Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

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Glenneration X
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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Wed May 09, 2012 8:04 am

Joe, you've got me all wrong. There's no whining here. I'm merely attempting to impartially and unemotionally relay the daily events with as little bias towards the effects on my personal standings as possible. Think of this blog as a news provider, the New York Times, the Washington Post, 60 Minutes per se. I of course play the role of the NFBC's Woodward and Bernstein, Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite perhaps. 8-)

Now in regards to your protrayal of Mr. Juprinka as a whiner, Mr. Cronkite won't argue there. :D :P

And Doughy, I'm with Little Johnny, if I could be any inanimate object for a day....... :D
However, since my initial posting of a cycle picture had as little effect as Juprinka's on the injury and closer mayhem reeking havoc on my fantasy squads as evidenced by Braun aggravating his achilles, Cespedes going for X-rays and an MRI on his hand today, and HRod's stellar 9th inning last night, I will continue to post cycle pics until the Fantasy Gods are finally placated and I get just one single day without an injury, a blown save, or a starter blowup.

Fantasy Gods, here's your offering today. The chickens didn't work, maybe the chicks will.....

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Money
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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Money » Wed May 09, 2012 9:34 am

Glenneration X wrote:Joe, you've got me all wrong. There's no whining here. I'm merely attempting to impartially and unemotionally relay the daily events with as little bias towards the effects on my personal standings as possible. Think of this blog as a news provider, the New York Times, the Washington Post, 60 Minutes per se. I of course play the role of the NFBC's Woodward and Bernstein, Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite perhaps. 8-)

Now in regards to your protrayal of Mr. Juprinka as a whiner, Mr. Cronkite won't argue there. :D :P

And Doughy, I'm with Little Johnny, if I could be any inanimate object for a day....... :D
However, since my initial posting of a cycle picture had as little effect as Juprinka's on the injury and closer mayhem reeking havoc on my fantasy squads as evidenced by Braun aggravating his achilles, Cespedes going for X-rays and an MRI on his hand today, and HRod's stellar 9th inning last night, I will continue to post cycle pics until the Fantasy Gods are finally placated and I get just one single day without an injury, a blown save, or a starter blowup.

Fantasy Gods, here's your offering today. The chickens didn't work, maybe the chicks will.....

Image
What an awesome choice. How did you find a picture of the Rally Monkey to fit into your blog. Pujols must have kicked him out of Anaheim, glad to see he landed somewhere. :D
Joe

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Thu May 10, 2012 5:14 am

Axford, Marshall, Cishek, more closer fail for me last night. It looks like the chicks are having as much effect on our fantasy baseball karma thus far as the chickens did. I'm sure the owners of Sale, Putz, and expecially those now FAAB destitute owners of Robertson agree. We'll give Juprinka's girls on bikes gift to the Fantasy Gods idea one more try, but in the hopes of finding the right girl, we'll hold open tryouts for the role today.

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I read yesterday that 20 of the 30 closer roles in baseball have seen turnover since the start of the preseason. I haven't personally verified the number, but if accurate that's a staggering percentage, especially this early in the season. I also wonder what the number would be if teams that have seen multiple changes in the role (White Sox, Blue Jays, soon to be Yankees, etc) were factored into the calculation. It's been an historically brutal season for those of us chasing saves.

I'm sure Elias knows, but I'd also be curious to know what the percentage of converted saves vs save opportunities is this year. It wouldn't surprise me if it was the lowest of all time. It seems every night, there are two, three, even more blown saves.

While I've stated elsewhere that this certainly doesn't seem to be the year to have tried an all-reliever strategy, a reverse strategy of no-relievers may have been the way to go. Typically an all-reliever strategy assures you zeros in wins and K's, but high scores in saves, WHIP, and ERA. However with all the closer blowups and turnover this season, you're not getting the saves and outside of those owners of Hochevar or Liriano :? , owning some of these relievers have done more damage to our ratios than any starters could have. Next season, I incorporate the no-closer strategy everywhere. I feel my quickly growing ulcer dissipating already. :D

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Sat May 12, 2012 8:58 pm

Today, my mind took a break from thoughts of closer fails and player injuries, from league standings and overall races, from live scoring and anything NFBC, even from bikini clad females and their bicycles.
Today my mind was focused on another sport for a day and was rewarded......

Lets Go Rangers!!!! It's time to bring on Brodeur and the f***ing Devils! It should be one helluva war.

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Sun May 13, 2012 7:15 am

To my Mom, to my beautiful wife and mother of my children, and to all the baseball Moms out there.....

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Sat May 19, 2012 5:57 pm

By the end of day tomorrow, every team in baseball will have played its 40th game and the first seven weeks of the NFBC season will be in the books. In other words, we'll be a quarter of the way through both the Major League baseball and maybe more importantly our fantasy baseball seasons. I utilize the quarter pole as a personal milestone to evaluate my teams. While it's still too early to take a fast start for granted or a bad start as a death sentence, I believe there's now enough of a sample size to accurately evaluate both our teams and the players we used to build them. We can utilize what we've learned in this first 25% of the season to try and strengthen or fortify our strong teams or save our lagging ones.

What have I learned so far this season? Well, first thing is that it's probably not a good idea to draft high stakes teams in Vegas against NFBC level players with little or no sleep. :o Secondly, it's NEVER a good idea to make side bets based on the success of those teams against a player with the expertise of RT. :shock: Those kind of obvious facts aside that I probably should have known in the first place, I also learned a lot about my teams. I believe I can now evaluate if my hot starts are due to truly strong teams that have staying power or are just hot teams who've been carried by hot players with both due an eventual slide. In regards to my teams slow out of the gate, I should be able to get an accurate handle on whether they can rebound when some slow starters or currently stashed or injured players return to their previously anticipated production or if it's due to a more fundamental issue with team construction, much more difficult if not impossible at this point to correct.

I also learned a lot about the players I've drafted, picked up in FAAB, or even don't have on my teams. The following are a few personal thoughts on some of these players and how they've applied to my teams:


Best Draft Pick I've Made This Season for Multiple Teams

James McDonald (10 teams) - Drafted for 8 of my 15 teams and picked up for two others, as I noted previously in RT's great MVP thread I believe McDonald has been easily my best target of the season due to the amount of teams I've rostered him on, the inexpensive investment to obtain him, and the return I've received thus far on that investment. I've been pretty lucky over the years in finding that end game pitcher who returns #3 or 4 starter value. So far for this year, McDonald's been that guy for me. I was high on McDonald going into the draft season as that potential breakout pitcher. His high strikeout rates over his last few starts may be an indication that it'll last. I hope so.

Runner-up - Rafael Furcal (5 teams) - I always seem to have Furcal on my teams year after year. Given up for dead by many due to his awful and injury plagued 2011 and his dreadful spring training, his cost this year was cheaper than ever. I just can't help myself when it comes to him. Elite skills at the scarcest of positions, I'm always on board hoping it's the season he stays healthy and returns that early 2008 form. So far this season with Furcal returning power, speed, and avg as the leadoff hitter of a great offense, it's early 2008 redux.

2nd Runner-up - Jim Johnson (4 teams) - Though Johnson's been the best of the bunch, this spot should also include Frank Francisco (4 teams), HRod (4 teams), Matt Capps, Chris Perez, & Jon Broxton (1 team each), as it's more about that entire lowest draft tier of closers rather than any specific one. I went into the March draft season with a very specific plan to push closers, especially if my 2nd for any team, and as far as possible. I wanted at least two with the job for each team, I just didn't care which two. I didn't trust any after the Kimbrel, Papelbon, & Mariano tier, so I figured why not pay less if I could. In a season where that lowest tier has held on while injuries and lost roles have devastated the tiers above it, that thought process has paid off.

