Within Fantasy Baseball, there are two very distinct and unique "versions" of the game: Rotisserie and Head-to-Head. Neither style is superior to the other. There are no increased benefits to select one over the other, selection is based on your personal preference

Rotisserie or "Roto" - Rotisserie is currently the most popular version of Fantasy Baseball. In Rotisserie, teams do not compete directly in a one-on-one team match-up. Rather, each team's players earn points based on their performance. Teams are then ranked based on how many points they have accumulated/earned in each scoring category as a whole. Separate categories are used to rank: 1. Pitchers: Wins, Saves, Strikeouts, ERA, and WHIP, which is walks plus hits divided by innings pitched. 2. Hitters: Batting Average, Runs Scored, Home Runs, Runs Batted In and Stolen Bases.

Sound complicated? Don't worry; it's easy once you get the idea. For example, if there are 12 teams in your league (usually the average), the team leading the Home Run category earns 12 points for the HR category; the team with the second-highest HR total gets 11 points; and so on down to the team with the least HRs, which gets 1 point. Teams are ranked by cumulative point totals across all categories. The team with the highest total point total (using all 10 categories) at the end of the season is the league champion.

Most leagues that choose to play in a Rotisserie-style league use the standard 5x5 scoring system, which uses the following scoring categories: Pitchers - Wins, Saves, Strikeouts, ERA, and WHIP. Position players: Batting Average, RBI, Home Runs, and Stolen Bases.

Even within Rotisserie, there are variations to the game. A league could set up a Rotisserie system using virtually any existing baseball statistic to determine scoring. See below for another popular Rotisserie scoring system. Why would a league want variations to the traditional system? As statistical categories are added, the game gets more and more challenging!

Advantage: As we stated, you can consider Rotisserie to be like a giant chess match, played out over the course of an entire baseball season. Are you No. 1 in total home runs but really hurting in the stolen-base category? Consider trading one of those big bats for a speedster but try not to give up too much of your power advantage. The game is all about jockeying for position, wheeling and dealing to improve your team.

Also, it's important to use your starting pitchers that have two starts in any given week, so that they have twice the chance of notching a win for your Fantasy team.

Ways to Play Fantasy Baseball: Head to Head

Head to Head - Just like it sounds, this scoring system pits one team against another for a week in a "Head-to-Head" match-up. Points are awarded based on each player's performance and the team that earns the most points for the week gets the win. The teams with the best win/loss record at the end of the season make the single-elimination playoffs, eventually to determine a league champion.

For example, here is an example of a typical head-to-head scoring system.

You would earn one point for every single hit by a player on your team, four points for every home run, 10 points for every win, etc.