Countdown to the NFBC 2015

[Quahogs]

Coronary. Phhhffft. You act like I'm NOT used to a bevy of hot babes hanging on my every word... I mean I mention NFBC HOF and that ALONE gets me 2-3 of the top honeys at any bar.

Me talking auction strategy with the ladies, that's Childs in the background...


I mean, why do you think Lindy always has that big grin on his face ? As an NFBC HOF'r he has his pick of Idaho's finest !

[Doctor Who]

Haha. KJ and Lowy with the jokes already. Love it.

Juprinka in fact has already let me blog about the Plat strategy we are going to use. Here it is below...




See! So there! He ain't going to stop me from blogging about it!

And if you are going to talk about our draft table tantrums, at least get it right!


As I try and pick a player one round and before I get the last name out, Steve gets the facilitators attention and changes the pick.

[Glenneration X]

Here on the East Coast, it's cold outside, with snow and ice on the ground and temps in single digits. Not to worry my friends, because in less than a handful of weeks, we'll be basking in the warm sunshine of sunny Las Vegas.
That's right, because it's now just 29 DAYS 'til the NFBC......




In the meantime, we have our message boards to help us whittle the winter days away. The Mia Draft, Fantasy Camp, the MtM Super thread (thanks Mikey for the Lisa Ann pics ), and others can fill our snowy days with happy thoughts. On our boards in recent days, one of the more popular topics has been the draft thread of the latest brain child of KJ, our resident mad genius (seriously, how does he come up with all these ideas?), the TEAM Satellite Draft. There, each participant get to choose one MLB team's hitting or pitching staff to draft and roster for the entire season. Washington's, LA's, and SD's staffs were the very first three picks in this inaugural draft. Figures. Pitching's always been overdrafted in the NFBC, even in this new format.


I guess there's little doubt that if this draft had taken place anytime in the '90's through the turn of the millennium, we would have all been looking up at John Smoltz and his staffmates atop the draft board.







But what if this were an All-Time draft? What if we could choose any staff in history? Would the Braves staff with their 3 Hall of Famers, 7 Cy Youngs, and 8 20-win seasons still top the list?

I mean this staff had 4 20-game winners in one season....



This other staff had 3 Hall of Famers on their resume....



And this one had 3 Hall of Famers as well....






But if you ask me, none of them quite make the grade. I think we all know which one does....

Alright Juprinka, I know, I know. That's two drinks I owe you. (But it's worth it!!)





Sorry Wayne, that's it for your Braves.

But, maybe we can find room for one more of my fave Upton....

[Edwards Kings]

Well, at least we get to see our favorite Upton (I bet that is one player that doesn't shower alone in the locker room) again when we hit #19!

Great choice, Mr. Low(no-r)y!

I hear the Mets are working hard on their fielding this year.



Does this mean I owe someone a drink?

[Doctor Who]

I don't know Wayne, all I see is barely an M, then two double D's, and then barely a T.

Maybe Steve will let you get away with giving him a White Russian because you know... Milk does the body good.

[Glenneration X]

I hope everyone's resting up and getting a good night's sleep while they're still Home Sweet Thome, because it's just
28 DAYS until the NFBC, where each night while in Sin City we'll be Eating, Drinking, and Being Murray and (outside of Juprinka) never be in bed Blyleven....




Ugh, Say It Aint Sosa, that was awful!! Chris Berman references?
Well, whataya want? I have to come up with 30 of these!

Sometimes ya just gotta be dopey....





I'll try to make it up to you with a pic of a slightly more aesthetically pleasing ESPN reporter....




And with Minnesota now out of the way, a couple last ones of the baseball Twins....




Oops, I meant these to be Oliva and Carew. Ahh well.

[Glenneration X]

At this time of year, most of us are on top of every bit of news as it happens. A pitcher tweaks a toenail, it's posted on the "And the hits just keep on coming..." thread. An agent mentions his client was shown interest by a contender in a good park, we check how far he moves up in ADP.

However, not ALL news carries the same weight for us fantasy baseball obsessed. A governor in a nearby state starts raising money for a potential run at the presidency, we might shrug our shoulders. But Melvin or Giancarlo ask that we call them by their given names, it reaches the top of our message boards.

Whataya expect though? After all, it's only 27 DAYS 'til the NFBC....




It's for us though to determine what's real news and what's just noise.

- Trout states for the 2nd straight off season that he's going to work at stealing more bases again. Real or noise?
- Doolittle states his shoulder feels great. Real or noise?
- Khris Davis working on plate discipline. Real or noise?
- BJ changes his name to Melvin and expects a bounce back season. Real or... well, honestly we knew this answer even before the injury.


With Giancarlo allowing us to now cross the Marlins off our Countdown list, I'll leave you with a couple more pictures of fantasy relevant fish while we ponder these fantasy relevant questions.....



