			FRANCHISE BASEBALL LEAGUE'S
			      COMPUTER GUIDE

			       for the 1994

			     Fantasy Baseball

			     SOFTWARE PROGRAM





Limited Warranty

Fantasy Sports Properties, Inc. warrants to the original purchaser of the FSPI 
software product that the medium on which this computer program is recorded is 
free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of ninety (90) days 
from date of purchase. This FSPI software program is sold "as is," that is without 
express or implied warranty of any kind, and FSPI is not liable for any losses or 
damages of any kind resulting from use of this program. FSPI agrees for a period of 
ninety (90) days to either repair or replace, at its option, free of charge, any FSPI 
software product, postage paid, with proof of date of purchase, at its factory service 
center.


This warranty is not applicable to normal wear and tear. This warranty shall not be 
applicable and shall be void if the defect in the FSPI software product has arisen 
through abuse, unreasonable use, mistreatment or neglect. THIS WARRANTY IS 
IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER EXPRESS WARRANTIES AND NO OTHER 
REPRESENTATION OR CLAIMS OF ANY NATURE SHALL BE BINDING ON 
OR OBLIGATE FSPI. ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES APPLICABLE TO THIS 
SOFTWARE PRODUCT, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTA-
BILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE LIMITED TO 
THE NINETY (90) DAY PERIOD DESCRIBED ABOVE. IN NO EVENT WILL 
FSPI BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL 
DAMAGE RESULTING FROM POSSESSION, USE OR MALFUNCTION OF 
THIS FSPI SOFTWARE PRODUCT.


Some states do not allow limitations as to how long an implied warranty lasts 
and/or the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages so the 
above limitations and/or exclusions or limitations or liability may not apply to you. 
This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights 
which vary from state to state.


* 1994 FANTASY SPORTS PROPERTIES, INC.
P.O. BOX 9805, MCLEAN, VA  22102
FRANCHISE BASEBALL LEAGUE AND FBL 
ARE TRADEMARKS OF FANTASY SPORTS PROPERTIES, INC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE USA.
PATENT PENDING.



Franchise Baseball League
P.O. Box 9805
McLean, Virginia   22102

Order Processing:       1-800-872-0335
	Monday-Friday   (9am - 6pm EST)
Technical Support:      1-703-893-4861
	Monday-Friday (11am - 6pm EST)



Copyright 1994 Fantasy Sports Properties, Inc.

All right reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any 
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information 
retrieval (except excerpts which may be used for reviews) without the express written consent of 
the publisher, except where permitted by law.

FBL, Franchise Baseball League, FFL, Franchise Football League, and FSPI are all trademarks 
of Fantasy Sports Properties, Inc.

The FBL software is Patent Pending.

RLBA and Rotisserie League Baseball are trademarks of the Rotisserie League Baseball 
Association.

PRODIGY is a registered trademark of The Prodigy Services Company.


USING THE FANTASY BASEBALL SOFTWARE
======================================
The first thing your league will want to do is to elect or designate a 
Commissioner from your pool of franchise owners. The Commissioner 
is responsible for conducting league business, arbitrating league 
disputes, recording all draft information, team line-ups and trades, and 
providing weekly scoring and standings reports to franchise owners. 
The Commissioner should have easy access to a computer to fulfill 
these duties efficiently throughout this season. Throughout this manual 
when FBL is used it is refering to the Fantasy Baseball software 
program.

To help your league get started, the FBL has provided your league 
with this simple, easy-to-use software that:
*    organizes your league's MLB draft using current MLB rosters
*    charts the weekly starting lineups for each franchise owner                
	(up to 16 franchises)
*    executes trades
*    tracks released and disabled or protected players
*    tracks all essential statistics on MLB players each week
*    automatically tabulates FBL scoring to determine weekly winners 
	and year-to-date leaders
*       allows you to edit and track head-to-head schedules with playoffs


The following instructions are for computer operation only. For game 
rules and scoring, see the chapter on League Setup. If you would like 
more information on drafting strategies and complete 1993 MLB 
Statistics, The 1994 Franchise Baseball Leagues Fantasy Baseball 
Journal (by Dick Giebel), has it all and much more! (Available at 
major bookstores nationwide, or order directly from FSPI by calling 
1-800-872-0335).



WHAT DOES MY COMPUTER NEED TO GET STARTED?
------------------------------------------
This new version of the FBL software is very "user friendly" and is 
easier to use than ever before. No matter what your level of computer 
experience, you can operate the program with ease. In fact, it's so 
simple that you should only need to read these directions once. After 
that, you will have the computer commands on the bottom of your 
computer screen and the [F1] Help key is available any time to guide 
you through the FBL program. Remember, your league's 
Commissioner is the only player who needs access to an IBM-
compatible computer.

Here's what you need to play the FBL:
*       IBM 80286 or compatible computer (386SX Recommended)
*       Monochrome Monitor & Graphics Card or better
*       3.5" 720K floppy disk drive
*       Hard Disk drive (20-30MB available for complete program and 
	season's worth of statistics)
*       At least 640K RAM
*       Printer can be standard IBM/Epson dot matrix or HP LaserJet 
	Series or compatible
*       Mouse optional 
*       Your CONFIG.SYS file, located in the root directory of your 
	computer's hard drive, must have a minimum of Files=50 and 
	Buffers=30 set up before the FBL program can run properly. 
	Consult your computer's operating system manual on how to edit 
	this file.

	NOTE:                   
Please read the following installation instructions carefully so that 
you can properly set up your computer for the FBL program to 
operate smoothly.


INSTALLING THE FANTASY PROGRAM
------------------------------
To install the FBL program on your computer system, please follow 
these instructions carefully. A limited knowledge of the DOS operating 
system can be helpful; however, the commands that you will need to 
install the FBL program are provided below, so that even a computer 
beginner should be able to complete the installation easily.

The instructions for each step appear in bold print and on a separate 
line. These instructions assume that the computer has been "booted" 
up or started and you now see the DOS prompt of C: (or the letter of 
the hard drive on which you are going to install the game). These 
instructions also assume this computer is not running on a network, 
because this may cause memory conflicts and the FBL program may 
not run properly.

If you have a menu system on your computer, it is necessary for you 
to exit out of it so that you are at the DOS prompt before you begin 
the installation. (See Software Troubleshooting for further help.)


