Some folks customize their leagues differently. The league I’ve played in the longest started using OBP in 2003, for example, and we added SLG in 2005 I think.

[8] Nick, great job on the writing. I watched “Silly Little Game” the night it premiered on ESPN and I remember it fondly now. I’ve been playing rotisserie/fantasy baseball in some form since 1990 and remember as a kid hearing the stories about how it all started and wanting to know more. It was great to finally get some of those old questions answered.

[7] Kids today – don’t know how lucky they have it.

and I still finished 8th.

One year, two guys were fighting it out for the title. The player in first, by half a point, was vulnerable in saves, but the guy behind him in saves hadn’t logged in a month, so he chucked all his closers to sure up other areas. The other contender called up #2 in saves and convinced him to log in and pick up the discarded closers. On the final day of the season, Mike DeJean picked up a save that swung the standings half a point and the front runner lost.

To this day, the winner still calls up the loser at work and tells the receptionist that Mike DeJean is on the line.

I think the defense, the hustle, the small ball is lost in the fantasy world for the offensive dudes. For the hitters, it’s all about the sexy counting stats. Matt Kemp was a pretty good fantasy player in 2010 (albeit disappointing) when he hit ~30 HR, stole ~20 bases, drove in ~90 runs, scored ~80 times, even though he hit .250. What’s totally lost in the fantasy world is how terrible he was on defense (http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2010&month=0&season1=2010&ind=0…. worst player in the league defensively), how he got caught 15 times to his 19 SB, how he was barely above replacement level (.3 wins added above replacement, per fangraphs). So basically, this seems like the typical case of the fantasy world valuing a (once) average player as a superstar because he’s really, really good at RBI, HR, SB.

Then again, a normal Dodgers fan could spot how bad and lost Matt Kemp was in 2010, and that too is the case sometimes. It’s an interesting question that Carson Cistulli tries to answer in a sense at FanGraphs through WAR vs. FANTS value. The problem there is that a typical fan may not value a certain player based on WAR and rather how fun they are to watch (something Cistulli also tries to answer)

–http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/leaderboards-of-pleasure-91911/–

Pitchers are more of the same; it’s all about which metrics you prefer. I think an average fan would be familiar with and use K’s, Wins, ERA to paint a value of a pitcher first, and then you’d agree with fantasy values. If you’re more of a follower of sabermetrics, you’ll value a guy like Sabathia based on FIP or War. Pick your side, I guess.

Does that make any sense?

but damn it made me feel old!

Nick, that’s good work. Very professional.

This was my first year in over a decade w/o fantasy baseball, and I have to say, I’m not missing it as much as I thought.

But I am amazed at the things I don’t know, which used to be routine. I don’t know who’s having a good year, apart from the MVP and Cy Young candidates, just about anywhere outside the AL East. I don’t know the prospects and their ETAs nearly as well as I did even a year ago. That stuff just vanishes when you’re not constantly looking for ways to improve your squad.

I need to see that 30 on 30 on the original league. Sounds like fun.