Countdown To NFBC 2014

[Navel Lint]

23 Days to NFBC 2014



Second base can be a tough position to fill in a fantasy lineup. There are the top of the class players like Robinson Cano and Dustin Pedroia, but to get these players and their stats you will have to "bid up" their draft slot. The stats they produce may not be commiserate with players from other positions taken after them, however their relative value to other second baseman make them very attractive to have on your roster. Going this route is hard, these players have to produce top stats, otherwise you have put yourself into a bigger hole than you already started with.



You can try to grab middle of the road guys like Neil Walker and Howie Kendrick. Taking players from this tier doesn't come with the same draft inflation as a top tier guy, but you will still feel a pinch when you call out their name. Drafting these guys can feel "safer". If they produce middle of the road numbers then you got what you paid for. I don't think anyone has ever won or lost an NFBC Championship based on the stats of a Mark Ellis-type player.





The last option is bottom-feed. After our round 20 break you look at your roster and tell yourself it's time to find my middle infield. Taking these guys is a crapshoot. Every year several of these second baseman will produce mid-round stats, but for every one of them, there will be 2 more that will give you nothing.





How are you going to play it this year???



Just remember, you usually can't go wrong with top tier

[ALL-IN JD]

Russ,

Don't forget the other boob (MTM)!!

[Navel Lint]

Russ,

Don't forget the other boob (MTM)!!

Not making MTM comments have produced the best MTM comments

[DOUGHBOYS]

I usually dislike the same color pants/shirts in a uni unless they're white.
But that first picture of Sandberg with the pinstripes is not bad at all. Love the Cubbie logo on the sleeve too.
That elastic band around the midriff had to go though...

[Navel Lint]

I usually dislike the same color pants/shirts in a uni unless they're white.
But that first picture of Sandberg with the pinstripes is not bad at all. Love the Cubbie logo on the sleeve too.
That elastic band around the midriff had to go though...

How about this...



What hitter could stare out at the mound and look at this? No wonder Holtzman won 77 games in 4 years with Oakland but only 80 games in 9 years with the Cubs.

[DOUGHBOYS]

Ha!
Yep, pretty bad.
I see an A's player in the background of the Ryno shot too, although he's wearing white.
Spring training, most likely.

[Navel Lint]

22 Days to NFBC 2014



Clayton Kershaw is going to be taken in the first round of NFBC 2014 drafts. It might be with the 10th pick or 14th pick or maybe even the 3rd pick. Whenever it is, he will definitely go in the first round.

Over the past couple of seasons several pitchers have been taken in the first round, Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum and Justin Verlander among them. But none of them has been the lock to be taken in the first round like Kershaw is.

The last time I remember one single pitcher being taken so consistently in the first round it was Johan Santana in 2007.



In March of '07, the only debate was with what pick someone would choose Johan Santana. I don't remember exactly, but my best recollection is that he was going around pick 7/8.

In the 3 seasons before the 2007 draft, Johan Santana was 55-19 with a 2.75 era and 748 K's over 694inn. He also had won two CY Young Awards.

In 2007 Johan pitched good, but not first round good. He won 15 games with a 3.33 era.

Over the last 3 seasons, this seasons sure fire first round pick Clayton Kershaw went 51-23 with a 2.21 era and 709 K's over 697inn. Like Santana, Kershaw won two Cy Young Awards.



I'm not saying Kershaw is Santana, but the similarities are close enough that it should give you some pause before announcing his name when the clock starts counting down.

If you don't remember NFBC 2007, maybe you will remember Sports Illustrated 2007

[Navel Lint]

21 Days to NFBC 2014



This is Curt Flood. I had the choice of a lot of great players to pick from to represent #21; Roberto Clemente, Warren Spahn and Bob Lemon to name just a few, but I went with Flood.


Curt Flood was a very good player, maybe not great, but very good. From 1960 thru 1969, Flood's prime ten seasons, he had a combined WAR of 39.1; that ranked fourth among all centerfielders in baseball, just behind Mickey Mantle (42.3) and Vada Pinson (41.7) and well ahead of Matty Alou (18.2) and Tommie Agee (15.3). He was a seven time Gold Glove winner and received MVP votes in 6 different seasons.