First, you must copy the program file you downloaded from Prodigy to
a floppy disk (for backup purposes).

1. Create a directory on your hard drive by typing at the C: or D: 
	prompt
			MD\FBL then press [ENTER]
2. Now get into this directory by typing again at the C: or D: prompt
			CD\FBL [ENTER]
3. Now type from the C:\FBL prompt 
			C:\PRODIGY\FBLFANT [ENTER]

You will now see two files (MANUALF.TXT and INSTALLF.EXE) appear in your 
	C:\FBL directory.

4. Print this MANUALF.TXT file by loading it into any text editor program or
	by using the DOS command:
			PRINT MANUALF.TXT [ENTER]

5. Now, to install the fantasy program type from the C:\FBL prompt
			INSTALLF [ENTER]

You will now see a number of files appear on your screen as the 
program copies them into the FBL directory.


SIGNING IN WITH THE FBL
-----------------------
To start the program after installation, type at the C:\FBL prompt
			STARTFBL [ENTER]

To start the program after booting up your computer, type
			C: [ENTER]
			CD\FBL [ENTER]
			STARTFBL [ENTER]

	NOTE:                   
You cannot run the 1994 FBL program from any menu system, 
such as DOS Shell or Windows, because this will cause the 
program to crash and you may lose important data. Be sure to exit 
any of these menu systems before starting the program. It also 
may not run properly on a network because of memory conflicts, 
so we advise running the FBL program on a stand alone computer 
that is not running on a network.


You may want to also read the README.TXT file when you get a 
chance to find out about any changes made since this manual was 
printed. This file can be loaded into any common text editor. 



FANTASY MAIN MENU OPTIONS
-------------------------
This section will discuss the main body of the new FBL program, and 
is broken down by the exact menu titles you can choose from 
throughout the program. The letters in the table of contents correspond 
to the same choices you have from menu to menu, to make it easier to 
look for help should you need it. Throughout the program a new 
feature has been added to help you with the new FBL program. You 
may now press the [F1] key to pull up a Help screen for any 
particular section on which you are working. 

How to read the 1994 FBL title bar layout:

Mon Feb 22, 1994  - is today's date, which is read from your 
computer's own internal clock.

Week: 1 of 1  - displays the Current Week (the first number) 
you are working in and the Latest       Week (the second number) 
you can access. The Latest Week is the next week you are able 
to update.

LEAGUE NOT SET UP  - is where the name of your league 
will appear.

FV2.1  - is the version number of the FBL program you are 
working in. This number is important to know should you need 
to call for technical support.


A. LEAGUE SETUP
Once you have installed the FBL program, you must now configure 
your league to the way you and your franchise owners would like the 
FBL season to run. This is the first set of steps toward getting ready to 
throw out the first pitch of your Fantasy Baseball season. From the 
Main Menu select League Setup by using the arrow keys to place 
the highlight bar, or by typing the corresponding menu letter and then 
pressing [ENTER].

a. Enter League Name
Here is where you will name your Fantasy Baseball League. It can be 
from 1-25 letters and can be changed at any time during the season. 
Press [ENTER] to return to the League Setup menu.

b. Set Up Franchises
Now enter up to 16 franchise names that will be competing in your 
league this year. These names may be up to 20 letters in length. 


	NOTE: 
It is important to note that once you have drafted players onto a 
franchise, you may change the name of that franchise, but you may 
not change the order in which the franchises are listed. The 
players' names are assigned to the particular franchise number 
location on the list.


If you are going to Draft By Round (entering the draft picks as they 
are being made), you must enter the franchise names in the order in 
which they will be drafting. If you are going to Draft By Franchise 
(entering all the draft picks after they have been made), you may enter 
the franchises in any order you wish.  When you are finished entering 
your league's franchise names, press [ESC] to exit to the League 
Setup menu.

Here, as well as in the Fantasy Reports section, you have the option 
to print mailing labels for each franchise, should you need to mail out 
weekly stats. These labels are formatted for either laser or dot-matrix 
printers. 

	For lasers, you will need to use Avery Labels #5161, and 
	for dot-matrix, you will need to use Avery Labels #4145.


c. Set Warning Messages
This feature enables the program to warn you if you are going beyond 
the limits you have set up in the Set Up Player Positions section, i.e., 
too many players being drafted or started for a particular position on a 
franchise. Use the arrow keys to select the option you want, press 
[ENTER], and you will be returned to the League Setup menu.

d. Set Draft Criteria
Here is where you will tell the program what method your league will 
use to enter your draft selections. Also, you can set up the program so 
that you can only draft players from either the American League, 
National League, or both.

If you are entering the draft picks as the franchise owners make them, 
this will allow you to choose from two automatic drafting orders on 
Draft Night. Select the method you wish to use, then press [ENTER], 
and you will be returned to the League Setup menu.

		*  Method #1 -- a straight 1-16, 1-16, 1-16 drafting order. This 
means every franchise owner picks in the same order throughout 
the draft. Franchise #1 will pick first and Franchise #16 will pick 
last in every round of the draft.

		*  Method #2 -- an alternating order of 1-16, 16-1, 1-16. This 
means that the drafting order will reverse after each round. In the 
first round, and all odd-numbered rounds thereafter, Franchise #1 
will pick first and Franchise #16 will pick last. In the second 
round, and all even-numbered rounds thereafter, Franchise #16 
will pick first and Franchise #1 will pick last.
*If your league uses some other form of determining the order from 
round to round you may also enter the owners' draft picks after 
completing the draft. You would enter them in the Draft by Franchise 
method in the Draft Night Menu Option.

Some fantasy leagues may want to only draft players from either the 
National League or American League, while other leagues may want 
to draft from all players in the Major Leagues. Here you can set the 
program so that it will only display those players eligible for your 
league's draft. This can make drafting less confusing by eliminating 
players in the American League if your fantasy league wants to just 
draft from the National League, for example.

e. Set Current Week
This option will allow you to go to any week of the 26-week season 
for which you have already updated the weekly scores, so you can 
double-check the starting lineups, the scoring plays, releases and 
trades, etc. If you make any changes, be sure to run the Update 
Weekly Scoring again so your changes can take effect. Remember 
that any changes to starting lineups will only be changed for that week 
and will not be passed to the next week. After you have finished 
working in that week, be sure to Set Current Week to the week you 
originally came from so you can continue your season.

f. Set Player Positions
Here is where you will define how many players can be drafted and 
started per franchise. This is already set up to comply with the 
recommended totals as defined by the FBL.