Honorable Mentions - Erik Bedard (7 teams) and Allen Craig (4 teams) - Both might be higher on the list for their per game production this season if they had not so recently given a reminder of how their injury history made them so inexpensive in the first place. :o


Worst Draft Pick I've Made this Season for Multiple Teams

Paul Goldschmidt (5 teams) - I truly believed that Stanton 10 Rounds Later would at worst be a consistent power source & run producer for that offense in that ballpark. It's one thing that he hasn't provided that anticipated power, it's another altogether that he's being sat regularly for the likes of Lyle Overbay. :? I'm still hopeful that a hot streak may be on the horizon, that is if a minor league stint doesn't come first.

Runner-up - Ike Davis (4 teams) - On the teams I missed out on Goldschmidt, I targeted Ike as a backup plan. I wasn't as high on Davis this year coming off his ankle injury and bout with Valley Fever, but I was obviously high enough on him to roster him as my 1B or corner for 4 teams. When I'm benching him consistently for the likes of Jed Lowrie or Chris Davis, you know things haven't worked out as planned.

2nd Runner-up - Scott Baker (4 teams) - I started this post planning on eliminating injuries as a reason for evaluating whether a player has lived up to expectations or not. However, Scott Baker is a different animal. He was injured when I drafted him. His history of injury is extreme. I targeted him too early as always. I shouldn't have been surprised. For the cost of a late teens pick, I got 0 wins and 0 K's. Well at least he didn't hurt any of my ratios. :? Will I never learn?


Player I was High On but Got on No Teams and Regret It

Gio Gonzales - I was very high on him going into the draft season. I remember a conversation with a fellow NFBC-er on several young pitchers he asked me about (Latos, Zimmerman, etc.), where I stated that he was the one I was highest on by far. I felt if he could improve his command just a tad and with the move to the NL, he could be dominant, that his ceiling was the highest. Somehow I missed out on him everywhere. I'm not really sure how. I think my typical draft construction just had me drafting other positions consistently where he was being drafted by others.

Runner-up - Matt Kemp - His recent injury makes it a bit easier to swallow, but I still can not believe I passed on him for three different teams!! :shock:


Player I Didn't Want At All, but Do Now

Mike Trout/Bryan Harper - It's not that I didn't believe in their skills, it's just that I didn't know if they'd translate to production right off the bat in their rookie years. The fact that they both were starting the season in the minors with no guarantee of a callup any time soon just made me more certain that they were being overdrafted by the prospect lovers. :) I never expected that they'd be called up as soon as they were. I also have seen enough to believe that their production can be where I'll really regret drafting the 4th and 5th OF's I did over them. I already do.

Runner-up - David Freese - I'm not sure if I didn't want him or just overlooked him. In every draft I wanted one of the top tier 3B. If I didn't get one of them, my draft plan dropped me right past where Freese was being drafted to Encarnacion and if missing out on him to Headley or Chris Davis. Thinking back, I believe I did like him but felt he was being overdrafted due to his World Series heroics. Maybe so. I kinda wish I overdrafted him in a league or so now myself.


Player I Didn't Want At All, and Glad I Didn't

Eric Hosmer - In my mind during the draft season, he was the most overdrafted player by far. I did understand the love. However, I thought he was a stretch when being drafted at the end of the 3rd. When his hot pre-season saw him skyrocket to mid-2nd round, I didn't know what to make of it. I just know I wanted no part of it. I couldn't see investing a 2nd rounder in Hosmer, when the likes of Konerko was going 2-3 rounds later.

Runner-up - Matt Moore - Yes, I was and am still intrigued by his talent. However, I just couldn't understand how he was being drafted so high. He was being chosen over pitchers of similar talent, but who were much more established, with a longer (or even any) track record of success, and that don't pitch in the meat grinder known as the AL East. He would have been a target of mine if his ADP was a few rounds lower. Though the rounds he was being drafted were in an area where I always seemed to be grabbing a pitcher, I just could never pull the trigger on him and always grabbed another arm.

2nd Runner-up - Dee Gordon - Notice a trend here. I guess I tend to shy away from some of the prospect types that are getting hyped to the extreme during the preseason (though I did end up drafting Jennings and Lawrie on a couple teams after long deliberations on where they were being drafted). There was a draft or two that I thought about Gordon if he dropped far enough, he just never did.


Best FAAB Pickup

Fernando Rodney (3 teams) - Picked up during the first FAAB of the season for several teams during a week when Hector Santiago was the hot closer pickup (who I unluckily did win on a couple teams) and just prior to the closer mayhem created a week to week momentum in cost increases for available closers. I was able to grab him for the relatively low cost of mid-100's for each of my teams. Other FAAB closers have done just as well, Casilla comes to mind. However, by the time they were available, the cost of potential closers had skyrocketed to as much as 400 or more.


Worst FAAB Pickup

Francisco Liriano (4 teams) - When everyone else was dropping him, I was trying to scoop him up in the hopes that the Twins would be able to fix his "mechanical flaw". Instead, they gave up on him. There's some FAAB I'll never see again.


Worst Waiver Drop

Kyle Seager - Not quite at the level of the Alexi Ogando disasters of last season, but still a pretty bad move. Though producing for me at the time, I thought I saw the writing on the wall with Liddi getting called up, Carp getting healthy, and at the time Gutierrez not far behind. I thought I was being proactive. What makes matter worse is that my only 3B at the time besides Seager was Youkipuss. Even worse than that is the player I picked up for Seager was Chris Nelson. :? Genius.


Worst Weekly Lineup Benching

The Aforementioned Ike Davis - Slumping badly to start the season and facing a 3 game M-Th that included lefties with his backups having 4-game weeks, I thought it a good idea to sit him for the period. Of course he hit half his home runs for the season during that stretch. What else would have been expected?


Worst Weekly Lineup Start

Luke Hochevar - Week 5, 2-start week against Detroit and the Yankees. Needless to say my ratios may never recover.


Best Weekly Lineup Start or Benching

None - I never get these right.

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by KJ Duke » Sat May 19, 2012 6:55 pm

In the spirit of your last post, there is one borderline player each season who I will start and sit, at the exact wrong time. Hochevar is notorious for that kind of frustration. On one team I got blown up as you did, on one other I caught his good week too. Then I dropped him, can't win with him.

But this year's winner is Dayan Viciedo. Fortunately he was on only one team, the NFBCK. My starts and sits with him were comically bad.

By period:
1) Starts: 2-12, 1r
2a) Start: 2-7
2b) Sit: 3-10, 2hr, 2r, 2rbi
3a) Start: 1-11
3b) Sit: 0-7 :)
4) Sit: 6-25, hr, 2r, 2rbi
5) Sit: 4-14, 2r, rbi
6a) Start: 1-11, r
6b): Sit: 1-9

So, as a starter over 2.5 periods: 6-41 (146 BA), zero HRs, 2 runs scored ... an absolute sinkhole
While on my bench for the other 3.5 periods: 14-65, 3 HR, 6 R, 5 RBI ... not great, but decent #5-OF production

The guy's killin' me, can't take it anymore. Dropped him last weekend.

This week? He goes 11-21, 4hrs, 5r, 10rbi, and now he's the Sox cleanup hitter. Probably be the AL player of the week.

So, should I try to get him back tomorrow? I know if I do I'm probably looking at 3 more weeks of 6-41, with zero HR and RBI, and if I don't he'll be his team's offensive MVP this season. What would you (anyone) do?

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Sun May 20, 2012 6:14 pm

I picked up Viciedo for my team in the MtM Super last week and threw him in the starting lineup. That was very nice timing for once.

