September
Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 2:42 am
Last night, a kid came up to me and asked about fantasy baseball. His parents winked behind him as he asked about how it worked. His favorite player is Derek Jeter and he wanted to know if his 3,000th hit counted more than his other hits. He seemed a little unhappy when I told him no.
Like most not in the know about fantasy baseball, he surmised that a grand slam or no-hitter could make for an automatic first place. He couldn't fathom the piles of statistics that accumulate with 30 teams playing 162 games.
But then he asked me a question that I've never been asked before- "Well, what DON'T you like about fantasy baseball?"
He was too young to go into WCOFF.
I thought about injury, but injury is a part of the game. Every team has them to one degree or another.
I thought about under performing players, but I picked them. I didn't have a gun to my head when I picked these under performers. Who knows, maybe they're not under performers as much as I expected more than what I got.
Nope, the under performance is mine.
The kid, bored with watching me mull his question, said thanks and turned away.
As soon as he was out of sight the answer hit me.
September.
While we care more in September, our players are playing less. For different reasons.
Playoff bound teams are giving their prime players, OUR prime players, more rest breaks.
Kids are up from the minors on lesser teams. They're sharing time with players on our rosters. While we're busy manipulating our rosters to get the most out of our stats, teams seem to be conspiring against us.
The same thing happens in football.
It is where fantasy and real sports hit the fork in the road.
Our petal is to the metal for the whole season. We don't get a chance to rest our players. We want stats from day one to game 162.
With smaller roster sizes and more reliance on bigger stars, the end of the regular season is even tougher for fantasy footballers. With six figures on the line, they could see their qb and best running back playing a quarter, then resting.
There is nothing we can do about it.
In March, nobody has a clue as to who will be rested at the end of the season. Not even a consideration, really.
We are at the mercy of fate. We will never know if Ryan Howard would have hit two homers if he had played in a game where he was rested. And that, is probably a good thing.
September is cruel.
But crueler yet, is that after the heartbreak of September comes something far worse.
The end of our fantasy season.
Like most not in the know about fantasy baseball, he surmised that a grand slam or no-hitter could make for an automatic first place. He couldn't fathom the piles of statistics that accumulate with 30 teams playing 162 games.
But then he asked me a question that I've never been asked before- "Well, what DON'T you like about fantasy baseball?"
He was too young to go into WCOFF.
I thought about injury, but injury is a part of the game. Every team has them to one degree or another.
I thought about under performing players, but I picked them. I didn't have a gun to my head when I picked these under performers. Who knows, maybe they're not under performers as much as I expected more than what I got.
Nope, the under performance is mine.
The kid, bored with watching me mull his question, said thanks and turned away.
As soon as he was out of sight the answer hit me.
September.
While we care more in September, our players are playing less. For different reasons.
Playoff bound teams are giving their prime players, OUR prime players, more rest breaks.
Kids are up from the minors on lesser teams. They're sharing time with players on our rosters. While we're busy manipulating our rosters to get the most out of our stats, teams seem to be conspiring against us.
The same thing happens in football.
It is where fantasy and real sports hit the fork in the road.
Our petal is to the metal for the whole season. We don't get a chance to rest our players. We want stats from day one to game 162.
With smaller roster sizes and more reliance on bigger stars, the end of the regular season is even tougher for fantasy footballers. With six figures on the line, they could see their qb and best running back playing a quarter, then resting.
There is nothing we can do about it.
In March, nobody has a clue as to who will be rested at the end of the season. Not even a consideration, really.
We are at the mercy of fate. We will never know if Ryan Howard would have hit two homers if he had played in a game where he was rested. And that, is probably a good thing.
September is cruel.
But crueler yet, is that after the heartbreak of September comes something far worse.
The end of our fantasy season.
).