So, last year's league was pretty awesome, huh? We totaled like a bazillion roster moves. Every single manager was active from April to September. Oh, we're definitely doing it again.

And so I announce the Second Annual Fantasy Hurler Invitational -- a 5x5 standard roto league that pits Hurler writers vs. Hurler readers in a quest for fantasy baseball supremacy. (A quest I failed quite miserably at last year, BTW.)

Those applying to play in this league will need to be free on SUNDAY, MARCH 14 AT 6:00 PM EASTERN. That's when our live Yahoo draft will be held. Don't bother throwing your name in the hat to play if you can't make the live draft.

These three managers from 2009 are automatically invited back for 2010: calibob02 & alfonso (because they were co-champions last year and they deserve the chance to defend their title) and Spike (because he posts at this site all the fucking time and we love him for it). If you three want to play again this year, just post in this thread and I'll send along an invite. (I should already have your email addresses.)

To the other guys who played last season: If you want to play again, please post in this thread. I'm going to do my best to fit in as many of you as possible, but I don't want to promise spots because we want to leave room for new people. Speaking of which ...

To Hurler readers who didn't play last year but would like to this year: First, post in this thread saying that you'd like join the league. (To do so, you may need to register for a Bloguin account, which you can do in the upper-right-hand corner of the page.) And, after posting, you ALSO need to send an email to fantasyhurler@gmail.com. Have the subject be "Hurler Invitational" and make sure the email includes your bloguin username, so I can match email addresses to usernames. I'll need the e-mail addresses to contact those selected to play and send invites.

I'm not going to make anyone jump through any hoops to join the league ... at least not yet. We'll see how many are interested, I'll determine if I can fit everyone, and, if not, I'll try to find a fair (or at least sensible way) to determine who gets in.

So, who wants to play a little fantasy baseball?

bring it on , bob ! spike is ready for the challenge. it`s ok to expand the league if it suits you - the more the merrier !

Spike, I just emailed you an invite.

Yeah, the league will likely expand in size this year. We'll see how many want to play. (It's possible we could even split up into two leagues if we had enough potential players, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.)

Hey Bob, love the site, and I'd love to compete in the Invitational this year.

- Bob

Let's do it! You're all going down! (again)

I've been a loyal reader of The Hurler for the past couple seasons now. If it counts for anything, I've submitted some questions that made the cut for the "Ask the Hurler" segments. Anyway, I'd be more than happy to get in on this league with you. Let me know if you could use another quality manager.

I am in a similar situation to the person before me. I began reading the Hurler about 12 months ago when I was gearing up for the last fantasy season. I have made a couple of blog comments here and there I think but I have not been very active on the forums or comments. I would be happy to be more active around the site if that is what you are looking for.

Glenn here.

I've enjoyed checking Fantasy Hurler and following you on Twitter. Great fantasy content along with the occasional Rihanna ass shot which in my case also qualifies as fantasy content.

I have been playing fantasy baseball since the days of having to compute weekly stats from USA Today but it is difficult to find leagues that have wire to wire participation from a full slate of owners. I would be stoked to be a part of the FH league.

Hi,

Long time reader, first time forum poster. I'd love to play along! And no, I won't subscribe to any trade dispute resolution services...

last year`s hurler invitational had loads of add/drops but very few trades. spike`s policy is that any trade done at arm`s length should be honored. idiots are people too and they should have the right to have the team they want. if you don`t like the swaps they make , don`t play with them next year. owners who collude or dump should be ejected immediately. there would have to be a HUGE amount of money at stake to require such limited insurance at a premium of $14.95

You mean trades are reviewed with an ounce of common sense? That's a novel idea.

I can't tell you the number of pub leagues I've been in where the only rationale for a veto'd trade is 'your in last, you shouldn't be trading at all.'

Hey Bob, this calibob. I'm in. Looking forward to it. Would prefer a 12 team league, if I have a vote.

If there's enough interest, we'd probably go up to 14 teams. Wouldn't go any higher than that though.

Hi Bob,

I've been enjoying Fantasy Hurler since last year. I am a friend and protege of Spike and would like the chance to compete in this years Hurler Invitational! Thank you. Matt

Spike has proteges? That's scary.

PROTEGE ? Do I have to take that paternity test AGAIN ? Jerry Springer won`t pay for it this time around !

actually , i`m proud to call matt my friend. he has helped me out on teams when i needed a back-up manager and would be an asset to any league with his baseball savvy and humorous trash talk

I played last year and would like to play again. My email is the same. Let me know if you need anything from me.

Okay, I just sent a league invite to everyone who has posted in this thread ... EXCEPT for d. martin and bobpatrick, neither of whom sent an email to fantasyhurler@gmail.com. If you guys want to play, d. martin and bobpatrick, you must do that, so I have an email address to send the invite to.

We still have a few openings, if anyone else is interested.

League is now full. Thanks to all who showed interest.