By the way KJ, I put in bids for him for a few leagues this week.....including the NFBCK. ;)

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Thu May 24, 2012 8:33 am

Last night my wife was watching one of her favorite chick flicks, a movie that depicts an historic event that's commemorating its 100th anniversary this year. While pretending to watch, my mind of course wandered off to fantasy baseball. Somehow in my imagination the movie's plot and how the fantasy season has played out so far fused together to form a new storyline and the following images....


March 2012 and heading into the Live Drafts to Choose the Inventory that will Fill my Rosters..... :D

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April and sailing into the Regular Season with a Great Outlook and Better Expectations..... 8-) :P

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May and Things are Getting a Bit D-icier..... :o

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Heading into June and ...... :shock:

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I can only imagine what the rest of the season will bring. :?

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Let's hope not. ;)
Hmmm......I've got to stop watching movies with my wife. :D

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Mon May 28, 2012 7:57 am

I remember growing up as a kid first in Brooklyn and later Long Island when Memorial Day meant a day off from school, family, friends, a barbecue at the park or in the yard, and of course.....Baseball. Typically there would be a baseball game to play or softball or stickball or at minimum wiffle ball followed by the guaranteed doubleheader the Mets would be playing that afternoon.

Well fast forward a couple decades and the guaranteed Mets doubleheaders have gone by the wayside. I also have no baseball, softball, stickball, or wiffle ball game scheduled. However I do have some fantasy baseball to play and of course family, friends, and the barbecue in the yard. There's even one doubleheader on the MLB slate today. :)

So Happy Memorial Day everyone and thank you especially to those who've served our country.

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Thu May 31, 2012 8:18 pm

At the end of tonight's way too light for my appetite 3-game menu of ballgames, the second month of the MLB, fantasy baseball, and NFBC seasons will be in the books. What a bizarre first two months it's been. These past few days have served reminder after reminder of how bizarre by reinforcing the prevailing yet unfortunate themes of this 2012 fantasy season. Those themes?

Starting Pitcher Blowups - Derek Holland last night doing his best Luke Hochevar impersonation anyone? Is Bud Norris tonight in the midst of providing his own version of Hochevar & Holland?

Closer Fails - As we await to see who will eventually be anointed as the new closers in Seattle and Chicago taking over for the failed attempts of League and Dolis, numbers 457 and 458 of closers who've lost the role this season, or so it seems. At least we know Seattle's new closer won't be Steve Delabar. Only in this wacky season does a player go from being a candidate for being anointed closer to being sent down to AAA within 24 hours.

Demotions - Speaking of AAA, Ryan Raburn and Eric Thames joining Adam Lind and Gaby Sanchez as young veteran power hitters who've not only lost their once prominent spots in the batting order, but on the major league rosters as well. Ike Davis has gotten the dreaded vote of confidence while Justin Smoak and Paul Goldschmidt have shown pretty good timing for their current hot streaks, but are any of them more than one extended slump from joining the aforementioned in the bush leagues?

And of course most of all..... Injuries - In a year of brutal injuries to star players, these last few days have been the most brutal. Kemp, Tulo, Pedroia, Halladay, Weaver, Fister, Markakis, Santana, Lucroy, Morrow?, Braun? Some of these players populate my personal rosters, some don't. However, whether they are on my rosters or not isn't the point of this post. All populate a prominent position on many a fantasy player's roster. All are or would be losses that will be difficult or even impossible to overcome. In a season that's seen more than its share of injuries, this level of lost anticipated production must feel like yet another dagger to countless fantasy hopes.

The current posts on the NFBC message boards are a reflection of what these injuries are doing to the mood of the fantasy constituency. Frustration seems to be the overriding feeling. The vast majority of posts seem to be about the latest injury or the lastest closer fail or the last starting pitcher to give up a dozen runs in 1/3 of an inning. I sense an exasperation with this season. The NFBC boards are not alone. Read the boards of any other site. The same complaints are going on there, the same sense of frustration, the same feeling of helpless "Again??"

There are some who've recently stated that the rants on these boards over injuries are "whining". I disagree. I look at it as examples of how passionate those who play this game are about this game. We care about our teams, we care about the players that make up our teams. When they fail, when they are lost to injury, it hurts the way we feel about these teams. We rant because we care. I welcome the rants of others. I can relate to that. I'm not sure I can relate to those who've stated they can just shrug it off and would prefer to chat about current fashion trends.

I won't complain tonight about whether any the players I've mentioned above are on my teams. However if I choose to tomorrow, I'd like to think I'd be able to do so without holier than thou criticism. So tonight, I'll just put on a smiley face for those who feel that is the only acceptable face to show, though one that might be a bit more battered and bruised than usual. ;)

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Tue Jun 05, 2012 8:59 pm

Well, we're now into the first week of June and with it the 10th week of the NFBC fantasy baseball season. You can tell that the dog days of summer are pretty much upon us as you no longer read that's it's still too early on the boards anymore. In fact you don't read too much of anything on the boards anymore as a sure sign of mid-season is the quieter boards. I suppose many players around this time start to share their fantasy baseball focus with other summer activities such as vacations, summer parties and barbecues, their families. I guess these other players don't know how to prioritize. :D I'm sure still others may be off to disappointing starts and see the standings starting to stabilize with players such as Rick Thomas, who is leading one of my Main Event leagues, or Chad Schroeder, who is leading the Overall (two sure signs that it's no longer early :shock: ), and human nature starts to take over with doubts of being able to get their squads back into the race. Personally at this point, I have some teams doing very well such as some of my XII's, a couple of my slows, my MtM squad (take that Massotto :P ), a couple teams doing extremely poorly such as my disgrace of an AL Auction team, my Online Championship effort, and most unfortunately my Diamond squad, and a whole bunch of mediocre somewhere in between. However whether my teams are doing great, doing mediocre, or especially if they're doing terrible, I know that while it's no longer early, it's not too late yet either.

The beginning of June is a major personal milestone in the NFBC fantasy baseball season for me. It has been since my first season in 2009. You see, at that point in that rookie season of mine, I was not only at the bottom of the standings in my Main Event league, but pretty much at the bottom of the standings of the Overall as well. Out of 390 teams at the time, I was somewhere in the high 300's. Sometime in May, I had bottomed out at around 380. :shock: :? :cry: Injuries, terrible performances by my players, and terrible management by myself all contributed to this brutal start. However as a rookie to the NFBC, I was either too naive, too new, or just too stupid to realize I was dead in the water. Then an amazing thing started to happen. My injured players such as Chris Carpenter started to get healthy and perform. My struggling early round picks like Jimmy Rollins, Mark Teixeira, Josh Beckett, and Cliff Lee started to play like early round picks. My struggling young players who were being threatened with demotion like Justin Upton started to breakout. My $1 FAAB pickups like Brett Anderson, Jorge DeLarosa, Miguel Montero, Kyle Blanks, and Neftali Feliz started to contribute like all in FAAB buys. I began to creep up the standings slowly but surely. It all came together around the All-Star break when my once brutal squad put together a tremendous run which saw it top the weekly standings in the Overall for 2 weeks out of 3. The rise up the league and overall standings continued until its eventual peak at the end of August just one game out of first in my league and in 16th place in the overall. In just three months, I had made up 350 places +/- in the Overall standings. I eventually faded some in September to my 3rd place league finish and 46th overall, but that three month rush up the standings from the very bottom to approaching the top is one I'll never forget. It was as exciting a time as I've had in fantasy sports.

So again, I currently have some teams doing well, I have some teams doing OK, and unfortunately I also have some teams doing poorly. However no matter how poor, I know from personal experience that I still have time to fix them. Good luck the rest of the way for those with teams doing very well, for those with teams doing mediocre, and especially for those with teams doing badly. It's not early anymore, but I know for a fact that it's still not too late.

