# SDMB Fantasy Baseball 2007 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 7, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245 "2007-02-07T18:55:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/21 "2007-02-12T02:52:10Z")
[QUOTE=brianjedi] So there’s half the league right there, and we’ve still got the “Outsiders” to include. Looks like we’re off to a good start. [/QUOTE] Real good. If the rate of acquisition in previous years is any indication, this league is looking to easily shatter 20 teams. I, for one, have no problem with that. Also, I think we owe it to **Petelin** to try to get him involved after the brutal spanking he administered last year. Although maybe we owe it to ourselves not to, come to think of it. I don’t think he’s registered here anymore, in any case. As far as holds, **Wilson’s** correct across the board. [Here’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=357207) a previous thread where we talked about why and how we use holds in this league (posts 8-18ish). Although it is hard to cite, holds are far more common _in toto_ than saves (he did mean holds instead of saves). Roughly speaking, the distribution is something close to 2:1, total holds to total saves. But, as **Wilson** said, the distribution of holds among pitchers is very different than with saves. There are dozens of players who register just a handful of holds and very few who rack up a lot, so every (fantasy) team has a chance to nickel & dime its way to respectability in that category, while trying to avoid the situation where you have to field a pitcher with a 6 ERA just because he racks up a bunch of holds. As a result of the parity, it only takes, historically, 40 holds or so to be competitive in that stat and 70-90 to have a shot at the top spot, whereas you’d need like 75 saves to be middle of the pack and 100+ to win that category. If anybody’s still with me. All of which is to say holds are very much bullshit in the real world, but useful in fantasy. Just like school uniforms. Wait. ---
**Author:** ![Craneop2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Craneop2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Craneop2)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/22 "2007-02-12T05:28:16Z")
Count me in if you run short of players. I have only been on one league before and would like to try again if there is space. I might, however, need a little refreshing on the rules and such. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/23 "2007-02-12T05:40:16Z")
We should definitely make sure that **Petelin** gets the opportunity to defend his championship, assuming he wants to. Of course, I have no idea how to contact him if he isn’t registered here anymore… re: the draft spot, Yahoo! registration opens later this week (the 15th, I believe), and we will know what sort of spot we have once we register. It would behoove us to pick someone to commish before then, so they can register the league ASAP, so that we can get a draft spot we like. Our draft spots have been all over the place in the various SDMB leagues that I’ve played in; anything that was at a semi-reasonable time for both coasts and has taken obvious RL stuff into account has done pretty well for attendance, as long as things were set far enough in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8797f3/32.png) [@Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ins_Outs_What-have-yous)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/24 "2007-02-12T05:57:08Z")
I’ll play if there’s still room for me. ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/25 "2007-02-12T18:32:05Z")
I and the mighty\* Sepotosi are in. \*Looked pretty mighty after the draft anyways… ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/26 "2007-02-12T20:36:34Z")
Well yeah, I did mean holds there, as you’ve figure out… I’ll send a note to **Petelin** and a couple of the other former members who have played in the past (already heard from one)… As I said, I’m willing to commish, and will be available to try to grab a good slot on the 15th when they open up. My opinion is something after 9PM eastern / 6PM pacific works best… If **rackensack** or **Omni** want another crack at commishing, or someone else wants to try, that’s fine by me. ---
**Author:** ![Petey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f1d935/32.png) [@Petey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petey)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/27 "2007-02-12T21:06:59Z")
I’ll be in again as the Isotopes. Although I do hate holds. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/28 "2007-02-12T21:12:12Z")
[QUOTE=Wilson] Well yeah, I did mean holds there, as you’ve figure out… I’ll send a note to **Petelin** and a couple of the other former members who have played in the past (already heard from one)… As I said, I’m willing to commish, and will be available to try to grab a good slot on the 15th when they open up. My opinion is something after 9PM eastern / 6PM pacific works best… If **rackensack** or **Omni** want another crack at commishing, or someone else wants to try, that’s fine by me. [/QUOTE] 9PM eastern is probably the ideal start time if it’s a weeknight, since this particular draft usually takes a couple of hours. Any later than that, and you’re looking at “I have to wake up for work in six hours” by the time we get to the 20th round or so for some of us on the correct coast. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/29 "2007-02-12T21:27:51Z")
[QUOTE=Kiros] 9PM eastern is probably the ideal start time if it’s a weeknight, since this particular draft usually takes a couple of hours. Any later than that, and you’re looking at “I have to wake up for work in six hours” by the time we get to the 20th round or so for some of us on the correct coast. [/QUOTE] And what’s wrong with that? Where’s your dedication??? OK, I appear to have woke **Petey** up, and I’ve heard from both **Winnowill** and **Munch** , who are both interested. Munch votes for upping the IP limit to 1350… Nothing yet from the defending champ. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/30 "2007-02-12T21:33:15Z")
