I gladly confess it. I am a “fan” of fantasy baseball. I am not enough a “fanatic” to participate in live drafts. I choose auto-draft and then enjoy the process of trading players or watching the add/drop lists of free agents to snatch up someone for my roster. Over the years I have coached many real teams in baseball and softball (as well as basketball and soccer). I think there’s a sports managerial gene in my DNA that compels to do so. Fantasy baseball, however, doesn’t require me to match schedules with a roster of real players with real jobs, or to endure the elements, or to endure parents of players who think their little darling deserves more playing time.
By the way, two days into the season 3 of my MLB Teams are winning, my Yahoo team has a slight edge, ESPN is winning, and Salary Cap is still calculating points.
The first year I endangered my marriage by spending hours watching the developing minutia of each game and then switching over the computer feed of the actual games to watch my players when at bat. Last year I made sure I asked before going into my Fantasy Baseball cubbyhole. This year I have a laptop so I don’t have to leave the family room (but I am still doing most of my “managing” in the early hours of the morning while my wife is still sleeping.) A fanatic has been know to trash their marriage. A fan remembers that their spouse is far more important than what happens on the field between men who will soon be on the disabled list or traded to another team. Evan Longoria is not going to cook my dinner. I have no interest in a hug from David Ortiz. And no one will ever pray for me like my beloved Dianne.
For now .. I am glad fantasy baseball is back and along the way this season I will try and wax more or less eloquently about America’s digital past time.
Fantasy baseball is really quite uncomplicated (once you master the system of managing by computer). I make it complicated because after season one when I had one team–now in season three I have eight. MLB Fantasy Baseball is my provider of choice but I have a Yahoo Team in a league created by a friend at church. I am experimenting with an ESPN Fantasy Team in a league created by Detroit Tiger devotees and am trying out Facebook’s Salary Cap Baseball. (My foray into CBS Sports Fantasy Baseball last year was a confusing disappointment. Far too complicated.) The latter two teams won’t get a lot of management. The Yahoo team will get a little more. My old stand-bye MLB Teams will get regular visits.
The first year I endangered my marriage by spending hours watching the developing minutia of each game and then switching over the computer feed of the actual games to watch my players when at bat. Last year I made sure I asked before going into my Fantasy Baseball cubbyhole. This year I have a laptop so I don’t have to leave the family room (but I am still doing most of my “managing” in the early hours of the morning while my wife is still sleeping.) A fanatic has been know to trash their marriage. A fan remembers that their spouse is far more important than what happens on the field between men who will soon be on the disabled list or traded to another team. Evan Longoria is not going to cook my dinner. I have no interest in a hug from David Ortiz. And no one will ever pray for me like my beloved Dianne.
For now .. I am glad fantasy baseball is back and along the way this season I will try and wax more or less eloquently about America’s digital past time.
(C) 2011 by Stephen L Dunn
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