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Thu Jun 07, 2012 9:11 pm

Today while performing my morning ritual of sitting down with a cup of coffee and my laptop while perusing my places in the various league and overall standings, I saw that I stood at exactly 100 in the Main Event Overall. What a nice round number. Not as nice as 1 of course, but interesting nonetheless (and very nice compared to where my other Main lies). :? When I saw where I stood, I took a quick glance through those who are currently above me in the Overall standings to see what names I recognized (c'mon, you know you all do it :P ). There were quite a few. Last year when I found myself in a similar position at a similar time, I took the time to post a few thoughts for each of the players I knew above me in the standings. Today I've decided to perform the same exercise. The following are some of those players that I recognize, where they stand today in the standings, and a thought or two that crossed my mind as I ran across those names.


93 - Incredible Hulking Us - Michael Edelman - A fellow East Coast drafter for both baseball and football, one of the quietest, most unassuming and nice guys I've met in these contests. However, he does have his moments. :roll: Though I typically utilize a laptop during my live drafts, I haven't yet joined the modern age of checking Twitter, etc. on my laptop or phone during these drafts for the latest updates. During last year's Live DP in Atlantic City, I chose Johnny Cuerto with a pick right before the 2nd break. I saw Edelman and Mike Massotto smiling while passing Edelman's phone back and forth after my pick. During the break they showed me why. Edelman had an update on his phone that Cuerto was just pulled from his start with arm issues. :( With my last pick in that same draft, I chose Pedro Borbon. Again Edelman and Massotto were passing the phone back and forth grinning. At draft's end I was shown why, a phone update regarding an announcement that David Murphy would likely be given Texas' 3rd OF spot over Borbon. I was glad to make their day. :x Luckily, I got to be the last one smiling when all was said and done. I won the league. :P

89 - Get the Bag - John Menna - A member of the infamous CDM crew, I met John for the first time this year in Vegas when we drafted next to each other for the Main Event. In the 13th round of that draft, I chose Logan Morrison right before John's pick. It turned out that John had Morrison all queued up there and was so sure he was falling to him that my pick seemed to throw him. John had both picks at the 13/14 turn and was flustered enough that he utilized the full minute for both those picks without making one. Feeling to blame, I took my full minute without making a pick to give him a chance to make his. He thanked me. Still, it turns out I should have done anything but helped him. Today, John's fighting near the top of this league with around 100 points while I'm languishing in never-ran territory with around 70!! Whatever happened to getting a return on good Karma?? :? ;)

82 - Complete Domination - Dave Hubbard/Shawn Coots - I know these boys from the WCOFF and FFPC. Shawn was/is an active member of those boards and Dave typically drafts around 700 teams in the FPC. :P Both are good guys and I actually got to meet Dave briefly for the first time this year in Vegas. They're doing a very nice job here, but I'd be curious how much FAAB they have remaining. Dave was in the top 5 of the WCOFB Overall all season last year, but was down to single digit FAAB by week 3. I'm only mildly exaggerating. :D I wouldn't worry about these guys too much. Come September and the start of Fantasy Football season, they'll forget they even have baseball teams. :P

76 - Harry Crumb NJ - Joe Anthony - Half of the power couple entry in the MtM Super with Ken Magner, I was surprised by their fast start there as I figured two great players with strong opinions would have trouble agreeing on a strategy and who to draft. I was wrong, they're right up there fighting at the top.... but not the top. :) As they also are two of the players who joined forces with Massotto in harassing me into joining up for that league, I have one more question for you guys. How's my a** look? :P Just kidding, it's tight there between us and a few others and there's a long way to go. Should be a great battle to the end.

67 - KJ LV4 - KJ Duke - Not only one of the best players in this game for both baseball and football, KJ's one of the most innovative players we have regarding both rules and ideas for new leagues. We have him to thank for the Slow Drafts, the MLBC Leagues, the NFBCK Keeper League and more, all his brainchilds. As a player, he was one game, one at bat in fact from winning it all last year. Listening to him tell his story in Vegas this March, I realized we share an understanding of what it feels like to be so close only to fall short. His experience with the NFBC Overall last year mimics my experience with the FFPC where I also had the lead on the very last day. Whenever I tell someone that I don't feel like I won $20K for coming in second in that event, I lost $180K, I get that odd look back. I know they don't understand. I know KJ does.

66/98 - MGBS2 - Martin Bedell - I've gotten to know Marty over the years as a smoking partner during a few of the Live Main Events for both baseball and football on the East Coast. However, the first time I saw his name was during my rookie season as we were both entered in the same $500 online satellite. I remember that he was competitive most of the season but was completely out of FAAB by mid-summer, I mean not even a dollar. I thought it impossible for him to hold on to a cash spot. I personally managed to cash in that league. However, Marty not only cashed, but won the whole thing. I think by season's end, all seven of his reserve spots had the dreaded red DL tag next to them. I'm still not sure how he pulled it off.

54 - Triple A - Artie Rastelli - I never actually met Artie, but did draft against him last year for the Main Event in NY. Our very first champion, I don't know why it makes me feel good to see that inaugural champion approaching the top of the Main Event again. I must be more nostalgic than I realized. :cry:

51/91 - Doughboys - Dan Kenyon - I would guarantee that there's a whole generation of NFBC player that thinks Doughy is only known for his message board persona and doesn't even realize that he has both a 2nd overall and 4th overall finish in past NFBC Main Events. With two teams in the top 100, he's obviously looking to remind everyone that he's not only our Dr. Seuss but the Dr. Kevorkian of the rest of our fantasy hopes as well. Still, as good a player as Doughy is, he's also everyone's favorite poster, his message board presence irreplaceable. From someone who truly enjoys our boards, it's in times like these when the boards go eerily silent, that we can always take comfort in the fact that Doughy will bring us an interesting story, fact, idea, thought, etc. to enjoy. It's not all good of course. I can never use the term "value" again without feeling subconsiously guilty. Still, it's worth it. Doughy, it's been awhile since our last episode of Fantasy Camp. ;)

50 - Bob Enzyte - Lindy Hinkelman - Probably the most renowned fantasy player "outside" of the High Stakes fantasy circles, his incredible exploits have made it to the pages of the NY Times, ESPN, etc., etc., etc. He's become the Elvis of fantasy sports. However, having met him for the first time this year in Vegas, he couldn't be less "affected" by his new-found fame. He's far more humble than I would be in the same situation. :) He deserves all the accolades he's received. He's so good at this game that I'm sure he's considering 50th overall an abject failure. Wanna trade spots Lindy? :)

46 - Winston's Empire - Max Ogden - I don't think there's a player on these boards that exudes enthusiasm for this sport, this contest, and this hobby in a manner that comes off as truly genuine as Max. During my pre-season Countdown to the live drafts, Willie Mays was represented with 24 days to go. Max sent me a video of a parade he attended that Mays was part of. If you could have heard Max's screams for "Willie!!!!!", you'd know for sure as I do that his love for this game is very, very real. The fact that he's a Cubbie fan makes his love for baseball even more remarkable. :P This year represents a return to the Main for Max after a couple year absence. I'm rooting for him. Where ya been Max, the boards miss you.

44 - Low Talkers - Dave Potts - I met Dave this year in Vegas. A very nice guy, very quiet, very humble, very unassuming, something I wasn't used to being a veteran of the NY drafts. :D Dave and I shared a table to eat during the NFBC NCAA Viewing Party in Vegas. We had a quiet, soft-spoken conversation. That is until Greg and his brother-in-law sat down with us. For some reason, the conversation got a lot less quiet and soft spoken. Hmmm, I wonder why? :P

43 - Schwartstops - Cory Schwartz - A member of MLB.com and the MLB Network, Cory Schwartz is one of the rare industry experts who have a pretty impressive history in the NFBC. The first time I heard of him was in reading his article describing how he gave himself a Yoo-Hoo shower after his NFBC league championship in 2009. I never even knew there was such a thing as a Yoo-Hoo shower before that. :? He's also regularly one of the more interesting speakers at Shandler's annual First Pitch Forums, I respect his opinions.

