Baseball DIY

I should get more work done this baseball season. For the first time since achieving gainful employment, I won't participate in a fantasy baseball league.

Last year, after sensing a deficiency in the normal fantasy leagues, I created a custom league on Yahoo. Traditional roto scoring doesn't factor in defense, so I tried to be fair to good defensive players who might not be Albert Pujols with the stick. The defensive stats we used were assists, putouts, and errors. I assumed that first basemen and catchers would rack up the most points because of their high putout totals, and I was right. What I hadn't foreseen was that, since players are available to play at multiple positions on your fantasy squad, the system allowed (if not encouraged) lineup chicanery: Albert, for instance, played first base the whole season, but you could use him at third or in the outfield on your fantasy team. Find a few more players like that, and you've got a team full of first basemen racking up putout points. It rapidly devolved into a First Baseman Fantasy League, which isn't all that hot.

The more I thought about it this offseason, the more I realized that fantasy didn't really do anything for me. The idea behind rotisserie baseball's creation, I would think, was "How would this team of A, B, C, etc, do against a team made up of 1, 2, 3, etc?" But fantasy teams aren't really teams, they're stat depositories; your fantasy players don't interact with each other (unless they're on the same reality team, of course). Isn't that what a team is, a collection of players playing together? And aren't games the interactions between two teams? What, then, is "fantasy baseball," other than numbers?

I don't really find anything lacking in "reality baseball." At least when I listen to a game at the office, I can use my computer for something work-related.

Just thought I'd let you know that we will be publishing Baseball DIY: All-Star Edition at the end of the year, collecting the best-loved pieces from the volume. How do we determined which articles are "best-loved"? Well, we know how we feel, so that won't be hard. We'd like a bit wider electorate, though. If you read something that moves your mind or heart (or, in the best cases, both), please let us know by sending us an e-mail at admin@baseballdiy.org.

More info about the All-Star Edition will be available once we know what it is. We're pretty sure that it'll have a spine, instead of being a fold-and-staple job. Sweet!

Asked directly whether he'd ever used illegal performance-enhancing drugs, Bonds said: "I'm not a child. You repeat those things to children and then eventually they tell you. I don't.''

Oooh, dis. I've gotta admit to enjoying the parts of the Barry Bonds press conference that I saw this week. Any time a reporter gets his pencil broke (figuratively) by an athlete, I'm usually in favor of it. This is kind of odd, considering my semi-media role on this site. I don't care; give us hell, Barry!

If I had one question to ask Bonds, I wouldn't waste it on steroids. I'd go with something like, "Hey, Barry, don't you think Jeff Kent's moustache is stupid?" or "Excuse me, Mr. Bonds? Can I borrow five bucks?"

Actually, Jose Canseco's probably asked him that question.

Here's a story about a Division II catcher who started a hit streak at the end of last year and is continuing it this year. My question: does that really count as a streak? Or is it, rather, two separate streaks?

In about four hours, those interested will learn whether there will be any semblance of an NHL season this year. Though I do not count myself among "those interested," I can sympathize with those who do not want to see their favorite sport deprived of its highest level of competition for an indefinite amount of time. After what seemed an interminable offseason, MLB is opening up for Spring Training this week. I can't imagine waiting much longer for even meaningless preseason games, let alone the actual 2005 campaign. For the fans, I hope the owners and players make it happen. If not, there's always minor league hockey (which, at least in the case of the Missouri River Otters, is a damned good time).

...Walking to the car this morning, we saw a couple of cardinals sitting on the fence. The St. Louis baseball team is not named after the bird, but rather the color (it's an evolution from the "St. Louis Maroons," much like how the AL team was the "St. Louis Browns"). Still, it's cool to see cardinals flying around in St. Louis.

The Washington Nationals ill-behaved Jose Guillen says: "I really got mad at (Sammy Sosa) because I was really pushing for him to come here. He was pretty close. It was his decision to choose between Baltimore and Washington."

The Washington Nationals GM Jim Bowden, on loan from ESPN, says that this was never really close to being a deal. The only way there'd have been a trade with the Cubs: the Cubs send Sammy to Nats in exchange for receiving no prospects and paying all of his salary. That sounds like a good deal to me. I can't believe the Cubs didn't bite.

In other Nationals news, you can view their uniforms here. Again, I think the script style is too close to San Diego's. I do like the hats, though. They're red, huh? Why not blue? The GOP strikes again.