERB" = In "Honor of Excellence in Rotisserie Baseball.")
The Damn Herb trophy will be awarded each year to the TBL Champion.
The winner will have his team name engraved on the Damn Herb, and will take possession of the trophy prior to the start of the following season.
PLEASE NOTE: The previous year's TBL champ will foot the bill for the cost of engraving and also has the responsibility of transferring the Damn Herb to the next year's champion. This should be done before the Spring Draft.
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19. SPRING DRAFT ORDER -
The order of the Spring Draft is as follows: The team with the worst W/L record from the previous season will draft first, followed by the team with the second worst W/L record, and so on. Wins and losses in the Championship Series are not included. The TBL conducts a Standard Draft, meaning that each round is the same as the previous round, excluding any trades that include draft picks.
Teams With Identical Records:
If two teams finish the previous season with identical won/loss records, the team that has the most total points scored will draft first in round one. The team with the second most total points scored will draft second in round one. If both teams have identical total points scored, the second tiebreaker will be the division won/loss record. If there is still a tie after this, the third tiebreaker will be the team with the least points allowed. At this point, if both teams are still tied, a coin flip will determine who drafts first. Teams will alternate places beginning in round two, and continue this process until the draft is completed.
If three teams finish the season with identical won/loss records, the team that has the most total points scored will draft first in round one. The team with the second most total points scored will draft second in round one. The team with the third most total points scored will draft third in round one. The tiebreaker will be the same as above. In round two, the team that drafted first will slide into the third pick (between these three teams only), the team that drafted second will slide into the top pick (between these three teams only) and the team that drafted third will have the second pick (between these three teams only.) In round three, this process continues, and in round four, reverts back to the original order in round one.
If four, five, etc. teams finish the season with identical won/loss records, the above scenario will be used to determine the draft order.
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20. DIVISION ALIGNMENT:
For the 2025 season, the TBL will revert to a single-division league.
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21. TBL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS:
2024: Generation X - Dennis Crowley
2023: Phillies West - Tom Elsesser
2022: Sabermetrics – Ben & Tim Chamberlin
2021: Phillies West - Tom Elsesser
2020: (No champion due to Covid)
2019: Superbas – Raymond McCormick
2018: Sabermetrics – Ben & Tim Chamberlin
2017: The Ol' Cats – Nick Miller
2016: Squeeze Bunts – Gary Miller
2015: Skid Row – Ray Chavez
2014: The Ol' Cats – Nick Miller
2013: Squeeze Bunts – Gary Miller
2012: Squeeze Bunts – Gary Miller
2011: Phenoms – David Chamberlin
2010: Naturals – Mike Batton
2009: Squeeze Bunts – Gary Miller
2008: Naturals – Mike Batton
2007: Squeeze Bunts – Gary Miller
2006: Squeeze Bunts – Gary Miller
2005: Skid Row – Ray Chavez
2004: Generation X – Dennis Crowley
2003: Generation X – Dennis Crowley
2002: Skid Row – Ray Chavez
2001: Generation X – Dennis Crowley
2000: Squeeze Bunts – Gary Miller
1999: Skid Row – Ray Chavez
1998: Phillies West – Tom Elsesser & Ann Gonzalez
1997: Skid Row – Ray Chavez
1996: Squeeze Bunts – Gary Miller
1995: Generation X – Dennis Crowley
1994: (No champion due to MLB player strike)
1993: Squeeze Bunts – Gary Miller
1992: Cougars – David Chamberlin
1991: Powerhitters – Nimo Toilolo
1990: Phillies West – Tom Elsesser
1989: Phillies West – Tom Elsesser
1988: Naturals – Mike Batton
1987: Road Warriors – Doug Lowe
22. Total Number of TBL Championships:
9 – Squeeze Bunts
5 – Skid Row
5 – Phillies West
5 – Generation X
3 – Naturals
2 – Cougars / Phenoms
2 – The Ol' Cats
2 – Sabermetrics
1 – Powerhitters
1 – Road Warriors
1 – Superbas
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23. 2025 TBL Schedule
Please check the Rotowire website for the weekly schedule.
Makeup Dates: Playoff (If Needed)
Tuesday, September 16
June 19 - 14 MLB GAMES
August 4 - 13 MLB GAMES
August 25 - 13 MLB GAMES
Sept 1 - 13 MLB GAMES
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24. PROCESS FOR CREATING THE TBL SCHEDULE:
- Determine the number of teams that will be participating. Single league or divisions?
- Determine the number of games that will be played in the season.