40 - FFBL's Finest - Kevin Kirves - I learned who Kevin was during last year's WCOFB where we battled the entire year for that Overall Championship. He prevailed and thanks to his great season, I had to settle for runnerup. However, it turns out we were battling for nothing. Our unfortunate shared experience continues as we are co-plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the former owners of the WCOFF. Hopefully, our shared experience ends in a shared victory against them.

36 - The Good, The Bad, and The Hanley - Jules McLean/Bryan Vogel - Jules is hands down the best female fantasy player in the universe and one of the best players period of either gender. Last year in football, it seemed she won every league we were in together, Trendsetters, Genesis, Legends Dynasty, it honestly got annoying getting my a$$ regularly handed to me by a.....girl!!! :? All joking aside, a great and respected player. Hopefully her sharing this team with Bryan Vogel won't bring her down. :P Just kidding Bryan.

31 - Quahogs - Steve Jupinka - Juprinka, Juprinka, Juprinka!!! :P Simply one of the top two or three players in this contest, possibly the best. He wins so often, it's honestly gotten a little annoying. He even wins regularly in football! Jeez! I'd love to hate him, but he won't even let me have that because he's such a nice freakin' guy. To top it off, there's no one quicker with a picture post. He's even taken that to a new level with the damn stick figures!! Juprinka rant over, time to move on. :)

30/56 - RoundTrippers! - Rick Thomas - I knew of Rick before I ever got to know him. I knew he was one of the best players in this game. Though we've been in a few online leagues together, a few E-mail football leagues, chatted on the boards or in league chat rooms and on the phone a couple times, I got to meet him for the first time this year in Vegas....and got to see the infamous RT Draft Board for the 1st time as well! :shock: As great a guy as he is a player, I'm unfortunately in way too many leagues with him. One of his two Mains in the top 100 currently leads my Vegas Main Event league. Lack of sleep in Vegas must be the reason, but I unwittingly made a side bet with him on our combined scores in the Diamond, this Main, and a XII. I'm already putting aside the money I'll owe him. :?

29 - Men Without Helmets - Ray Murphy/Win Murray - Ray Murphy's another industry guy with a pretty impressive NFBC resume, the Murphy/Murray team finished 4th overall during my rookie season with the NFBC in 2009. Ray's a regular administrator/contributor on the BBHQ Forums and one of the more interesting reads there.

25 - Raskols - Emory Upchurch - It was Emory's team that I took over last year when I joined the NFBCK Keeper League. Jeez, what a disaster!! Thanks Em! :x Still, it's good to see Emory do so well in the Overall this year, a very nice guy. But once again, thanks Em!

24 - Welcome to Stevieland - Andrew Nolan/Christopher Stephenson - Probably the best least known players in the NFBC. They don't get a lot of hype, but I believe they were 2nd in the NFBC lifetime standings (behind that damn Juprinka guy) when these standings were last available in 2009.

21 - The Franchise - Nelson Sousa/David Hubbard - Nelson is probably the guy I've gotten to know best in my time with High Stakes fantasy contests. We met my first year but only started to chat regularly during the whole WCOFF criminal fiasco last year, a fiasco that cost both of us tens of thousands of dollars. We've chatted regularly since. I consider him a true friend. Still, he knows I blame him for my runner-up finish in last year's FFPC by not doing a better job of talking me out of benching CJ Spiller the 2nd to last week of that playoff season. Of course, he talked me into targeting CJ Spiller for my drafts during the pre-season in the first place, but that's getting off point. In my mind, he owes me $180K. :D We do have a Paul Goldschmidt vs. Justin Smoak side bet for a dinner at next year's Main Event. How many lobsters do I have to eat to make up $180K?

19 - Strike Force - Mark Bendar - Another member of the East Coast drafts, Mark may be the only Mets fan bigger than I am at those live events. It was nice to see him leading it all after Week 1 and nicer to see him still seriously in the hunt Week 10.

12 - Heartbreakers - Gene McCaffrey - It's looking like a good year for industry "experts" as Gene is the 3rd now that I've noticed in the top 100. His Wiseguy Baseball publication is one of my favorites each year as it's not only informative but an unbelievably enjoyable read. Gene's also the shepherd of the CDM crew as his publication and website deals just as much with the Diamond Challenge as it does with the NFBC. One of the reasons that I enjoy Gene's work so much is that it often relates to the High Stakes games I play, like Mastersball always did, and as Sports Draft Daily and Rotowire do now. I read somewhere that Gene drafted his NFBC team from a hospital bed last year. Pretty impressive, though I believe many of us would have insisted on doing the same under the same circumstances. Addiction's a bitch.

11 - Layin' the Smack Down - Jaime Baird - Canada in the house!! I find it interesting that you can draft a team from Canada, but not from Washington, Arizona, or a few other states in the union. :? Sorry Rockit, sorry Walla. However, at least you guys know you can draft if you move out of the country. :)

6 - Team Erickson - Jeff Erickson - A 4th industry "expert" in the top 100, he's probably the most well-known of these experts in this contest. I'm glad to see him take part in this contest this year. He's been a part of the WCOFB the past couple years and was in the hunt for the overall all the way into the last month there two years ago. I'm also happy to see him reference his NFBC teams on Rotowire where I read that the team he's most focused on of all his teams is this one here fighting for the NFBC Overall Championships. Jeff has bragging rights on Derek Van Riper right now. Let's see if he can talk Liss and Del Don into joining up next season. I do wish he'd join in the message board conversations a bit more. I thought his participation earlier in the year added to them.

5 - Dutch Mafia - John Pausma - Though John's the quieter, less rabble rousing half of the Pausma/Haan conglomerate :P , both John and Jack are good guys and great fantasy players. Though I'm not sure if they're teaming up on this specific team, I do know that they've shared a few, and won with many of them. John was also easily the biggest fan of the Philly girl who was part of my pre-season Countdown, as his requests for new pictures of her stood at around 10 during the Countdown itself and I think even continued into the first few weeks of the season. :P

4 - The Pale King - Robert Particelli - A fellow East Coast drafter who also made his first NFBC pilgrimage to Vegas this year, Bob's a great player, a great competitor, and a better guy. I recently learned that Bob will be making another trek to Sin City as he recently won one of the entries into Fanduel's DFBC and their potential $100K Grand Prize. Nice job Bob and good luck Buddy!!

1 - Cocktails and Dreams - Chad Schroeder - Just freakin' ridiculous. What Chad's doing this year in the NFBC is just freakin' ridiculous. Leading the Main, near the lead in every other Overall, leading the Diamond, another Super, he makes it look easy. We already know that he knows how to finish as he has WCOFB, NFFC, and FFPC Overall Championships, an FFOC Overall runnerup, and countless other league championships on his resume. Up 'til a few days ago, I believed him to be a truly nice and humble person considering his accomplishments. However now I think Particelli hit it on the head. The man's a quiet assassin!!! The best all around fantasy player in the world. There's no surprise that he's currently on top of this contest.


Today I'm in 100th place. 99 of the greatest fantasy players in the world to pass, less than 4 months to do so. It won't be easy, but I'm sure gonna give it a try.
Good luck everyone the rest of the way, whether in 1st or 420th, it'll be a fun and exciting last few months.

