Summary A quick lesson on how to get started with CSFBL

Registering

To register for CSBFL, go to the Register page. Registration is free, and no personal information is required aside from an email address.

Recruiting a team

There's dozens of teams available for you to recruit into your franchise, some with short histories, and some with long histories. Go to the Recruit a Team page (you'll find the link on your Franchise page) to see a random sample of available teams. Or, go to the Leagues page and search through some random leagues -- teams that are available to recruit will have a recruit this team link next to their name on the league's home page.

Note Leagues can simulate 2 or 4 games in one day. Be sure to check the sim rate of a league before recruiting a team in it, otherwise you may recruit a team in a league that sims faster or slower than you want. Slow sim rates (2 games per day) are great for people who like to watch their team day-in and day-out, and who don't want to risk missing every opportunity to manage their team. Fast sim rates (4 games per day) are for stat-heads -- people who like to see stats accumulate and are less interested in day-to-day management (though the same management options apply to all leagues regardless of sim rate).

Once you recruit a team, you'll be able to manage it, set your lineups, participate in all league activities (free agency, trades, amateur draft), and jump into CSFBL without wait.

For more information, read our TeamOwnershipGuidelines.

Reviewing players

Each position player has five BattingRatings: DI (Discipline), CN (contact), BA (batting), SL (slugging), and SP (speed). Each pitcher has five PitchingRatings: PO (power), FI (finesse), CO (control), SY (specialty or "stuff"), and HR (hold runners). All players have three DefensiveRatings: RA (range), GL (glove), and AR (arm), and a few OtherRatings, EN (endurance) and R/L (righty/lefty). Keep in mind that the numbers you see are likely not absolute; some players are harder to scout than others, and your team's scout may be incorrect.

A player's potential ratings reflect the pinnacle of his skill. Not all players manage to reach their potential (for so many reasons). A player's actual ratings are the ones you most likely see. Actual ratings start off low when a player is young, slowly progress through the years, and eventually decline with age. Not all ratings develop and decline the same (discipline, for example, takes time to develop; speed tends to drop off quickly with age); not all players develop and decline the same; not all teams develop players the same. A player's actual ratings affect his current performance; a player's potential ratings give you an indication of where the player's skill can go (or where it once was, if he's over the hill).

Playing some games

All games in CSFBL are simulated automatically at the schedule of two, four, or eight game days per calendar day, every day of the week (depending on the simulation speed of the league you join). Remember, a team won't play any games until it is activated and joins a league! When a team is activated, it joins the first available league. Each league will have 24 teams (four six-team divisions). When a league is full, you'll be given the season's schedule, and there will be two calendar days before the season starts (four "pre-season" days where games are not simulated).

Once your season is scheduled, you can view your upcoming opponents in your team's Schedule. After games are simulated, you should check out the play-by-play and boxscore for the game results (which are always available from the Schedule page) or your team's News page for information on games, injuries, fatigue, and other interesting happenings.

During the season, you can view the league standings, league leaders, and other information. Get ready for the amateur draft - the draft list will be available on the 40th day of your season. Set your picks from your team's Draft page, and wait for the draft to commence (automatically) around the middle of July.

After 160 regular season games, the top two teams in each division play in a 7-game series to determine the division finalists. Then, the winners play in another 7-game series in the league finals. The winners then go on to the 7-game World Series. After the World Series, five game days (about 2 1/2 calendar days) proceed, in which players will announce retirement and end-of-season awards (MVP, Cy Young, all-stars) will be announced.

Standings and statistics

You can view the standings for any division by clicking on the Standings link in the menu. Your team's statistics are available on your team's Stats page. League Leaders can be filtered in many different ways to see exactly the data you want.

Beyond that...

... explore the game, and enjoy! Go to the Help section for more information and frequently asked questions about CSFBL.