Being a good centerfielder is not what Flood is remembered for though.

Curt Flood is remembered for being the player to challenge MLB and its use of The Reserve Clause.




I could probably write all day about Flood's case, and some of the actors in it, including MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and MLBPA head Marvin Miller, but that isn't what this thread is about. It's about remembering some great players of the past, featuring some of the great players of today and seeing some of the most beautiful women of the world.





So for one day let's just remember Curt Flood, the player.

[Navel Lint]

20 Days to NFBC 2014

[Money]

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You missed the Greatest "23" of all time and by the way he threw out your number 20 referenced player in the 68 World Series saving the series for the Good Guys!!

Awesome job Russ!! Keep it going!

[Navel Lint]

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You missed the Greatest "23" of all time and by the way he threw out your number 20 referenced player in the 68 World Series saving the series for the Good Guys!!

Awesome job Russ!! Keep it going!

Thanks.

I was going to pick out another player for #23, but I thought I better stick to baseball

[Money]

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You missed the Greatest "23" of all time and by the way he threw out your number 20 referenced player in the 68 World Series saving the series for the Good Guys!!

Awesome job Russ!! Keep it going!

Come on Russ, that's only the 23rd favorite sport. Let's keep to the boys of summer

Willie is the Man

[Navel Lint]

19 Days to NFBC 2014

Who else could represent number 19 and the message board better than Joey Votto



I'm going to miss the next couple of days, but I will be back with a full four day edition on Friday morning. I'm going for a couple of days of spring training and golf near the beach in Florida.

Where do the Tigers practice

[Navel Lint]

18,17,16,15,14 Days to NFBC 2014

Putting together the perfect NFBC team requires a lot of work and a lot of what-ifs. Sometimes we just gotta hope that things work out in our favor.

We hope that the pitcher that has been middle of the road all season pulls out that perfect game at the end of the year to earn that extra point in WHiP.......



We hope we find a SS that will be the base from which we can build a solid infield......



We hope our First Baseman produces every day......



We hope our players stay clean and healthy. Ricky Vaughn may have been great in the California penal league, but we don't get stats for players in Tent City.......



We hope the players that changed teams in the off-season play as well or better than they did with their previous team.....



We hope we can find a name sake and claim his as our own......



We hope our players love our country and our national pastime, we just hope that they don't have to go 'over there' to prove it....



We hope our first round pick plays like a first round pick........



We hope our clean up hitter scares the shit out of the pitcher on the mound. 50 dingers today might look Foster-ish......



We hope our players can do it all; juggle, smoke and drive in runs..........



We hope we can pair two catchers together that will give us a huge positional edge on the rest of the league........



We hope we get the grinders, the guys that will play all-out, every game, every inning, every pitch..........



We hope we have the players so great and so identified with their team, that there is no other choice than to call them Mr Cub................



We hope that even if our players don't make it to the HOF, that they have a HOF calibur season .............



We hope our late round picks can find some magic just one more time...............



It's a lot to hope for to win a NFBC championship, but someone is going to put all the pieces together and win $125,000

And one last thing....

We hope that we get that big check in the mail right after the season, but we also hope that Greg can take at least one great piece of advise from MTM.



When it comes to getting the Championship Trophy next March, I want one of these girls to hand it to me, not a mustache ...........

[Navel Lint]

13,12,11,10,9 Days to NFBC 2014

Man, am I bad at this countdown stuff

If I was Greg, MTM would have already had a boot up my a$$ to get this done

I'm glad I'm not Greg


Ralph Branca














Rusty Staub



Ron Santo

[uky]

Russel, if it wasn't for your pics of gorgeous women, you would suck at this countdown stuff.

[Navel Lint]

8 Days to NFBC 2014

There are a lot of great number 8's, and in our drafts we always think we are getting the best player, or at least the best player still available.



It might be that great outfielder with a mix of power and average......



Or the great catcher.....




How about a veteran first baseman...




Or the ultimate kid...........




Of course, it never hurts to have the best shortstop..............




But sometimes we are going to miss on a pick, too often in my case; and we will end up with a player that not only doesn't help your team, he actually hurts it.