… and I’ve just heard from **Petelin** , who’d definitely want to be in again. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/31 "2007-02-12T21:44:08Z")
[QUOTE=Kiros] 9PM eastern is probably the ideal start time if it’s a weeknight, since this particular draft usually takes a couple of hours. Any later than that, and you’re looking at “I have to wake up for work in six hours” by the time we get to the 20th round or so for some of us on the correct coast. [/QUOTE] It used to be about the music, man. Although, for the purposes of full disclosure and all that, it’s probably best that everybody be aware that by “a couple of hours,” **The Old Man Formerly Known as Kiros** means something like 3 and a half hours, if I recall correctly. And since this league’s looking bigger than any we’ve ever had, you can bump the duration up accordingly. Am I counting correctly? Are we at 20 already? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/32 "2007-02-12T21:55:16Z")
The way it’s going now, it looks like it’s going to be two SDMB leagues. I think that’s pretty good, though. We should have a winners’ bracket and a losers’ bracket. People that played last year should be in the winners’ bracket. Riff-raff goes into the losers’ bracket. A few more entries and this becomes a valid suggestion. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/33 "2007-02-12T22:09:30Z")
We’re at 20 by my unofficial count… 10 members who played last year who have posted in this thread, 7 others who have expressed interest, and 3 former members who have played for years that I’ve heard from. Course we’ll have to see if all 20 end up joining, but we’re doing incredibly well. I vote to keeping it one league if we’re at 20. If we get to 22 or 24, maybe I’d rethink that… ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/34 "2007-02-12T22:21:39Z")
If only there were a way to create divisions. I don’t mind having to dig deep on the waiver wire. Maybe we should split it up (if we have to) that way: who minds digging for waiver replacements and who doesn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/35 "2007-02-12T22:24:42Z")
Does this require more than a love of baseball and some math skill? The idea of joining a fantasy league has always intrigued me, but I’ve never followed stats closely before. Is this the sort of thing where a beginner would be welcomed, or should I play elsewhere and learn the ropes before trying to join you guys? I’m also a little concerned about the time involved on Thursday, but I could try to make it work if you were bringing me in. My wife already considers herself a baseball widow during the season, and she’s going to be out of town for an entire month during the summer, so I figure I’d have a lot of time to dedicate to this. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/36 "2007-02-12T22:36:13Z")
Well, Thursday’s just the registration date for the league and it’s where the draft time will be set. I imagine that the draft won’t be for another month. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/37 "2007-02-12T22:43:03Z")
OK, in the interest in extreme geekiness and blowing my own horn, I thought I’d share something I put together, sort of a very unofficial all time standings of the SDMB Fantasy Baseball leagues. I took the standings of the four years of leagues that preceded this one, noted each owner’s standings, and compiled a master list. For purposes of awarding points, I awarded 18 points for first, 17 for second, down to 1 for last in the 18 team leagues we had in 2004 and 2006 (this does mean that last place was worth more than one point in 2003, when we had 13 teams, and 2005, when we had 17). I have an excel spreadsheet with the full yearly records, and a full chart of every owner that’s participated, and their SDMB name when I could reconstruct it, if anyone is interested. However, I thought I’d share the standings of all owners that have been in the league at least three years… ```auto Owner 2003 2004 2005 2006 Total Wilson 17 14 18 17 66 Munch 18 17 11 4 50 Kiros 18 16 15 49 brianjedi 15 17 16 48 Omniscient 15 10 12 10 47 White Lghtng 14 16 11 41 rackensack 9 12 15 5 41 Jimmy Chitwd 11 14 12 37 Petey 13 10 13 36 Winnowill 11 3 13 7 34 Petelin 2 9 18 29 spooje 6 7 1 14 ``` Damn I’m good… 🙂 Although I must admit that **Kiros** and **brianjedi** have almost as good an average finish as I do. If anyone wants the full data, let me know. Also, if there was a league in 2002, and anyone can find the standings in their Yahoo Fantasy Profile, please send the stats to me and I’ll add them in. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/38 "2007-02-12T22:52:41Z")
And to respond to **Asimovian** and others… as **Kid\_A** pointed out, Thursday is just when the commissioner would register the league and sign up for a (later) draft spot. Usually I think we shoot for a week or less before the start of the regular season. Last year’s draft took 2 hours 35 minutes, which I think was a LOT faster than the previous year’s. And enjoying fantasy baseball in my opinion you just need a very strong love of baseball, and at least a passing familiarity with the stats being discussed… we’re not using extremely obscure stats, but if you’ve never heard of On Base Percentage, Holds or Slugging Percentage, this may not be the league for you. If you’ve got an opinion on who will be better next year, Jeff Weaver or Jeff Suppan; if you feel certain in your heart who is more likely to fall to earth between Bill Hall, Brian McCann or Dan Uggla; and if you can name at least three candidates for the Red Sox closer’s spot, than fantasy baseball is for you. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/39 "2007-02-12T23:02:57Z")
What Jon Lester? Is he even in the majors yet? Do I win a prize? What about that kid whose last name is Hansen? We counting Foulke, Schilling, and Papelbon? Didn’t they sign Scot Schowenweis? I’m a Tigers fan, so no, it’s not common knowledge for me to know that crap. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245/40 "2007-02-12T23:10:07Z")
Timlin! I meant Timlin!! Not Foulke, dammit. That’s what I get for showing off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-fantasy-baseball-2007/391245.md?page=3)