With the first pitch of baseball season just a few days away, it’s become apparent that our initial post on the FSTA baseball accuracy challenge was a bit lacking in specifics and clarity.

Just to restate, the challenge is being put on by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association in conjunction with FantasyDispute.com, the Fantasy Football Librarian and TheMostCredible.com to recognize fantasy outlets that provide the most accurate player stat projections for the coming season.

The baseball version of this challenge that originated in the 2008 football season differs in that participants must provide specific projections rather than just player rankings.

“We decided that you just couldn’t do the player rankings as easily with baseball as with football so we’re looking at projected stats for specific players instead,” said Sara Holladay, the FF Librarian and one of three judges for the challenge.

Those interested in participating should download the rules sheet and the official entry form from the FSTA’s site. Completed forms should be sent to Holladay (fflibrarian@gmail.com), Bill Green (greenbill@fantasydispute.com) and Donnie Campbell (dc@themostcredible.com).

Entries will be welcomed throughout the season, as long as participants can verify that their projections were published before the start of the MLB season.

Back in January, Fantazzle became the surprise winner of the inaugural football rankings Accuracy Challenge. Now, purveyors of baseball advice will get their chance at the title.

Fantasy Football Librarian Sara Holladay and FantasyDispute.com founder Bill Green return as judges after handling the football competition. Joining them will be Donnie Campbell of TheMostCredible.com.

For anyone not familiar with the exercise, fantasy sites can submit their preseason rankings to the competition. At the end of the year, all submissions will be compared with actual production, and the rankings will be ranked for their accuracy. (Hence the name.)

Scoring will follow the common 5×5 rotisserie categories: average, runs, home runs, RBIs and steals for hitters; and wins, ERA, saves, strikeouts and WHIP.

Submissions will be accepted throughout the season, as long as it can be proven that they were posted or published before MLB’s opening day.

The winning site will be awarded at the 2010 FSTA winter business conference, and only FSTA members will be eligible to win. The top third of the final rankings list will be shared publicly after the conference.

The Fantasy Sports Trade Association is holding an election for five three-year roles on its board of directors. The voting is open only to member companies, with each company only allowed a single ballot.

Members who have yet to make their selections can download the official ballot here and find the available candidate bios on the FSTA’s website. The list of options includes 17 members of the fantasy sports community, four of whom already reside on the board.

In alphabetical order, those up for election are …

Brett Baker, Fantasy Coverage (incumbent)

Craig Davis, Fantasy Planet

Bill Green, Fantasy Dispute (incumbent)

John Hartman, Pay The Fan

Scott Iverson, FLW Outdoors

Alan Karben, XML Team Solutions

Michael Mandt, Fantasy Sports Girl

Danielle MacLean, CBS Sports

Lawr Michaels, Creative Sports

Greg Robitaille, Fantasy Football Draft

Regi Simon, World of Entrepreneurship Inc.

Geoff Stein, Mock Draft Central

Scott Swanay, Swanay Sports Consulting/Fantasy Sherpa

Jeff Thomas, World Fantasy Games (current president)

Whitney Walters, The Huddle (incumbent)

Clint Webb, SportsDirect

David Wu, RotoHog

In an e-mail sent to members Wednesday night, the Fantasy Sports Trade Association requested submissions for the 2008 Fantasy Football Projection Accuracy Challenge, a joint effort of the FSTA and Fantasy Footbll Librarian.

The project seeks to gather preseason player rankings and statistical projections and compare their accuracy at the end of the year to determine whose are the most accurate. Awards will be given to the most accurate set of rankings based on end-of-year fantasy points, as well as the most accurate set of projected point totals. The awards will be given out at the 2009 FSTA winter conference, which will take place in February. Bill Green of FantasyDispute.com and Fantasy Football Librarian Sara Holladay.

The Challenge will score quarterbacks, running backs, receivers and tight ends. Kickers, team defenses and individual defensive players will not be included because of “non-standard scoring,” according to the e-mail message. Stats will be based on the following system:

• Passing Yards (25 yards per point)
• Passing Touchdowns (4 points)
• Rushing Yards (10 yards per point)
• Reception Yards (10 yards per point)
• Rushing & Receiving Touchdowns (6 points)
• Interceptions (-2)
• Fumbles (-2)

 Only FSTA members will be eligible to win, and projections must be finalized before kickoff of tonight’s season opener. Submissions throughout the season will be accepted, as long as it can be verified that they were made publicly available before the beginning of the NFL season.

Anyone who wishes to be included in the Challenge should submit to fflibrarian@gmail.com and CC greenbill@fantasydispute.com.