Minute Men Is Week 3 Winner

[Tom Kessenich]

Congratulations to Minute Men in Chicago League for finishing first in the NFBC last week with 2,393 points. Minute Men received some strong hitting from players such as Lew Ford (.500), Kevin Mench (.476), Adam Dunn (.471) and Bill Mueller (.429) as well as standout pitching performances from Mark Mulder (2 wins/0.00 ERA) and Dontrelle Willis (2 wins/3.75 ERA).



For finishing first last week, Minute Men wins an autographed Wade Boggs 5x7 3000 hit club photo

worth $100 from Upper Deck Authenticated. Congratulations to Minute Men and good luck to everyone in the NFBC this week.

[Tom Kessenich]

Early-season trends are often misleading in fantasy baseball. That’s one reason why Minute Men are encouraged about the season going forward.



Of course, a first-place finish in Week 3 of the NFBC is a pretty good reason for encouragement as well.



Despite the fact some of their top players are off to slow starts, Minute Men put together a big week last week, topping the NFBC competition with 2,393 points. For finishing first last week, Minute Men wins an autographed 5x7 Wade Boggs 3000 hit photo from Upper Deck Authenticated.



“I knew we were having a pretty good week but never thought it was good enough for No. 1,” said Jeff Cooper from Houston, TX, who co-owns the team with Gary Stanberry. “Besides having some cold hitters (like Kevin Mench, Lew Ford and Chone Figgins) get hot, we had some hot hitters (like Wily Mo Pena and Jason Varitek) stay hot. And all six of our starting pitchers had two starts.”



Minute Men received some strong hitting from players such as Ford (.500), Mench (.476), Adam Dunn (.471) and Bill Mueller (.429) as well as standout pitching performances from Mark Mulder (2 wins/0.00 ERA) and Dontrelle Willis (2 wins/3.75 ERA).



Cooper said the team’s Draft Day strategy was to target specific players and make sure they got them – even if they had to reach a bit to snare them. Among the players Minute Men targeted heading into the draft were Dunn, Pena, Willis, Pedro Feliz, Figgins, Mench and Ford.



“We’ll see how these players do over the course of the entire season,” Cooper said. “But we’re counting on good stats.



“We also wanted to take pitchers later than most teams would and pick up some ‘closer in waiting’ types very late. And we wanted to try to get two solid catchers.



“The first 10 picks of our draft went about as well as hoped. Getting Mark Teixieria in the second round and Rafael Furcal in the fourth were unexpected plusses. Our top four picks (Todd Helton, Teixeira, Dunn and Furcal) haven’t gotten hot yet and we’re doing this well, so watch out.”



Cooper has a telecommunications auditing business in Houston and is married with four kids, six grandchildren “a dog and a cat.” Stanberry, meanwhile, is married with three children and four grandchildren and owns a company that sells and services copiers. The two came up with their team name due not only to the fact it’s the name of the Houston Astros’ home park, but also as a reference to the one-minute time limit the NFBC implements between draft picks.



This is their first foray into the world of high-stakes fantasy baseball and Cooper said they are enjoying the event immensely.



“I’m very impressed with the NFBC’s integrity, organization and ability to put up with all the owners’ personalities,” Cooper said. “The Web site and stats delivery are top notch as well.”



[ April 26, 2005, 10:59 AM: Message edited by: Greg Ambrosius ]