When it comes to number 8, nobody wore it worse than SS Jack Heidemann.

During Jack's 8 year career, he posted a -6.1 WAR

Some of us are going to go dumpster-diving for our middle infielder next week, we just hope that we don't get Heidemann'd......

[Navel Lint]

7 Days to NFBC 2014


This is our 11th year together. Some of you have have here from the beginning, some like me are making our 7th appearance, and we have a few that will be making their first Main Event start.
No matter how many years you have played though, once you get down to the final week before the draft it's time to get serious.

'Back in the day', which for our purpose was only four or five years ago, today was one of the best days to be in the Main Event. Today, or just about 7 days prior to the Main, we would get our league assignment and draft slot.
No other day would bring as many people to the boards as the day Greg would post the leagues, not draft day itself, not Opening Day and certainly not the final day of the season. Today was the day!

But times have changed and circumstances are different.

The Main Event has gone from 195 to 300 to 435 teams.
We have gone from all leagues drafting at the same time live and in-person, to an event spread out with drafts being held a week apart, some online and with multiple owners drafting multiple teams.
That doesn't make it bad, just different.
And Greg has to sell these events. I understand that. We all understand that.

But what it has done is take away our special day.

We are just one week away from the draft, and unless I have missed it somewhere in a post, Greg hasn't even announced when he will post the leagues.
And when he does post it, it probably won't be with 200+ people on the boards waiting.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about it from the standpoint of I need to know my draft slot, in fact none of us are, we've all become far to jaded when it comes to things like that. For all the negative talk about magazine experts on the message board, we have become those experts.

No, I guess I'm just missing the 'old days'.........





Harvey Kuenn



Dom DiMaggio

[Deadheadz]

Man, that's old school

[Navel Lint]

Man, that's old school

Nobody has done for this message board over the past ten years what Dan has done. I owe him at least one photo of Ann Margret

ok, maybe a second wouldn't hurt .........



It doesn't matter the time period, a beautiful women is a beautiful women

[rockitsauce]

Glenn started a great tradition w/ this countdown and you have definitely not let us down Russ. Great job, strong work!

Anyone could think to have the Hawk or Chipper at #10, but Larry Bowa...as a Phillie fan, love it

[Glenneration X]

Glenn started a great tradition w/ this countdown and you have definitely not let us down Russ. Great job, strong work!

I agree Rockit. Russ took the best part of my Countdown, the obligatory boob pics of course, and turned it into an art form. Nicely done all around Russ (and not just the girls). Bring us on home Bud!

[Navel Lint]

6 Days to NFBC 2014


In 1978 Willie Wilson stole 46 bases in 127 games. He also had a .217 batting average......



In 1979 he led the league with 83 stolen bases, but he also hit .315. I think it's fair to say that if the NFBC existed then, Wilson would have been a game changer.

Do we have a similar player this year???

Last season Billy Hamilton stole 75 bases in 123 minor league games.



What will he do this year and how much are you willing to spend to get him??

And I can't get to #6 without putting up the greatest one of all-time.....



There is a lot going for speed............

[Navel Lint]

5 Days to NFBC 2014

Third Base, the hot corner, always a position that draws heavy early drafting in the NFBC.

Is it the sometimes real, or sometimes perceived lack of depth at the position? Or is it the the need to grab early power from a corner infielder?

No matter what, third base always draws close attention at an NFBC draft table. I'm sure this year will be no different.

[Navel Lint]

4 Days to NFBC 2014

I don't know if players gravitate toward a certain jersey number if they play a particular position, or if it is just me looking for it, but number 4 seems to be a second basemans number.



Joe Gordon




Second base is a tough position to draft. You are going to have to pull the trigger early, first 2 rounds, to get one of the top 3 players, otherwise to me it seems like a crap shoot throughout the remainder of the draft. Just looking at the ADP's of second baseman can drive you nuts. I could be wrong, but I don't think any other position creates as much variance from high to low in draft location as the players at this middle infield spot.

All I can say is, if you want a certain guy, good luck trying to time when you might be able to get him.

And remember, not all second baseman are good.....


Can't wait to watch MLB on Fox this year


Speaking of Fox......