Hankerchiefs Wins Week 2 Prize

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 12:28 am

Congratulations to Hankerchiefs in Las Vegas League 3 for finishing first in the NFBC last week with 2,845.5 points.

Another huge week from Jim Thome (.350-4-7 with 10 runs) was a key factor in the team's first-place finish. Todd Walker (.438-1-3), Garrett Atkins (.400), Chad Tracey (.375) and Geoff Jenkins (.320-2-5) also delivered strong weeks offensively. On the mound, John Lackey picked up a pair of wins with a 2.40 ERA and 13 Ks, while Tim Worrell and Mike Gonzalez combined for 5 saves and John Patterson added 17 Ks.

For finishing first last week, Hankerchiefs wins a Orlando Cabrera Autographed Baseball courtesy of Tri-Star Productions. Congratulations again to Hankerchiefs and good luck to everyone in the NFBC this week.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 2:36 am

Congrats Hank Cantrell on the fine week. Hank is an original member of the NFBC and it looks like he's got it right in Year Three!

Enjoy Hank and keep the run going.

hankstr · Post by **hankstr** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 3:04 am

As luck would have it, I have a good friend from Cartagena Colombia, who actually played little league baseball with Orlando. Nestor teaches Spanish in a Raleigh middle school and I'll give him the baseball - he'll be thrilled.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 3:23 am

Originally posted by hankstr:

As luck would have it, I have a good friend from Cartagena Colombia, who actually played little league baseball with Orlando. Nestor teaches Spanish in a Raleigh middle school and I'll give him the baseball - he'll be thrilled. Romancing The Stone!!! Cartagena!! I love it. I'll tell the folks at Tri-Star Promotions, who will love this story.

The Lollygaggers · Post by **The Lollygaggers** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 3:43 pm

Congratulations, Hank.

BTW, what are all those starting pitchers doing on your roster?

- Eric Peden

hankstr · Post by **hankstr** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:37 am

Eric, blame Greg - he added a minimum innings pitched rule!

Joe Sambito · Post by **Joe Sambito** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 1:22 am

I noticed that too, this isn't your older brother's hankerchiefs. Congrats Hank from Stevieland.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 2:31 am

One of the interesting developments of our introduction of Kentucky Derby Style drafting was seeing the different spots our participants were.

Many preferred to target the top third of the round to hopefully land a guaranteed stud player. Others were more interested in the middle part of the round, hoping to avoid missing out on any runs throughout the draft.

And then there were the select few who had another plan entirely. They took a good look at the first round and saw the end of the round was right where they wanted to be.

Hank Cantrell was one of those owners. And thanks in part to that strategy, he has enjoyed a strong start to the season that included the best week of any NFBC member in Week 2.

Cantrell’s Hankerchiefs team in Las Vegas League 3 topped the field with 2,845.5 points. For finishing first last week, Cantrell wins a Orlando Cabrera autographed baseball courtesy of Tri-Star Productions.

“Most people hated the 15th pick in the draft,” Cantrell said. “I went after it via KD and targeted speed (Chone Figgins and Jose Reyes) with the first two picks. I hoped by doing this to also inflate the values of the remaining speed guys.

“Power came later with Adam Dunn and Jim Thome. I opted not to do the closer-only strategy and anchored my starting pitching with Roy Oswalt and John Patterson. It’s a long season but it’s nice to have a quick start.”

Another huge week from Thome (.350-4-7 with 10 runs) was a key factor in Cantrell’s team's first-place finish. Todd Walker (.438-1-3), Garrett Atkins (.400), Chad Tracey (.375) and Geoff Jenkins (.320-2-5) also delivered strong weeks offensively.

On the mound, John Lackey picked up a pair of wins with a 2.40 ERA and 13 Ks, while Tim Worrell and Mike Gonzalez combined for 5 saves and Patterson added 17 Ks.

While fantasy baseball has been an enjoyable hobby for Cantrell, the Raleigh, N.C. resident found there was an even greater connection to baseball when he traveled to a remote village in northern Ghana last summer.

“I remember being surrounded by about 50 Ghanian children and passing out baseball cards,” Cantrell said. “The kids all wanted to know who such-and-such player was and what team he was on.”

Back in the states, Cantrell is enjoying the strong start to the 2006 season as well as taking part in another year of the fantasy industry’s only multi-city, high-stakes event.

“The NFBC has been a blast the last few years,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed getting to play against excellent, well-prepared competition and hope to be doing this for many years.”

Spyhunter · Post by **Spyhunter** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:04 pm

I remember talking to hankster at the draft - his strategy worked completely and when I saw his draft board, I knew he would be dangerous, but his league helped quite a bit. In fact, the first words out of my mouth to him were - too much speed, then I saw Dunn and Thome and was like holly cow! He was able to get players in the 15th pick that went much earlier in other leagues. For example Dunn - Dunn went 31st in LV6, and like 46 in LV3. I give Hankster a ton of credit - he figured out a strategy and went for it, but man, a few different picks and it would have been ugly!

hankstr · Post by **hankstr** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 2:54 pm

Spyhunter, you're right - I was fortunate to bag both Thome and Dunn. Thome would certainly go higher were the draft held now. Will he score 160 runs? Not!

The way my starting pitchers are getting whacked around the Hankerchiefs won't be threatening anybody for this week's prize.

Every dog has his day!

Peace....

Spyhunter · Post by **Spyhunter** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 4:48 am

I just love that you picked a strat and executed on it. my strat was 'pick balanced best available and make sure to get a #1 start before the 10th round'. So when felix h was there in the 5th I took him over thome who I had taken in the 5th in Two satellite drafts. suffice it to say, I am crying every day..... team name is 'win it all' league lv 6....