The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

[ALL-IN JD]

Glen,

Do you have ANY teams that you can say why you know they are doing well????????

[Money]

Mr. Lowy,

You're a funny man. You are in position to take home a brinks truck load of money. Are you willing to sell any shares of your overall take? Vegas has you at 2-5 to win the NFBC XII, which, after the fact, I know you'll complain about it not being a real game.

Great start Glenn, keep the blog going, but please, be a little more realistic.

[Glenneration X]

Hey Jeff, Joe, I hear ya. I know the occassional pessimism I express about my teams probably doesn't always come off as genuine. After all, most come out of their drafts feeling pretty good about their teams, most that are doing well in the standings probably feel they're doing OK. However, when I look at my teams the perceived holes is what stands out to me. The players that I just don't think quite cut it enough or the categories that could use some reinforcing. It doesn't matter if it's my backup middle infielder or 10th pitcher. It doesn't matter if it's only one category that I'm not feeling strong enough in. That's always my focus.

Unless my team is perfect, I'm just not going to be satisfied with it. I suppose that's because you pretty much need a perfect team to best 434 of the top players in the world in an Overall or 14 of the best players in the world in a Diamond or Ultimate Auction. Unless you're extremely lucky, not much less will do. And that inability to reach perfection is why I haven't won one of these yet. And I won't feel satisfied in this game until I do.

Maybe I'd feel a little better about my teams if I was as comfortable in a format as you are in the 12-teamers Joe or you in the Auctions Jeff or Juprinka, Lindy, or Childs are with the Main. I'd probably have a slightly better idea if I was heading in the right direction with any specific team. Unfortunately, I don't. I just kind of feel my way in whatever format I'm trying and hope for the best. Hopefully this year, the best will come for one of them.

[ALL-IN JD]

As they in sales, Hope is not a Strategy!!!

[Money]

Hey Jeff, Joe, I hear ya. I know the occassional pessimism I express about my teams probably doesn't always come off as genuine. After all, most come out of their drafts feeling pretty good about their teams, most that are doing well in the standings probably feel they're doing OK. However, when I look at my teams the perceived holes is what stands out to me. The players that I just don't think quite cut it enough or the categories that could use some reinforcing. It doesn't matter if it's my backup middle infielder or 10th pitcher. It doesn't matter if it's only one category that I'm not feeling strong enough in. That's always my focus.

Unless my team is perfect, I'm just not going to be satisfied with it. I suppose that's because you pretty much need a perfect team to best 434 of the top players in the world in an Overall or 14 of the best players in the world in a Diamond or Ultimate Auction. Unless you're extremely lucky, not much less will do. And that inability to reach perfection is why I haven't won one of these yet. And I won't feel satisfied in this game until I do.

Maybe I'd feel a little better about my teams if I was as comfortable in a format as you are in the 12-teamers Joe or you in the Auctions Jeff or Juprinka, Lindy, or Childs are with the Main. I'd probably have a slightly better idea if I was heading in the right direction with any specific team. Unfortunately, I don't. I just kind of feel my way in whatever format I'm trying and hope for the best. Hopefully this year, the best will come for one of them.

This is exactly why you're one of the best players in all the land. I like to take you to task from time to time and I will here as well. You stated:

14 of the best players in the world in a Diamond

I was under the impression MtM was in the diamond?

[Glenneration X]

This is exactly why you're one of the best players in all the land.

Joe, you've obviously been drinking again. Just say no my friend. Still, I do appreciate the undeserved kudos.

You stated: 14 of the best players in the world in a Diamond
I was under the impression MtM was in the diamond?

As far as this quote is concerned, unfortunately MtM was in the other Diamond league.

Speaking of MtM, it brings to mind some other thoughts.

What initially attracted me to the NFBC when I first ran across their website 4 years ago was the opportunity to challenge myself against players of a higher caliber at stakes of a higher dollar. However, a huge part of what's kept me here is the unexpected find of a community of fantasy players who share a love and passion for this hobby as deep as mine. Though this community only gets together for a few days each year in Vegas and NYC, it remains connected all the remaining 365 days through the backbone of the community, our message boards.

I truly enjoy these boards. I enjoy contributing to them and even during those times that life makes it a bit too hectic to jump in, I still find time to enjoy the contributions of others.

