DESI!!!!!!!!!!!!
I joined my fantasy baseball league in 2002. At the draft and for the first part of the season I was working for a minor league baseball team, so baseball was running thick in my blood at that point in time.
But as big of a baseball fan as I was, I've never been someone who knows the stats. That's what Sweetie is for. He is an encyclopedia of sports knowledge. Ask him a sports trivia question and there's a good chance he knows the answer. Me, on the other hand, I couldn't tell you the record of the minor league team I was working for most days.
Maybe not the best person to join a fantasy baseball league, but I loved the sport, I love my Sweetie, and as much as I may not know the stats I do enjoy stats and numbers, so what the hell?
As such, some of my drafting decisions were perhaps a little more emotional than they should be. I wanted Juan Pierre, because I remembered watching him play for the Portland Rockies and he was a pretty good outfielder. He was also on the Colorado Rockies, which was the major league affiliate of the team I was working for. I wanted to have a St. Louis Cardinal, to honor my baseball past, and a Seattle Mariner, to honor my current major league team of choice.
The early rounds of the draft are easy to approach systematically. I got Juan Pierre in a pre-season trade. I got Curt Schilling and Byung-Hyun Kim. I had some guys who could really play. But by the late rounds of the draft it starts to get a bit more difficult. Flip a coin, pull a name out of a hat, he was born in the same year as me, in the same town as me, has a fun name to say. Good of a reason as any to pick him.
So it gets to the last round of the 2002 draft and I realize that I haven't picked a Mariner yet. So I find the best remaining Mariner available (this is back when Mariners were worthwhile players to have on a fantasy baseball team) and the magic name was Desi Relaford. He wasn't even in the daily lineup, but Desi was my man. And because he was the fantasy player I was most likely to see play live I became an instantaneous fan of his. If Sweetie and I were at a Mariner's game and he game to bat you could hear me squeal, "DESI!!!!"
And although he wasn't a superstar in any one category, I quickly became a fan of his for his versatility. He was a true utility guy, available at every fielding position our league offers except for catcher. If other players were injured or just stinking have no fear, for Desi is here. He rarely put up big points, but you could count on him to put a few points on the board.
And so he became my team mascot, and I picked him up again in both the 2003 and 2004 drafts. Desi hadn't let me down, so I didn't let him down either.
Yesterday was this year's draft. I had my eye on Chone Figgins (another former Portland Rocky, although I don't remember him), but missed him by one round. Chone Figgins and Desi Relaford were the only two players in major league baseball who are eligible for every fielding position except catcher in our league. So I figured I'd pick Desi up with my last pick of the draft. But then the last round rolled around, and I started to doubt my choice. Desi has never been one for great numbers, and he's been injured. He's down in the minors right now. Maybe I need to settle for a two position utility guy. And so I betrayed Desi and drafted Kevin Millar instead. Sweetie was in shock. He said that somewhere in the world Desi Relaford was crying right about then.
This morning I logged onto Sportsline to check on my team's progress after one game. (Thankfully Jason Varitek put some points on the board for me. He's the man I drafted the round I should have taken Chone Figgins, so I've got big expectations for him). On the front page of the website are players notes - next to each note, if the player is owned by a member of our league, is a copy of that team's logo. Desi had some news this morning, and there was my logo right next to his name. Desi may have been crying yesterday, but today he was saying he forgave me and he is still a member of my team, if only in spirit.
After 24 hours of major league baseball I'm sitting in second place in the league, so Desi as guardian angel is doing an OK job so far.
But as big of a baseball fan as I was, I've never been someone who knows the stats. That's what Sweetie is for. He is an encyclopedia of sports knowledge. Ask him a sports trivia question and there's a good chance he knows the answer. Me, on the other hand, I couldn't tell you the record of the minor league team I was working for most days.
Maybe not the best person to join a fantasy baseball league, but I loved the sport, I love my Sweetie, and as much as I may not know the stats I do enjoy stats and numbers, so what the hell?
As such, some of my drafting decisions were perhaps a little more emotional than they should be. I wanted Juan Pierre, because I remembered watching him play for the Portland Rockies and he was a pretty good outfielder. He was also on the Colorado Rockies, which was the major league affiliate of the team I was working for. I wanted to have a St. Louis Cardinal, to honor my baseball past, and a Seattle Mariner, to honor my current major league team of choice.
The early rounds of the draft are easy to approach systematically. I got Juan Pierre in a pre-season trade. I got Curt Schilling and Byung-Hyun Kim. I had some guys who could really play. But by the late rounds of the draft it starts to get a bit more difficult. Flip a coin, pull a name out of a hat, he was born in the same year as me, in the same town as me, has a fun name to say. Good of a reason as any to pick him.
So it gets to the last round of the 2002 draft and I realize that I haven't picked a Mariner yet. So I find the best remaining Mariner available (this is back when Mariners were worthwhile players to have on a fantasy baseball team) and the magic name was Desi Relaford. He wasn't even in the daily lineup, but Desi was my man. And because he was the fantasy player I was most likely to see play live I became an instantaneous fan of his. If Sweetie and I were at a Mariner's game and he game to bat you could hear me squeal, "DESI!!!!"
And although he wasn't a superstar in any one category, I quickly became a fan of his for his versatility. He was a true utility guy, available at every fielding position our league offers except for catcher. If other players were injured or just stinking have no fear, for Desi is here. He rarely put up big points, but you could count on him to put a few points on the board.
And so he became my team mascot, and I picked him up again in both the 2003 and 2004 drafts. Desi hadn't let me down, so I didn't let him down either.
Yesterday was this year's draft. I had my eye on Chone Figgins (another former Portland Rocky, although I don't remember him), but missed him by one round. Chone Figgins and Desi Relaford were the only two players in major league baseball who are eligible for every fielding position except catcher in our league. So I figured I'd pick Desi up with my last pick of the draft. But then the last round rolled around, and I started to doubt my choice. Desi has never been one for great numbers, and he's been injured. He's down in the minors right now. Maybe I need to settle for a two position utility guy. And so I betrayed Desi and drafted Kevin Millar instead. Sweetie was in shock. He said that somewhere in the world Desi Relaford was crying right about then.
This morning I logged onto Sportsline to check on my team's progress after one game. (Thankfully Jason Varitek put some points on the board for me. He's the man I drafted the round I should have taken Chone Figgins, so I've got big expectations for him). On the front page of the website are players notes - next to each note, if the player is owned by a member of our league, is a copy of that team's logo. Desi had some news this morning, and there was my logo right next to his name. Desi may have been crying yesterday, but today he was saying he forgave me and he is still a member of my team, if only in spirit.
After 24 hours of major league baseball I'm sitting in second place in the league, so Desi as guardian angel is doing an OK job so far.
posted by Swankette at 10:29 PM
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