The National Pastime



rules



Overview:



The National Pastime is a weekly confidence-points fantasy baseball game centered around MLB weekend series. Owners will select teams they believe will win their respective series and assign confidence points based on how strongly they feel about each selection.



Sign Up:



To sign up for The National Pastime, visit the Sign Up Page on the main page at TheFantasySportSite.com. Fill out all required fields and we will respond and put you on the waiting list for the game.



Team names:



All players will select either a REAL MLB affiliate team name, or a REAL lower series team name that may or may not be affiliated with an MLB team.



Schedule and Divisions:



The National Pastime regular season will consist of 14 weekly matchups played throughout the MLB regular season. Each team will play every team within its division once, along with crossover matchups against teams from another designated division. Remaining games will be filled with additional conference and interconference matchups as needed to complete the schedule.


The 2026 National Pastime Playoffs will begin following the completion of the 14-week regular season and will continue through the remainder of the MLB regular season.


Teams will be split into two conferences:

National Conference

American Conference


Each conference will contain two divisions:

Atlantic Division

Great Lakes Division

South Division

Frontier Division


Divisions and schedules are determined by league commissioners prior to the beginning of each season.



Picks:



Changing Weekly Picks

If you wish to make changes to your weekly selections, you must do so before the official weekly deadline listed on the pick sheet. Once the deadline has passed, no picks or confidence points may be changed for any reason. Owners are responsible for verifying that all picks and confidence point assignments are correct before submitting them each week.


Missing Picks

No late picks will be accepted.


If picks are not submitted before the official weekly deadline, the owner will receive zero points for the week.


Repeated missed weeks may result in league review or replacement at the discretion of league commissioners. Owners who know they may not have access to submit picks are encouraged to contact league commissioners ahead of time to discuss possible accommodations.


Series/Game Cancellation/Postponement

If an MLB series is cancelled, suspended, shortened, or postponed in a way that prevents an official fantasy winner from being determined during the scoring window, that series will be declared a no contest for all owners.


In those situations:

-zero confidence points will be awarded

-no sweep bonus will be awarded

-the series will not count toward Perfect 9 bonus eligibility


If MLB later reschedules the series within a future eligible Thursday–Monday scoring window, league commissioners may determine whether the series becomes eligible again on a future pick sheet.



scoring:



Determining Weekly Winners

Each owner will select a total of 9 MLB teams they believe will win their respective weekend series during the official Thursday–Monday scoring window.


-Owners must rank their selections from 9 points (most confident) down to 1 point (least confident)


-Each confidence value may only be used once per week.


-If your selected team wins its series, you will receive the amount of confidence points assigned to that team. If your selected team loses its series, you will receive 0 points for that series.


The maximum base score any owner can receive each week is 45 points.


Additional bonuses include:

Perfect 9 Bonus: +5 (standings) points

Sweep Bonus: +1 point for each correctly selected series sweep (weekly points)


Series Tie Rule

If an MLB series ends tied, the fantasy winner of the series will first be determined by total runs scored during the series.

Example: Team A wins Game 1 Team B wins Game 2 Series tied 1-1 The team with more combined runs scored across the series will officially be declared the fantasy winner.


However, if: the series itself is tied AND both teams score the exact same number of total runs during the series then the series will officially be ruled a fantasy tie.


In the event of a fantasy tie: both teams will receive half credit for the confidence value assigned to that selection


Example: 8-point selection Series tied Total runs tied Result: Owner receives 4 points.


Half-points may be awarded in increments of .5 where necessary.


Weekly Points

Regardless of who wins an individual weekly matchup, all weekly points earned will remain part of each owner’s season-long total.


Season-long points will be used for:

-overall standings

-playoff seeding

-wildcard qualification

-tiebreak procedures


Owners with higher total points will rank ahead of teams with identical records whenever applicable.


Scoring Discrepancies and Errors

If you believe there is an issue with weekly scoring, you must notify league commissioners as soon as possible.


Weekly scores become official once the following scoring week begins.


League commissioners will review scoring weekly to help ensure:

-confidence points are applied correctly

-series winners are accurate

-sweep bonuses are properly awarded

-standings remain updated and accurate


Determining Teams Making the Playoffs


The National Pastime playoff format will be based on conference standings and season-long performance.


For the 2026 season:

Division winners will automatically qualify for the playoffs

Remaining playoff spots will be awarded as wildcard berths based on overall record and total season points


If teams are tied:

Total season points

Head-to-head results

Additional tiebreak procedures determined by league commissioners


Official playoff seeding and bracket details will be finalized and announced before postseason play begins.


Determining an Overall Champion

The 2026 National Pastime Champion will be the winner of the final championship matchup at the conclusion of the postseason.



tie breaking:



There will be multiple tiebreak procedures used throughout the season to ensure ties are broken as fairly as possible. Tiebreakers will be applied in the following order:


1. Highest Unique Confidence Pick Won


The first tiebreaker goes to the owner who correctly selected the highest confidence-value series won by only one of the two tied teams.


Example: Both owners correctly hit their 9-point and 8-point selections

Only one owner correctly hit their 7-point selection


That owner would win the tiebreaker because they secured the highest unique confidence victory.


Only correctly submitted picks officially entered before the deadline are eligible for tiebreak purposes.


2. Season Points / Playoff Seeding

Regular Season: The tiebreaker will go to the owner with the higher total season points entering the week.

Playoffs: The tiebreaker will go to the higher playoff seed.


3. Total Weekly Correct Picks


If teams remain tied after the first two tiebreakers, the owner with the highest number of correctly selected series during the scoring week will win the tiebreaker.

If still tied:

-sweep bonuses

-Perfect 9 bonuses

-additional commissioner review may be used if necessary to determine a winner.


League commissioners reserve the right to resolve any rare scoring situation not specifically covered within the official rules.



SPORTSMANSHIP:



The National Pastime is intended to be a competitive but enjoyable fantasy baseball experience.


Owners are expected to:

-submit honest picks

-remain active

-respect league members

-avoid collusion or intentionally compromising competitive integrity


League commissioners reserve the right to address any situation not specifically covered within these rules.





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Born On Date: December 1st, 2014

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