Playing the MLB Sector By Aaron (ZeroCool) I have been a baseball fanatic since I was 6 yrs. old and saw my first game in Yankee Stadium. 7 yrs ago I found fantasy baseball and have been hooked since. 2 years ago I found Jock$tocks and can't keep myself away. It gave me more of a purpose to learn more in depth about the other sports, as well as baseball. But today I am going to share my baseball knowledge and how it translates to Jock$tocks. If you have ever played fantasy baseball, whether it be Roto or H2H, you won't find anything more compelling then actually OWNING a piece of your favorite player and have his performances make money for your ever growing portfolio. There is much more to Jockstocks and the baseball sector than just buying your favorites and watching your portfolio move. The baseball section is a highly volatile market. From March until October there is constant price movement on the majority of players, good or bad. Each hitter and pitcher has their own set of projections. These projections are used to provide a dividend (bonus), after the previous day's game stats are registered. Just like the real stock markets, stock prices rise and fall based on buys and sells, but the dividend is where money can really be made. HITTER PROJECTION categories include, Homeruns, RBI, Runs Scored, Stolen Bases, Doubles, Triples, Hits, Caught Stealing, Errors and Strikeouts. The projections are then used to calculate a dividend. Hitter dividends are weighted more towards the home run. This is not to say somebody with a couple of hits, rbis and a sb wouldn't be a solid buy also but HR is the driving force behind making money. Sounds simple right? Not that fast partner. Dividends are based on projections. What I mean by that is if Barry Bonds and Juan Pierre both hit a solo HR in the same night. Juan Pierre is likely to receive the bigger dividend. This is because Pierre is not a HR hitter and his projections will reflect that. Bonds on the other hand will have a very high projection and a HR is expected out of him. While he will also receive a dividend, it won't be nearly as high as Pierre's. Conversely, If Pierre and Bonds both steal a base in the same night; Bonds would likely receive the higher dividend. Just be sure to not stop your box score scanning at the HR. All the other categories will count and also provide part of a dividend received (good OR bad). PITCHING PROJECTION categories include Wins, Saves, Strikeouts, Losses, Shutouts and Earned Runs. Pitching dividends are based mainly on Wins and Saves. Since there are fewer categories in pitching the win is the driving force behind a positive dividend and tons of moo money. The lack of categories for pitching makes all the other stats that much more important to picking the best pitcher if you are playing a monthly, quarterly or yearly portfolio. Earned Runs can seriously bring a great win divi back to an average one. For example, if Pedro Martinez and John Lackey both receive wins in the same night but Pedro gives up 5 earned runs while Lackey surrenders only 1, who would you expect to receive the better dividend the next morning? Pedro right? Just checking to see if you were still paying attention. Of course John Lackey would be more gooder. :o)~ They both received wins, but Lackey's better all around performance and likely lower projections give him the edge. As for Closers, the save is the big stat on a night in and night out basis. But if, for some reason, a closer gets a win, he is almost always an automatic buy- unless of course he gives up 5 or 6 runs to get the win. Remember also that a reliever may have to "blow a save" in order to get that win. If he, in fact, does you can be sure that his dividend will not be nearly as good as if he had gotten the win with his team coming from behind OR he came into a tie game. Well, that would be my version of Introduction to Baseball, Jock$tocks style. There is plenty more to be learned about this game. I've been here a long time and still have things to learn. The most important thing I've learned is that there is always somebody around to answer your questions. Whether it be in the forums or a PM. This is a great community and a great game. If you take the time to learn the basics, I promise you'll enjoy yourself and maybe make some friends. Questions about this article? Send a private message to the author.