The Subterraneans Is The Week 4 Winner

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Mon May 03, 2004 3:10 am

Congratulations to The Subterraneans for being the Week 4 winner. This week's prize is a Ichiro Suzuki autographed All-Star baseball with a retail value of $499.99. Congratulations again to The Subterraneans and good luck to everyone this week.

Plymouth · Post by **Plymouth** » Mon May 03, 2004 4:03 am

Wow! Back to back Las Vegas # 5 winners. Congratulations, no wonder my team is struggling.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Mon May 03, 2004 5:25 am

Here are the top results in each category for Week 4:

Average: .354

Runs: 49

HR: 16

RBI: 58

SB: 9

ERA: 1.43

Wins: 7

WHIP: 0.85

Ks: 64

Saves: 8

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue May 04, 2004 4:32 am

Michael Lewis is the owner of The Subterraneans, which won the Week 4 prize. Is this the same Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball? Hmmm, let's find out. Here's the fast facts on our Week 4 winner:

He was the third person to sign up for the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, but during Week 4 of the competition nobody else was ahead of him in the standings. Michael Lewis of Winsted, Conn. has a famous name (no he's not the author of the great book Moneyball) and he lives just down the street from the ESPN Headquarters, but for this week he's made a name for himself by posting the high point total in the NFBC. For winning Week 4, Lewis has earned a signed Ichiro Suzuki All-Star baseball from Upper Deck Authenticated, valued at $500.

Interestingly, it marks the second straight week that the Weekly Winner has come from Las Vegas NFBC League #5. The Subterraneans follow Team O'Connor as the weekly champion as they posted a .354 average with 16 home runs, 58 RBIs, nine stolen bases and 49 runs. The team also posted seven wins, eight saves, 64 strikeouts, a 1.43 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP to move into 11th place in the overall standings.

"I am very relieved to be off to a good start as I truly believe I had a very poor draft," said Lewis. "I reached for several players and reacted to who other owners were drafting."

Lewis, a 33-year-old insurance photographer and father of an 18-month-old son, drafted fifth in Las Vegas NFBC League #5, grabbing Vladimir Guerrero, Randy Johnson, Josh Beckett, Derrek Lee, Octavio Dotel, Angel Berroa, Miguel Cabrera and Matt Clement with his first eight picks. He added Dave Roberts in the 13th round and Erubiel Durazo in the 15th round for a well-balanced team.

"My strategy on Draft Day was to focus on getting a strong pitching staff with a solid closer and some

5-tool hitters with an emphasis on speed," said Lewis, whose wife accompanied him to Las Vegas for the NFBC draft. "It didn’t necessarily work out that way, but I got four of the five pitchers I really wanted and some speed."

It's interesting that Lewis was the third person to sign up for the NFBC draft as this became his first live fantasy baseball draft ever. He has been playing online games for the past four years, but was interested in this high stakes contest right away and has excelled thus far.

"We had a great time," he said of the draft. "I thought the NFBC draft was run excellently and I

think it’s going great in Vegas League 5 - one of the most competitive leagues in this draft in my opinion. There are some great teams in this league and I’m just trying to hold my own. I think I’ll be all right if Dotel and (Mike) MacDougal get busy, Derrek Lee wakes up and my horses Johnson, Beckett, Clement and (Brad) Penny continue to have good years."

It's hard to argue with the fast start, which is understandable since he was fast to sign up for the NFBC.