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Chicago League 4
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 5:36 am
by Greg Ambrosius
The Chicago main event will be held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center on Saturday, March 21st starting promptly at noon CST with 4 full leagues. Please be on time as all drafts will start exactly at the top of the hour. Here is the draft order for Chicago League 4:
CHICAGO LEAGUE 4
1. Kevin Carlson, Beavercreek, Ohio
2. Mark Grooms, Shelbyville, Missouri
3. Nick Cole, Lascassas, Tennessee
4. Dave McDonald, Bay Village, Ohio
5. Russel Wyatt, Oswego, Illinois
6. George Beason, Chattanooga, Tennessee
7. Stanley Kaye/Todd Nord, Frisco, Texas
8. Dominic Cirigliano, Columbia Station, Ohio
9. Gary Cutler, Jeddo, Michigan
10. Richard Kulaski, Nashville, Tennessee
11. Kim Dettmann, Mt. Prospect, Illinois
12. Karl Mische, Rogers, Minnesota
13. Michael Makula, Chicago, Illinois
14. Edward Nolan, Oakdale, Minnesota
15. George Kleemann, Palatine, Illinois
Chicago League 4
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 5:42 am
by Less than Dave
NICE!! I'll take it!
Chicago League 4
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 5:48 am
by headhunters
dave- nice to know you were called out as dead $ in super. luck box here- the perfect spot. no excuses.
Chicago League 4
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 6:13 am
by Less than Dave
hahaha ya I saw that.. he played it off like it was a joke... but you're right, no excuses.. at #4, I should be able to make an elite team this year.
Chicago League 4
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 6:40 am
by Navel Lint
Good Luck All
Chicago League 4
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 8:06 am
by Snord35
Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:
The Chicago main event will be held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center on Saturday, March 21st starting promptly at noon CST with 4 full leagues. Please be on time as all drafts will start exactly at the top of the hour. Here is the draft order for Chicago League 4:
CHICAGO LEAGUE 4
1. Kevin Carlson, Beavercreek, Ohio
2. Mark Grooms, Shelbyville, Missouri
3. Nick Cole, Lascassas, Tennessee
4. Dave McDonald, Bay Village, Ohio
5. Russel Wyatt, Oswego, Illinois
6. George Beason, Chattanooga, Tennessee
7. Stanley Kaye/Todd Nord, Frisco, Texas
8. Dominic Cirigliano, Columbia Station, Ohio
9. Gary Cutler, Jeddo, Michigan
10. Richard Kulaski, Nashville, Tennessee
11. Kim Dettmann, Mt. Prospect, Illinois
12. Karl Mische, Rogers, Minnesota
13. Michael Makula, Chicago, Illinois
14. Edward Nolan, Oakdale, Minnesota
15. George Kleemann, Palatine, Illinois Looks like a league full of guys I have drafted with before. Stan and I are very happy with the 7 pick as we wanted a top 4 pick or a middle of the round pick. Can't wait for Saturday I'll be looking to catch up with many of you before the draft.
Chicago League 4
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 10:02 am
by Bobby J
good luck Dave, I got the 4 spot in Chicago 1, that comment about the super definitely got a good laugh out of me, what did you do to **** him off?
Chicago League 4
Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 2:09 pm
by Less than Dave
hahahaha.. nothing! you know me, I'm a nice guy... I hadn't even said anything on the message board in weeks.... but hey, good luck man... I look forward to chatting at the draft with you... pick 4 looks good right now for us.
Chicago League 4
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:39 am
by Navel Lint
Good Draft Everyone
Nice meeting Dave and Gary and seeing George again.
Let's have a good season and I hope someone brings home 100K.
Chicago League 4
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 5:34 pm
by Jackstraw
Hey guys, it was a blast and well worth the 10 hour drive (both times)!
With no further ado, let me tick the world off... Las Vegas may be more fun before and after the draft and auctions, but Chicago has definitely got the lead in being more fun at the draft and auctions.
And as for Chicago being as close to hell as I've ever come, everyone I've met there are some of the best
Here is to a great season, win or lose!
Chicago League 4
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 5:45 pm
by Thunder
Good Luck in your leagues George. It was fun doing the auction with you and everyone else.
bill
Chicago League 4
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 7:49 am
by Head 2 Head
Great draft. It was nice to meet some of you for the first time and to get reintroduced to others.
I see many of the teams from our league over on the Main Message Board, but thought I would post ours here. From the 9 hole.