If you wish, you may also create your own player positions in this 
section. Select Set Player Positions from the League Setup menu and 
press [ENTER].

You now see the System Defined Player Positions box on the left of 
the screen. This contains the pre-set limits per position, which can be 
changed to suit your league's format. To modify any of the positions in 
this box, use the arrow keys to move to the number you wish to 
change and type over that number. (Be sure not to change the numbers 
so that the number of players starting a position is greater than the 
number allowed to be drafted.) When you have finished making your 
changes and do not wish to go to User Defined Player Positions, 
press the [ESC] key to return to the League Setup menu.

On the right is the User Defined Player Positions box where you can 
set up the other positions that your league would like to use this 
season. (These are positions or groups other than what you see in the 
System Defined Player Positions box on the left of the screen.)

To create a player position or group, use the arrow keys to move to 
the first column of this section. In this column you will enter a two-
letter code for the position you want to create. For example, you may 
want to create a position for the General Managers, in that space you 
would enter GM for that position.

In the next column to the right, you would enter the name for this 
group. Using the examples above, you would enter General 
Managers.

You will need the final two columns to set the total number of players 
or groups allowed to be drafted and started per franchise. You can get 
a printout of these positions in the Fantasy Reports section of the 
program. When you have finished with this section, use the [ESC] key 
to return to the League Setup menu.

g. Set Up Play Types
In this section you will be able to create your own Play Types for 
your league to use to award points in addition to the standard FBL 
scoring system. Select Set Up Play Types from the League Setup 
menu and press [ENTER].

You will now see the standard FBL System Defined Play Types (the 
first 12 slots in each column) already set up for you and the User 
Defined Play Types can be set up in any of the available slots (2 
Pitching, 2 Hitting). These are some of the more popular types of 
plays used today. You may use these and/or create additional play 
types in the spaces provided.

Even if you subscribe to any of the FBL Service Updates, you will 
need to manually enter plays for the play types that you created to be 
awarded points in the Update Weekly Scoring section each week. 
The weekly scoring services provide only the scoring plays defined on 
the screen, or System Defined. However, you will be able to set up the 
point ranges for both System Defined and User Defined Play Types 
so that when these plays are entered into the update section, the points 
for that play will automatically be awarded. You can get a printout of 
both play types in the Fantasy Reports section of the program. These 
point ranges are set up in the following section called Set Up Player 
Point Assignments. When you are finished defining your new plays, 
press the [ESC] key to return to the League Setup menu.

h. Set Player Point Assignments
This section will allow you to add or modify any point play range you 
want. Based on the FBL System Defined and User Defined Play 
Types, you can set up point ranges to account for any scoring system, 
and the specific number of times a player performs a task or commits 
an error.

After selecting Set Player Point Assignments from the League Setup 
menu, you may select either FBL Point Assignment Ranges or FBL 
Point Assignment Increments. Ranges are for those point 
assignments that your league wants to award a specific number of 
points for a play that falls in a range (ie Earned Run Average for 
Pitchers, Batting Average for Batters). Increments are for when your 
leagues wants to award points for every time a play happens (ie 
Strikeouts or Wins for Pitchers, Home Runs or Singles for Batters).

If you select Ranges you will see a list of existing play ranges that 
account for some the standard FBL Scoring System at the bottom of 
the screen. At the top of the screen is the Play Range Entry Box (see 
example on following page). Here is where you will enter any new 
point ranges or modify existing ranges to suit your league's scoring 
format. 

For example, according to the official FBL Fantasy Scoring System, a 
Pitcher will receive one point for each 1/3 to a full Inning Pitched. The 
sample screen below shows how this is currently set up. 

To modify an existing range, move the highlight bar down using the 
arrow keys or the  [Page Down] key until you see the range you want. 
Press [ENTER] on that range and it will appear in the entry box on 
top. Move the highlight to the place you want to change and type in 
the value you desire. Press [ENTER] and then press [End] to save the 
change.

To add a new play range, press the [Insert] key to take you to the 
Play Range Entry box. Press [ENTER] to bring up the selections for 
the position or group for which you would like to have this range be 
credited. Move the highlight bar to the position you desire and press 
[ENTER]. Then press [ENTER] again to bring up the list containing 
the play types. When you have highlighted the play type for which you 
wish to set up a range, press [ENTER].

Increments can be set up with one entry that can account for every 
occurance of that play type. For example, in the sample above Pitchers 
are going to be awarded one point for every Strikeout they receive 
credit for. You will use the same function keys to edit these point 
assignments as in the Range section.

To delete any number of ranges, press the [F5] key to enter the mass 
delete mode. You may now press [F2] to select individual lines you 
wish to delete, or you can press [F5] to delete the entire listing of 
Player Point Assignments and set up all your own assignments. When 
you are ready to delete your selections, press [F3]. You can now press 
[ESC] to return to the main Player Point Assignment screen.

	NOTE: 
Deleted point assignments are unrecoverable and if you 
accidentally delete any of these ranges you must reenter them 
manually. Before making any changes you should copy 
"POINTS.DAT" and "POINTS.I01" to diskette as a backup copy 
just in case. 



i. Divisions
If you select System Defined Divisions, the program will 
automatically set up the divisions based on how many franchises you 
have. If you have 8 or 10 franchises, you will have two divisions; if 
you have 12 or 14 franchises, you will have three divisions; and a 16-
franchise league will have four divisions. 

You will now see the divisions as the FBL program has defined them 
for you. You may change the titles of each division on the screen by 
typing over the names already listed. When you are done, press [ESC] 
and another box will appear asking what method of playoffs your 
league would like to use. A choice of No Playoffs will simply 
calculate the rankings based on regular season wins/losses. 

If you select Custom Divisions, you can select the number of 
divisions your league will be divided into and what teams are in what 
division. You may customize your divisions and still use System 
Defined Schedules, but depending upon how much you alter the 
division layout may affect the balance of head-to-head matchups. Use 
the FBL Schedules Reports and the Division Set Up Report in the 
Fantasy Reports section to help you edit the divisions and schedules 
properly.