The peak of traffic on these boards is always the weeks just prior to the Main Event drafts into the early part of the new season. The excitement is palpable, everyone is still fully invested. Unfortunately for many of us as the season winds on, our focus heads elsewhere. As spring turns into summer, the kids are off from school, we travel for our summer vacations, our weekends filled with barbeques, parties, and picnics, for some of us summertime means the busiest time of year in our work schedules, and for some others it's time to move onto the football side of things. It becomes more difficult for many to find time to maintain a presence on our NFBC boards.

We thankfully have Doughy who keeps the boards active and fired up daily throughout the year and a quick scan of recent posts shows we're still getting regular and semi-regular contributions from many other board faves new and old like Edwards Kings, KJ, Quahogs, Sack, All-In JD, Hells Satans, rockit, ToddZ, Cocktails, Captain Hook, KOQ, Roundtrippers, Madcow, Navel Lint, Ando, BK, Toxic, PGromek, Outlaw, headhunters, Rog, uky, JohnP, wagner, poopy, Red Sox Nation, mbendar, 76erfan, Mighty Men, Ryan C, swampass, Raskol, gpchurchill, Bronx Yankees, Coz, Cass, Oaktown, OaktownSteve, Driver Love, Atlas, Fourslot, Top Dawg, Deadheadz, JimyMarlboro, Sebadiah, knuckleheads, Daveclum, mattjb, MGBmarty, NorCalfan, Cal Aces, Cali Cartel, of course you Money and on and on and on and on. Too many to name everyone.

However, there has been one conspicuous absence from the boards since Opening Day and the first posting of standings for our various NFBC leagues. I'm guessing summer started early for MtM this season.



In this photo: The world wonders if MtM has suffered a similar fate as Waldo.
Well, at least he'd be gagged.

[Glenneration X]

I HATE CLOSERS!!! I've often expressed how I feel closers are the bane of a fantasy player's existence.

However this week has led me to reassess my thoughts on the matter. No, I still hate closers. I've just decided to expand my disdain to include all pitchers of any ilk whether closers, starters, middle relievers, batting practice pitchers, whatever. They all suck.

Hitters bring joy. In one moment, in one at bat, a hitter can salvage any rough day. An 0 for 4 start can be transformed with a 9th inning seeing eye RBI single, followed by a steal, and a run scored on an error. All of a sudden that 0 for 4 becomes a 5-1-1-0-1-1 line that fills up the stat sheet.

Pitchers on the other hand only bring pain. There is no salvaging a tough start to a game. Those baserunners and earned runs never come off the box score. There is no one moment, one inning that transforms a bad day into good. More often than not, that moment or inning does the exact opposite. A brilliant 6 scoreless innings is handed over to a middle reliever who allows two inherited runners to come home tying the score and that great game becomes nothing more than a wasted fail.

I've always knew that my mediocre pitching this year was getting by on smoke and mirrors. Well this week the time came to pay the piper. Following is just a handful of the outings that have soiled the stat lines of many of my teams this week:

Miley - 5 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 2 BB
Nolasco - 5 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB
Villanueva - 5 IP, 12 H, 5 ER
Gee - 4 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 3 BB
Lackey - 4.1 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 1 BB
Hudson - 5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB

Even some of my starters that were drafted as studs pitched more like duds this week:

Hamels - 5 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB
Price - 2.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB
Cain - 6.1 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 2 BB
Verlander - 2.2 IP, 6 H, 8 ER, 2 BB .... Et tu, Justin?

Then of course there was this epic fail of a stat line to top it all off:

Hughes - 0.2 IP, 6 H, 7 ER, 2 BB


In this picture: The Captain letting Hughes know how much he sucks.


Throw in a few of these egg shell arms joining the list of throwing wounded in Detwiler, Ogando, Pettitte, and Price and it's just been a banner week for my fantasy staffs.


Is it any wonder that I hate pitchers?? Seriously, do we even need pitching categories in this game? I suggest we replace them with more hitting categories. OBP, Game Winning RBI's, BABIP, whatever. Just because pitching's always been a part of the hobby doesn't mean it's right. The Founders weren't perfect after all. They invented WHIP remember.


By the way, I just noticed Fernando Rodney blew another save. I don't have him or Cobb on any of my teams. I guess for one night I won't hate closers.

[Glenneration X]

...and today, the love child of Mark Prior and Ben Sheets and prodigal son to Rich Harden is announced out until July with a stress fracture in his foot.


