They start by throwing a catered party, compete for seven months,then stage another bash when it's all over.
Then there's the offseason of preparation and winter meetings.
This is the Waveland and Sheffield Ivy League, a traditionalrotisserie baseball league of 12 guys who have been playing the gamefor seven years.
And here's how it works: Every year in late March, Chicago resident Eric Landwehr stages adraft in a high rise on Lakeview Avenue. The participants pay a $150entry fee, then purchase their players by auction, filling a 23-manroster and a 17-man reserve team.
Each owner is allotted $260 of fictitious money to buy players.
"It's the social event of the season for us," Landwehr said."But I don't know if we want our wives knowing that." Each Monday, any of the 12 can claim free agents, players whoweren't selected in the original auction. Landwehr, thecommissioner, spends three hours taking phone calls.
"I have a rule," said Streamwood's Doug Esp, a 35-year-oldlawyer. "I never trade with Eric. He knows when a player is feudingwith his mother-in-law." Every week, they receive full-blown printouts of standings andstatistical data of all major league players. The league utilizesone of the many stat services available, which costs the leaguearound $350 a season. Every two months, they get together at a local bar and conducttrades. During the All-Star Game, the 12 men have another party. Thetrading deadline passes when the last out is made. When the season ends, the league winner gets 50 percent of the moneycollected during the season. The top four teams finish in the money.
"What I've taken in barely outweighs what I've put into it,"Landwehr said. "You look at the personal computer I've bought, allthe publications you buy, and time invested . . . it's almost awash." The 12 men get together late in the year for their annual wintermeeting where they implement rule changes and make even more trades.
"But mostly we drink beer," Landwehr said. "Hey, this is ayear-round thing for us."
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