Getting started

I didn’t grow up a baseball fan. I grew up to be a baseball fan.

My first introduction to fantasy baseball was through a work league. Its first year I, for some reason, was not involved. I vaguely remember receiving an invitation to participate, but shrugging it off, using one of the multitude of excuses in my life. I’m too busy. need to pay more attention to my family. The dog won’t like it. I don’t know enough about baseball.

That last one was probably the big one for me. I knew about baseball fans – I mean, serious baseball fans. The kind of people who grew up with a copy of The Baseball Encyclopedia in their house. They could quote statistics, tell you who played second base for the Dodgers despite being Yankee fans, and swing a bat with at least some degree of competence. I sort of knew what batting average meant, but I couldn’t name a member of the current Dodgers, and when I tried to actually play the game… well, let’s just say there my lack of competence truly showed itself. My father, whatever else he may have been, was not the sort of dad to take his son out back for a game of catch. I vaguely remember one day at summer camp, being herded onto the field with a group of other kids for a game. A bat placed into my hand, I swung three times, and the only thing I hit was the ground after swinging so hard at the third pitch I fell on my ass. Dusting the dirt off me as the other kids laughed, it was clear that baseball was not my sport. So when the option to participate in fantasy came, I didn’t step up. Not my thing.

And life went on. Yet after a while, I noticed that I was, like the proverbial kid on the bench, left out. My work colleagues were participating, and I knew that some of them knew even less about baseball than I did. Yet they were having a blast. Smack talk bounced around the lunch table. Trade offers of varying degrees of complexity were hinted at, informally offered, with various sweeteners (beer primary among them) thrown in. A trophy was created, displayed, and by the end of the season flaunted. Remember the ad on ESPN a few years ago with the guy drinking coffee out of his trophy? That might as well have been our office and our champion.

I wanted in. And even before the invites went out, I made it known I wanted in. Pick me.

My first draft day happened. It was, I learned, a 5x5 Yahoo league. I didn’t really know what that meant. There was a lot else I didn’t know, including most of the names on the draft board. I let the computer do the work for me.

I got my butt kicked. It may have had something to do with the fact that pitching staff was built around the highly touted Jose Contreras, who ended that 2004 season with a whopping 5.64 ERA. Halfway through the season, I was so far out of contention, I don’t really know why I kept playing. Except that, even when I was losing, I was having fun. I managed not to finish in last place. That dubious honor went to a colleague who, after drafting, forgot the password to her account and went on to forget about her team.

The next season was better. I learned more about strategy. I learned about the players, position scarcity, and why batting average is one of the least accurate reflections of player quality in use. I learned how to trade. I did better.

More than that, I came to love the game in general. XM Radio’s baseball coverage helped here. I found myself listening to games at night, choosing games as much for the coverage’s potential entertainment value (Bob Uecker) as the quality of the game. I spent a summer week in Cape Cod, watching college kids try to master the fickleness of the wood bat. I went to a few more live games than usual.

The next season, I won. More than that. I housed my competition, beating the second place team by 17 points., setting the league record for most points in a season. I was hooked.

Since then, fantasy sports has become, if not an obsession, at least a significant hobby. I won’t profess expertise – there are many, many people on the web who are experts in fantasy sports, and I’m not one of them. I’ve had some success – I finished my league in second last year, choking in the last two weeks after leading most of the season. I also won my first season of fantasy football, despite knowing almost nothing about fantasy football. Hence the title, “A Fantasy Fluke.” I can talk a bit about why I’ve done well, but that doesn’t mean I can explain it – or repeat it. So if you’ve come here looking for how-to-win strategies, you are in the wrong place.

What I intend to do here is write about fantasy baseball from my own perspective. How it impacts my life, what my team is doing. I’ll probably write about the fantasy industry as well, which generated around $1.5 billion in revenue in 2005. I hope you enjoy.

Next entry, I’ll write about my team this year. We just drafted last night, and I am not a happy camper.