2008 Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball
Oh, what the heck. I’ve set up a Yahoo Fantasy league again. The league number is 134419 and the password is delenda. First come, first served.
20 teams, traditional Rotisserie scoring. 5 x 5, with the offensive categories being Runs, RBI, Homers, OBP, and SLG, pitching categories being Wins, Saves, Strikeouts, ERA, and WHIP. (This last replaces K/BB ratio.)
I don’t know if we should enforce the must-have-a-Brave rule or not.
lets hope for another fun year, and another championship for Steve Avery’s Squad
I decided what the heck and joined the league.
Any cash component?
Nope. I’m cheap. Also lazy, which is why the Rotisserie scoring & weekly changes. This is supposed to be a few minutes a week work.
Okay.
Stu, I want you to know I thought about using ‘Tony LaRussa’s Hateable Face’ for my team name but I have decided that even though I created that line, you should have permanent rights to that instead.
Alex, I was giong to use that in another league. Feel free to use it in this one. I opted for “D Price is Right” here.
I saw that but I officially want you to have that whenever you choose to use it – your excitement for that line gives you permanent rights.
I have decided ‘Keith Lockhart Sucks’ is a good name for my team. It narrowly defeated my 2nd choice – ‘SUPERdelegates!’
I assume I’m not the first to point out the resemblance between LaRussa and Javier Bardem in NCFOM.
http://images.eonline.com/eol_images/Profiles/20061005/244.bardem.javier.100506.jpg
Sorry, Mac, he looks more like the Spanish, Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
And for those wondering who Morgan is:
http://www.greysanatomyinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/06/Jeffrey-Dean-Morgan.jpg
He’s played dead guys on “Supernatural”, “Weeds” and “Grey’s Anatomy” – that has to be some kind of record for getting killed off on Television.
But in the movie…
http://tinyurl.com/2ps7jm
Mass murderer, or LaRussa coming out for his sixth in-inning pitching change?
Bad haircut in that movie – yes – that looks like LaRussa. Plus, as you said, the whole ‘mass murderer’ thing.
Even scarier? Jim ‘a–hole’ Leyrtiz’s resemblance to actor Domenick Lombardozzi, Officer Herc on “The Wire”.
Lombardozzi:
http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/characters/herc_hauk.shtml
Leyritz:
http://www.hollywoodgrind.com/images/2007/12/jim-leyritz-mug-shot.jpg
I guess in the feature film Mac and I will soon be co-writing, called “Enemies of the Braves”, we now have castmembers for the roles of Leyritz and LaRussa!
Any other casting suggestions from Bravesjournal for this film is greatly appreciated?
AAR cast The Braves: the Motion Picture over at Chop-n-Change, though he missed Jerry O’Connell as Chipper.
Yes, but that’s because I don’t want Chipper to make fun of me like he made fun of DOB for calling him Hoss.
I hate Jerry O’Connell. He’s a terrible actor, and he took Rebecca Romijn off the market. He’s probably in my top 5 of people I irrationally detest.
As long as Michael O’Keefe from “The Slugger’s Wife” (despite his excellent recent comeback performance as a slimy attorney in ‘Michael Clayton’) is nowhere near this film, I am OK with it.
I think when Skip gets really drunk, he’s been known to spout off about this old movie from time to time.
Considering what a cheeseball flick it was, the movie would have been much more appropriate to have Chip Caray.
AAR,
I have to say, I enjoyed him a lot on the old TV show, “Sliders” and he was hilarious as the fat kid on “Stand By me”.
Besides, if someone gets to sleep with Rebecca Romijn, they deserve our respect.
I am with Mac – O’Connell is great casting for ‘U Kno Who’
I liked Sliders. But then, I’m a nerd.
When John Rhys-Davies left “Sliders” it was downhill after that.
I thought O’Connell would be Smoltz, if for no other reason than his experience with Sliders.
I haven’t figured out how she’d be worked into the Braves Movie plot, but Nick Van Exel could play the role of Oprah Winfrey.
Nick Van Exel is Oprah Winfrey in The Ray King Story!
But you have to really question what ‘Nick the Quick’ would in fact leave under people’s chairs…
I’ve jumped in the league. But it’ll have to be casual (because I’ll be concentrating on my primary league and because my wife gets upset when I play in multiples… heh heh).