	Note: 
If you select Custom Divisions, you must manually pair the 
franchises in the Playoff Schedule in Custom Schedules.


j. Schedules
You can either have th program set up the head-to-head schedules for 
you by selecting System Defined Schedules or you can modify any 
individual week or the entire season and playoffs by selecting Custom 
Schedules. When editing schedules, you should have already mapped-
out your league's schedule on paper so that you can more easily keep 
track of what teams have already played and how many times.

*       System Defined Schedules already set up for you for leagues of 
	2 - 16 franchises that match franchises head-to-head as evenly as 
	possible.

	The weeks of playoffs are the weeks at the end of the regular
	season. For example, 3 weeks of playoffs would be the weeks 24, 
	25, 26 of the MLB season.

*       Custom Schedules will allow you to set the number of weeks in 
	the complete season, the number of weeks in your league's regular 
	season, and the number of weeks in your playoffs.

	Note: Before doing any editing, it is always good to make a 
	backup copy of the "DEFINE.DAT" file, which the program uses 
	to save the schedules, as well as other information vital to your 
	league.

	When editing schedules, you should have already mapped out your 
	league's schedule on paper so that as you edit each weeks 
	matchups you can easily keep track of what teams have already 
	played and how many times.

	After doing this, you can set or modify the Regular Season 
	weekly head-to-head schedules or the Playoff Schedules, the latter 
	not usually set until the your regular season has ended.

	Regular Season Schedules can be modified on a week-by-week 
	basis or for the entire season. First, select the week you want to 
	edit by moving the highlight bar and pressing [Enter].  You will 
	now see the System Defined Schedule for that week. 

	Playoff Schedules can be modified as well on a week-by-week 
	basis. The first week will display the System Defined matchups 
	based upon current win-loss records. A new feature this year 
	allows franchises to have "Byes" during the playoffs, but these 
	must be set up by the commissioner for that week.        Use function 
	keys at the bottom of the screen to edit these schedules. To save 
	what you have done press [F2].

	If you feel you have really messed up the entire schedule and you 
	want to start all over again you can use the [F3] key to Reset 
	Schedule back to the System Defined Schedule.

	Note: 
Use the Franchise Schedules Reports and the Division Set Up 
Report in the Fantasy Reports section to help you edit the divisions 
and schedules properly.

j. Set Monitor Type
If you are having trouble with the display, choose from either the 
Color (CGA, EGA, MCGA, VGA or Mono VGA) or Monochrome 
(Hercules) setting.

k. Printer Set Up
This will initially set up your printer options, but you will be prompted  
again each time you enter the Fantasy Reports section.

l. Purge Play Files
This is a very important new automatic feature that will allow you to 
save valuable hard drive space throughout the baseball season. The 
program will delete all the "Play01.I**" index files for Week #1, for 
example, and recreate the "FBLPLAY.1" file that you uncompressed 
from the file downloaded from FSPI or PRODIGY, and it will 
include any changes you have made. This can save almost 50% of the 
hard disk space that would be normally used to store these index files. 
Once you have completed a week of updating there is no further need 
for these files, but if you back up to this week and enter the Update 
Weekly Scoring module, the program will regenerate these files to let 
you view, edit, or re-update that week's scores.

B. DRAFT NIGHT
Tonight's the night you and your fellow franchise owners begin to put 
together your dream teams for the season. Distributing copies of the 
existing 1994 MLB Roster to your fellow franchise owners can make 
conducting the draft much easier. 

The MLB Roster can be printed from the Fantasy Reports section in 
the Main Menu or by pressing the [F2] key under League Setup. 
Franchise owners may draft MLB players who are not on this list. 
(Although, the Draft Night section allows for the addition of players 
not listed, the weekly stat files will automatically update and add new 
players to the player database) If your league is not entering the draft 
picks directly into the computer during the draft, the Draft Night 
Player List is a helpful report for the Commissioner to use. This 
report prints out the same MLB Roster list, but with space available 
to record the franchise that drafts the player. This makes it much 
easier for the Commissioner to enter the draft picks later.

From the Main Menu, select Draft Night and you will then be asked 
to Select Draft Method:

Method 1 - Draft by Round:
This should be used by leagues that have access to a computer during 
the draft. This method tracks draft selection order by round and allows 
one pick per franchise for each round, similar to an actual MLB draft. 
It rotates from franchise to franchise based on the order you entered 
the franchise names during the League Setup portion of the Main 
Menu.

Set up the computer in a central location so that each franchise owner 
has access to it during the draft. The Commissioner may want to 
operate the program or assist other owners. The left window will 
display those players available to draft. The right window will display 
the name of the franchise and its selected players. The current round 
and pick will be displayed above the two windows.

When Franchise #1 picks the player it wants to draft, the 
Commissioner or franchise owner should scroll through the list of 
players, using the arrow keys or the [F10] key, to locate player's name 
with the highlight bar and press [ENTER]. This moves the player off 
the Available MLB Players window (left) and places him in the 
Franchise window (right) and onto that franchise's team. At this point 
you may either press [F1] to record the pick and move on to the next 
selection, or [F2] to reverse the pick allowing you to select another 
player. At any point during the draft, franchise owners may take a 
break, by simply pressing the [ESC] key twice to return to the Main 
Menu. The FBL program records all draft choices through that round, 
and your league can continue the draft at any time.

If the wrong player is drafted, press [ESC] to get to the options menu: 
Draft by Round or Draft by Franchise. Select Draft by Franchise; 
when the box of franchises appears, select the franchise that drafted 
the wrong player. Using the right arrow key, move the highlight bar 
over to the franchise window and onto the wrong player selected, press 
[ENTER] and the player will be moved back to the Available MLB 
Players list. Now use the left arrow key to move the highlight bar 
back to the Available MLB Players list, select the player the 
franchise wants, and press [ENTER] again to move the player onto 
that franchise. After that, press [ESC] twice to go back to the options 
menu and re-select Draft by Round. You will return to the current 
round and current pick. 

It is important that when you take one player off a franchise, you put 
one back on that franchise. Otherwise the round-pick sequence will be 
incorrect and will be re-set to round 1, pick 1, but you will not lose 
any of the previous picks.

