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Congratulations to Paul Spradling, whose Highlander team in Las Vegas League 1 topped the NFBC field for the first week of the season.



Spradling's team was paced by a huge week from Alex Rodriguez, who hit .381 and drove in 11 runs. Ivan Rodriguez (.381-2-4) and Mark DeRosa (.333-2-6) also hit well while John Lackey won a pair of games and fanned 11 to pace the pitching staff.



For finishing first last week, Paul wins a prize to be named from Upper Deck Authenticated. Congratulations again to Paul and good luck to everyone in the NFBC this week.

Baseball is a marathon and not a sprint. Nobody knows that better than a fantasy baseball player.



So a fast start doesn’t always equate to season success. But let’s not kid ourselves – it’s a lot more fun to bolt out of the gate with authority than it is to struggle in the early going of the season.



Just ask Paul Spradling.



Thanks to a huge week from Alex Rodriguez and some standout pitching, Spradling’s Highlander team in Las Vegas League 1 topped the NFBC field for the first week of the season with 3,338 points.



A-Rod led the way, hitting .381 with 11 RBIs. Ivan Rodriguez (.381-2-4) and Mark DeRosa (.333-2-6) also hit well while John Lackey won a pair of games and fanned 11 to pace the pitching staff. But early in the week things weren’t going so great for Spradling’s team.



“Last week started very slow for my hitters,” he said. “I only had three home runs going into Saturday’s games. My pitching started off great. (Roy) Oswalt, (Roy) Halladay, (John) Lackey and even Gil Meche had solid starts to the season and Soloman Torres had a great week as well with four saves.”



Then came the weekend, and that’s when the team’s bats finally came alive.



“A-Rod was the man, hitting a grand slam and two more home runs besides that,” said Spradling, who lives in Bullhead City, AZ and works as the President/Chief Executive for a commercial air conditioning company. “I had eight home runs total for Saturday and Sunday’s games so I was a little relieved.



“I think my week was well rounded because I seem to be competing in all of the stat categories, including saves.”



Spradling traces his strong early start to a strong draft plan.



“I used Mock Draft Central’s ADP as a tool to help me as well as my own ranking list,” he said. “In the first round, I drafted A-Rod with the sixth pick. I had him ranked at four so I was happy there.



“With my second pick, I drafted Carlos Lee with the 26th overall pick and I had him ranked 15th overall. With my third pick, I drafted Vernon Wells with the 36th overall pick and I had him ranked 21st.



“I believe this trend was consistent throughout my whole draft. I felt like I was the only owner using an ADP as a guide to my draft.”



So far so good for Spradling. Now we just need to see how the rest of the marathon goes from here.



For finishing first last week, Paul wins a prize to be named from Upper Deck Authenticated.



[ April 10, 2007, 08:06 AM: Message edited by: Tom Kessenich ]

We just got the list of 26 items from Upper Deck Authenticated and will post them all soon along with jpgs of each item. The list is impressive.



Paul has won a Hank Aaron Atlanta Braves autographed "1974 Model" Batting Helmet that has a suggested retail price of $549.99. Congrats Paul on winning the NFBC's Week 1 prize and good luck the rest of the way. UDA will send us the items and then we'll mail them out each week, so just give us a few weeks and we'll get this done. Thanks.

Wow!!!! I thought I was going to get the Orlando Cabrera Baseball.....Thanks Greg and Tom. I can't wait to get the helmet and already have a spot for it in my trophy case.



Paul Spradling

Congratulations Paul! Helluva great item to add to the case!



John