Okay, based on yesterday's QOTD thread, today we'll host a different kind of fantasy draft, following on the concept"You're picking an all-time All-Star team for one short series. You oppenent gets first pick of the pitchers. You get first pickof the position players. Who's your choice?"

The GMs are in place; the rules follow. So today's ...

Question of the Day: Who will Mike take first?



The GMs are Jobu and Mike D., with possibly Shrike filling in as a Co-GM with Mike. Any of the above can designate any other regular poster to make a pick for their team in the event of a last-minute meeting or a boss walking into the office with a pink slip. The draft will officially begin at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time, though either GM is welcome to start making picks earlier if available. Beginning at 12:30, if a pick in either half of the draft has not been made in 30 minutes, the GM will be assigned Doug Ault, Dave Lemancyzk or another Original Blue Jay.

For today only, please keep the QOTD thread on-topic and use the Hijack Central area to discuss Delgado's contract with the Marlins.

The rosters will be 16 players each; one at each position (no DH), four starting pitchers and four relievers. If time and technology allow, an actual series will be played out using the ingenious WhatIfSports.com site, which was used for the Ultimate Series here on Da Box way back when. This sim does not adjust for era or park effect and requires the GM to select a player's single season to play -- no need to do that now; you can decide between the '21 Ruth and the '27 Ruth later.

All players who played major league baseball dating back to 1881 are eligible (alas, despite Craig's persuasive Josh Gibson post, no sim in the world tries to incorproate Negro League players, nor could we ever know if it was accurate if they did).

After a coin toss, Team Denizen will select the first position player while Team Jobu will select the first pitcher. The two "mini-drafts" can go on simultaneously to speed things up a bit. A few notes:

- Players must fill the position they are most noted for playing; no sticking Rogers Hornsby at 3B. However, the "Ernie Banks" rule is in effect -- if a player was renowned at multiple positions, he can be placed at any one of them. Note, though: if you select Banks in the fifth round, and in the sixth round you take Willie McCovey, Banks is your shortstop by default.

- This will affect your draft strategy significantly as once the other guy takes Bench, you can theoretically wait on a catcher until your final pick unless the guy you want also played other positions, (think Jimmie Foxx), which means he could come off the board elsewhere.

- For the pitching staff, select four starters and four relievers, not eight starters so Roger Clemens is coming out of the 'pen. There is no real setup for LOOGYs or other situational relievers; if you want to grab Eckersly, Gossage, Rivera and Fingers, go for it. Yes, this skews things to the modern game. Get over it. As for the "Eckersly Rule," just be smart and reasonable -- if a pitcher swings between starting and relieving in his career, he's fine for the bullpen as long as the GM selects an appropriate season for him for the potential sim.

For the purposes of this draft, though we may end up playing a sim series, build the best team of players based on career, then pick a single season. Don't draft Mark Fidrych based on his '76 season on the spurious argument that the one season makes him one of the eight best starters of all time.

Any choice once posted is final. Note to potential saboteurs: if you decide to "spoof" one of the GMs and make a choice for them, it's really very simple for us to verify its veracity by checking the IP address the post came from, so don't bother. All other rules questions will be handled in the thread. All rules decisions are final unless appealed to the Cabal.

Let the games ... begin!