Fantasy Baseball 101: 5x5? 6x6? Someone please pass me the Clue-by-4

I've noticed that I get quite a few hits from folks who are Googling for "6x6 categories" or somesuch. While I do quietly point and laugh, I realize I was in the same boat just a few years ago. For those very new to fantasy baseball (or who feel they've mastered the simple complexity of the 5x5 format and want to know more), I offer the following short introduction to what the friggin' deal is.

First off, 99.9% of what I write about here has to do with the Rotiserrie format of fantasy baseball. I do not condone playing Head-to-Head (which many fantasy football converts want to initially play because they're familiar with it - to this I say, you'll not like it, and you'll hate baseball the rest of your life. If that happens, then what? Do you want to be miserable for 4 months until football starts back up? No, no you don't. So just take my word on it.). H2H is broken, it's horrible, it's a mess. To give the football folks an analogy, how would you respond to a format of fantasy football where you could consistently win without drafting (or even playing) running backs? Yup, that's the case here. (If you want a rundown on Rotiserrie (or "Roto"), check out the Wiki article.)

5x5 Format
Okay, let's get to it. Basic Roto ball revolves around 10 categories - 5 for hitters, 5 for pitchers. They are:

• Runs
• Homeruns
• Runs Batted In (RBIs)
• Stolen Bases
• Batting Average

• Wins
• Saves
• Strikeouts
• Earned Run Average
• WHIP (Walks + Hits)/Innings Pitched

This is standard, but it is not set in stone. You may find a league where they've decided that the RBI is overrated, and replace it with something (say, On Base Percentage). That's fine - but don't just refer to it as "a 5x5 league" - it's "a 5x5 league with OBP instead of RBIs" so people know what the hell you're talking about. Personally, I like to replace Batting Average with On Base Percentage - it takes walks into account, which is just as good as a hit, right? Slugging not so much, as it then double counts HRs, and still doesn't count walks.


6x6 Format
There is no standard 6x6 format. Roto ball is 5x5, with maybe a little gravy on top. Some people like beef gravy, some chicken gravy. Some strange people in the south like "cream gravy" - that's why they lost the war. But I digress...

It depends on the league to determine what extra categories they want to add. There is only one firm rule you should abide by - if you add a hitting category, you should add a pitching category. Balance it out a little bit. To go a bit further, some want to insist that you should keep the same "type" of stat as your added category. If you're adding On Base Percentage to hitting, add another percentage or ratio to pitching, like K/9 or K/BB. I don't think you have to - look at the original 5x5 format, pitching has 2 ratios while hitting only has 1.

These are a few categories that I favor:

Hitting:
On Base Percentage
Strikeouts (a negative counting stat)
Slugging (but only paired with OBP instead of AVG)
Doubles (maybe)

Pitching:
K/9
K/BB
Batting Average Against (unfortunately, Yahoo does not have this as a category)
Holds
Losses

Again, 6x6 is your creation. Just don't try to throw something in there for the hell of it - think about what you're doing before you do it. You may think, "gosh, Complete Games and Shutouts are perfect reflections of a dominant pitcher!" and forget that it's not. At all. They're perfect indications of (a) a rubber arm, (b) that Dusty Baker is your manager, (c) you're pretty darn good, (d) you're pretty darn lucky, or (e) the opposing team sucks complete ass. Usually, it's (e), with a fair bit of (b) thrown in there.

Confidential to Dusty in Chicago: You suck.