Why don't you give slo-pitch softball a try Brett? Maybe you can stay healthy for more than a week playing that sport. Either that or women's checkers.

I hate pitchers.

[Glenneration X]

...and Bumgarner, De La Rosa, and Hammel join the pain parade.

Man, when the Fantasy Gods come for their ounce of blood, they don't mess around.

I hate pitchers. Right now I might just hate this game too.

[ALL-IN JD]

Cheese with that "whine"???

[Glenneration X]

Cheese with that "whine"???

I hear ya Bud. No doubt I may have been a tiny bit over the top in my doom and gloom posts regarding my pitching issues this week. Though as we all know a good rant can sometimes be theraputic. But I do know there are sunnier days ahead and that I need to FOCUS not on what's already happened but on what I need to do moving forward.


There we go. I feel better already.


PS... I still hate pitchers though.

[Glenneration X]

More SP mayhem yesterday. Cingrani banished to AAA, Villanueva banished to the pen, Annibella Sanchez, Lincy, and the artist formerly known as Fausto Carmona banished to early showers after some WHIP & ERA destruction.

Yet none of that matters. It's FAAB Sunday and as my Bud and current Main Event leader so eloquently reminded me, I need to FOCUS on what's important.....


Ummmm, what's a starting pitcher again?

[ALL-IN JD]

Glen,

Guess you didn't have the rock solid Jim Johnson on any teams!!

[Glenneration X]

Glen,

Guess you didn't have the rock solid Jim Johnson on any teams!!

Nope, no Jim Johnson thankfully. Though I did have Chris Tillman started for a few teams when Johnson blew his first save of the season earlier this week and cost Tillman and my squads a so close but not meant to be victory.

But don't you worry, I did manage to have Aroldis Chapman pull off the double whammy for a couple of my teams by not only blowing his own save chance but also the so close but not meant to be Homer Bailey victory. You may have noticed in our 12-team Super where I have BOTH started. Don't you love when that happens. Did I mention how much I hate pitching?

Still, can't think about that now. I need to sit down at my computer and take care of a few last minute FAAB tweeks.
Until 8pm, I still need to FOCUS .

[Money]

2nd overall in the Low(l)y NFBC XII. Exactly how much sympathy are you looking for here?

[Glenneration X]

2nd overall in the Low(l)y NFBC XII. Exactly how much sympathy are you looking for here?

Not looking for any sympathy Brother, but I've had a fast start or two in the past and learned the hard way that it doesn't take much to derail one. I'm hoping to keep some of these brutal pitching performances this past week from becoming the impetus for another of my spirals into oblivion.

So though it's tempting to linger on where I am at any point and what got me there,
it's more important to FOCUS on what's ahead than what's in the rear view mirror....


....no matter how nice that view might be.

[Money]

I hear ya Glenn. I have a XII team that has been in first from the get go and has no chance of being there at the end. It has a 4.55 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. It has been a brutal pitching year for me. The 12 team super we're in I sit at a very pretty 4.07 ERA and a fine 1.32 whip there as well. I'm pretty sure you can't top these putrid numbers.

[Glenneration X]

I hear ya Glenn. I have a XII team that has been in first from the get go and has no chance of being there at the end. It has a 4.55 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. It has been a brutal pitching year for me. The 12 team super we're in I sit at a very pretty 4.07 ERA and a fine 1.32 whip there as well. I'm pretty sure you can't top these putrid numbers.

I wouldn't fret much if I were you Joe. You're one helluva player and that team you put together in our 12-team Super looks like a pretty strong squad to me. You're right on my tail right now and I figure before the week is out, I'll likely be looking up at you in the standings.

The only word of advice I'd give you right now is to FOCUS on what's happening on the field.


I know, I know, this theme is probably getting a little annoying by now. Can anyone tell I have OCD?
This'll be the last one, I promise.


On a brighter note however, Patrick Corbin, Julio Teheran, Johnny Cueto, Cole Hamels, and of course the great Clayton Kershaw all had nice starts for several of my teams yesterday and Aroldis Chapman, Jose Veras, Huston Street, Addison Reed, and of course the great Mariano threw in a few saves.

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE PITCHERS!!!

Now if we can just get some of these hitters to contribute for once!!!

[Glenneration X]

We feel your pain Jesus.

Anyone who drafted Montero probably feels as woozy as he looks in this picture.

