Fantasy Baseball Innovator Baseball Manager® Warms Up For 22nd Year With Most Realistic Fantasy Game On The Web

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Baseball Manager®, the longest running and most realistic fantasy baseball game on the Internet, ushers in its twenty-second season in 2012 with game features and community enhancements that reinforce its standing as an innovator and leader in the world of fantasy sports.  New this year, "BBM," as it is known to its fans, becomes the first fantasy baseball simulation game that can be played on Facebook, extending the game's reach to millions of baseball fans on the number one social network.

BBM is the leading fantasy baseball game built around the daily decisions and daily drama of a 162-game season.  Managers can create lineups to face both left-handed and right-handed starting pitchers, field players based on their actual positions and set a bullpen with both long and short relievers.  Results are delivered online each morning via the BBM Daily, a newspaper customized for each manager that includes box scores, league standings and game results generated by Baseball Manager's unique Scorecard® algorithm, utilizing live Major League stats.

One BBM veteran called playing the game "the closest experience to running a Major League team without the risk of ulcers or tobacco stains on your shoes."

Baseball Manager's scoring system has special appeal for fans of sabermetrics, a statistical discipline created in the 1970s by the now-legendary Bill James.  Sabermetrics uses statistical analysis to analyze baseball records and value player performance.  James called sabermetrics "the search for objective knowledge about baseball" and his methodology has gained wide acceptance over the years in the front offices of many professional baseball teams.

Drafting players is among the defining characteristics of Baseball Manager and sets it apart from other games.  Team owners operate under a salary cap, with salaries established by players' rankings in the draft lists created by team owners prior to the season.  Once the season begins, player trades and free agent signings take place within the parameters of a team's salary cap, casting BBM team owners as both field managers and general managers.

BBM's most popular packages are:

• Lightning BBM (free), which offers a 54-game season and for the first time will appear on Facebook.
• Express Basic BBM ($7.95), which offers a 162-game season and allows for a range of daily decisions and roster moves.
• Ultimate Gold BBM ($79.95), which offers a 162-game season and two rounds of post-season playoffs, as well as the opportunity to engage in lefty-righty pitching matchups.

A full list of game options, and the prizes for which participants will compete in 2012, can be found at the game's Web site at www.baseballmanager.com.

Community figures prominently in the Baseball Manager experience.  User posts are featured on BBM's home page and dozens of "clubhouses" have been established in the game's Diamond Club section.  In 2011, BBM introduced Progression Leagues, a community of players who play in leagues set up in a ladder format, which allows participants to advance to play against the best competition. 

Baseball Manager was created in 1991 by Prodigy Communications, an early Internet service provider, and was among the first fantasy games available on the Internet.  The game was acquired by its current owner, GameLine LLC, in 1998 and has evolved into the most realistic simulation of a baseball season available to fantasy enthusiasts.

"Baseball Manager attracts a fantasy community that loves the game and has a passion for playing fantasy baseball," said Joshua Metzger, president of GameLine.  "We're excited about Baseball Manger's twenty-second year and believe that it offers something for everybody – from progression leagues for the highly competitive to a mini-season on Facebook for the more casual."

Enrollment for the 2012 season is now open, and draft days are established by individual leagues, which are comprised of up to 10 teams.  Teams can be made up exclusively of American League or National League players, or they can include players from both leagues.

About Baseball Manager

Baseball Manager® is the longest running and most realistic fantasy baseball game on the Internet.  BBM, as it is known to its most devoted fans, offers something for everybody: from the mini-season that can be played for the first time this year on Facebook to the 162-game schedule that simulates the daily decision and daily dramas of a full campaign.  For more information, visit www.baseballmanager.com.  Play BBM on Facebook at www.facebook.com/baseballmanager.  

SOURCE Baseball Manager