Who is a Fantasy Baseball Expert???

Auction King · Post by **Auction King** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 4:25 am

What makes a person a Fantasy Baseball Expert? Is John Hunt of Baseball Weekly an expert. He writes a weekly fantsay column, but always seems to finish dead last or next to last in most of the LABR drafts. Is an expert a writer or a person that has actual sucess in a fantay league? What does success constitute? One first place finish every few years? Consistently finishing in the top 3 each year? If so, who are some of the biggest names in the fantaysy industry then as far as successful players go. I would be interested to see what others think on this subject.

[ December 02, 2004, 10:26 AM: Message edited by: Auction King ]

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 4:58 am

i'm an expert in training.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 5:17 am

I can certainly address this Auction King. There are no "experts" in fantasy sports. That damn term got started many years ago when we began assembling industry leagues for pre-season magazines and the term "expert league" became associated with those mock drafts. I have no idea where it first appeared and I know it wasn't with LABR (which started in 1994), but it has stuck like a bad toothache ever since and I'm as guilty for using that term in my magazine as anyone else.

I think people who make a living writing about fantasy sports or running fantasy sports companies get lumped as "experts" only because this is what they do for a living. Hell, I've been the luckiest man on the face of the earth as I've made my living writing about sports since 1982 and writing about fantasy sports since 1989. Am I an expert? Obviously not since I haven't won LABR yet and I rarely win those expert leagues!

But I am an industry "professional" if that helps.

John Hunt is actually a very good player. He's won like five LABR titles since 1994, but since he's moved to Portland and is working fulltime for a newspaper up there, he's struggled in LABR the last three years. But trust me, he is a good player and someone who makes a living (a side one these days) at fantasy sports.

The answer is simple: Nobody is an "expert" at this. There are a lot of good players, though, but they include fantasy professionals and non-fantasy professionals. You guys are better at this than me because I no longer can devote the time to follow baseball like I used to before three kids and a wife came into my life. But I still LOVE this fine hobby and this game.

Now if someone wins the NFBC two or three years in a row, I'll label him an expert. And most likely he will be a fantasy professional if he accomplishes that as well!

Plymouth · Post by **Plymouth** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 9:11 am

Good points Greg. It will be interesting to see how the league winners do from one year to the next. How much is skill and how much is luck based on injuries and the other players in the league? I guess we will have to wait and see, that is what makes this process so much fun. Hopefully with this game attracting what some folks would call the best players, or at least "legends in their own minds", we might see how much is luck and how much is skill. Let the games continue.

Joe Sambito · Post by **Joe Sambito** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 9:33 am

That is why the Lifetime Standings will be such an interesting aside to keep an eye on...

ToddZ · Post by **ToddZ** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 10:20 am

I'll offer a slightly different view than Greg.

While I agree that there is no such thing as an all-encompassing "fantasy baseball expert", I do believe one can be expert in a particular aspect of the game. The catch is being expert in an isolated element by no means assures one of overall success.

Here are some examples...

There are some people who are simply better at judging the ebbs and flows of an auction. They know when to sit back and when to jump in. They never leave money on the table and never end up with Howie Clark as their 3Bman in a high stakes AL only auction (cough cough).

Similarly, there are some expert in recognizing trends in drafts--they are able to better anticipate runs and identify positions or types of players that will slide. This enables them to be drafting more value later in the draft while others are handcuffed at certain positions.

Some people have a better handle on how to start from scratch and come up with a useful projection, given that projections are basically educated guesses. Still, some guesses are more educated than others.

Some people have a better understanding of the economic aspect of the hobby and can convert stats to a more accurate dollar value or draft list.

While this does not pertain to the NFBC, some people are better traders than others.

There are more examples, but the main point is I have most definitely seen people, and not all, actually most of them are not in the industry, who excel in a specific area of the game.

[ December 02, 2004, 04:31 PM: Message edited by: ToddZ ]