NFBC Message Boards

The NFBC has become synonymous with greatness in the world of fantasy baseball. And within the NFBC there are some names who have also become synonymous with greatness due to their standout achievements in the first two years of the event.



Two of those names are Shawn Childs and Kevin Deckel.



Childs and Deckel have become prominent members of the NFBC thanks to their standout performances in 2004 and 2005. Winner of two league titles and the third-place overall finisher in 2004, Childs and Deckel followed that up with another championship campaign last year, taking home the title in Las Vegas League 1.



There’s no question that Childs and Deckel have asserted themselves as two of the elite players in the NFBC.



“It’s always great to win and have your strategy and play vindicated,” Deckel said. “T he fact it made us two-for-two in the NFBC main event was particularly gratifying.”



Childs and Deckel have known each other for seven years, having first met when both took part in a local fantasy baseball league in Massachusetts. The two quickly struck up a friendship and it wasn’t long before they decided to take the plunge into the world of high-stakes fantasy baseball.



“In January 2003, we were riding home from a Super Bowl party and Shawn asked if I was interested in partnering in a high-stakes fantasy baseball league,” Deckel said. “he didn’t have any particulars but we started sniffing around the Net.



“We were looking over the offerings when he called with another one to check out. It was called the National Fantasy Baseball Championship and Shawn was convinced that was the one to be in. We didn’t even know the stakes yet but he was convinced that was the one we had to be in. And that’s how we came to participate in the NFBC’s inaugural season.”



Their success together and in the 2004 NFBC had Childs and Deckel feeling quite confident about their team’s chances to win Las Vegas League 1 on Draft Day.



“To be honest we thought we had a winner coming out of the draft in March,” Deckel said. “We had a lot more lead time than in ’04 to prepare and we picked up early on (in the draft) that some owners were trying unusual pitching strategies and we made adjustments during the draft for that fact.



“Still we weren’t comfortable until the end of July and early August as first Hawaiian Islands and Hankerchiefs wouldn’t go away then Ball Four and Miami Mac made moves late as we staggered home. We won by a comfortable margin but it wasn’t, by any means, a foregone conclusion until late in the final week.”



One of the keys to their title was intense preparation. The two first began meeting and preparing for the draft in December and began making an extensive list of players they were going to target.



Among the players they targeted and ended up drafting were Andruw Jones, Marcus Giles, Nomar Garciaparra, Derrek Lee, Octavio Dotel, John Lackey, A.J. Burnett, Josh Becket, Kelvim Escobar, Eric Hinske, Placido Polanco and Jose Reyes.



“The non-traditional pitching strategy that more than a few (owners in our league) tried this year worked in our favor,” Deckel said. “We ended up with strong starters and got some saves of the Waiver Wire early after Dotel went down for the season.”



And ultimately it led to another NFBC championship for a duo that has quickly become one of the foremost members of this unique fantasy event.

Tom, you forgot to mention that these guys are the Lifetime Points Leaders for the NFBC.



Quite an achievement!

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:

“The non-traditional pitching strategy that more than a few (owners in our league) tried this year worked in our favor,” Deckel said. “We ended up with strong starters and got some saves of the Waiver Wire early after Dotel went down for the season.” maybe this is the bigger reason as to their success last year?

Originally posted by Gordon Gekko:

quote:Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:

“The non-traditional pitching strategy that more than a few (owners in our league) tried this year worked in our favor,” Deckel said. “We ended up with strong starters and got some saves of the Waiver Wire early after Dotel went down for the season.” maybe this is the bigger reason as to their success last year? [/QUOTE]Or the fact they were better than the other 10-12 teams at capitalizing on the the opportunities in front of them.



Give credit where credit is due-

Originally posted by Chest Rockwell:

Or the fact they were better than the other 10-12 teams at capitalizing on the the opportunities in front of them.that could certainly be true. i've spoken to shawn a couple times in the past few months. i've told him i think they are top notch fantasy players.



rock - you only know what you read on the MB, which frankly isn't a lot.



Originally posted by Chest Rockwell:

Give credit where credit is due- tom gave them credit in post #1 of this thread. i responded with a different thought.



must be slow at the office for you these days.

i've spoken to shawn a couple times in the past few months. i've told him i think they are top notch fantasy players.





I am sure that meant a lot to them. Gordon I spent about 9 bucks at lunch. Today my quick math told me that was about how much of your fortune I won last year. Wanted to tell you thanks and how much I enjoyed the fish sandwich.



[ February 07, 2006, 11:16 PM: Message edited by: Chest Rockwell ]

The article isn't clear about what the non-trad pitching strategy is. Is it the use of closers and minor leaguers to take advantage of the pitching limits? Several players in a single league did that? I thought they were just a few isolated cases.

Originally posted by Chest Rockwell:

Gordon I spent about 9 bucks at lunch. Today my quick math told me that was about how much of your fortune I won last year. Wanted to tell you thanks and how much I enjoyed the fish sandwich. your quick math (or your non-quick math) would be wrong. btw, i figured you to be a fish sandwich kinda guy.

