Half Truths & Lies In Fantasy Baseball
Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2015 12:01 pm
As a fantasy Manager, I lie to myself all the time. And I'm pretty sure most of us do.
When selecting a weekly golf lineup (Love fantasy golf!), I'll lie to myself and say, "He shot a 61! I almost took him!"
Defining 'almost took him' means that he was in a group of 20 players, all under consideration.
So, the same could have been said for 19 other players.
When drafting, I'll scold myself and say, "Damn, I knew I should have taken Springer, I thought he'd come back to me!"
I didn't really think Springer would come back to me, I was hoping every drafter between me and my next pick would take leave of their senses.
Hope rules over common sense sometimes.
Last year, I was forced to draft Tyler Flowers or Chris Iannetta on some teams in waiting for catchers. I lied that catchers like them would be ok as my second catcher.
I don't know why.
Flowers and Iannetta suck. They always have sucked. They always will suck.
But, a strange metamorphis takes place when we draft players that suck. The lies start becoming believable.
Because it is US who drafted them, they'll play better.
Of course, they won't. But we can't resign ourselves to the fact that we drafted sucky players.
In season is where the lies really hit. Have you ever checked box scores, not knowing what happened the night before?
You'll see a 5-3-4-5 line for the thirdhitter in the Giants lineup and raise a fist.
"Yes! I have Buster Posey!"
Then you'll look and see that Posey was 'rested' that night. That Hunter Pencehad the great game.
And you'll think, "Damn, I almost had a great game there"
Uh, no, there was no almost about it.
When I see one of my players get thrown out trying to steal, I'll thank him for the try.
I don't know why.
When I see Mike Trout take away a homer from Kevin Pillar, when both are on my team, I think of Trout as not 'a good teammate'.
When a Manager has my pitcher intentionally walk somebody, then pull him from a game, that Manager is on my shitlist for a week.
We take things personally.
When Brett Gardner doesn't steal a base through three batters, he is a 'loafer' when on our team.
If Miguel Cabrera stops at third base from second on a base hit by Victor Martinez, our player, Miggy is 'sabotaging' us.
When Joey Votto walks with runners on first and third on a close 3-2 pitch, we think of him as 'timid'.
We take Scott Van Slyke on FAAB. He's facing three lefties over the next four nights. In the fifth inning, he comes up with the bases loaded. The opposing Manager takes his lefty out, puts in a righty, and Van Slyke is pinch hit for.
"WHAT??? I wanted that moment! I played Van Slyke for that moment!"
The world is against me!
The world isn't really against us, but it sure feels that way.
We can plan all we want, sometimes fate just kicks us in the danglies.
Our pitcher is winning 7-4 in the fifth inning, bases loaded with walks and two outs.
The Manager walks out to the mound.
"We scream at the tv, "He's alright! Let him get through this! He's pitching ok!"
We know he is not pitching well, but our drive to get the W overwhelms what a Manager is thinking for the betterment of his own team.
And when tht pitcher is left in and gives up a bases clearing double, we'll still wonder why he didn'tdo the right thing and take him out.
When my pitcher throws against my hitter, I usually root for my pitcher. One, two, or three at bats of nothing can be made up easier than one, two, or three runs given up by a pitcher.
To me, the worst thing my pitcher can do against my hitter is walk him. He didn't help out my hitting stats and he has put his pitching statistics in danger.
And still, I'll root for the stolen base. I know it puts him in further danger, but dammit, I want my instant gratification!
Sabrs think that the worst thing a hitter can do is strike out.
Sabrs don't think like we do.
If Adam Dunn strikes out three times and hits a three run homer, we're happy.
Now, Adam Dunn wouldn't do this, but here is the worst thing our power hitter can do...
Runners on first and second and our Bryce Harper comes to the plate. And lays down a bunt.
UGH!!!!
While the announcer is crediting him for trying for a surprise base hit, we're pulling hair (for those that have hair)
I'd much rather have had Harper strike out. I know, he saved an at bat by sacrificing, but he robbed me of the chance for a big knock. And THAT is what we all live for in playing this game, a chance.
A worst case scenario for our pitcher vs. our batter may not even be when facing each other.
A few years ago, my pitcher was throwing a good game. He ran into trouble in the eighth inning. He left the game with a 2-1 lead and the bases loadedand two out.
Now, his reliever is facing our best hitter.
I rooted for the reliever. But when my hitter hit a grand slam, I lied to myself that a lot more good came from the result, then bad.
It's what we do. We're a pessimist with optimistic hope. Our glass is never half-full. It's usually empty or full.
Every night, our mind is a torrent of tugs and pulls and through that, we still must answer questions in real life from our wives.
"Did you see that Ted and Barb are separated?"
Saying, "No, that's too bad". Thinking, 'Cmon Verlander, get outta this jam'
We hope we answered her question with the right amount of emotion, so that it doesn't lead to follow-up questions.