Method 2 - Draft by Franchise:
This should be used by leagues that do not have access to a computer 
during the draft and by the Commissioner to make adjustments 
throughout the season. This method makes it easy for the 
Commissioner to enter each franchise's picks after the draft. It allows 
the Commissioner to input all drafted players for each franchise at 
the same time, rather than one pick per franchise. This method can 
be used by all leagues to make adjustments, such as adding players, 
correcting errors, drafting players released by other franchises, or for 
leagues that have a supplemental draft.

	Note:
The Draft Night portion of the program should not be used to 
make Trades, Release Players, or to place players on the Disabled 
/ Protected List. 

Use the appropriate menu options from the Main Menu to execute 
those transactions. This will allow the FBL program to remember any 
points that may have been scored by these players in previous weeks. 
If you do try to delete a player from a franchise that has scored points, 
you will receive an error message.

After you select Draft by Franchise, a window will appear listing the 
franchises. Select a franchise by using the arrow keys to move the 
highlight bar and press [ENTER]. Now, two windows will appear. 
The left Available MLB Players window contains a list of the 
available 1994 MLB Players. The right window displays the franchise 
name that is drafting. Have each franchise's list of drafted players 
handy. 

Scroll through the list of players in the left window to locate the 
player, place the highlight bar on the name and press [ENTER]. This 
moves the player off the Available MLB Players list and into the 
franchise window. The highlight bar will automatically move back to 
the Available MLB Players window. Simply select the next player to 
be drafted and press [ENTER]. When all the players for that 
franchise have been drafted, press [ESC]. Repeat this procedure for 
the next franchise to draft.

To delete a player from a franchise, use the right arrow key to move 
the highlight bar to the franchise window. Place the bar on that player, 
press [ENTER], and the player's name will appear in the Available 
MLB Players window.

At any time during the draft, the Commissioner can take a break by 
simply pressing the [ESC] key twice to return to the Main Menu. The 
FBL Program records all draft choices, and the Commissioner can 
continue the draft at any time.

Both Method 1 and Method 2 Users:
After the draft has been completed, its a good idea to print Franchise 
Rosters and Starting Lineup Worksheets. Return to the Main Menu 
and select Fantasy Reports. Make sure your printer is ON. Now 
select Player Information from the Main Reports Menu. Select 
Print Franchise Rosters from the Player Information menu. Then 
select Print Starting Lineup Worksheets and distribute to each 
franchise owner to track weekly starting lineups.

Important Keys to Make Your Draft Easier:
There are a number of special features that can be used during the 
draft to aid the Commissioner/franchise owner in picking players for 
their teams.
* Searching for a player's name can be done by simply typing (in 
	CAPS) the player's last name. As you type each letter you will see 
	the list of players scroll closer to the player you are looking for. If 
	you make a mistake in typing, just press any of the arrow keys to 
	reset the search mode. You can start typing the name again. This 
	can be used in any window that contains player information sorted 
	by Player's Name.
* Arrow Keys Up & Down: Moves the highlight bar vertically to 
	scroll through the list of available and drafted players in both 
	windows.
* Arrow Keys Right and Left: Moves the highlight bar from the 
	Available MLB Players window to the Franchise window and 
	back.
* [F1]: Help window available throughout FBL program.
* [F4]: Lists all MLB players who have been drafted to that point. 
	To access this option, press [F4]. A window will appear on the 
	screen. To return to player windows, press [ESC].
* [F9]: Changes the order in which players are displayed, both in 
	the Available MLB Players window and the Franchise window. 
	Players can be displayed alphabetically, by position, or by MLB 
	team. Players are initially displayed in alphabetical order. To 
	access this option, press [F9]. A window will appear on the 
	screen. Select the desired display order, then press [ENTER]. 
	Players are immediately listed in selected order. To return to 
	player window, press [ESC].
* [F10]: Quickly locates specific player by name, position, or team. 
	If players are displayed alphabetically, the [F10] key will quickly 
	locate a specific player by typing in his last name in CAPS. If the 
	players are displayed by position, the [F10] key will quickly locate 
	a specific group of player positions. If players are displayed by 
	MLB team, the [F10] key will quickly locate a specific MLB 
	team. To access this option, press [F10]. A list of players, 
	positions, or teams will appear. Select the appropriate option, 
	press [ENTER]. To return to player window, press [ESC]. 
	Note: All entries must be typed exactly as they appear. Last 
	names in UPPER case and first names in upper and lower case 
	(i.e. RIPKEN, Cal).
* To Edit a Player: The [F5] key allows you to edit a player in 
	either the Available MLB Players window or the Franchise 
	window. Using the arrow keys, scroll through the list until you 
	find the player you want to edit, then press [F5]. Now using the 
	arrow keys, move the highlight bar to where you want to edit. 
	When you are done, press [End] to save the change or [ESC] to 
	cancel the change. You may only edit a player's name and MLB 
	team he plays for, but not his position. To do this you must delete 
	him and reenter his complete information. If you do change his 
	name or position the update service may not update his stats 
	properly.
* To Delete a Player from the MLB Roster: Place the highlight 
	bar on the player to be deleted and press [Del]. One last window 
	will appear asking for confirmation before deleting the player.
* To Insert a New Player's Name: The FBL provides a 
	comprehensive up-to-date 1994 MLB Roster; additionally, if you 
	subscribe to any of the stat update services the program will 
	update and add new players throughout the season when you 
	import each weekly stat file. 

	If a franchise wants to draft a player whose name does not appear 
	in the Available MLB Players (left) window, select this option by 
	pressing [Insert], while in the left-hand side window, to enter a 
	new player's information. A window will appear allowing the 
	Commissioner/franchise owner to type in the player's last name 
	and first name, and to select the player's position, MLB team 
	name. (If you decide not to add this player to the list after the 
	window has appeared on the screen, simply press [ESC].) Press 
	[End] to record new player's information. 

C. SELECT STARTING LINEUPS
Every week, the Commissioner records each franchise's starting lineup 
using the FBL program.

Choose Select Starting Lineups from the Main Menu. A window 
will appear listing the names of each franchise in the league. Use the 
highlight bar to select the desired franchise and press [ENTER]. Now, 
two windows will appear.

