Pitching Powers Rastelli To NFBC Grand Prize

[Tom Kessenich]

After being the front-runner in the NFBC since Labor Day, Artie Rastelli had no reason to believe this past Saturday would be unlike any other Saturday. He assumed it would be a peaceful weekend day where he could enjoy a day of relaxing and enjoying the fruits of his team’s labor with the end (and the NFBC title) so close to coming to fruition.



That was the plan anyway, but all that changed when he hopped online per his daily ritual of checking out the current NFBC standings. That’s when the calm, peaceful weekend day turned into something a bit more hectic.



That’s when it turned into a heated race for the $100,000 grand prize.



When Rastelli checked the league’s standings that morning he saw something he did not anticipate seeing, something no one else in the NFBC had seen since Labor Day. There was another team sharing first place with him and the finish line – and the $100,000 overall prize – was just two days away.



“I’ve been waking up at 5 o’clock in the morning the last month checking the updates,” said the 28-year-old Rastelli. “Then on that Saturday I saw that Razor Shines Last Fan guy had tied me. I was going crazy. I was like, ‘If I lose this now, I’m going to shoot myself.’



“I knew Saturday was going to be the key because we were tied for first and I had four pitchers (starting) on Saturday. They wound up doing awesome. I got a couple of wins then on Sunday and I got wins from Kyle Lohse and (Roger) Clemens and I knew it was over.



“That’s what it was all about. Wins. Nothing else mattered. I was so far ahead in the offense categories, I just need the wins and I got ’em.”

Leaning heavily on pitching was one of Rastelli's key Draft-Day and season-long strategies.





“I’ve been in leagues like for a long time with more teams,” said Rastelli, who has been playing fantasy sports since he was 12. “I know that in leagues where there are just wins save guys aren’t that important so I gave up the save category. The only closer I got (at the draft) was Rocky Biddle and I knew he would probably lose his job.



“What I did was I stacked my reserves with closers who were next in line to get the job and I figured I would get a lot of saves that way and I wound up with 60 saves which is pretty good. That’s exactly what I wanted to do.



“Then with my starters, I had Ben Sheets, Carlos Zambrano, Carl Pavano, Wade Miller and Matt Clement. Those pitchers carried me in the first half of the year. I lost Miller at the All-Star break and then in mid-August I saw it was all going to be about wins. I was so good in ERA and WHIP that all I needed was wins and I was going to win. So I took all the save guys out and picked up every single starter that pitched twice each week that was pretty decent at the end of the year.



“I picked up guys like Kyle Lohse, Jason Jennings, Brett Tomko and Josh Fogg just to get the wins. Every win I got I went up 10 points so I went in first place on Labor Day and I was alone in first until I was tied for first on Saturday.”



The pitching proved significant because Rastelli’s team was loaded offensively. Players such as Carlos Beltran, Lance Berkman, Scott Rolen and free-agent pickup Chone Figgins powered his dominant offense all season long.



“My first pick in the draft was Beltran,” he said. “I had the third pick in my draft and I passed on (Albert) Pujols because I think (offensive) balance is better than the better player. I thought it was better to get a 30-30 guy than someone who hits 50 home runs. Everybody at the draft was laughing at me because I passed on Pujols to get Beltran.”



It’s safe to say Rastelli got the last laugh – not to mention a cool $100,000. That certainly made for a bright start to the work week, even if Rastelli still couldn’t quite believe his bank account was $100,000 more lucrative than it had been just a few hours before.



“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. I need some sleep,” he said, laughing. “It’s definitely been fun.”



And what does Rastelli plan to do with the $100,000?



“I don’t have any plans yet,” he said. “I have a lot of thinking to do.”