New York 1 Champion Profile - Joe Thelen

[Tom Kessenich]

The taste of a championship season is sweet. The taste of back-to-back championships, however, is an elixir.



One year after topping the field in the NFBC’s New York League 3, Joe Thelen bested the competition once again, this time finishing first in New York League 1.



Needless to say, a large part of the excitement Thelen felt for winning the title was derived from the fact this was his second consecutive NFBC league championship he had won with his co-manager and brother Jim.



“The best feeling for my brother and I was proving we could do it again and that last year was no fluke,” Thelen said.



New York League 3 was one of the toughest in the NFBC in 2005. Among the teams in the league were ones led by 2004 NFBC champ Artie Rastelli and Bob Ashmen, a 2004 fantasy baseball champion from SportsBuff.com.



“Our league was competitive from Day 1 until the last day,” said Thelen, who has been playing fantasy baseball since 1990. “This really was no surprise because of the reputation it had going in.”



Given the high level of competition, Thelen said he didn’t start believing he had a shot at finishing first until the latter stages of the season.



“With maybe 3-4 weeks left it became pretty certain that our league was a two-team race between our team and Joshua Sack’s,” he said. “I never felt victory was ours until the end of Sunday’s games. We won Batting Average by one hit and Strikeouts by two. Our final margin being 1.5 points, had t hose two categories switched we would have lost.”



Victory proved to be Thelen’s, though, and it was due in large part to some sharp FAAB work throughout the season.



“Without a doubt our pickups were the keys to our (first-place finish),” he said. “Many of the starting pitchers we drafted got hurt. Fortunately, we were able to pick up a host of solid replacements like John Patterson, Bruce Chen, Joe Blanton, Victor Zambrano and Hector Carrasco to fill the voids.



“We also picked up a number of hitters such as Jonny Gomes, David Dellucci, Mark Grudzielanek and Travis Lee who contributed greatly to our success. Alex Rodriguez and Jimmy Rolins were good picks at 1 and 2, but the only players we really aced in the draft were Cliff Floyd in the 15th round and Tim Wakefield in the 26th.”



The one thing Thelen did not want to do on Draft Day was dive into the closer pool too early.



“That ruled out the elite closers,” he said. “If any of a small subset of secondary closers were available in say, Rounds 12 or later, I would have considered them. They weren’t. Consequently, we punted Saves.”



Thelen, a computer applications manager in engineering at a government agency in the New York area, has been married for 34 years with three children. With back-to-back league titles under his belt, it’s no surprise he has enjoyed the NFBC immensely.



“I cannot say enough good things about the NFBC,” he said. “It’s a totally professional operation by people who love the game.”