Who Were Your First Fantasy Picks EVER?

[Greg Ambrosius]

Okay, I posted this question on Twitter yesterday and I've gotten over 200 responses and counting so far. I think people like to answer this question because it takes them back to a more simpler time, when they first found fantasy sports and did it for the love of the game with friends, most likely. It also jars the memory bank to that first draft or first auction or first newspaper contest they joined. I love it.

I know we probably won't get that many responses here, but let's see what some of our die-hard high-stakes player say about their first fantasy sports experience. I think these results should be very interesting. Thanks for any response and don't worry about aging yourself. We're all old here!

Who was the first player you ever drafted in fantasy sports? Go ahead and show your age here!! Mine was Jerry Rice in football and Benito Santiago in baseball (I joined an existing league and took Benito 2nd in the rookie draft). Who were your first picks?

[Greg Ambrosius]

I'll post a couple of interesting responses to my Twitter feed:

Matthew Berry, ESPN: "1984. 1st yr the original Rotisserie League Baseball book came out. My first 3 were Tony Gwynn, $37. Mario Soto $24, Ryne Sandberg... $47! Evan at 14, I was always stars and scrubs...."

Ron Shandler, founder of BaseballHQ.com: "Tom Barasso, 1984. Yes, my first foray into fantasy was a hockey league."

Michael Fabiano, NFL Network: "NFL: @Terrell_Davis NBA: Shawn Kemp"

Eric Karabell, ESPN: "Chris Mullin. Wade Boggs. I don’t recall football."

Steve Gardner, USA Today: "Barry Larkin in baseball and ... the legendary Carl Pickens in football."

Brad Evans, Yahoo.com: "Barry Sanders and Raul Mondesi"

Craig Mish, FNTSY Sports Network: "James Wilder
Bret Saberhagen - APBA Keeper
Will Clark - Micro League BB Dynasty"

[Yah Mule]

My first roto baseball team was in a pitiful little six team NL Only auction league back in 1989 with a laughably corrupt commissioner, but I mostly took it in stride because I was finally playing the game I had read about and wanted to play for so long. My partner and I went in targeting Mike Scott and got him. I played in CDM salary cap leagues after that (and was terrible) because I had no other options. I think my first actual draft was probably in a Sandbox league in the mid-90's, but I can't remember who I took with my first ever pick. Larry Walker or Jeff Bagwell seem like the most likely suspects.

https://tht.fangraphs.com/remembering-sandbox-net/