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by DOUGHBOYS » Fri Jun 08, 2012 8:16 am

Great write up, Glenn.
It only serves to remind us of how many GREAT competitors there are in our game.
Kind of makes me long for the days of beating 'Yahoo Kid' types and feeling a little superior. :)

As for 'Fantasy Camp'...Ask and you shall receive.
On my tombstone-
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Sat Jun 23, 2012 7:44 pm

DOUGHBOYS wrote:Great write up, Glenn.
It only serves to remind us of how many GREAT competitors there are in our game.
Kind of makes me long for the days of beating 'Yahoo Kid' types and feeling a little superior. :)
Tell me about it Doughy. At various points over the last few days, five of my fantasy squads have sat in 2nd place of their respective league standings. In a "Yahoo Kid" type setup, being in striking distance of the league lead for several leagues would bode well for the possibility of maybe catching the leader in one or two of them. Of course here in the NFBC, the leaders of those respective leagues go by the names of Lindy Hinkelman, Chad Schroeder, Mark Srebro, Mark Lemke, and the unholy duo of Ken Magner/Joe Anthony. :o I may as well be in last place. :? For some of my other leagues that I'm a little (or ummm a lot ;) ) further back in the pack, the league leaders include Rick Thomas, Will Tyrer, Mike Massotto, Dave Potts, Ryan Carey, and the unholy tandem of Jon Stadtmueller/Josh Honeycutt amongst others, not to mention the likes of Steve Jupinka, Shawn Childs, and Kevin Kirves amongst those sitting in cash positions just off the lead that I'd have to pass on my way to even approaching the leaders. :shock: Not too many "Yahoo Kid" types amongst those league leaders. It won't be an easy task to catch even one of them. I wonder if those who are chasing me in the one league I currently lead feel the same. :|

The boards have been eerily quiet lately (outside of course for Doughy's consistently great work), not uncommon around here during the dog days of summer. Personally I haven't been able to contribute much to the boards recently, work being extremely hectic the past few weeks along with the summer months bringing with it the amplified social schedule my wife loves to commit for us. To be completely honest though, some frustration I'm feeling with this season has likely been a partial contributor for my relative absence. Though one of the frustrating themes of this season, the closer fail and resulting role changes, has somewhat stabilized recently, the far greater theme for this season, injuries, just keeps chugging along reeking havoc on the fantasy landscape in its wake. For me personally, the last few weeks have not been kind to my teams on the injury front. Both Troy Tulowitzki and Evan Longoria, early draft picks and vital cogs to the offenses for a full one third of my teams between them, both came so close to returning and reinforcing those teams only to suffer huge setbacks leaving the huge holes their injuries created for my teams still unfilled. Dustin Pedroia, another early pick for several teams of mine, is playing through his injury....and his resulting stats are unfortunately showing it. However, it is my pitching that's suffered the most. Roy Halladay, Neftali Feliz, Jaime Garcia, and John Danks were all lost for a huge chunk of the season for multiple teams each. Then in just this past week, Jeremy Hellickson, Ryan Dempster, Shaun Marcum, and Josh Beckett were all disabled while Felipe Paulino and most devastatingly Brandon Beachy were both lost for the season again each affecting several of my staffs. In fact, one of my XII's has Halladay, Beachy, Dempster, and Paulino currently rostered, my pitching numbers obviously not too strong for that squad for this week. My slow draft team that was 6th overall going into today has Beachy, Luebke, and Mariano rostered, all lost for the season, the format making replacing any of them impossible. I can't figure out how that team is still competing in its league let alone the overall. :? Of course I'm not the only one who has suffered injuries this season. I would bet the vast majority of us have been forced to absorb more injuries than we could have possibly imagined going into the season. The only person who will be suffering more due to these injuries than your average high stakes fantasy player is the person who offered us injury insurance on these players. :D Still, there are some in our community who think it unseemly to discuss or sweat over injuries. Maybe they're right. However in a year such as this, where injuries will have an enormous and unexpected impact on many a league and overall standings, there may not be a more worthy discussion. Still there's little to do about them than plug the holes and battle on. There's still much of the season to go, the league and overall champions when all is said and done will have certainly earned it.

I finalized my hotel and flight plans this week for my trip to Vegas for the live fantasy football drafts in September. It struck me that we have just completed the 11th week of our fantasy baseball season. If this were fantasy football, for a majority of the high stakes contests out there, the completion of the 11th week would mean the completion of the fantasy football regular season and we'd be heading into the league playoffs this weekend. However, this isn't fantasy football. We aren't even half over with our season, there's still a full 16 weeks to go. :shock: Fantasy baseball is truly the marathon. There's plenty of time left to battle.

Lastly, this past Sunday we celebrated Father's Day, our day. Sorry Jules. ;) Fathers, sons, and baseball seem to go hand in hand. For the last couple years, my gift to my father has been either a fantasy baseball or fantasy football draft. This year, I gave him the choice of an NFBC mid-season league or an NFFC slow draft. He chose the slow draft. I know my father appreciates these gifts, he's as much a fantasy sports lover as I am. I thought how nice it would be for me to receive a gift like that one day from my children. However that's not what I received this year. My gift this year from my son was a picture frame that he made himself (well, with maybe a little help from my loving wife :) ). He placed a photo in the frame of me during my last birthday blowing out the candles with my son and baby girls on my lap. The NFBC/NFFC leagues as a gift can wait. I wouldn't trade that picture frame or that picture for the world. :D I hope you all enjoyed your Father's Day with your Dads and your kids. I know I truly enjoyed mine.

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Sat Aug 18, 2012 10:36 am

It's been awhile since I've added to this blog or even been on these boards. This is typically the busiest time of the year for me. Work is crazy and typically filled with 10, 11, 12 hour days. My wife and I also like to make sure our three kids have a great summer filled with fun and memorable activities for them. For instance, this weekend's agenda includes a trip to a local carnival today and the LI Ducks minor league baseball game tomorrow. Then my lovely wife makes sure what little time is left allows me some rest by accepting every single invite to a summer occassion, barbecue, or party no matter what city or state or even continent we have to travel to in order to attend... that is when she isn't throwing one of her own. :? :D I jokingly complain, but it's all good. I love the summers and all that comes with it. 8-)

You would think this wouldn't leave a lot of time for my favorite hobby.... fantasy baseball. However, as a few of those who met me in Vegas might remember, I don't always consider sleep a mandatory requirement. A man's got to have his priorities. :D Still, that time I can dedicate to my favorite hobby is more limited this time of year. What makes this even a bit more problematic is that the late summer has to be shared with my 2nd favorite hobby....fantasy football. :) Football's so much more exciting this time of year as well. Let's face it, the baseball season is longgggggggggg! They call these the dog days of summer for a reason. Nearly five months in the books, yet we still have over 6 weeks to go. Sometimes it takes a lot to remain focused. Football feels fresh now. No games have been played. All we're doing is prepping and drafting, finalizing our plans for NYC or Vegas or both, and dreaming the dreams of fortune and glory. 8-) :mrgreen: They're still so real right now. For many of us, those dreams are no longer alive for this baseball season. For me personally, there will be no fight for an Overall this year, I won't win the Diamond, I won't win the Ultimate Auction. Huge fortune, huge glory just aren't in the cards for me for Baseball 2012. Still, I can't lose focus. While I do have a couple teams dead in the water and a couple others right on the edge of oblivion, the majority of my teams still have a good chance to cash. Although I currently only lead one league, out of my remaining 14 teams, oddly ten of them are only one spot or two out of a cash spot and another is within 10 points of a cash spot. While a huge fortune won't be had, if I can pull out a majority of those cashes, maybe a small one can still be salvaged.

The following is a list of my teams and their current standings and my remaining hopes for each in order of the amount of focus I will be placing on each the rest of the way from least to first......


DEAD IN THE WATER

Online Championship Team - 12th place, 41.5 points - When your one hope for this team is its not becoming your only last place team since you joined High Stakes, it's hard to remain excited about its prospects.