Unless I end up fielding a decent team, in which case I will consider the league top priority and I will be competitive.
So how’s the draft dynamic in the case that every member is a homer of the same team?
Instead of an everyone must have a Brave rule, we should make all Mets undraftable. I’m already looking at Reyes and Wright for my draft slot in my main league. Even though I’m good at separating fantasy from fandom, I still don’t want that feeling when watching Braves/Mets games where I think, deep down somewhere in the recesses of consciousness: “At least it helps my fantasy team if they do well.” Don’t want that. Must fight it.
Re: Reyes. Note that there is no stolen base category in this league (because stolen bases are essentially unimportant) and thus Reyes is not as valuable as he is in SB leagues.
I did note that, but I appreciate you pointing it out.
Wow, Mac, I didn’t notice that but I have to wholeheartedly disagree with that decision.
Alex, the basic problem with stolen bases is that they’re essentially irrelevant in the modern power-and-on-base game. The specific problem in fantasy is that there are only a few players who steal many bases — Rollins was fifth in the NL with 41 last year, and 32 was good enough to tie for ninth — so that those few players become far more valuable in fantasy than in the real world. Reyes is arguably the best fantasy player in the NL, even though he’s an average hitter, because he steals the most bases and plays shortstop. Juan Pierre is a valuable player in fantasy leagues that count SBs, but he may not even have a job because he’s such a bad player in the real world.
Furthermore, with only five categories I wasn’t about to count CS, and that means there’s no cost for getting caught.
ESPN offers a stat category called “SBN” (net stolen bases), which subtracts CS from SB. Still not close to perfect, but I like accounting for speed some—it’s the traditionalist in me—and it’s much better than plain ol’ SB. We use it in my super-serious auction keeper league.
Speaking of which, it’s currently a 10-team league, but we’d like to expand it to 12 or 14. By my count, four of the 10 current owners are or were Braves Journal regulars: LatNam, Dix, Chuck G, me.
Would anyone be interested in joining. Auction is set for Saturday, March 22. $10 entry fee, $0.50 per trade or FA pickup. 5 keepers per season (The new guys would obviously have no keepers to start the year but would have the full $350 to bid at auction.) 25-man rosters. R/RBI/SBN/OBP/SLG; QS/ERA/WHIP/K/SV+HLD are the imperfect-but-mostly-workable-I-think stat categories.
Any takers?
Personally, I fully support any statistical decision that punishes Jose Reyes for being Jose Reyes. (It also busts David Wright from otherworldly fantasy player to merely good fantasy player.)
Where can I read up on how leagues work? Never participated in one.
About Druw!!
http://www.dodgerblues.com/content/news.html
I have NO comment on the Andruw thing, other than to say I am sure his fleet of cars can fit plenty of those delicious In N Out Burgers he must be helping himself to.
League full.
Awww, the league is full. 🙁
someone should make a 2nd bravesjournal league!
Done! Braves Journal #2
135870
Password: Smoltz
I was going to ask why I can’t see the left half of the posts, but as soon as I clicked on the name box to post this, it fixed itself. So never mind.
Go Braves!!!!
Trying to find something negative to say about David Wright, I’ll say to this point he’s stealing bases like a young slugging third baseman who’s never been injured. He’s one brief DL trip from being a slugging 3B who needs to stay in the lineup.
I guess what I’m saying is that sometime in the next three years he’ll stop stealing so many bases. Sorry, that’s the best I can do.
Someone call Tonya Harding Inc.
David Wright benefits from playing in the New York market. Also, his “web gems” inflate his truly fielding ability, which is not Gold Glove caliber, he ain’t even better than Chipper, kind of like Gary Matthews, Jr.
I agree with sansho @ #39…he a year or two and a stint or two on the DL from not being a stealing threat.
Also, can we use the same 5×5 stats catergories that Mac presented in the blog, as well as taking off the “head to head” style and use rotisserie scoring?
Andruw Jones looks like Dusty Rhodes now or maybe Kamala. WOOO!!!
Here’s something negative to say about Wright- I’d like to buy him for what he’s worth and sell him for what New York sportswriters think he’s worth.
I’m in the first league as CenterFieldCan’tHold. Because in our outfield, things fall apart…
Wright is very good. He’s actually ahead of Chipper at the same age, albeit largely, or entirely, because Chipper missed a year due to injury. On the other hand, Rolen was in the same situation once. Heck, Fernando Tatis was once, and I think he bagged my groceries at Publix the other day.