C Mauer (7), R Hernandez
1B Butler, Giambi or Nick Johnson
2B Uggla (6) and Cano (8)
ss Rollins (1) and Tejada (Utility)
3B Beltre (11)
OF C.Lee (2), McLouth(4), X Nady and Matsui (hoping Swisher doesn't take AB's away from either), Spilbough
SP CC (3), Dice-K (9), Cliff Lee (10), Verlander
Litsch, Blanton & Bush
RP Nathan (5) and Corpas or Ziegler
Bench: Cahill & Hughes, Teahan, McCutchen & Laporta. Also 1B and RP (Giambi & Corpas?)
I liked the thoughts that you all shared on your teams - so I will give mine on our team (Team Name: Top of the Fourth in Chicago).
I thought we got a nicely balanced (target .285 70/70 300/300 from first three hitters) start with Rollins, C.Lee and McLouth along with an Ace and a Closer (CC & Nathan).
Since we were short in power and thought Uggla was a value we went that way in the sixth and then followed it up with Cano and Mauer (hoping for 400+ AB's of .315) to offset Ugglas' bad BA.
BA should be over .280 if Nick Johnson play (benching Giambi's .250) which isn't something we should count on. But today we can dream.
HR should approach 275 as Mauer is the only starter that should get under 15 dingers. However, only Giambi (on the bench) and C. Lee are the only true 30+ guys.
Steals look short - 125 until McCutchen plays, as only McLouth and Rollins (and hopefully Spilbourgh) are safe bets to steal over 10.
On the pitching side CC, C.Lee, Dice-BB and Verlander SHOULD give us a solid core of a sub 3.70 ERA 1.28 Whip and 675 K's (if Healthy).
The inning eaters (Blanton, Litsch and Bush) are all low-K guys (averaging about 5.5k/9) that I am projecting to have less than 4.25 ERA's and 1.35 Whips. With Nathan and whoever wins

our second closer role giving us a sub 3 ERA along with a sub 1.2 whip, we should end up in the 3.8 ERA 1.28 Whip range.
Wins are a crapshoot and saves are short (I have ordered Devine and Street voodoo dolls).
My only complaint was that Underdog (George Kleeman) was so nice and helpful to my girlfriend (Kaline) that she is rooting for him.
Gary
Chicago League 4
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 4:47 pm
by Less than Dave
Had a blast as always, guys... thanks for another great draft. Russel, nice to meet you too! Good luck guys... may you place 2nd

Chicago League 4
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 5:43 am
by dantemarco
I also enjoyed my return to Chicago. Both the auction and the main drafts were a gas. Lots of cool people with skills.
I haven't crunched numbers, but if I had to choose who I thought had the best draft, I would vote for Karl (12) and Dave (4).
Consider yourselves hexed.
Chicago League 4
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 6:34 am
by Less than Dave
hahahaha noooooo! Everyone said that last year and I had quite possibly the worst fortune of anyone in fantasy baseball!
Chicago League 4
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 2:57 pm
by rkulaski
Hey guys,
What a great weekend. I flew up from Nashville, TN and stayed at my nephew's house over the weekend. He's my co-manager. We drafted from the 10 spot. I wanted to post our team and then I'll post it under General Discussion in a little bit.
Obviously, catcher is questionable with Weiters being a true wild card. Otherwise, I think our power and speed may be better than it looks on paper. Our pitching staff is a little riskier than some others but I like it. I actually was a little disappointed I missed some of my later round good value pitchers but still managed to get a couple others. Ok, from the 10 spot:
1 Utley- best avaible in our opinion followed next by J Hamilton
2 Crawford- love his work ethis
3 Alexei Ramirez- obviously we're high on him
4 Halladay- good because the next best aces wouldn't have fallen back to us
5 KRod- didn't like the bats or SPs at this point
6 Tulo
7 Dye
8 Ethier - mildly surprised he slipped here
9 F Francisco- and then the closer run began
10 J Johnson
11 Weiters- didn't expect this pick
12 Carpenter- obvioulsy we believe in him
13 S Choo- if Weiters works out, we were strong coming out of the break
14 J Weaver
15 Sandoval
16 Sonnanstine
17 A Casilla - added some speed
18 Lowell- not a bad 3B this late in the draft
19 K Gregg- closer?
20 R Church - 5th OF
21 Glaus- depth at CI or util, back by mid May?
22 M Owings
23 K Escobar
24 L Overbay - our last hitter filled- not sexy
25 B Penny
26 R Hill
27 S Lewis
28 J Owens
29 K Davies
30 M Redmond- could you finish with a stronger bat than this?
To the team who picked 9th (Head to Head)- nice meeting you guys. Looks like you have a solid team.
To the team who picked 11th (Kim??)- nice meeting you too. I know we "stole" a couple of your picks but you did the same to us too. I don't know how happy you are with your team as you look back on it, but, if I remember, the bats seemed solid.
Good luck everyone.
