Ringle Holds On For Wild Finish In NY League 2

[Tom Kessenich]

Going right down to the wire to determine the league champion can be stressful in any fantasy league. But when there’s $5,000 riding on things, that isn’t going to be good news for the blood pressure level.



But Leonard Ringle not only survived a thrilling finish to the 2004 season, he walked off with the $5,000 prize for finishing first in New York League 2 in the process.



“Our league was probably the closest contest with three teams separated by a half-point going into the final day,” said Ringle, a 48-year-old attorney from New York. “Because it was so close, we had to wait for the last pitch that Jason Schmidt threw before we knew that we won. After some quick calculating, we were very excited.”



The title was months in the making and the groundwork was laid with a specific, two-pronged battle plan on Draft Day.



“Our strategy was to select as many offensive players we could who had both power and speed,” Ringle said. “We drafted Rocco Baldelli, Corey Patterson, Melvin Mora, Larry Bigbie, Corey Koskie, Bret Boone and Jimmy Rollins. We also drafted player (like Patterson, Phil Nevin and Mike Lowell) who were injured in the previous year who we drafted in lower rounds than they would have been available if they had been healthy.



“We also looked for pitcher who were well-rounded and would not draft pitchers unless they could give us strikeouts. Our best move was picking up Melvin Mora in the 18th round and (Albert) Pujols in the first round.”



The sharp drafting helped overcome some shaky moments on the Waiver Wire during the season.



“We actually spent our free-agent money poorly until the last five weeks of the year when we got our act together when we had very little left and were forced to do more homework. Two of our best moves was to pick up (David) Newhan for $48 to solidify our infield and (Bob) Wickman to bolster our save category.



“Then when (Matt) Clement, (C.C.) Sabathia and (Randy) Wolf all fell apart, we picked up Jeremy Bonderman for $3 and Luke Hudson for $5 with a month to go. Between them, we got seven wins with an ERA of about 2.00 and a WHIP of 1.05 and 63 Ks in 70 innings.”



Now $5,000 richer, Ringle said he enjoyed the NFBC experience and plans to return in 2005.



“It was extremely well organized and the draft was a hoot,” he said. “We are looking forward to next year.”