David Wright=Chris Sabo or an early-onset Howard Johnson
Chris Sabo went to Michigan, which is like the SEC of college Ice Hockey
And the Sun Belt of college baseball.
Look, Wright’s career is so far in great shape, and there’s no reason to think that he’s going to fall off… except that a whole lot of young third basemen do. Look at his top ten comps:
1. Dick Allen (939)
2. Eric Chavez (923)
3. Scott Rolen (907)
4. Harlond Clift (905)
5. Bob Horner (903)
6. Ken Keltner (900)
7. Hank Blalock (896)
8. Del Ennis (894)
9. Jim Ray Hart (893)
10. Duke Snider (893) *
Chavez-Rolen-Horner-Hart is a scary group if you’re a Mets fan. Chavez and Rolen have had good careers, but haven’t reached the heights they looked like they would in their early twenties. Horner you all know, and Hart post-25 made Horner look like Cal Ripken. Blaylock’s career looks to be going in the same direction.
Wright is actually better than the others, except maybe Allen (who had completely different problems unlikely to derail Wright) and easily a good enough hitter to move to first base and be an MVP candidate. It wouldn’t be the worst idea to do it pre-emptively; it’s not like they have a young Carlos Delgado over there.
Apparently the Tigers signed McBride to a one year deal and are looking for him to start the year in AAA as a starter. Anybody know more?
There’s this from Hardball Times about HR tracking:
“David Wright is another good bet to decline. Hit Tracker also tracks “lucky” homers—those which left the yard only because of wind, weather and other factors beyond the batter’s control. (Yup, Hit Tracker also notes those factors for all homers.) Wright had 10 and only one other batter in MLB had more than seven.”
Re: Chuck James
I read Peanut saying that he almost certainly won’t be ready to start the season, so he will probably start the season on the DL.
If Michigan was in a Sun Belt locale it would probably be the SEC of college baseball too. Just like the disadvantage the Big Ten has in bowl games in fair weather stadiums against teams who play year round in the sun, Big Ten baseball suffers from having it be cold as crap in February and March.
Its the same kind of thing as what happened with Lex Luger and Ric Flair. Flair, being from Tennessee did not have to plow as much snow from the driveway before heading to wrestling practice, so he was able to improve more quickly that did Luger who was from Buffalo. As a result, Ric Flair is still wrestling and Lex Luger is trying not to be a homeless bumb.
I must be drunk, because that made sense.
I don’t think it would be as good as the SEC is in baseball, but it would be as good as the Big Ten is in football. Nothing to be done. There’s a strong positive correlation between warm climate and baseball development, as has been pointed out ad nauseum.
Anyone up for creating a Braves Journal League #3?
You have to be fast to get in and both leagues are already full.
I’ve never played in a Yahoo league with as knowledgeable baseball men as this blog and would really like to.
Since we’re talking leagues, here’s another pitch for mine. It’s a not-as-serious-as-Stu’s auction league, that, depending on interest may be able to be a keeper league. Head to head format.
Cost is $7 to join, the categories are R/AVG/OBP/RBI/HR/SB-CS; W/K/ERA/WHIP/Sv/K-BB.
You can email me at mrfyde – at – yahoo.com, or message me on facebook (I’m in the Bravesjournal group – Jonathan Hyde). Still need a couple players for the last few spots…
Equally strong, if not stronger, is the correlation between cold climate and ice hockey development.
Not sure if there’s a correlation between climate and professional wrestling development. At the very least, it hasn’t been discussed ad nauseum…by me yet.
Que Stu
nice win Vandy
Just like the disadvantage the Big Ten has in bowl games in fair weather stadiums against teams who play year round in the sun.
I seem to recall Ted Ginn running just fine in Columbus, The Metrodome or Phoenix.
Excuse me if this has been discussed, but most betting sites has Braves over/under win total at 86.5 up from 83.5 last year. I made some good money (albeit with a stressful ending) on it last year. How does everyone feel about 86.5?
Push.
Push, too.
My gut says 88-89, but I’m not sure I’d go near that bet either.
Bobby seems to be pretty high on Charlie Morton. Is he the real deal? Dont really know much about him.
