The Fantasy of Baseball
If this week's fantasy points were calculated right now I would be the sure winner of the week (thank you for your first win of the season Mr. Schilling). I fear that may be the closest I make it to a win all season.
I've not done so great the first two weeks. Part of that was due to injuries of my two super-stars, Curt Schilling and Juan Pierre. They were both off the injured list last week, but this is the first week I've started them because I wanted to make sure they really had recovered before allowing them into the lineup.
But what really worries me is my performance last week. I did moderately OK for the week, middle of the pack. However, each of my benched guys scored around 5-10 points more than my active guys for the week. Juan Pierre was benched because of the injuries, but Melvin Mora and Lew Ford were benched because they hadn't done as hot in week 1.
I am a baseball fan, I enjoy watching the game, but I'm not the greatest at keeping up with all the varieties of stats out there. I know if a hitter is at Coors Field it's good to activate him. If a pitcher is at Coors not so much. That's about the best I can do.
Sweetie seems to know each players average in each stadium in the league. He watches his players during the week and can ascertain from that how they'll likely do next week.
Me, I'd have a hard time telling you who a lot of the guys on me team are. OK, let's try. I looked at my lineups a few minutes ago, so should do OK at it. 25 men on the roster:
Catchers: Jason Varitek and some backup guy. Maybe Michael Barrett? Or maybe he was my backup guy last year.
Corner infielders: Todd Helton. Kevin Millar. And two others.
Middle infielders: Jimmy Rollins. Michael Young. And some other guy.
Outfielders: Juan Pierre. Miguel Cabrera. Lew Ford. And some other guy.
Starting Pitchers: Curt Schilling. Roy Halladay. And 6 other guys.
Relief Pitchers: Octavio Dotel. Shingo Takatsu. Danys Baez. And some other guy.
Oh yeah, Melvin Mora is on my team. He had a kick-ass week last week. Don't know what position he plays.
And most of these guys are keepers. Miguel Cabrera was on the team last year (and was considered for a keeper, but KEEPING 2/3 of Florida's outfield seemed silly). I've got a thing for knowing who my primary catcher is, and I'm not qute sure why. Kevin Millar spells his name funny, so that sticks in my head. I saw Lew Ford play this year already. And the closers have odd names as well.
So how can I be expected to know that NEXT week will be your good week?
Two seasons ago Barry Bonds was one of my keepers. He may have been hitting the steroids he was setting records left and right, but he was useless in my fantasy books. Because he wasn't consistent. He'd have one week where he'd score nothing, so I'd bench him for the next week. So he'd go out and score a million points that week.
All I ask from my players is a little consistency. And to not get upset when I forget their names.
Last night Sweetie insisted on watching the end of the Phillies/Braves game. Danny Kolb (a former pitcher of mine, who I dumped because he is now a brave) was looking to get a win, and then fell apart in the bottom of the 10th. Jimmy Rollins, one of my guys, hit one of the coolest bunts ever to help advance the runner (and made it on base himself). I'd like to think this all happened because Danny's sad he's not a Swanker anymore. And Jimmy was trying to impress me. Too bad I had Jimmy on the bench last week.
But this week he's active, so impress away.
I've not done so great the first two weeks. Part of that was due to injuries of my two super-stars, Curt Schilling and Juan Pierre. They were both off the injured list last week, but this is the first week I've started them because I wanted to make sure they really had recovered before allowing them into the lineup.
But what really worries me is my performance last week. I did moderately OK for the week, middle of the pack. However, each of my benched guys scored around 5-10 points more than my active guys for the week. Juan Pierre was benched because of the injuries, but Melvin Mora and Lew Ford were benched because they hadn't done as hot in week 1.
I am a baseball fan, I enjoy watching the game, but I'm not the greatest at keeping up with all the varieties of stats out there. I know if a hitter is at Coors Field it's good to activate him. If a pitcher is at Coors not so much. That's about the best I can do.
Sweetie seems to know each players average in each stadium in the league. He watches his players during the week and can ascertain from that how they'll likely do next week.
Me, I'd have a hard time telling you who a lot of the guys on me team are. OK, let's try. I looked at my lineups a few minutes ago, so should do OK at it. 25 men on the roster:
Catchers: Jason Varitek and some backup guy. Maybe Michael Barrett? Or maybe he was my backup guy last year.
Corner infielders: Todd Helton. Kevin Millar. And two others.
Middle infielders: Jimmy Rollins. Michael Young. And some other guy.
Outfielders: Juan Pierre. Miguel Cabrera. Lew Ford. And some other guy.
Starting Pitchers: Curt Schilling. Roy Halladay. And 6 other guys.
Relief Pitchers: Octavio Dotel. Shingo Takatsu. Danys Baez. And some other guy.
Oh yeah, Melvin Mora is on my team. He had a kick-ass week last week. Don't know what position he plays.
And most of these guys are keepers. Miguel Cabrera was on the team last year (and was considered for a keeper, but KEEPING 2/3 of Florida's outfield seemed silly). I've got a thing for knowing who my primary catcher is, and I'm not qute sure why. Kevin Millar spells his name funny, so that sticks in my head. I saw Lew Ford play this year already. And the closers have odd names as well.
So how can I be expected to know that NEXT week will be your good week?
Two seasons ago Barry Bonds was one of my keepers. He may have been hitting the steroids he was setting records left and right, but he was useless in my fantasy books. Because he wasn't consistent. He'd have one week where he'd score nothing, so I'd bench him for the next week. So he'd go out and score a million points that week.
All I ask from my players is a little consistency. And to not get upset when I forget their names.
Last night Sweetie insisted on watching the end of the Phillies/Braves game. Danny Kolb (a former pitcher of mine, who I dumped because he is now a brave) was looking to get a win, and then fell apart in the bottom of the 10th. Jimmy Rollins, one of my guys, hit one of the coolest bunts ever to help advance the runner (and made it on base himself). I'd like to think this all happened because Danny's sad he's not a Swanker anymore. And Jimmy was trying to impress me. Too bad I had Jimmy on the bench last week.
But this week he's active, so impress away.
posted by Swankette at 2:08 PM
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