We know that Ted and Barb can deal on their own time, Verlander needs our help.
And so it goes....
When selecting a weekly golf lineup (Love fantasy golf!), I'll lie to myself and say, "He shot a 61! I almost took him!"
Defining 'almost took him' means that he was in a group of 20 players, all under consideration.
So, the same could have been said for 19 other players.
When drafting, I'll scold myself and say, "Damn, I knew I should have taken Springer, I thought he'd come back to me!"
I didn't really think Springer would come back to me, I was hoping every drafter between me and my next pick would take leave of their senses.
Hope rules over common sense sometimes.
Last year, I was forced to draft Tyler Flowers or Chris Iannetta on some teams in waiting for catchers. I lied that catchers like them would be ok as my second catcher.
I don't know why.
Flowers and Iannetta suck. They always have sucked. They always will suck.
But, a strange metamorphis takes place when we draft players that suck. The lies start becoming believable.
Because it is US who drafted them, they'll play better.
Of course, they won't. But we can't resign ourselves to the fact that we drafted sucky players.
In season is where the lies really hit. Have you ever checked box scores, not knowing what happened the night before?
You'll see a 5-3-4-5 line for the thirdhitter in the Giants lineup and raise a fist.
"Yes! I have Buster Posey!"
Then you'll look and see that Posey was 'rested' that night. That Hunter Pencehad the great game.
And you'll think, "Damn, I almost had a great game there"
Uh, no, there was no almost about it.
When I see one of my players get thrown out trying to steal, I'll thank him for the try.
I don't know why.
When I see Mike Trout take away a homer from Kevin Pillar, when both are on my team, I think of Trout as not 'a good teammate'.
When a Manager has my pitcher intentionally walk somebody, then pull him from a game, that Manager is on my shitlist for a week.
We take things personally.
When Brett Gardner doesn't steal a base through three batters, he is a 'loafer' when on our team.
If Miguel Cabrera stops at third base from second on a base hit by Victor Martinez, our player, Miggy is 'sabotaging' us.
When Joey Votto walks with runners on first and third on a close 3-2 pitch, we think of him as 'timid'.
We take Scott Van Slyke on FAAB. He's facing three lefties over the next four nights. In the fifth inning, he comes up with the bases loaded. The opposing Manager takes his lefty out, puts in a righty, and Van Slyke is pinch hit for.
"WHAT??? I wanted that moment! I played Van Slyke for that moment!"
The world is against me!
The world isn't really against us, but it sure feels that way.
We can plan all we want, sometimes fate just kicks us in the danglies.
Our pitcher is winning 7-4 in the fifth inning, bases loaded with walks and two outs.
The Manager walks out to the mound.
"We scream at the tv, "He's alright! Let him get through this! He's pitching ok!"
We know he is not pitching well, but our drive to get the W overwhelms what a Manager is thinking for the betterment of his own team.
And when tht pitcher is left in and gives up a bases clearing double, we'll still wonder why he didn'tdo the right thing and take him out.
When my pitcher throws against my hitter, I usually root for my pitcher. One, two, or three at bats of nothing can be made up easier than one, two, or three runs given up by a pitcher.
To me, the worst thing my pitcher can do against my hitter is walk him. He didn't help out my hitting stats and he has put his pitching statistics in danger.
And still, I'll root for the stolen base. I know it puts him in further danger, but dammit, I want my instant gratification!
Sabrs think that the worst thing a hitter can do is strike out.
Sabrs don't think like we do.
If Adam Dunn strikes out three times and hits a three run homer, we're happy.
Now, Adam Dunn wouldn't do this, but here is the worst thing our power hitter can do...
Runners on first and second and our Bryce Harper comes to the plate. And lays down a bunt.
UGH!!!!
While the announcer is crediting him for trying for a surprise base hit, we're pulling hair (for those that have hair)
I'd much rather have had Harper strike out. I know, he saved an at bat by sacrificing, but he robbed me of the chance for a big knock. And THAT is what we all live for in playing this game, a chance.
A worst case scenario for our pitcher vs. our batter may not even be when facing each other.
A few years ago, my pitcher was throwing a good game. He ran into trouble in the eighth inning. He left the game with a 2-1 lead and the bases loadedand two out.
Now, his reliever is facing our best hitter.
I rooted for the reliever. But when my hitter hit a grand slam, I lied to myself that a lot more good came from the result, then bad.
It's what we do. We're a pessimist with optimistic hope. Our glass is never half-full. It's usually empty or full.
Every night, our mind is a torrent of tugs and pulls and through that, we still must answer questions in real life from our wives.
"Did you see that Ted and Barb are separated?"
Saying, "No, that's too bad". Thinking, 'Cmon Verlander, get outta this jam'
We hope we answered her question with the right amount of emotion, so that it doesn't lead to follow-up questions.
We know that Ted and Barb can deal on their own time, Verlander needs our help.
And so it goes....