The left window displays the franchise's Non-Starting Players. The 
right window displays the franchise's Starting Players. To move the 
highlight bar from window to window, use the right and left arrow 
keys.

To select a starting player, place the highlight bar on the desired 
player in the left window and press [ENTER]. This automatically 
moves the player's name from the left Non-Starters window and 
places it in the right Starters window. Select each starting player 
using the same process until there are the appropriate number of 
starting players on each franchise. When complete, press [ESC] to 
select the next franchise.

To bench or delete a player from the starting lineup of a franchise, 
place the highlight bar on the desired player in the right window and 
press [ENTER]. The player's name automatically moves from the 
right window of Starting Players to the left window of Non-Starting 
Players. 

When the starting lineups for each franchise in the league have been 
recorded,  press [ESC] twice to end and return to the Main Menu.

The starting lineups are automatically carried over to the next week 
after you run the Update Weekly Scoring. Once you have processed 
the scoring plays a window will appear asking to "Re-set Current 
Week?" If you are confident you are finished with this week's 
updating you should select Yes, because the FBL program will 
automatically set up the next week's starting lineups based on the 
present week's lineups. You will still be able to make changes to the 
starting lineups in the Select Starting Lineups section.

D. MAKE TRADES
The Commissioner records all trades using the FBL program. Select 
Make Trades from the Main Menu. After the window appears, use 
the highlight bar to select "Franchise #1" involved in the trade, then 
and press [ENTER]. Now a second window will appear. Again using 
the highlight bar, select "Franchise #2" involved in the trade and press 
[ENTER]. 

Two windows will appear on the screen. The left window displays the 
roster of all players on the first franchise and the right window 
displays the roster of the second franchise. To make a trade, select the 
player to be traded from Franchise #1 by placing the highlight bar on 
his name, and press [ENTER]. The player's name will automatically 
move from the left window to the right window. 

Trade players from Franchise #2 to Franchise #1 using the same 
procedure. If you are making a 2-for-1 or 3-for-2 trade, use the right 
and left arrow keys to change windows and select players.

To reverse a trade, follow the same steps as above, using the highlight 
bar and [ENTER] key. If you make a mistake, simply go to the other 
franchise and highlight the player placed there in error. Press 
[ENTER] to move the player back to the original team, then re-select 
the correct player. No harm is done if a trade is reversed in the same 
week, and when a player has not scored in that or successive weeks. If 
you reverse a trade in a later week and the player has scored points 
(starting lineup or non-starting lineup), you will see the player twice 
on Player Scoring Reports for a short time; this is normal and will 
subside. Press [ESC] twice to end the trading and return to the Main 
Menu.

E. RELEASE A PLAYER
If a player seems no longer useful to your team and you wish to draft 
or pick another available player, then you must first release or take the 
unwanted player off your team. Select Release a Player from the 
Main Menu. Select the franchise with the highlight bar and press 
[ENTER]. Two windows will appear; on the left is the franchise 
roster and on the right is the Released Players list. Select the player to 
be released by moving the highlight bar with the arrow keys and press 
[ENTER]. The player will automatically be moved onto the Released 
Players list and off the franchise roster. To put a player back on a 
franchise's roster, or if an error was made, re-enter the Draft Night 
section using Method 2, Draft by Franchise, and then add a player to 
the roster following the same directions you used to enter the draft 
picks. Note: Players become eligible to be drafted again by other 
franchises after being released.

F. DISABLED / PROTECTED LIST
If, during the season, MLB players become injured or sent down to the 
minor leagues, they can be placed on the Disabled or Protected List 
by their MLB teams. This means they are not available to play, and 
are not available for other teams to pick up. If a player is unable to 
play in the MLB for a couple of weeks, an FBL franchise owner may 
place the player on the Disabled List in order to hold on to him, but 
only if the MLB team does that as well. In the FBL, owners are 
limited to four such transactions during the season to prevent 
stockpiling of talent.

Select Disabled / Protected List from the Main Menu. Select the 
franchise with the highlight bar and press [ENTER]. Two windows 
will appear; on the left is the franchise roster and on the right is the 
Disabled / Protected List. Select the player to be placed on the 
Disabled / Protected List and press [ENTER]. The player will 
automatically move onto the Disabled / Protected List. To put a 
player back on a team's roster or if an error was made, use the right 
arrow key to get into the right window, place the highlight bar on the 
player's name, and press [ENTER]. To exit, press [ESC] twice to 
return to Main Menu.

G. UPDATE WEEKLY SCORING
Here is where you will update your leagues fantasy points every 
week. If you are using The Prodigy Service, be sure you have downloaded 
the weekly file (ie PLAYWK01.EXE) and executed it from the C:\FBL 
prompt to extract that week's stat file before you enter this section on 
the Main Menu. These instructions are explained in the Subscribing 
To Weekly Scoring Updates section of this manual.

If the program detects the stat file for the week you have selected, it 
will import and assign your leagues fantasy points to the plays stored 
in it. If the program was unable to match any of the plays to players in 
your master roster file you will be prompted to edit these plays if you 
wish to at this time. This mismatch may be caused by either a player 
name being misspelled in the stat/roster files, or plays in the stat file 
are for a new player not stored in the master roster file.

At this time, you can manually update these plays with the correct 
player name by highlighting the player's name and pressing 
[ENTER]. You may now press [F10] to bring up the current master 
roster of players. The program will attempt to match the closest name, 
but you may need to scroll up and down to be sure. If cannot find a 
close match then this player is new player to be added to your league. 
In almost all cases these players will be new players. If you do find the 
players correct name highlight him and press [ENTER] then [End] to 
save him in the play file. His name should now disappear from the list 
of unmatched names.

After you have corrected all the names you can, now press [Esc] to 
proceed to the main update menu. Now you may automatically add 
these new players by selecting Update Rosters. You can also 
edit/enter any of that weeks plays or go straight to Updating This 
Weeks Plays.

Once the update process has completed, you will be prompted to reset 
the week and pass your leagues lineups forward. If you feel you made 
a roster lineup or point assignment error choose NO, otherwise choose 
YES and the program will set up your leagues next week lineups. 
You may still backup and make changes but you may need to run the


update process again. If you backup and just make a starting roster 
change, then you wont need to run through the update process again.

	Note:
Responding YES to resetting the lineups is the only way to get into 
the next week of the season.