- To get a sample schedule from Rotowire, follow this path: Sign on to Sam Swami > Admin Tools > Schedule > Schedule Sample. Click on the number of teams in the league. You'll get a 23-week breakdown for the season. Note: with an 8 team league, your schedule will start to repeat after 7 weeks.
- Using last season's TBL standings, assign a number to each team - first place gets #1, last place gets #8.
- Assuming the league will be playing 5 games a week and a 120 game schedule;
- Assuming the league will be playing the Tues/Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun schedule;
- Grab a calendar for that year.
- Refer to ESPN or MLB sites to locate MLB's regular season schedule. I prefer using ESPN's schedule but either one will do.
- Determine what day the TBL season will start, preferably on a Tuesday.
- Going week by week, match up the calendar with the MLB schedule to determine game days, sticking to the Tues/Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun schedule.
- I use a Numbers spreadsheet to makeup the entire schedule - week number, game dates and the matchups, using this format:
Week #1
April 1, 2, 4, 5 &6
Squeeze Bunts vs. Generation X
Naturals vs. Skid Row
Signal Hill Mudmen vs. Phillies West
Ol' Cats vs. Sabermetrics
Week #2
April 1, 2, 4, 5 &6
Squeeze Bunts vs. Ol' Cats
Sabermetrics vs. Phillies West
Skid Row vs. Generation X
Naturals vs. Signal Hill Mudmen
Week #3
April 8, 9, 11, 12 & 13
Squeeze Bunts vs. Phillies West
Ol' Cats vs. Skid Row
Sabermetrics vs. Signal Hill Mudmen
Naturals vs. Generation X
And so on until you have the first seven weeks of the schedule determined. This order will then repeat starting with week #8.
Then I refer to this spreadsheet to input the games on the Rotowire site. This may seem like I'm duplicating the process, but this works well for me as I don't input the schedule as I'm making it up, preferring to input games a few weeks at a time. Trying to do it all at one time can become a tedious process and invites mistakes.
- Theoretically, if a season was starting on Tuesday, April 1st., you would check the MLB schedule against that date to make sure enough teams are playing that day.
- Obviously, we prefer to see all 30 teams playing, but MLB will sometimes tweak their schedule so you may only have 13 or 14 games scheduled.
Due to possible weather-related cancellations, you never want to schedule a day where there are more than 4 teams with a bye - and this is rare, but it happens. However, if you have 6 teams with a bye, and it will definitely screw up your Tues/Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun schedule to pass on that day, bite the bullet and schedule games for that day and hope there are no rainouts!
- So - 30 teams playing is perfect, 28 works as well, 26 starts to get iffy and anything under that is a no-go, unless it screws up your Tues/Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun schedule.
- As you go through week by week, look for any Monday or Thursday that has at least 26 teams playing. Use those days as makeup dates.
- And on you go, week by week, matching TBL game dates on the calendar with the appropriate number of MLB teams playing on those days.
- The MLB All-Star game is usually scheduled for mid-July, and there are no regular season games scheduled that week on Monday thru Thursday. - ---- - Regular season games will start on the Friday after the AS game, so that's when your next week on the schedule will start as well.
- It may take a few weeks of playing a different schedule than the Tues/Wed/Fri/Sat/Sun schedule, but MLB should throw in a few Monday games after the AS break to help you get back on track.
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25. PROCESS FOR ENTERING THE TBL SCHEDULE ON THE ROTOWIRE SITE:
- After you've made up the schedule, it's time to put it on the Rotowire "Sam Swami" website.
- Follow this path: Sign on to Sam Swami > Admin Tools > Schedule > Schedule.
- This will bring up the "Schedule Games" page.
- Note: Each days four matchups must be entered individually on the same start and end date, so you will enter four individual matchups for the same day/date.
- Looking at this another way, you'll enter 4 games on each game day, for a total of 20 games in a week, or an overall total of 480 games over a 120 game season.
- Choose the "Start Date" and the "End Date." Again, these must be the same dates, as each game must be entered individually on the same date. You cannot enter a "range."
- Start Date: This is the first day of the scheduled fantasy game. Teams will get stats for MLB games played on this day.
- End Date: This is the last day of the scheduled fantasy game. Teams will get stats for MLB games played on this day.
- Away Team and Home Team. We don't schedule home or away games so you can add each days games in any order you'd like.
- After you've entered the matchup, click on "Add Game" and move on to the next matchup.
- Edit & Tiebreakers: Click the "Edit" button to change the score of that game. To break a tiebreaker game, add 0.01 points to the team that should be the winner. Click "Update Score" then click on "Run Standings" in the Commish Bar at the top.