Hey look, it's Mikey!! For the 7th straight season, The Mouth claims he'll dominate the NFBC. Real or noise?




And for this poor mermaid that's washed ashore? If you need me to tell you the "fantasy" relevant question that this pic brings to mind, you need to stop reading Rotoworld and get out more.

[Glenneration X]

In just 26 DAYS, we'll be drafting our NFBC Main Event teams. The work doesn't end there. The draft is just the start of the fun, just lays the foundation for a good team. For the next 26 weeks, team management will separate the contenders from the pretenders and help determine our next NFBC Main Event Overall Champion.

So with 26 Days 'til the NFBC, prepare yourself for 26 more weeks of pouring over your rosters, 26 more Sundays of doing FAAB....


...and of course, please lets not forget to set our lineups.





Team management of this roster may not win you the NFBC, but comes with its own rewards.
I bid my full 1000 on these free agents.

[Edwards Kings]

You wish $1,000 would get you all those free agents. About the only thing $1,000 will get you from low-mileage pit wolfies like those is a guarantee that they won't say "Ahhh, you remind me of my Grandfather!"

Great countdown and thanks for taking the time.

[Glenneration X]

You wish $1,000 would get you all those free agents. About the only thing $1,000 will get you from low-mileage pit wolfies like those is a guarantee that they won't say "Ahhh, you remind me of my Grandfather!"

Great countdown and thanks for taking the time.

Valid point my friend. However, let's not forget that some low mileage pit wolfies actually prefer us slightly older, but much more experienced and sophisticated gentlemen.


That's me front center getting in some relaxation time just before the Main Event at last year's NFBC.

[Greg Ambrosius]

That picture above is just a normal day in Iola, Wisconsin. Some of us wake up in our silk pajamas, walk outside to get the morning newspaper and beautiful women in bikini's are there to greet us!! What's so unusual about that?

[Edwards Kings]

"Mr. Lowy? This is Carlton, your doorman at the front gate. That guy "Mikey" is back...AGAIN...insisting he is a friend of yours and demanding access. Something about he "...knows the women will just love me..." or something like that...I can barely understand him. Should I release the hounds?"

Greg, if what you say is true, I have just changed my retirement plans!

[KJ Duke]

That picture above is just a normal day in Iola, Wisconsin. Some of us wake up in our silk pajamas, walk outside to get the morning newspaper and beautiful women in bikini's are there to greet us!! What's so unusual about that?

Another morning walk in Iola with bikini girls.

[Glenneration X]

That picture above is just a normal day in Iola, Wisconsin. Some of us wake up in our silk pajamas, walk outside to get the morning newspaper and beautiful women in bikini's are there to greet us!! What's so unusual about that?

A typical morning in Iola outside the Ambrosius rescidence.....

[uky]

That's the GROSSEST pic I think I've ever seen in my life...

[Glenneration X]

That's the GROSSEST pic I think I've ever seen in my life...

Blame Greg. His silk jammies were at the cleaners that morning.

[Greg Ambrosius]

That picture above is just a normal day in Iola, Wisconsin. Some of us wake up in our silk pajamas, walk outside to get the morning newspaper and beautiful women in bikini's are there to greet us!! What's so unusual about that?

A typical morning in Iola outside the Ambrosius rescidence.....

You shot a picture of us before my backyard pond froze over. Very nice, Mr. Lowy, very nice.

[Tom Kessenich]

Would it kill Cassavetes to bring Kate Upton to Vegas with him this year?

I ask for so little.

[JohnP]

Would it kill Cassavetes to bring Kate Upton to Vegas with him this year?

I ask for so little.

Is that you Tom in the background?

[Glenneration X]

Last year, baseball's leading HR hitter hit only 40 home runs. In 1998, my first year ever playing rotisserie baseball, 13 players hit that many or more, and two players led baseball and America on a Mantle Maris type race to the single season record. It was a different time for MLB then, a different era. Of course, though we didn't know it then, we were in the very heart of what would become known as baseball's steroid era.

Since then, steroids and all performance enhancing drugs have been outlawed and the game has changed drastically as a result. Fantasy baseball, our game, has changed tremendously along with it. Power, which was so plentiful when I first started playing, is now sparse. We've had to adjust our strategies, our draft prep, our draft plans to accommodate the new power realities.

However, as Ryan Braun and ARod and others have shown, just because PED's are no longer legal, it does not mean PED's are no longer a part of the conversation, and even more importantly.... the whispers. Was Chris Davis on PED's during his breakout season 2 years back? Were PED's or injuries the reason for Braun's recent slide? Will he use again?

In this post PED world, it's no longer just what we know that matters, but what we don't know as well.... until the 50 game suspension comes down.

Unfortunately though, this will forever now be part of the conversation, and the whispers. And these whispers matter more now than ever, because it's just 25 DAYS 'til the NFBC.