I. FILE INDEXING
From time to time during the season, it may become necessary to re-
align the master files the program uses. This simply helps the program 
to run more smoothly if errors occur. Errors may be caused by the 
repeated adding, editing, or deleting of information in those files.

	NOTE: 
File Indexing does not reset the FBL program to the beginning of 
the season, but rather it re-aligns certain index markers that 
allows the program to work with that particular data file.

The files to be concerned about are:
* Point file - the file Player Point Assignments works with.
* Player file - MLB Player Rosters (unless you have a lot of time on 
	your hands, because this file will become quite large, you might 
	not want to reindex each week, but it is a good idea to do this after 
	a week of heavy trades, releases, injuries, or other roster moves).
* Play file - the master file of Weekly Scoring Plays and Updated MLB Rosters.
* Franchise file - this file stores all the owner information of each           
	franchise in your league.
* Division file - this file stores your leagues divisional set up.
* Roster Transaction file - this file keeps track of your leagues                      
	roster moves throughout the season.




IV. SUBSCRIBING TO WEEKLY SCORING UPDATES
=========================================
PRODIGY* SERVICE UPDATE
-----------------------
Through the PRODIGY* Service, your league can subscribe to 
receive the weekly scoring updates via download for use with the 
Franchise Baseball League's Fantasy/Rotisserie Baseball game. All 
you need for this service is your PRODIGY* Service Start-Up Kit, 
which is available from any Sears location or any major software 
dealer, and a modem. In some cases you may be able to purchase both 
as part of a special offer bundle.

How Does It Work?
Once you have installed your PRODIGY* Service software and 
logged on to the service, follow these steps to obtain further 
information about the FBL and how to subscribe to the Weekly 
Scoring Update service:

When the PRODIGY* Service HIGHLIGHTS screen appears,
		Type: J [Enter] key 
and then when the box appears,
		Type: FBL [Enter]

Answer the questions under the ordering section. You will need a 
major credit card (VISA, Mastercard) to charge your enrollment fee 
covering the entire season of weekly downloads. Each week of the 
MLB season, scoring updates and MLB game results will be available 
via PRODIGY* Service download around 3pm (EST) Mondays 
(subject to statistics availablity). The first download will be available 
Monday April 11, 1994.

Once the season has started, each week's stat file will be labeled and 
kept on-line all season long for you to download. Once you have 
selected the week you wish to download, the system will prompt you 
with the default FBL directory and that week's file name, so you can 
change either the directory name or the disk drive (C: is the default 
drive setting) you wish the file to be copied to.


For example, in week 4 of the season you may be asked if this is the 
path you wish to use when copying the stat file to your computer: 
										\FBL\PLAYWK04.EXE
which would copy the compressed week 4 scoring file to the FBL 
directory on your C: drive.

Once you have exited PRODIGY* Service and are now at your 
C:\FBL prompt: type PLAYWK04 [Enter] and the stat file will 
decompress. If all goes well you may delete the PLAYWK04.EXE 
file. Now start your FBL program and SET CURRENT WEEK to 
Week 4 (in this case), and the program will look for and read the 
"FBLPLAY.4" stat file containing the scoring plays for that week. 
Now, you are ready to update your league's stats. 


V. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
=============================
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about our FBL 
software and the answers to help you solve them.

  Can I run more than one league using this software? Yes, all 
you will need to do is to install the software in a separate directory 
for each league you want to run. For example, the first league will 
be in C:\FBL and the second might be in C:\FBL2 and the next in 
C:\FBL3, etc.
 
  Will this software run on a Macintosh computer? Only if it set 
up to run DOS programs with a program such as SoftPC. 
However, we do not offer technical support for those who choose 
to run this program on a Macintosh.
 
  Can I run this program from Windows? No! This program is 
not meant to be run from any menu system. If you try to run it 
from Windows it will crash and you may lose important data that 
is unrecoverable, forcing you to start the entire season over.
 
  Can I customize which reports my league wants to see each 
week? Yes, from the Weekly Reports menu in either Fantasy or 
Rotisserie Reports you can select all the reports you want to see 
every week to print at the same time.
 
  What is the format of the FBL data files? They are in a 
stanadard tab deliniated dBase text file. These can be imported 
into spreadsheets and database programs, but we do not offer 
technical support for performing these tasks.



VI. SOFTWARE TROUBLESHOOTING
============================
IMPORTANT: Please read the following section on software 
troubleshooting. Although we do not anticipate any errors 
occurring in your FBL program, any problems you may 
experience probably will be minor and easily correctable.

Here are the most commonly asked questions and their solutions:
  MY PROGRAM WON'T START OR RUN PROPERLY WHEN I START IT FROM     
WINDOWS OR A MENU? The FBL program is not meant to be run       
from any menu system. If you try to run it from Windows it will         
crash and you may lose important data that is unrecoverable,                    
forcing you to start the entire season over.; it also is not designed   
to run on a network.

  WHAT DO I DO IF I GET ERROR CODES ACROSS THE TOP OF THE SCREEN IN 
CERTAIN PLACES OF THE PROGRAM? First, re-index the Play file 
and/or Player file, then try the task again. Also, make sure you are 
not running the FBL program from a menu program such as DOS- 
Shell or Windows. (Consult your menu software manual on how 
to exit the menu to the DOS prompt.)  Also check your 
CONFIG.SYS file, located in the main root directory on your 
computer's hard drive, to make sure these settings appear:
				Files=50
				Buffers=30

If you need to make changes to this file, consult your computer's 
operating system manual on how to make these modifications. 
You can also use a Boot-Diskette to by-pass these menus without 
making major changes to your software.

  How do I set up a Boot-Disk for my computer? First place a 
blank diskette in the A: drive of your system and type from the 
DOS prompt of C:\
				Format a:/s then press [ENTER]

The computer will format the diskette and copy the file necessary 
to enable your computer to start up from the diskette, instead of 
the hard disk drive. Press [ENTER] when you are asked to label 
the diskette, and type N for no when asked if you would like to 
format another. Now, again type from the DOS prompt of C:\
				Copy Con A:\Config.sys [ENTER]

You will then see a blank line after you press [ENTER], so now type
				Files=50 [ENTER]
				Buffers=30 [ENTER]
				^Z [ENTER]  
				(hold [CTRL] key and Z down at the same time.)
	