We all make roster mistakes while speculating in March. Montero's just probably my biggest and most expensive so far this season. I bought into his pedigree and the Safeco fences being brought in, but ignored the fact that Jesus is probably just not that good a hitter and even a worse catcher.

Well at least I only have to replace him on a third of my FAAB teams , among them an NFBC Main, the FPBC Main, and my best XII. And at least there's plenty of solid choices to choose from available in free agency. I mean I can't believe the likes of Carlos Corporan, Austin Romine, and the immortal Jose Molina are still out there. It's a good thing I've been saving my FAAB.

We should have all listened to you Joe while there was still a couple usable options available.

One last thought....
Why do we still utilize the 2-catcher format anyway? Mistake # 2 by our founding fathers. If we just got rid of closers and catchers, we'd have the perfect game.

[Glenneration X]

Once in a while after some bad news or a rough night, I've been known to exclaim how much I HATE THIS GAME!!!
The truth is though, I absolutely love this game, almost everything about it. It's a hobby I'm extremely passionate about. In fact, I can't seem to get enough.

The heart of my fantasy baseball agenda is the NFBC 15-team draft format. The Main Event, the Diamond, these are the leagues that I hope to always be the foundation of my fantasy baseball schedule each and every year. However, one of the great things about this hobby is all the different options and formats available to further challenge yourself if you so choose.

Though my introduction to high stakes a few years back was through the NFBC Main Event overall, I've since entered quite a few high stakes satellites. I've drafted both live and online. I've tried my hand at auctions, both mixed and only. I've joined both fast and slow drafts, redraft and keeper leagues, and KJ's salary format. I've taken stabs at 12-teamers in the NFBC and 14-teamers through the WCOFB and now the FBPC. I even gave CDM's Diamond Challenge a whirl a few years back and am considering trying it again through their mid-season offering this season. There's no limit to what is available in this hobby for those who like to try different things.

This year's new different thing for me has been the daily games. Though I've dabbled in daily's before, it was more often than not just to support some promotion that the NFBC or other contests I play or played were having. It wasn't until this past football season that I started to play semi-regularly. And I made a decent profit. For baseball this season, I've played off and on, far from on a daily basis, but once in a while when the mood strikes me. In fact, I occassionally get emails from some of the sites I've played having to remind me that I still have a balance. When I do play, it often corresponds with their Overall Championships, each of these sites these days having a weekly or so satellite into their big event in August with a $100K +/- grand prize. Last night was one of those nights.

I jumped into daily contests for three different sites last night. Fanduel which is in a promotional partnership with the NFBC was one of them. It was a good night. What I typically do when I play a daily game is figure out a few players that I want to back, put together one or two lineups, and play those lineups across the board in various leagues at various dollar points across a site's offerings that night. Last night I backed Annibella Sanchez everywhere. He was the core of a lineup that paid off nicely. As Rockit pointed out, I finished 3rd in the Fanduel league both he and I were entered in last night (congrats by the way in pulling off the victory Rockit). That was one of six Fanduel leagues that I cashed in for the night, some with price points lower, some higher. Like I stated earlier, it was a good night. However, it could have been so much better.

In one of the other sites I played last night, I only played one entry for one contest, the satellite to their Overall Championships. At one point towards the end of the night, I was tied for first to win the one entry made available yesterday into their August Main Event and become one of only a few handfuls of players who would be eligible to try for their $100K grand prize. At that very moment, Jose Veras was in the midst of trying to save the win for Erik Bedard, the last pitcher who could still get points for me in that league (this contest requiring multiple pitchers per roster), while at exactly the same time, Alex Rios, the last hitter I still had going in that league was up with the bases loaded and only one out. The person who was tied for me in first was done for the night, all his players having finished up their games. Veras holds a 2-run lead for the save or Rios hits a simple sacrifice fly or ground ball out for a game-winning RBI and I move into first with a commanding lead over every team but one and that closest competitor having no opportunity to catch me.

The next thing I know Veras gives up a game winning 3-run homer and Rios grounds into an inning ending DP.
Not only don't I get the lead that seemed inevitable, but Rios' out costs me a point and my share of the lead. I've gotten used to close but no cigar finishes in my high stakes career, but this one was hard to believe. It's moments like that which cause me to exclaim that I HATE THIS GAME!!!

Obviously I really don't, but I sure did last night.

Fantasy sports is truly a great game, with highs and lows, both that make the game as great as it is. If the lows didn't matter as much as they did, the highs wouldn't matter as much either. It's one of the reasons why I LOVE THIS GAME!!!


