Fantasy Baseball Dugout gives 50 tips that will help you win your Fantasy Baseball League this season. Follow these tips closely to enhance your chances to win your league championship in 2008 and beyond.
1. Be prepared for the draft. The league is often won or lost at the draft.
2. Stay focused. It’s a long season and a lot of players will drop out. If you stay focused on the prize, you’ll have a shot.
3. During the draft, track the positions your opponents have picked. Knowing this will give you a leg up on strategic picks in later rounds.
4. Go with established players over potential stars. Everybody likes to brag about picking up that rookie, but often the hype is bigger than the stats.
5. In the early rounds, pick the best available player, regardless of position.
6. Draft stolen bases. A player can be dominant in stolen bases and stolen bases are clearly over-weighted in fantasy baseball. Think Jose Reyes.
7. Draft closers. Make sure you have one more closer than your nearest competitor. Saves is an easy category to win and another over-weighted category in fantasy baseball.
8. If a player has been traded since last year, re-adjust his stats based on the park he’ll be playing his home games in. Pitchers sent to Colorado, Cincinnatti, or Philadelphia, for example, are likely to not have as impressive stats. Power stats should go up, however, if a hitter is traded to these teams. Alternatively, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, and Minnesota are pitchers’ parks.
9. Some leagues have minimal statistics to qualify at a particular position, sometimes as little as a single game. I recall Hank Aaron playing second base once. If that is your league’s rule, you have to look for opportunities like this and you may get the power numbers of an outfielder at a position that traditionally rewards defensive prowess.
10. Generally, it’s not a good idea to pick a catcher in an early round. They sit out too often and usually don’t put up huge stats anyway.
11. Do pick early in positions that are light or where some players are head and shoulders above the pack. Chase Utley at second base comes to mind.
12. Check out the league’s transactions every day. This is the only way to stay in touch. Being on vacation is no excuse in not checking your team daily.
13. Sign up for text message alerts from Google or Yahoo to keep up with fantasy baseball transactions and injuries. This will give you the information quicker than your competition.
14. Set your internet browser to come up with your league information. So, when you sign on to your computer, you’ll have the daily summary there and you won’t forget to check on your team.
15. If you no longer are interested in keeping a player on your roster, shop him to other teams before cutting him. Don’t assume other teams aren’t interested. You may get some value for him that exceeds what you’d get in the free agent pool.
16. If you are shopping a player, however, remember that this is a negotiation. You can’t let the other teams in the league know you are shopping this player. Try to cleverly put his name in package deals so that he maintains his value and your opponents won’t know they can pick him up for a box of old baseballs and used chewing gum.
17. There are no favorite teams in fantasy baseball.
18. There are no favorite players in fantasy baseball. Take the human element out of it. A player is just a bundle of statistics.
19. Don’t move a guy up in your analysis because he got hot in spring training.
20. Do watch the box scores the final two weeks of spring training. This is where jobs are won. You don’t want to be drafting a player who starts the season in Pawtucket.
21. If a guy is unusually hot in spring training, try to trade him then. His value may never be higher.
22. Every player that is on the major league roster needs to be ranked, even the sorry guys.
23. Don’t give away any categories. A championship fantasy baseball team needs to be competitive in every category, especially in 5 x 5 leagues. You cannot afford to give up a category and still win.
24. Just like regular baseball, starting pitchers can win it for you. Their stats count heavily in four of the five pitching categories.
25. Have a few extra starting pitchers in your minor league roster. If you play in a weekly league, bring up the guy who is getting two starts that week. Or, bring up the guy who is facing two week opponents that week.
26. If your league allows unlimited pitching moves, use them. A starting pitcher is of no value to you on the major league lineup when he’s not due to pitch for four more days.
27. Do the math on WHIP. I know its a pain, but it’s a category that you need to score well in.
28. Go to as many sources as possible for draft information. It’s the single most important thing you can do to be prepared.
29. Remember that statistics are relative to position played. All star statistics at catcher are often ordinary for outfielders or first basemen. The key is to get the best stats per position.