You should now see the message of "1 File(s) copied" and then the 
C:\ prompt again. Now leave the diskette in the disk drive and hold 
the [CTRL][ALT] and [Del] keys down at the same time to re-
boot your computer. You should see the computer access the A:\ 
drive with the diskette in it, then the DOS prompt of A:\ appear on 
the screen when it is done. Now type 
				C:\ [ENTER] 
	(or the drive in which the FBL game is located)
				CD\FBL [ENTER]
	Now try the FBL program again.


  I GET "OUT OF MEMORY" ERRORS WHILE RUNNING THE FBL 
PROGRAM! Make sure you are not running any memory resident 
programs at the same time as the FBL program, such as menus, or 
other TSR (terminate-stay-resident) programs. You should be able 
to bypass this error if you use the boot-disk discussed earlier.
 
  NONE OF THE REPORTS WILL PRINT OUT! Make sure all power and 
cable connections between the printer and the computer are tightly 
plugged in. Turn the printer off then back on, and make sure you 
see the "Ready" or "On-line" light activate on the front of your 
printer showing that it is ready. Now, try to print again.
 
  WHEN I PRINT REPORTS I EITHER GET JUST THE HEADING AND NOTHING 
ELSE, DOUBLE-SPACED INFORMATION, OR GARBAGE? You need to make 
sure that your printer is able to and set up for Epson emulation. 
Please consult your printers Owners Manual on how to check on 
this.

  HOW CAN I CONSERVE SPACE FROM EACH WEEK AFTER I HAVE FINISHED 
UPDATING THAT WEEKS SCORES?  From the League Setup Menu, 
select the Purge Plays option. This will erase all the index files the 
program used to update that weeks scores and recreate the 
"FBLPLAY.1" file, including any changes you have made to the 
scoring plays. After you have updated successfully for a given 
week and are satisfied with the results you can copy that weeks 
FBLPLAY.# file to a floppy disk for backup and delete it from 
your hard drive. This can save as much as 400K of space per 
week. 

	Also, you can reduce more space each week by deleting all the 
.PRN and .RPT files that are created when you generate/view any 
reports. 

	This can be done by typing at the C:\FBL prompt:
				Erase *.prn [ENTER]
				Erase *.rpt [ENTER]



VII. INFORMATION HOTLINES
=========================
The FBL Technical Support Lines are open from 11am - 6pm 
(EST) Monday through Friday. If you need support with the latest 
version of the program, be sure you have first looked through the 
previous section on Software Troubleshooting to see if there is a 
solution listed for your situation. After that, if you can still not resolve 
your situation, give us a call.

You must have these few items of information so we may help you correct 
any problem:
  Brand name or model of the computer you are using (Compaq, IBM, Tandy, etc.).
  The processor and speed of your computer (386SX, 16mhz, etc.).
  Amount of RAM your computer has (640K, 2MB, etc.).
  Operating system version number (DOS 5.0, DOS 3.3, etc.).
  Type of disk drive you are using (3.5" High Density 1.44 or Double-
	Sided Doubled Density 720K).
  Make and model of printer (HP LaserJet IIP, NEC P5200 dot matrix, etc.).
  What steps you were performing right before the error occurred.
  What is the contents of your CONFIG.SYS file

	==============================
	Fantasy/Rotisserie Baseball
	Technical Support Line:
	1-703-893-4861
	Monday-Friday (11am - 6pm EST)
	==============================


Technical Support Bulletin Board: Leave a message for the System 
Operator (SysOp) on the FSPI Bulletin Board. Be sure to include any 
and all important information so we can respond to your problem 
promptly. You may also leave us e-Mail on the Prodigy Service. Write 
to us by typing [JUMP]:sports bb and selecting either Baseball-
Fantasy or Baseball-Rotisserie. 

Please be advised: 
Due to reductions in the number of staff working on the BBS and 
Prodigy, this is a much slower method of getting your questions 
answered than calling for support.
			

Write to:               Franchise Baseball League
			Technical Support Department
			P.O. Box 9805
			McLean, VA   22102


FBL Order Processing Department
1-800-872-0335

Write to:               Fantasy Sports Properties, Inc.
			Order Processing Department
			P.O. Box 9805
			McLean, Virginia   22102



VIII. FBL WEEKLY SCORING UPDATE SCHEDULES
=========================================
Week Stat File Covers (Mon-Sun)
Update File
Date Available (Mon)

#1
April 4th - April 10th
FBLPLAY.1
April 11th

#2
April 11th - April 17th 
FBLPLAY.2
April 18th

#3
April 18th - April 24th
FBLPLAY.3
April 25th

#4
April 25th - May 1st
FBLPLAY.4
May 2nd

#5
May 2nd - May 8th
FBLPLAY.5
May 9th

#6
May 9th - May 15th
FBLPLAY.6
May 16th

#7
May 16th - May 22nd
FBLPLAY.7
May 23rd

#8
May 23rd - May 29th
FBLPLAY.8
May 30th

#9
May 30th - June 5th
FBLPLAY.9
June 6th

#10
June 6th - June 12th
FBLPLAY.10
June 13th

#11
June 13th - June 19th
FBLPLAY.11
June 20th

#12
June 20th - June 26th
FBLPLAY.12
June 27th

#13
June 27th - July 3rd
FBLPLAY.13
July 4th

#14
July 4th - July 10th
FBLPLAY.14
July 11th

#15
July 11th - July 17th
FBLPLAY.15
June 18th

#16
July 18th - June 24th
FBLPLAY.16
July 25th

#17
July 25th - July 31st
FBLPLAY.17
August 1st

#18
August 1st - August 7th
FBLPLAY.18
August 8th

#19
August 8th - August 14th
FBLPLAY.19
August 15th

#20
August 15th - August 21st
FBLPLAY.20
August 22nd

#21
August 22nd - August 28th
FBLPLAY.21
August 29th

#22
August 29th - September 4th
FBLPLAY.22
September 5th

#23
September 5th - September 11th
FBLPLAY.23
September 12th

#24
September 12th - September 18th
FBLPLAY.24
September 19th

#25
September 19th - September 25th
FBLPLAY.25
September 26th

#26
September 26th - October 2nd
FBLPLAY.26
October 3rd