Sincerely,
Rich, Nashville TN
co-manager Chris, Tinley Park IL
Chicago League 4
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:18 am
by Navel Lint
I saw this type of post in another league and I thought I would try it here. These are just my opinions based on draft day rosters. We all know that your draft roster won’t be the same as your final roster, but it’s a starting point. I also think that the draft is about 65% of the equation to the final standings puzzle. Roster moves, FAAB, and injuries are the other 35%. So, with that in mind, here are;
Odds to win 2009 Chicago League 4 Championship;
7-1 Bull Pen Pugs Saves and performance of a couple young OF’s will be key.
15-2 Navel Lint Middle level power, solid avg and steals. Saves will be the challenge.
9-1 Team Cutler Big power, light on speed. Short on saves
11-1 That’s A Winner Monster power. Solid Starters with high K’s
11-1 Less than Dave Lack of power will be biggest problem.
12-1 Diamond Knights Avg will be a drag on team. Save total could be 35-90
14-1 Bambinos Very balanced. Question marks are ratio categories; avg & era
17-1 Broken Arms Plenty of speed and power, but saves and maybe even RBI’s a problem
20-1 Hang Tough Surprising lack of counting stats for the number of AB’s projected
20-1 Teamsters Potential upside SP. Should be 25-1, but giving union brother discount.
20-1 In it 2 Win It Wieters, Choo, and Sandoval will be the keys to team.
33-1 Smoky Mnt Oysters Speed to burn. Power, RBI’s & K’s are the problem.
50-1 MP Hammers I think the weakest overall hitting. Pitching OK, but won’t cover hitting.
100-1 Underdogs Some big power, but came at a sacrifice of SB and avg.
100-1 Team Grooms Bottom third hitting, worst pitching on the board.
OK, so there it is. Take it for what it’s worth. It’s for fun and a conversation starter.
I’m setting myself up for target, fire away.
Chicago League 4
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 8:04 am
by Less than Dave
Interesting. I think my power will come down to AROD.. if he comes back healthy around May, I'm fine. If not, I may be in trouble. I think my biggest issues are having enough starters (with Harden, Duchscherer, and Smoltz I will need to pick up more innings) and closers (I really hope one of Percival/Isringhausen will get the saves for the Rays)... looks like Motte will close in St. Louis so Franklin is probably not gonna help me. The one thing I really love about my team is that my ratios (ERA, WHIP, and BA) are all going to be very strong... those are the hardest to make up. Also, all of my hitters hit 1-5 in the batting order except Luis Castillo.. I think that will be huge for my R/RBI numbers. Essentially though, it comes down to AROD. He could make or break me.
Chicago League 4
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:56 pm
by Jackstraw
Originally posted by rucrew2:
Odds to win 2009 Chicago League 4 Championship;
7-1 Bull Pen Pugs Saves and performance of a couple young OF’s will be key.
15-2 Navel Lint Middle level power, solid avg and steals. Saves will be the challenge.
9-1 Team Cutler Big power, light on speed. Short on saves
11-1 That’s A Winner Monster power. Solid Starters with high K’s
11-1 Less than Dave Lack of power will be biggest problem.
12-1 Diamond Knights Avg will be a drag on team. Save total could be 35-90
14-1 Bambinos Very balanced. Question marks are ratio categories; avg & era
17-1 Broken Arms Plenty of speed and power, but saves and maybe even RBI’s a problem
20-1 Hang Tough Surprising lack of counting stats for the number of AB’s projected
20-1 Teamsters Potential upside SP. Should be 25-1, but giving union brother discount.
20-1 In it 2 Win It Wieters, Choo, and Sandoval will be the keys to team.
33-1 Smoky Mnt Oysters Speed to burn. Power, RBI’s & K’s are the problem.
50-1 MP Hammers I think the weakest overall hitting. Pitching OK, but won’t cover hitting.
100-1 Underdogs Some big power, but came at a sacrifice of SB and avg.
100-1 Team Grooms Bottom third hitting, worst pitching on the board.To say that I am hurt is an understatement... Especially since I missed out on the union brother discount.
Well, here goes: I think that since you started out with 7-1 odds that is a sign you think there is some parity. All in all, I think the league is mostly flat.
In my opinion, MP Hammers is the best buy on the board at 50-1, followed by mine at 33-1. I really don't agree with the two longshots. They are longshots but they are better than 100-1.
The worst value by far on the board is Navel Lint at 15-2. That looks like the "Old And In The Way" team. Inge, Polanco, Mora, Branyan, Wells, Soriano and Thome. The pitching is pretty flat, with the ace being a severe injury risk as well as unhappy camper since he keeps being shopped around. Ah, payback is hell... I was really offended at 33-1. I thought we were friends and all. :rolleyes:
Now the real meat - Bull Pen Pugs. Are they the favorite? I'm personally buying a winning ticket for Hang Tough. They nose out the Diamond Knights in pitching. The Bull Pen Pugs I don't believe are in the top 5 of the league. Even if Berkman didn't have a bum arm, the OF has too much age and too many question marks. The pitching doesn't look very strong either.