30. A trade has to work for both teams. Don’t make a ridiculous offer and hope you can bamboozle the other manager. He’ll be more open to making trades later in the season if you are bringing legitimate offers to him, even if he doesn’t take the first offer.
31. Watch Baseball Tonight! Cut the wife in on your winnings and she won’t nag you when you watch it every night…maybe.
32. Get the ESPN Extra Innings baseball package. Besides, if you live in the East, there’s nothing like listening to Vin Scully on local Dodgers telecasts. He’ll give you a lot of inside fantasy tips.
33. Check not only the stats, but lineup moves. Lineup moves can mean a lot to the stats your player will deliver, especially when it comes to RBI.
34. In a daily move league, check your lineup to see what pitcher your players are facing. Start lefties against right handed pitchers and vice versa. The righty-lefty analysis at the major league level is critical and is therefore critical in fantasy baseball success as well.
35. Keep up with injuries. An injured players does you no good in your lineup.
36. Be a contrarian during the draft. When everybody is making a run at relief pitchers, pick up a DH. There’s likely more value there.
37. Play in a league where all managers have a history of staying involved. A league is no fun if you don’t have active participating managers who have given up.
38. Play in a league with prize money for at least the top four finishers. This tends to keep players active.
39. In September, pick up prospects on teams that are out of it. This is going to be their chance to show what they’ve got for next season.
40. If your league uses playoffs, remember the adage: there’s no tomorrow. If you don’t maintain players for next season, drop a pitcher after he’s made his last start. He’s no longer of value to you otherwise.
41. In traditional Roto stats leagues, some statistics don’t matter. For example, strikeouts be a hitter don’t mean jack. An out is an out so don’t worry about picking Adam Dunn.
42. Look for most sleeper picks beginning in the 16th round. A sleeper is not a sure thing.
43. Be especially diligent in knowing who is going to be a team’s closer on teams where the job is up for grabs. You can obtain a significant amount of saves in later rounds this way by knowing who is going to be closing.
44. Starting pitchers are rarely first round material. Then, there’s Johan Santana and Jake Peavy. Prefer to load up on hitters in the first five rounds, then load up the majority of your starting pitching staff.
45. Avoid young pitchers in the very earliest rounds. They are simply too risky and prone to arm trouble.
46. Look at three year trends on players. Going any further back is useless.
47. Play in a league with old friends. It’s a great way to stay in touch.
48. If there’s an attractive single girl in your league, get to know her better. She’s almost definitely a keeper.
49. Support the advertisers on sites like Fantasy Baseball Dugout. Sites like this one that offer free fantasy baseball advice only survive because of revenue earned from its advertising.
50. When you go to a game, don’t ever yell down to a player: “Hey Ryan, you’re on my fantasy baseball team!” Do you really think he gives a hoot?
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How to get a baseball autographed in the mail?I want to get a baseball autographed by my favorite players, preferably from the Red Sox. I need info on how to do this process. THANKS.
About Author
http://www.fantasybaseballdugout.com Anthony Wayne is a writer for Fantasy Baseball Dubout which provides free fantasy baseball tips for winning your fantasy baseball league.
Nice work, you did pretty good.
You’re really good man. You’ve got excellent talent.
Yes. There have been a few "switch pitchers"
Greg Harris did Sept 28, 1995. He was the last guy to do this in the MLB.
I also remember hearing a story of a minor league pitcher who did this in a game.. against a switch hitter, and the two switched back and forth many times until the umpire had to intervene.
read the bottom of this page for a brief mention of the story:
http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news_story.jsp?article_id=mlb_20000303_holtzman_cols&team_id=mlb
I would say that 60 is a reasonable guess, but it might be a little lower than that. I used to play as a kid but i don't play much anymore and I was clocked in the low 60's last summer at a fan day thing. Of the 4 people I knew that were clocked i think the highest ws 67 with average being a little under 60.