The Charlie Morton thing is getting a little annoying. This guy has frankly done nothing outside of a five scoreless-innings game in the Arizona fall League and we’re now supposed to believe he’s a future #1 or #2 starter who could make the team out of spring training?
As for Bobby Cox, he praises everyone, all the time. Have you ever heard him say “that guy is terrible and will never be a starting player on this team while I’m the manager”?
#51
Not sure why I am even bother correcting this but Ric Flair is originally from Minnesota (like many other wrestlers). He now resides in Charlotte.
#63
Bobby has also managed, at times, to praise: Keith Lockhart, Chris Woodward, Chris Reitsma, Dan Kolbb, & Ryan Langerhans.
I am sure if you asked Bobby, he’d even try and find something nice to say about Kim Jong Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. That’s just the kind of swell guy Bobby is.
Alex R.,
Bobby would only praise Ahmadinejad and Kim if the Braves signed them. It is a positive outlook on Braves “assets”. But, yes, if they wear the tomahawk (or some strange minor league thing like a Pelican) Bobby is going to say good things about them.
I do believe occasionally it actually gets more out of some of them. Also, I think it gets us a little more in trade sometimes. All in all, a positive, although it can be annoying at times.
“That’s just the kind of swell guy Bobby is.”
Thanks Alex R, you just gave me my team name. Although I’m sure it’ll change a number of times before the season starts. Still trying to work in something that rhymes with Horacio.
I’d take the over on 86.5, but I’m not a betting man.
As for a rhyme, how about, “Swindled Bill Bavasi-o”?
How about:
“Horatio’s High Ratio”?
Some other team name ideas for folks:
“Andruw’s Burgers”
“The Canadian Brave Power Players”
“Winston the Watercooler’s Dan Kolbb All Stars”
“Langerhansian”
“Tanyon Sturtze’d”
or:
“I Must Kill Tom Martin”
(in my head, I said that in the Reggie Jackson-Naked Gun voice)
Another good team name:
“I told you Vanderbilt would beat UT”
Stu,
I dunno, sounds a bit long and a bit too centric to one state…
But in all seriousness, congrats. BIG WIN.
And Tennessee losing in, well, anything, never gets too old for many of us. (sorry, Smitty).
AAR;
RE: #69 Best witicism since Dorothy Parker!
Stu;
Hooray!
Smitty;
Awwwww! It was a nice ride while it lasted.
The last #1 team to lose at Vandy didn’t do too bad at the end of the year…
Sorry. Go Braves.
The last #1 team to lose to Vandy was also correctly predicted by Stu.
Also, that team was much better than this UT team.
Hey Stu, did you see my e-mail?
Alex. R: #65
Actually, Rick Flair, in his autobiography, claims he was born Memphis, Tennessee.
He got a Wrestling Scholarship to the University of Minnesota.
Chris,
He may hav ebeen born there but he has claimed to ‘grow up’ in Minny.
Still, I didn’t realize the Nature Boy had a book.
This is good stuff — we’re getting closer to the real truth of whether or not Ric Flair had to shovel snow and, if so, how much. Nice work, people.
I have some team names that I will throw out there for anyone interested. I am not joining the league or any fantasy baseball leagues this year so hear you go.
“The Human Growth Hormones”
“The B-12’s”
“The Absesses”
“The Perjurers”
“McNamee’s Kids”
Thats all I could come up with for now, enjoy.
How about:
Back Acne
Injecting Debbie
Lidocaine and Abel
Fehr, Uncertainty, and Doubt
Someone said it here before I believe:
“La Russa’s hateable face”
Single game tickets are flying this morning. I was grabbing a couple for that first Sunday home game against the Mets, I timed out while reviewing information, and ended up with significantly worse seats only a couple of minutes later.
my main league’s name is MLB 2008: Clemens’ Butt Cyst.
Those were all great names. And, AAR, I especially liked the one that mixes Horacio and Bill Bavasi.
More Ric Flair Trivia:
I know a guy who was actually delivered by Ric Flair’s dad, an obstetrician named Dr. Richard Fliehr, in a Twin Cities hospital.
Interestingly & coincidentally, he went onto have a career in professional wrestling, in the background, booking arenas & such.
