It's over. That's what many of you are saying to yourselves. So that's why it's been weeks (maybe even months) since you've last checked your fantasy baseball team. Plus, who needs baseball, right? Football is just a mere couple days away and the message boards in your league have already been lit up with trash-talking vicious enough to make your mother disown you.
But when you signed up for this mistress named fantasy baseball, you didn't make a commitment for two or three months. You owe it to your fellow owners to stick this one out, even if you are toiling away at the bottom of your league. Hey, if Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay can finish strong despite the fact his team has no shot at the postseason, then why can't you?
Think about it, how would you feel if you were in the throngs of a two-team race and a team with strikeout specialists like Carlos Zambrano and Aaron Harang just stopped paying attention and let them rot on the bench? Suddenly, your main competition, who just so happens to be the guy sitting right behind this absent fantasy owner in Ks, sneaks in an extra point that he would not have if the jerk who quit hadn't packed it in early.
This is happening to countless fantasy owners and it is time for it to stop. It is understandable to not want to check your team on a semi-daily basis when the chances of a championship have evaporated, but put yourself in the shoes of the folks that have a legitimate shot at winning. Do the right thing here, Chief. Besides, some of you have thrown in the towel probably have the opportunity to deeply affect the outcome of your league.
Let's say that your fiercest rival in your buddies' league is sitting in first. You're spitting mad that the guy who beat you to waiver wire heroes like Tim Lincecum and Hunter Pence is already uncorking a fresh bottle of bubbly to celebrate his eventual victory. But scan the standings and you may find that you can catch the guy in three categories.
For instance, a category like wins can be made up by streaming pitchers daily, ditto for strikeouts. Need to make a push in steals? Just load up on speed demons (Kenny Lofton, Corey Patterson, David Roberts) and watch your steals soar. Sure you may lack in other stats as a result, but if your playing the role of spoiler, who cares? A mischievous grin begins to spread across your face as you realize that even if YOU can't win the league, you damn well can make sure that HE won't claim the title. This may seem bitter and heartless, but ruining someone else's championship dreams can make the last few weeks of your fantasy baseball season all the more enjoyable.
Look, fantasy football is great and the anticipation of Thursday's Colts-Saints game may have you pumped up. But don't neglect the season-long grind of fantasy baseball.
No one said running this marathon was going to be pretty, but keep in mind that when your commissioner is setting up fantasy baseball for the 2008 season, he just may want to weed out any quitters from the previous season. So get back on your laptop, scour the box scores and slave over the waiver-wire. There is still plenty of baseball to be played.
Starbonell is UPDATE! Major League Baseball Editor.
But when you signed up for this mistress named fantasy baseball, you didn't make a commitment for two or three months. You owe it to your fellow owners to stick this one out, even if you are toiling away at the bottom of your league. Hey, if Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay can finish strong despite the fact his team has no shot at the postseason, then why can't you?
Think about it, how would you feel if you were in the throngs of a two-team race and a team with strikeout specialists like Carlos Zambrano and Aaron Harang just stopped paying attention and let them rot on the bench? Suddenly, your main competition, who just so happens to be the guy sitting right behind this absent fantasy owner in Ks, sneaks in an extra point that he would not have if the jerk who quit hadn't packed it in early.
This is happening to countless fantasy owners and it is time for it to stop. It is understandable to not want to check your team on a semi-daily basis when the chances of a championship have evaporated, but put yourself in the shoes of the folks that have a legitimate shot at winning. Do the right thing here, Chief. Besides, some of you have thrown in the towel probably have the opportunity to deeply affect the outcome of your league.
Let's say that your fiercest rival in your buddies' league is sitting in first. You're spitting mad that the guy who beat you to waiver wire heroes like Tim Lincecum and Hunter Pence is already uncorking a fresh bottle of bubbly to celebrate his eventual victory. But scan the standings and you may find that you can catch the guy in three categories.
For instance, a category like wins can be made up by streaming pitchers daily, ditto for strikeouts. Need to make a push in steals? Just load up on speed demons (Kenny Lofton, Corey Patterson, David Roberts) and watch your steals soar. Sure you may lack in other stats as a result, but if your playing the role of spoiler, who cares? A mischievous grin begins to spread across your face as you realize that even if YOU can't win the league, you damn well can make sure that HE won't claim the title. This may seem bitter and heartless, but ruining someone else's championship dreams can make the last few weeks of your fantasy baseball season all the more enjoyable.
Look, fantasy football is great and the anticipation of Thursday's Colts-Saints game may have you pumped up. But don't neglect the season-long grind of fantasy baseball.
No one said running this marathon was going to be pretty, but keep in mind that when your commissioner is setting up fantasy baseball for the 2008 season, he just may want to weed out any quitters from the previous season. So get back on your laptop, scour the box scores and slave over the waiver-wire. There is still plenty of baseball to be played.
Starbonell is UPDATE! Major League Baseball Editor.