What's that in the sky Jose?
Oh yeah, my daily contest championship hopes going up in smoke after your debacle of a 9th last night.

[knuckleheads]

The next thing I know Veras gives up a game winning 3-run homer and Rios grounds into an inning ending DP.
Not only don't I get the lead that seemed inevitable, but Rios' out costs me a point and my share of the lead.

I was watching that game Glenn. Probably won't make you feel better to know that Rios beat out that double play ball...and it wasn't even close. Angel Hernandez blew the call so badly, the White Sox' announcer's only response was to yell "No!" about five times.

[Glenneration X]

The next thing I know Veras gives up a game winning 3-run homer and Rios grounds into an inning ending DP.
Not only don't I get the lead that seemed inevitable, but Rios' out costs me a point and my share of the lead.

I was watching that game Glenn. Probably won't make you feel better to know that Rios beat out that double play ball...and it wasn't even close. Angel Hernandez blew the call so badly, the White Sox' announcer's only response was to yell "No!" about five times.

Thanks for the info Dave. Your post reminds me of a similar tale involving the Chisox that cost me some fantasy baseball dough from years past.

In 2008, before I had ever even heard of the NFBC, I was part of a local fantasy baseball league whose race went down to the final day of the regular season. There were four of us bunched up at the top down the stretch fighting for both the league championship and the three available cash spots. By the end of the last day of the scheduled regular season, I had landed in 2nd place, a half point ahead of the team in 3rd. However, there was to be one last game played the following day to make up for a rainout over the weekend involving the Chicago White Sox who were still in their own race for their division championships.

It was to be the only MLB game that day, with noone on my roster playing and only one player from the team 1/2 point behind me, Alexei Ramirez, and only one stat that could have affected our standings, stolen bases. Of course, while holding a 6-2 lead with 2 out during the White Sox last time up, Alexei Ramirez decided to steal 2nd base. His steal pushing the team 1/2 point behind me to 1/2 point in front of me in the final standings.

The next day while talking with the friend and work colleague who had talked me into joining this league for that season after my multi-year absence from the hobby, he told me that he watched the game and the umpire had blown the call as Alexei was clearly out. Somehow knowing that information didn't make things any easier. The funny thing is it wasn't for first place, it wasn't for a lot of money, but I remember every detail like it was yesterday. I guess I owe something to that finish. I wasn't sure I was returning to that league until faltering that last day. However after I did, I couldn't wait to get a chance to make up for it. Who knows if I would have ever found and joined the NFBC if I hadn't returned for one final season in with local league.

As I stated in my previous post, I've had quite a few close but no cigar finishes over the years. I remember each of them so clearly. The details from my close victories though seem to fade from memory over time. I wonder if we're all like that and if it's one of the factors that drive us so hard to pull out those tight races.

Either way, I need to put %&$# Alexei Ramirez and &*^% Alex Rios out of my head for a bit. It's FAAB Sunday and I need to concentrate before the family gets up and we're off to holiday weekend plans. It's a big FAAB for me today with so many injuries and demotions this past week affecting almost all of my teams. I don't want to screw it up and have it contribute to another memory of a close but no cigar finish.

Happy Memorial Day, I hope everyone's enjoying their holiday weekend.

[Glenneration X]

Kevin Gausman - I bought in.

I put in a serious bid on him for every team I have and the winning bid for about half of them and despite the investment wish I had bid more on the teams I fell short. I missed out on Fernandez everywhere, managed to grab Cingrani here and there, but I believe Gausman to be the best prospect of the bunch and maybe the best we'll see this year.

Kevin, let's both look up to the Fantasy Gods and say a prayer that I'm right this time.

[Glenneration X]

Yesterday on these message boards, I debated the wisdom behind my triple digit bids for the NFBC's latest FAAB darling, Kevin Gausman.

All the while, the Dodgers were preparing to demote the last player I had paid triple digits for multiple NFBC teams, the immortal king of suckitude, Dee Gordon. Considering Gordon shares the distinction with Tony Cingrani as the only players prior to Gausman that I had bid triple digits on and won for more than one team, and that they were both eventually demoted to the minors, maybe the other Gausman bidders should start making contingency plans.


Gordon never quite learned that you can't steal first base.

[Quahogs]

Mr Lowry I need you to hit .333 here. Don't pike like Ike !