XII Online 3/27 - 7th place, 57 points - You'd think 7th place with 6 weeks to go would still allow for some hope. Typically yes. Not so much when the league only pays top 2 and the top 3 in the league are all in the top 14 of the overall. :shock:


HANGING ON BY A THREAD

Ultimate Auction - 11th place, 71 points - Currently 30 points out of a cash spot with 7 teams to pass in order to get there, I have to believe the only thing that keeps me from listing this team as part of the DEAD IN THE WATER tier of dashed hopes is how much it cost me to enter this league and how much I would cash if I could pull off this miracle. These hopes are fading fast.

Diamond League - 9th place, 76 points - Also 30 points out of a cash spot, but with maybe a shread more hope. This league does pay a 4th spot and just a couple weeks back, I had crept within 10 points of that spot. Of course since then, I've lost a half dozen or so points in the standings while KOQ has cemented his 4th place standing and pretty much caught the other three leaders by adding 15. This has left my team heading in the wrong direction and with its hopes fading, but if I can find a way to turn it around and one or more of the leaders can maybe fade a bit, who knows.


WILL FIGHT TO THE BITTER END

Slow/Fast Draft - 4th place, 90.5 points - This team has over 70 hitting points. That's the good news. If you do the math however, you'll see that doesn't leave a lot left on the pitching side. :shock: With four of it's top 6 drafted pitchers being Chris Carpenter, Michael Pineda, Drew Storen, and Matt Thornton, and no FAAB, it's little wonder this team is struggling on the pitching side. Still, it's recently been as high as 2nd place and a cash spot is still only 9 points off. Anything's possible, but with no FAAB all I can do is set the lineups and hope.

Slow Draft - 1st place, 119 points, 19th overall - This team spent a good part of the season fighting for the Overall, but in the past couple weeks has started its inevitable fade. Season ending injuries to Mariano, Luebke, Beachy, Gee, and the recent injury to Sabathia has left it scrambling on the pitching side and without FAAB, nowhere to scramble to. I'm surprised the start of this team's descent took as long as it did. I'm still hopeful of holding onto 1st in this league, but even that's now in jeopardy as Team Gomes is coming on very strong.

1000 Slow - 4th place, 92 points - Relatively healthy compared to my other slow draft squads, this team is now within 8 points of a cash spot and 16 points of first. With $8K to the winner and a grand or more to each of the cashes, I need this squad to step it up during the stretch run. An added benefit if I'm able to grab that third spot is who I'd be knocking out of that spot....Massotto. :P

AL Auction - 8th place, 64 points - Currently suffering through a bad week that saw this team lose a few spots in the standings and with absolutely no chance at catching Shawn Childs at the top, this squad still is only 8 points out of 3rd. It's tightly bunched from 2 through 8 with teams switching spots daily. With a pair of Bretts, Lawrie and Anderson, due back shortly to reinforce both this team's hitting and pitching, and with a decent amount of FAAB remaining compared to some of the others fighting to cash (which I've discovered can't be underestimated in an Only league), I'm hopeful that this team can make a stretch run. What a tough format these Only leagues are, but I've learned a lot trying it out this year and look forward to trying it again next season.

NFBCK Keeper League - 5th place, 93 points - Much like the AL Auction league, the FAAB is pretty barren here because of all the quality prospects locked up in the various teams' minor leagues. There likely won't be a quality late season callup I can hope to give me that little push. Still, this league pays top 4 and I'm only 2 points out of a cash spot. Noone's catching Passalaqua who's been running away with this league wire to wire, but even 2nd place is still in play and the payout percentage in this league is well better than 90%. Of bigger concern than even cashing in this league...who the hell am I going to keep for next season??? :shock:

XII Vegas 3/31 - 3rd place, 78 points - A team that spent a couple days in the top 5 of the Overall earlier this year, it now has no shot at even the top spot of this league as Lindy is not only running away with it, but is on Chad's heels in the Overall. Still, it's only 5 points out of 2nd, and 2nd pays $2K.

XII Online 3/24 - 3rd place, 78.5 points - Another once soaring XII squad of mine that actually even hit the top spot of the Overall that's now struggling just to cash. Just a couple weeks back, I was practically in a virtual tie with Chad and KJ at the top of this league but they've started to pull away. 11 points behind KJ and 13 points behind Chad will be tough ground to make up, especially with my pitching having recently been one blowup start after another. This is also the team that I've done the absolute worst in team management this season, having dropped Josh Reddick for Nolan Reimold, Ben Revere for Alex Presley (on a team I was desperate for steals), and Justin Ruggiano for Jarrod Dyson during the course of this year. :shock: Jeez, I suck. I've also done a terrible job of compensating for the losses of Beachy, Garza, Paulino, and Cashner for the year on the pitching side. Still, I've recently picked up James McDonald, Chad Billingsley, Bartolo Colon, Jaime Garcia, Carlos Gomez, EY Jr., and Ianetta to replace Arencibia. Hopefully they'll produce the rest of the season and can make up for some of the brutal moves I made earlier in the year.

XII Vegas 3/30 - 3rd place, 81 points - The last of my three XII teams that once gave me dreams of glory and that once held the top spot in this contest. This one also has the best chance at winning its league as it's only 7 points out of first and as recently as this week has been within 3. The top 4 in this league has been bunched up within only a handful of points of each other for several weeks now and it should be a battle to the finish. I'd feel a lot better about my chances if the other three weren't named Lemke, RT, and Juprinka. :shock: On another note, with my having three XII's currently in 3rd place in their respective league standings, I sorta regret joining Magner in his preseason call for the elimination of the 3rd place prize for these leagues to bump up the Overall. Greg, is it too late to rethink that decision? ;)

Main Event Online - 4th place, 88 points, 132nd overall - This team was struggling in the 60's in points as recently as last week, but is starting to make a move with some injured players returning and some underperforming players performing. I have zero chance of winning this league as Kevin Kirves' ridiculous top 3 overall squad is on top, but this team is only 10 points out of a cash spot, even 2nd is in play. This team still has a couple holes but if I can fill them and some of the players who've turned it on recently continue to do so, maybe I can grab one of those two available cashes. An added benefit to this team's 20 point jump since last week, it's a reminder that it may not be too late for my Diamond and Ultimate Auction squads. :D Though it probably is. :?

Main Event Vegas - 5th place, 98.5 points, 67th overall - This is the team that I've enjoyed more than any other this season. Just a little over 2 months ago, this team spent a couple days in last place in its league, had only 40+ points, was in the 300's in the Overall, had the least FAAB remaining in the league having wasted its resources on the types of Tony Campana, Johnny Damon, Gaby Sanchez, Alex Presley, and Lonnie Chisenhall, had just lost one of its top pitchers in Neftali Feliz, was wasting two roster spots waiting for the likes of Trevor Bauer and Roy Oswalt, and was pretty much my biggest disappointment. Through the return of a couple injured offensive players, a run of ridiculous pitching performance after ridiculous pitching performance, some offensive FAAB pickups playing well over their head, and just everything about this team hitting on all cylinders, the team has gained 50 points in the standings and is now within 10 points of RT's league lead bringing back visions of my 2009 Main Event team that rose from bottom 10 in the Overall at the end of May to 14th Overall by the end of August before its September fade. That was a stronger team, but this team has given me hope. I'm very proud of the job I've done with this team during its resurgence. With only 50 in FAAB remaining by early June, I was lucky enough to grab players like Carlos Gomez, Chris Carter, Eric Chavez, Hisashi Iwakuma, and others on the cheap who have contributed to the rise. Unfortunately, with the expectations of continued production from these players somewhat limited and my FAAB even more limited at only 12 remaining, this team may have hit its peak like that 2009 team eventually did. Still, it's been a fun run and if these players can somehow continue at their recent paces...you never know. 8-)