It says that we (yes I am Black) did what we did what had always when done when Whites would not allow us to do something. We started our own version which was just as good (and in many cases better as N-e-g-r-o League All Star teams routinely beat MLB All Star teams in exhibitions) as what they had. Most people don't know this but the East-West Colored All Star Game played at the original Comiskey Park in 1933 actually outdrew the first ever MLB All Star Game which was played in the same stadium one week earlier. This shows that White America was beginning to realize the quality of baseball that was played in the N-e-g-r-o Leagues was just as high as (and arguably higher than) that played in MLB. This also made racist owners try even harder to keep us out of MLB.
Often, N-e-g-r-o League teams would get their names by placing the word "Black" in front of the name of the local MLB or MiLB team, i.e. New York Black Yankees, Chattanooga Black Lookouts, Atlanta Black Crackers ("Crackers" was the name of the first professional team in Atlanta, a reference to cracking home runs), Birmingham Black Barons (who at one time counted Satchel Paige and Willie Mays among their players and were owned by Abe Saperstein, the same man who founded and owned the Harlem Globetrotters), Washington Black Senators, Jacksonville Black Caps (Jacksonville's MiBL team was the Red Caps) Shreveport Black Captains, New Orleans Black Pelicans, Little Rock Black Travelers,etc. The Kansas City Royals name is a tribute to the most famous N-e-g-r-o League team of them all, the Kansas City Monarchs.
When the MLB and MiLB teams were on road trips, the N-e-g-r-o League teams would often play in their stadiums and give the MLB team owner a portion of the receipts. This was also true for some MiLB teams. For example, when the Birmingham Barons were on a road trip, the Birmingham Black Barons would play at Rickwood Field. The N-e-g-r-o League teams were, however, required to use the MLB or MiLB teams announcers who were often just as racist as the owners. When the Barons played at Rickwood Field there was one section of the right field bleachers that was designated as "The Colored Section" and whenever a player be it a member of the Barons or the opposing team would hit a home run into that section the announcer would say the player hit it into "The Coal Bin." The bleacher designations were the exact reverse for the Black Barons' games, with one difference: the one section of the bleachers had no denigrating designation.
In short, the N-e-g-r-o Leagues showed that we could do anything that Whites could do and could do it just as well, if not better in some cases. The N-e-g-r-o Leagues endured until 1962 when they finally closed down shop for good because they had served their purpose, which was to give us a place to play professional baseball. When Pumpsie Green debuted with the Red Sox in 1959, it meant that every team in MLB had integrated.
Before anyone says anything about the date in the question it is correct. Jackie Robinson signed to play with the Brooklyn Dodgers' minor league team, the Montreal Royals in early 1946. He played one year for them before being called up to the Dodgers with whom he debuted on April 15, 1947.
All broadcasters have endless information in front of them and constantly given to them during the game. So they know what pitches a pitcher throws, as well their tendencies they have to throw certain pitches in certain situations. They know between what speeds their fastball is thrown as well as the rest of a pitcher's pitches. So then by looking at the speed of the pitch, and its movement, they can deduce what pitch was just thrown. Its not quite as easy as looking at what sign the catcher is putting down, since that camera angle isn't usually the one being shown when the signs are flashed.
:O
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how is this not a real photo?
Perfect.
First find how long the ball is in the air. Velocity X Distance (converted units of course)
Then multiply by the revolutions per minute and you will get revolutions.
Mainly just a unit conversion problem
I want to add to Kyle's response. The answer is B. If uniforms are sold to fans, then they are final goods and will be included in GDP. However, since professional baseball players use uniforms as an input in supplying a match to spectators, then the cost of these uniforms is already included in ticket prices and will not be included in GDP.
Very nice!!
amazing! Willy teach me how to paint like you!
Brilliant Willy, Just Brilliant =D
don't let the easy one get away……. Barry Bonds
Well, these days with all of exercise and weight training they do, many baseball players are strong and big ( taking away the notion that most baseball players aren't athletes ) since most baseball players are athletes anyway. They actually cut their hair to military style because having a full head of hair slows down a player some what. For a "cop attitude" baseball players are the only pro athletes who are allowed to police themselves whenever a fight happens and leave the dugout.
hm i couldn’t tell the difference between photograph and painting comparing the final resault.
This is sick
woww that’s really relax and beatiful soung .good picture of jhony depp !
the same as we do