In Good Standings

[DOUGHBOYS]

Our fantasy standings are in no way like baseball standings. We don't have Wins and Losses. Well, we do, but it is not a cut and dried Win or Loss like baseball standings. Heck, we can even have a poor day and move up in the standings if those around us in categories had even crappier days.

When we are in first place with a good sized lead and have been there for awhile, a sense of entitlement appears.
How dare another team threaten our perch at the top?
We're the King here!
Go away!

But if we are that up and coming team with designs on knocking off the top team, we have different thoughts.
We want to be that comeback team. This guy has been in first place long enough!
We didn't get this team back to a contending spot just to fall back now.

The day-to-day standings is where our game beats the Hell outta the daily game. Standings come and go everyday in the daily game. There is nothing to hang onto. No strategies, other to construct yet another lineup. But for us, we are rubbing our hands together in planning diabolical attempts to garner more points.

In one Main Event I am in, the leader has 101 points. Tenuous at best. By this time, if 11th place in a Main League, it would take a miracle to cash, let alone finish in first place. In this league though, the 11th place team has 82.5 points.
In my mind, 1-11 all have a chance to win that league.
This is the toughest type of league to be in. EVERYBODY is your enemy. In a league where only three or four teams are conteding, we can root for an also-ran to pass a team in a category, pushing our rivals down in the standings.

Two years ago on the last day of the season in the Mia League, there were four teams within one point of each other going into the final day of the season. Then, it was a $375 league with only the top three teams cashing equally.
All four teams jockeyed between first place and fourth place. Each taking a turn at each spot. The live standings were working well that day making it more fun.
Ante Meich, Roger Martin, Stan Kaye, and myself were the contenders. Roger, Stan, and myself were talking by phone, incredulous in how this league would merry-go-round till the last out.
When the eighth inning started for the last game, the standings were:
Stan
Dan
Ante
Roger

A half point separating first to fourth. Most categories were finalized. The only chance left for somebody to gain a half point or more was to get a stolen base or strike out. Strike outs were moot since none of us had a pitcher left.
In the eighth inning of that last game, Sam Fuld stole a base. This put Roger into a three way tie in the middle of the stolen base category. His team vaulted by all the teams.
Final Standings
Roger
Stan
Dan
Ante

Roger will forever remember Sam Fuld as a 'good guy'. He even drafted him on some teams the next year, believing him to be a good luck charm.
If Sam Fuld had stolen that base in July, nothing would be said. No standings affected.
But when six months of hard work comes down to that final day or even that final inning, we remember.
We remember the long. hard journey it took till a guy like Sam Fuld puts us over the top.
Daily players play a daily lottery. Manuvering a team and strategizing each week for 26 weeks to see a team reach the mountain top is different. The sense of accomplishment multiplied. The work put into our project, valid.

This is not to belittle the daily game. It has many things that folks are drawn to. In a way, perfect for this generation who can 't wait for rewards. Seeking instant gratification.
There is just a lot to be said for putting hearts and souls in a six month project and feeling the sense of accomplishment and the non-instant gratification of winning a six month game.

[Bronx Yankees]

Great story, Dan. If this was from two years ago, then I remember that Fuld steal very well. Except I hated him that day. If memory serves, Fuld was playing in a 163rd game (some tie-breaker). Actually, he wasn't playing until the 8th inning. I was neck-and-neck for first place with another competitor in a $150 DC league. So, with $1,000 to the winner and $375 for second place, there was $625 at stake that day (not to mention the considerable satisfaction of winning a tough league). Going into the 8th inning, I had a 0.5 point lead and, insofar as I can remember, I had no guys left playing at that time and my competitor had Fuld on the bench. If he got a steal, he'd tie someone in stolen bases and gain 0.5 points. Same with runs - one more run and he'd gain 0.5 points. Some guy gets on second base and Fuld comes into the game to pinch run. I'm watching the game and thinking, "Shit! O.K., let's not give up an SB or a run to Fuld." Sure enough, Fuld tries to steal 3B, the catcher throws the ball into left field, Fuld scores, and my slim 0.5 point lead turns into a 0.5 point defeat and second place finish. While I have won and lost my share of leagues since that time, I doubt I'll ever forget the night Sam Fuld cost me $625 and a league title. Bastard!

Mike

[DOUGHBOYS]

We always remember those last days when players 'screw us', right?
The funny thing is that if we had put out just one better lineup during the season, those players wouldn't have been in a position to screw us.
If there is one thing I hate more than seeing a 2 ip/9h/7er/1k line on my roster, it is seeing an 8 ip/3h/0er/7k on my bench.
And when both happen during the same week, it is demoralizing.

I know that there is probably not enough interest or STATS know how for an NFBC backwards league, but it relieves a lot of these kind of tensions.
A backward league is a league in which we try for the worst stats. Pitchers like Kyle Lohse, Kyle Kendrick, and Jeremy Guthrie are gold. A minimum of 1,000 innings is still required and a minimum for at bats is also in place. Players like Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, undraftable. Omar Infante, a strong consideration for first pick in a draft.
It's a kick in the pants and a Sam Fuld-[ike performance on the last day is invited, as long as he's not on your team.

[ToddZ]

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/artic ... leid=25983

[DOUGHBOYS]

Neat!
Hopefully they have this next year and I'll recruit some NFBC players to play next year.
Thanks Todd!