Here is what I think:
1. Hang Tough (3-1)
2. Diamond Knights(5-1)
3. Teamsters (12-1)
4. Bambinos (18-1)
5. Less Than Dave (20-1)
But that is me trying to be humble, and not say that my team is head and shoulders above everyone else. Buy a ticket on me at 33-1, and take it to the bank

Chicago League 4
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:59 pm
by Jackstraw
Oh yeah, and it was just gut feel. I didn't plug any numbers in anywhere.
Chicago League 4
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:06 pm
by Bull Pen Pugs
Thats why your way off. I think Naval was being nice at 33-1, cause I project you to finish in the last third of the league.
Naval, Top of the fouth, me and Less than Dave in the top 4.... But, its a long year........
[ March 29, 2009, 11:05 PM: Message edited by: Bull Pen Pugs ]
Chicago League 4
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 4:34 pm
by Navel Lint
Originally posted by Jackstraw:
quote:Originally posted by rucrew2:
Odds to win 2009 Chicago League 4 Championship;
7-1 Bull Pen Pugs Saves and performance of a couple young OF’s will be key.
15-2 Navel Lint Middle level power, solid avg and steals. Saves will be the challenge.
9-1 Team Cutler Big power, light on speed. Short on saves
11-1 That’s A Winner Monster power. Solid Starters with high K’s
11-1 Less than Dave Lack of power will be biggest problem.
12-1 Diamond Knights Avg will be a drag on team. Save total could be 35-90
14-1 Bambinos Very balanced. Question marks are ratio categories; avg & era
17-1 Broken Arms Plenty of speed and power, but saves and maybe even RBI’s a problem
20-1 Hang Tough Surprising lack of counting stats for the number of AB’s projected
20-1 Teamsters Potential upside SP. Should be 25-1, but giving union brother discount.
20-1 In it 2 Win It Wieters, Choo, and Sandoval will be the keys to team.
33-1 Smoky Mnt Oysters Speed to burn. Power, RBI’s & K’s are the problem.
50-1 MP Hammers I think the weakest overall hitting. Pitching OK, but won’t cover hitting.
100-1 Underdogs Some big power, but came at a sacrifice of SB and avg.
100-1 Team Grooms Bottom third hitting, worst pitching on the board.To say that I am hurt is an understatement... Especially since I missed out on the union brother discount..........
I was really offended at 33-1. I thought we were friends and all. :rolleyes:
[/QUOTE]George,
I was just trying to call it as I see it. I know it's only draft day rosters and anything can happen I hope you or anyone else isn't really mad. I hope we're still good.
In fact, If you come back to Chicago next year we should try and have a Friday night Chicago get together like they have in Vegas. I know that there are some that come in from out of town and maybe some of the locals like myself could get out.
And, I didn't know you were union....so......
Revised odds......
Smoky Mtn Oysters 27-1
[ March 29, 2009, 10:40 PM: Message edited by: rucrew2 ]
Chicago League 4
Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 5:40 am
by Jackstraw
I've been a member of the pipefitter's local since the grand old age of 21, however now I just carry the card and work as an engineer/entrepreneur/fantasy baseball bum. But you got to pay homage to the things in life that get you on the right path. Being a union pipefitter certainly helped me.
No offense taken, but I bet Underdogs and Team Grooms may disagree
That Friday night sounds like a great idea. I'm all in. But first we have to get you in the auction!
So, just as a little chit chat during the lead up what were you and Pugs' projections for everybody? I really think Hang Tough and Diamond Knights are teams to watch out for.
And seriously if you have me in the bottom third, you guys must be reading your list upside down
Chicago League 4
Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:49 am
by Head 2 Head
9-1 Team Cutler Big power, light on speed. Short on saves
Originally posted by Head 2 Head:
Wins are a crapshoot and saves are short (I have ordered Devine and Street voodoo dolls).
Gary One down - one to go.
Chicago League 4
Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 3:48 am
by Navel Lint
Originally posted by Head 2 Head:
9-1 Team Cutler Big power, light on speed. Short on saves
quote:Originally posted by Head 2 Head:
Wins are a crapshoot and saves are short (I have ordered Devine and Street voodoo dolls).
Gary One down - one to go.
[/QUOTE]Might not last very long, but.....
Huston Street has reportedly edged Manny Corpas for the closer's role in Colorado, according to the Denver Post. ~ Rototimes