Fantasy Vs. Reality
So, as much as I love fantasy baseball I hate that a players stats do not reflect the success of the team. In football, basketball, and hockey having the marquee player on the top team is generally going to score you mad points every week, but not with baseball.
Sure there are players like Carlos Quentin, Ryan Howard, and Joe Saunders whose numbers are great as are the team’s record (all first place teams), but often the leader in a statistical category is on a terrible team. Look at the Cleveland Indians. If I was a fantasy manager I would love to have Cliff Lee on my team, but as a baseball fan I would much rather have Red Sox tickets or Yankees tickets despite the fact that they do not have one of the top statistical pitchers.
A team like the Chicago Cubs has an excellent chance to reach the World Series but the top hitter is not in the top five for average, home runs, or RBI. The incredible balance in the lineup is a huge strength for the team, but not necessarily the best for fantasy owners. Alfonso Soriano does not appear on the home run list until number 30 and the leading RBI man, Aramis Ramirez, does not come up until number 18. The fact that I would not pick one of their players in the first two rounds is not going to stop me from getting Cubs seats, but it would make hesitate from trying to find a frontline player from the roster.
This is not always the case of course. The Philadelphia Phillies are in first in the National League East, and I would gladly take Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, or Chase Utley. The funny thing is that then the baseball experts knock the team for relying too much on power to drive in runs. That argument has been around for years though. The fact is that the Phillies are knee deep in a pennant race with the New York Mets and the Florida Marlins with three sluggers. The team is one of the rare clubs that make hometown fans and fantasy owners happy across the board.
Just looking at the home run leaders proves that the Phillies are the exception. Adam Dunn is from the bottom feeder Cincinnati Reds, Carlos Lee is from the horrible Houston Astros, Josh Hamilton is from the Rangers as they sit in the middle of the AL West too far behind to compete for the division title or the wild card, Adrian Gonzalez is from the Padres and is perhaps their only hitter, and Grady Sizemore is from the Indians (who officially gave up before the All Star break by trading C.C. Sabathia).
Other categories show the same thing. Chipper Jones is the leader in batting average but he is playing for the rebuilding Braves and Josh Hamilton is once again from the Rangers. Pitching is similarly inconsistent with a team’s record. Sure the Diamondbacks Brandon Webb, the Yankees Mike Mussina, and the Angels Joe Saunders are on the list, but sure are plenty of pitchers from questionable teams.
Colorado has Aaron Cook, Toronto has Roy Holiday and A.J. Burnett, and the Reds have Edinson Volquez in the top ten. None of those teams really has a shot at World Series tickets or even playoff tickets this late into the season. I guess I just have to get used to fantasy baseball as a kind of sup
Sure there are players like Carlos Quentin, Ryan Howard, and Joe Saunders whose numbers are great as are the team’s record (all first place teams), but often the leader in a statistical category is on a terrible team. Look at the Cleveland Indians. If I was a fantasy manager I would love to have Cliff Lee on my team, but as a baseball fan I would much rather have Red Sox tickets or Yankees tickets despite the fact that they do not have one of the top statistical pitchers.
A team like the Chicago Cubs has an excellent chance to reach the World Series but the top hitter is not in the top five for average, home runs, or RBI. The incredible balance in the lineup is a huge strength for the team, but not necessarily the best for fantasy owners. Alfonso Soriano does not appear on the home run list until number 30 and the leading RBI man, Aramis Ramirez, does not come up until number 18. The fact that I would not pick one of their players in the first two rounds is not going to stop me from getting Cubs seats, but it would make hesitate from trying to find a frontline player from the roster.This is not always the case of course. The Philadelphia Phillies are in first in the National League East, and I would gladly take Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, or Chase Utley. The funny thing is that then the baseball experts knock the team for relying too much on power to drive in runs. That argument has been around for years though. The fact is that the Phillies are knee deep in a pennant race with the New York Mets and the Florida Marlins with three sluggers. The team is one of the rare clubs that make hometown fans and fantasy owners happy across the board.
Just looking at the home run leaders proves that the Phillies are the exception. Adam Dunn is from the bottom feeder Cincinnati Reds, Carlos Lee is from the horrible Houston Astros, Josh Hamilton is from the Rangers as they sit in the middle of the AL West too far behind to compete for the division title or the wild card, Adrian Gonzalez is from the Padres and is perhaps their only hitter, and Grady Sizemore is from the Indians (who officially gave up before the All Star break by trading C.C. Sabathia).
Other categories show the same thing. Chipper Jones is the leader in batting average but he is playing for the rebuilding Braves and Josh Hamilton is once again from the Rangers. Pitching is similarly inconsistent with a team’s record. Sure the Diamondbacks Brandon Webb, the Yankees Mike Mussina, and the Angels Joe Saunders are on the list, but sure are plenty of pitchers from questionable teams.
Colorado has Aaron Cook, Toronto has Roy Holiday and A.J. Burnett, and the Reds have Edinson Volquez in the top ten. None of those teams really has a shot at World Series tickets or even playoff tickets this late into the season. I guess I just have to get used to fantasy baseball as a kind of sup
posted by Brad Stewart at
3:43 PM
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