Several years ago, when Turner had its wrestling, I got an invitation from him to see a “show” at the Nassau Coliseum. I hadn’t followed it since I was a kid watching Gordon Solie, but I had a friend who was crazy for it, so I figured I’d bring him. Plus, they had a DJ playing the thing, so I thought I could get a story out of it.
We got backstage during the show & saw the bookers doing their thing up close. I didn’t know who half the people were, but I was mostly amused to meet “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes & Goldberg (a former UGA football star).
But, by far the most engaging, personable, funny-as-hell guy we met was Dallas Page. He was yukking it up backstage & in the blink of an eye went “into character.”
No matter what you think about wrestling, it is one helluva production.
Reading this blog now makes my eyes hurt. I anxiously await the next redesign.
I was listening to WFAN today & hearing the 2 hosts (whom I generally like) cluck about the Mets & how there’s nobody in the NL that scares them.
They rattled off teams, dismissing each for one reason or another & then they got to the Braves.
“Y’know what, bro? The Braves scare me—they always do.”
“Oh, c’mon, Chipper’s always hurt, Mark Kotsay’s playing CF, Rafael Soriano is their closer, the back of their rotation is unproven…”
“I’m telling you, bro. Keep an eye on them. They’re flying under the radar. “
Good win Stu. I thought the officals were awful last night, for both teams. At least they were consistant.
“Oh, c’mon, Chipper’s always hurt, Mark Kotsay’s playing CF, Rafael Soriano is their closer, the back of their rotation is unproven…”
http://www.metsgeek.com/articles/2008/02/05/breakdown-ranking-the-national-league-east-position-by-position/
Mets’ fans seem pretty unafraid of Rafael Soriano. A lot of other seem to think the same. Are Braves’ fans seeing something in Soriano they’re not?
Both leagues are full 🙁
Re: Soriano, to be honest, I wasn’t thrilled to be getting him a couple years ago. I wasn’t paying too much attention to the M’s, so I just thought he was gifted but injury-prone. Then he came over and, with the exception of a bad week in mid-July — where he gave up a quarter of his runs over the season in the space of 8 days — he was absolutely lights-out. I think he just flew under the radar again.
They won’t be able to overlook him this time around.
Anyone know what Gonzalez’ status is and when he is projected to pitch again?
Soriano hasn’t earned his Closer™ registration from the International Federation of Late Inning Relievers. Therefore, he’s not as good as the Great Kevin Gregg.
Wasn’t it last year?
It is so good to hear the Braves on the radio, even if it is only against the Dawgs.
Mac, don’t forget, Dan Kolbb was a “closer” too in Milwaukee. Why? Because they used him in the 9th inning.
#88
ububba,
I couldn’t care less about Pro Westling NOW, but man, back in the day…I was a nut for it.
Growing up in the 80’s, besides Braves Baseball and playing with GI Joe’s, my other passion was the NWA and UWF in the 80’s – I did also watch the WWF circa 80’s (Hogan JYD, Hillbilly Jim, King Kong Bundy, etc) but growing up in Savannah, it was all about Dusty-Nikita, the Horsemen, the Midnight Express, Road Warriors…good times.
I last with Wrestling into the mid 1990’s so I very much enjoyed the performances of one Diamond Dallas Page. He was always extremely entertaining.
As teenagers on the summer swim team we’d flash the sign for the diamond cutter while waiting on the blocks during relays. I’m pretty sure it didn’t intimidate anyone (it was only meant to entertain) since we were so average… but I’m also fairly certain that it qualified us as rednecks.
Wowsers bravesjournal is talkin’ about pro wrestling. I’m so happy.
I went to Jimmy Valiant’s wrestling camp about 2 months ago. Look up a current picture of him… it was definitely a waste of time.
I went ahead and made a THIRD bravesjournal league on yahoo. Right now I just set a 4×4 and a live draft in a month, but I figure once people are in the league we can discuss the best method.
ID: 140411
Pass: coxrox
Braves beat UGA 8-0
Detroit rallies to beat Mets 4-2
The Mets are done!
I would play in the aforementioned third Braves Journal league if one is created and there are enough people who would take it seriously, I’m not thrilled that I missed out on the first two.
I was only into wrestling during the Attitude era of the WWF. Stone Cold, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Mankind, and The Rock. Those were the good days of wrestling. I also remember the infamous ‘Montreal Screwjob’, which basically made Vince McMahon what he is today.