The possibility of head to head play is real and could be done, but it would present some problems.

By the way the fact that rustiness is dealt with best by the home team is the principle fault in the system---one that the ROBOT could ease in time---but I'm a believer that the regular season champion should have some measure of compensation for winning the division. In real life there are some very real factors involved in the home field edge---in a SIM, everything is played according to random number generation and the baseball GODS rule.

The problems with head to head play are these:

1. Most managers do not have the time to schedule 160 games according to time available for two managers. Teams that used the ROBOT in head to head leagues would be at a great disadvantage and would seek out home-game leagues.

2. Head to head play would be considerably slower as all plays would be sent to the HOST. It would also be more expensive in many ways. The PB project is not "supposed" to work because the Internet is still a hard place to get people to pay for anything.

Still, head to head play for play-off games and for selected leagues is in the works.
Closer than that are live leagues where you face the ROBOT but where results are directly transmitted to the host and anyone can "watch" the action.

I will put the "rustiness" issue on a survey I'm planning for next spring.

Mike Bravard (PB)