MtM Super - 5th place, 99 points - If there's one league where I want to cash, it's this Super. With the biggest payout of the teams I have a "realistic" chance of cashing in, this is the one I obviously want. Only 4 points out of 2nd and 13 points out of first, this is going to be a battle to the end. There's realistically six teams that still have a shot at winning this league and we've all been exchanging spots in the standings for the last couple months. It'll be a fun race to the end, the only thing that would make it a bit more fun is if some of the others in the race weren't Juprinka, Magner, Gillis, Mitlof, and current leader Marc Perlmutter. Tough group. It would be sweet justice though if I were able to win this league after the way I was "gently" recruited for it. :D That reminds me, where's Massotto in these standings?? :P


Six weeks remaining. Many races left to compete in. I'm proud of the fact that I've remained competitive and still have a chance to cash in as many leagues as I do against such ridiculous competition, but the fact remains that if the season ended today, I'd only cash in one. I need to focus. The dreams of football glory and fortune will have to be put on the back burner. Oh wait, I have a football draft tonight. :mrgreen:

Good luck everyone in your own personal races to the end. I hope you win 'em all.

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Sat Sep 01, 2012 6:15 am

September 1st. The dog days of summer are over as we head into the best month of the year for a player of fantasy sports. The NFL's opening day is less than one week away and football drafts are in high gear. Today I head into NYC to kick off my back to back weekends of live drafts. I can not wait. :) Baseball also returns to the forefront as the long summer months of fantasy "work" are over and we gear up for our races to the finish. To me, September fantasy baseball brings as much excitement as does March and April. While the dreams of Main Event overall or Diamond championship wins that flutter through our heads in those early months have now come and gone for most, many of us still have league wins or cashes that rest in the balance. It may not be $100K on the line, but a few grand here and there or even a few hundred sure is better than the alternative. ;)

Fortunately, I'm still part of a few races that need to play out. All three of my of Slow Draft squads are in the hunt for a cash spot with the one leading its league still in the hunt for an Overall cash. 3 of my 4 XII's still remain a part of their races and could be just one big push away from cashing with two still grasping onto slim hopes for league titles. I'm still relevant in the NFBCK Keeper league and AL Auction and even my Diamond team has a heartbeat, though extremely faint and fading fast. Against all logic and evidence, I refuse to give up on that squad. :D :? One of my Main Event teams has come back from the dead to force its way into the fight for a cash finish while my other Main Event squad continues its improbable last to hopefully first run and had even gotten to within 1/2 point of league leader RT and into the top 40 of the overall earlier this week before being smacked back down by the great RT the last couple days. Still only 4 points behind, my hopes of completing this comeback remain alive. And in a race that would return no money but still remains very important to me :D , my one Online Championship team has moved out of last place in its league after what has seemed like a season long stay in the cellar. :D

However, the tightest race I'm involved in and the one that means the most to the success of my fantasy baseball season is by far the MtM Super. What a battle! Yesterday, I woke up to find myself in first place in this league......but at the same time in 4th. :? Yes, a four way tie atop the league! And with two more teams within a point and a half of the leaders! Yes, six teams within one and a half points of each other for the league lead. Amazing. I've never been in a race like this. What makes it more exciting is the leaders include some of the greatest players in our game, Juprinka, Magner/Anthony, Perlmutter, Mitlof, Gillis. Yikes!! :shock: It'll be a lot of fun and exciting to see how this league plays out this last month and even more fun and exciting to be a part of it.

Our Main Event overall has been waging a similar battle at the top as we head into this final month of the fantasy season. The greats Chad Schroeder, Kevin Kirves, and John Pausma have been going back and forth everyday leading this great event. I wake up every morning and check the overall standings to see who leads that day. One day this week, all three were within one point of each other. One point! Five months down and they were starting from scratch to see who'd be crowned champion at the end. I thought last year's finish between Lindy and KJ was amazing. With Dave Potts rushing up recently to jump into the mix, we could be in for an incredible finish for the ages. I really look forward to watching it play out and wish all these great players all the luck in the world this last month. I know they're in for a tremendous amount of excitement as they battle it out, as are we who will watch it.

One month left, Overalls, leagues, cash spots all the balance for many of us. This is the fun time. This is what this hobby is all about. Have fun with it everyone.

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Mon Sep 03, 2012 10:27 am

I love Labor Day. My girls wake up from their nap in about an hour, then we're off to a family barbecue this afternoon. Burgers, franks, sausage, ribs, and steak will be cooking on the grill, my kids, nieces and nephews will be playing in the yard, and the Mets and Yankees will be on the radio outside and TV inside as they both have day games today. In fact there are 13 day games on the docket today. The only thing missing is a doubleheader. :)

Enjoy your holiday everyone, Labor Day's always a good one. 8-)

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Tue Sep 04, 2012 5:03 am

The updated standings this morning show me a half point behind Dan Mitlof for the lead in the MtM Super and a couple of points behind RT in my Vegas Main Event, the two leagues I'm most focused on amongst the dozen or so for which I still have dreams of cash finishes. Tomorrow morning I'll be on a plane across country for a trip that includes five days in Vegas for fantasy football where I'll be taking part in seven drafts & auctions over three days for three contests. With reason, fantasy sports is a large part of what's on my mind right now. Not so much this morning however.

While I'll be boarding a plane this time tomorrow, my first born child and only son, Joseph, will be boarding a school bus this morning, today his first day of kindergarten. Having been born in November, the age eligibility cutoff month for our school district, and therefore still shy of 5 years old, my son's been excited about this for months, his entry into kindergarten a milestone in his mind of entering the world of being a "big boy" now. :D My wife has spent the same few months making all the preparations for this day, all the paperwork, buying all the school supplies and school clothes, ending last night with the laying out of Joseph's first day of school clothes and the packing of his first day of school lunch. By far the more emotional of the two of us, my wife's been a little bit of a wreck as this day approached.

Over the same last couple months, though I've known Joseph's first day of school was approaching, it really hasn't been forefront in my thoughts. My wife was handling everything, while I was tremendously busy with work during the week and with summer parties and activities with the wife and kids on weekends, with life's typical day to day taking care of bills, fixing things around the house, etc., and maybe even a bit with fantasy sports. :) Today kind of snuck up on me a little....but now we're here. And now that we're here, I find myself feeling a bit of what both my son and my wife are feeling. My son is starting his first day of kindergarten and I'm very, very excited for him, but for some reason feeling just a tiny bit sad as well.

I'm off to pick up bagels now, my parents and my wife's mother coming over for breakfast and to wish Joseph well on his first day of kindergarten. We'll all walk him to the bus stop and then watch him board it as he enters a new phase in his young life, as he becomes a "big boy" now. Good luck my son, your father loves you and is very proud of his "big boy".

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Wed Sep 05, 2012 2:53 am

Waiting for my cab to the airport. I haven't slept tonight, figuring I'll sleep on the plane and the flight will go by faster. Sometime later today I'll be arriving in Vegas, ready to take part in a long weekend of football drafts, football auctions, viewing parties, poker, a drink or two, and hopefully at least a couple nights sleep. No guarantees on the latter. 8-)

Looking forward to my first fantasy football weekend in Sin City. I'm betting it'll be a blast. :D

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Re: Chasing the NFBC 2012 - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Sat Oct 06, 2012 1:05 pm

And so another NFBC Fantasy Baseball season has come to a close. I suppose I need a final post to this year's blog. I guess one that would be fitting for the end of this season is.....

Only 166 Days 'til the 2013 NFBC!!!!

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Enjoy and catch you all then.

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