Hit by a Pitch

Last week, when I received an invitation to join a fantasy baseball league, I was, for lack of a better word, totally dorked. I’ve never played fantasy baseball, but I was thinking about it ever since I accidentally watched a fantasy baseball show on ESPN while at the gym the other day. “I can do this,” I thought as I tried to keep track of dudes I’ve never heard of before (I don’t care what they say — I think it’s hard to keep track of players from teams you don’t follow).

The league’s live draft was yesterday and, as usual, I was woefully unprepared. I read a few things online and printed a couple ESPN cheat sheets. I set my pre-draft rankings. Then I had a beer.

My plan went something like this:

• With each selection, pick the best available player (while allowing for adjustments based on already-drafted players — e.g., don’t take 4 third basemen).
• No Yankees, no Red Sox (I was willing to make exceptions for Javier Vazquez, Curtis Granderson, and Mariano Rivera but ended up not doing so.)
• No people I just don’t like or don’t trust (e.g., Manny Ramirez).
• Try to stay away from AL pitchers (oops).
• I’m nothing if not an expert on relief pitching. Get good RPs.

So. Here is my roster. It probably sucks, but the good news for me is that I don’t know better. As you can see, in some instances, my love of the White Sox and Rockies prevailed over logic.

Mike Napoli (LAA-C)
Geovany Soto (CHC-C)
Kendry Morales (LAA-1B)
Brandon Phillips (Cin-2B)
David Wright (NYM-3B)
Jhonny Peralta (Cle-3B, SS)
Troy Tulowitzki (Col-SS)
Miguel Tejada (Bal-SS)
Carlos Quentin (CWS-LF)
Michael Bourn (Hou-CF)
Brad Hawpe (Col-RF)
Nick Markakis (Bal-RF)
Vladimir Guerrero (Tex-Util)

Ubaldo Jimenez (Col-SP)
John Danks (CWS-SP)
Jonathan Broxton (LAD-RP)
David Aardsma (Sea-RP)
Mark Buehrle (CWS-P)
Jorge De La Rosa (Col-P)
Ted Lilly (CHC-P) (DL)