Originally posted by bjoak:

The article isn't clear about what the non-trad pitching strategy is. Is it the use of closers and minor leaguers to take advantage of the pitching limits? Several players in a single league did that? I thought they were just a few isolated cases. Bjoak-- Yes. The "Non-Traditional"(NT) pitching strategy I was refering to was as you say. We were in Auction Leagues on Friday and in our NL one at least two teams went the NT route. One was an extreme version, a couple Closers early and finshed with 5 or 6 lower minors hurlers.(Prompting Greg to amend the rules and limit picks to the 40 man rosters this year).



I was caught completly off guard by it and felt like I'd been "HORNSWAGGLED." There was somewhat of a buzz and scuttlebutt was that more than a few others had tried this tactic in other leagues. So, on Saturday we were on guard for these nuances. Early on, in our Main Event League, several owners positioned themselves to go "NT". Some got cold feet or were disguising there intentions and took starters late, and those that kept to it didn't do so to the extreme. By keeping the possability of "NT" moves in mind we got (What we thought were) some higher end Starters because Closers and MR's were going off the board early. We were one pick away from getting "Dontrelle" and already had Beckett and AJ.



[ February 08, 2006, 10:37 AM: Message edited by: Kevin D ]

Originally posted by Chest Rockwell:

quote:Originally posted by Gordon Gekko:

quote:Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:

“The non-traditional pitching strategy that more than a few (owners in our league) tried this year worked in our favor,” Deckel said. “We ended up with strong starters and got some saves of the Waiver Wire early after Dotel went down for the season.” maybe this is the bigger reason as to their success last year? [/QUOTE]Or the fact they were better than the other 10-12 teams at capitalizing on the the opportunities in front of them.



Give credit where credit is due- [/QUOTE]Chesty's kind comment here is more how it was. We didn't "Fall Into" the picks we made but were reacting to the flow of the Draft with the possability of NT's in mind.

I was in Las Vegas 1 with the CC's (finished in 2nd) and I can assure you that the discussion about the the NT strategy employed by some teams is being overstated here. Remember, this strategy has a double edged sword. While SP's may have been readily available, strong hitters were not, as many of the NT teams tend to stock up on hitters in the early going. Seeing as though CC was dominant in hitting as well as pitching tells me this wasn't an accident. Fact is, they drafted well. That's why they won.

The tired, old blame it on the teams with the non-traditional pitcher approach! Let's look at the team that won the 2005 title last year. New York league 5 did not have any teams that used the closer only approach so obviously this didn't help Moneymaker become the champion. I used the approach in Vegas league 1 and may have done better if I had not drafted Foulke (mister Gekko remembers him, right?). Whose fault was that? MINE. I accept responsibility and am NOT blaming other owners in any league for my draft screwup of Foulke.

As for being "HORNSWAGGLED" - I would rather refer to that as being "UNPREPARED". The use of any strategy within the rules must be accounted for. Suppose you draft in a league where one guy refuses to draft speed, or two guys refuse to draft closers? These are legal strategies. Somebody may even draft naked. Handle it. That is what makes the draft interesting - being able to dynamically adjust to opposing strategies. I don't want to be in a league where everybody drafts based on the same rating list in the same magazine. Do we all need to wear the same color shirts at the draft? Geez, get over it....

Not only did they draft well but they managed well - they are an excellent team and deserve the recognition.

Originally posted by hankstr:

The tired, old blame it on the teams with the non-traditional pitcher approach! Geez, get over it.... i guess you're talking to me? i mention one blurb..."maybe this is the bigger reason as to their success last year?" and now you get all bent out of shape?!? get a grip man.



only a few more weeks until the movement of money from your bank account to mine begins. enjoy!



ps - thanks for admitting YOU made a MISTAKE by taking foulke. thanks.

Gee, if memory serves me right it was you Mr. Gekko, who was crying on the message boards last year about Foulke's performance. Poor baby!!



If your "one blurbs" are meaningless, then why post them? So what is it? Do you attribute Shawn's success to other teams use of NT strategy or do you attribute it to being a good drafter and a good manager?

Originally posted by hankstr:

If your "one blurbs" are meaningless, then why post them? So what is it? Do you attribute Shawn's success to other teams use of NT strategy or do you attribute it to being a good drafter and a good manager? i didn't follow shawn/kevin's league close enough to determine how much of an impact the "alternate" strategies played in them winning their league.



BUT WHAT I DO KNOW IS WHAT KEVIN SAID, "The non-traditional pitching strategy that more than a few (owners in our league) tried this year worked in our favor ."



brush up on the reading skills and you might sound a little more intelligent on these boards.



then again, you could always....

yawn - might as well be talking to a 13 year old (or perhaps I am).

Originally posted by hankstr:

yawn - might as well be talking to a 13 year old (or perhaps I am). yes, i agree...you are a 13 year old. i'm suprised you admitted it though.



again, read and understand posts before responding to them. you will sound more intelligent and your MB image will vastly improve.



thanks for the confession and glad i could help.



[ February 09, 2006, 04:45 AM: Message edited by: Gordon Gekko ]