Jim Thome put up incredible numbers during a long productive career. He's never been caught, never been formally charged, never even been informally accused of any wrong doing. However, like the great Piazza, there have been whispers.

And yet because of the players, he played alongside or against....



And the era in which he played....

...there are the questions, the whispers, the tarnished legacy.


And again, the questions, the whispers remain for us today in MLB and in our game. And in just 25 DAYS, we will decide which whispers to incorporate into our draft plans.




Another Indian that comes with questions of whether her "stats" have been enhanced.
I'd still draft her.

[mdecav]

Jim Thome put up incredible numbers during a long productive career. He's never been caught, never been formally charged, never even been informally accused of any wrong doing. However, like the great Piazza, there have been whispers.

Has there been with Thome? I don't recall any "whispers".

[Glenneration X]

Jim Thome put up incredible numbers during a long productive career. He's never been caught, never been formally charged, never even been informally accused of any wrong doing. However, like the great Piazza, there have been whispers.

Has there been with Thome? I don't recall any "whispers".

I don't disagree Michael. In fact, as I stated about Thome (and of course the great Piazza), I don't recall ANY allegations of steroid use during his/their playing careers. However, do a Google search on "Did Thome use steroids?" and I think it'll be an eye opener on how many times that question was asked.

And that's my point.

Because of the other number 25's I could have used (Bonds, McGwire, Palmeiro), a probably clean number 25 has his HOF level numbers put under a microscope as well, probably unfairly. It's the residue of the era. And a residue we still live with for the players of today, whenever there's a breakout, whenever there's a certain type of injury, whenever there's whispers.



Seriously, how's this man not in the HOF?

[Glenneration X]

In the matter of just a few weeks, we'll be choosing amongst the greatest players in our game as there's only
24 DAYS left 'til the NFBC....




I started following baseball as a young boy growing up in Brooklyn in 1975. That was the year my father bought me my first pack of baseball cards, and reading the numbers on the back of those cards helped me learn who the greatest in our game were at the time. But even before that first pack of cards, even before I knowingly watched my first game, there were certain names I had already heard.


Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron

When I think back to that time and how I knew those names (yes, even before I knew the name of Tom Seaver ), it seems obvious why. They were the true icons of the game, and they had all recently made big news. Of course, Mr. Aaron had just completed his chase of Babe Ruth. Mr. Mantle was recently inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame. And the great Mr. Mays... He had recently returned home to New York and taken my Mets to the World Series before riding off into the sunset. They were players I must have heard my family, my neighbors, my parents and their friends all talk about. And they were considered three of the greatest ever in the game at that time. They still are.

Unfortunately, I never did get to see Mantle or Mays play. By the time I started following the game, they were both retired. However, over the years I've gotten to watch many a "NEXT" Mickey Mantle or "NEXT" Willie Mays. Though none of these players ever really became the NEXT.....



Bobby Murcer and Barry Bonds were already on the scene as the first "NEXTS", the heir apparents to Mantle and Mays. However, by 1975 they had already failed to fill the enormous shoes they were stepping into and in one of the most stunning one on one trades in history, were swapped for each other.



A couple decades later, Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr came on the scene with their own immense talents, their fathers having both played on the teams of Mantle and Mays, their greatness regularly being compared to the greatest of all time. However, injuries derailed Griffey's claim, needles and a congressional hearing that of Bonds. Though Hall of Fame talents in their own right, they were not Mantle and Mays.



Today we have new claimants to the legacy. Mike Trout's first three seasons have compared his potential to any player that has played this game. Still only three seasons. Bryce Harper was even more acclaimed as a phenom, but after three seasons, he has yet to produce as much as Trout, let alone Mantle or Mays.


Will Trout or Harper be the NEXT Mickey Mantle, the NEXT Willie Mays. Probably not. Let's face it.
There's only one Mickey Mantle.


And whether at the plate......



Roaming the outfield.....



Or running the bases.....



There's only one Willie Mays.



And a couple others for those like me who never gotten to see the Say Hey Kid live and in action (and of course, for Dough)....

[Edwards Kings]

Masterful post. Ken Burns will be calling.

(Psst...I have that 1974Topps Willie Mays WS2 card...not the most valuable as it came out the year after he retired, but still one of my favorites).

[Donacion]

Brought back memories thanks. I remember going to a game at the old Forbes Field with my uncle and seeing the Pirates and Giants with Mays, McCovey, Marichal, the Pirates with Clemente, the best fielding 2nd baseman Mazeroski he could reall turn a double play. Forbes field was enormous the batting cage was stored on the field in left center which I believe was like 465 ft. McCovey hit one over the right field roof that day even from where we were sitting he seemed like a giant. Mays with the basket catch when I got home I tried to catch like that. Clemente with the rifle for an arm.