Rooting in Fantasy Baseball Gets Weird.

[Bobbleheadrusty]

I had the dream scenario the other day with my hitter and pitcher facing each other. Im in a points league and he was facing my pitcher. He reached on a single (1pt for the hit, -.5 for the hit allowed), stole second (2 points), stole third (2 points) and scored on an error (1pt, no penalty for the run allowed).

Nice 5.5 points net.

Since our scoring tends to reward hitters over pitchers in a vacuum Ill happily take the points for a HR (6, 4 for the TB, 1 for the run, 1 for the RBI) against the penalty for that pitcher (-1.5, -.5 for the hit, -1 for the run). Thats a 4.5 point net.


What really gets me it rooting for one of my own players to make an out in the 8th or 9th to make sure I can get a save. I had a situation earlier in the year where Quentin came with men on 1st and 3rd, with 1 out and a three run lead. With Jenks in the BP I need a double play from Quentin to preserve the save.

[The Artful Dodger]

I think it depends on the situation and which fantasy team is currently the most important to succeed in my opinion. If for example, the Dodgers played the Giants and I had Tim Lincecum on one of my rosters. Somehow a Lincecum win and a few K's would be the difference maker in one of my H2H leagues. I look at it as somewhat of a win-win situation in that I'd be fine with either outcome (a Dodger win or a Lincecum win). The best-case scenario is Lincecum gives me a quality start and there's a win involved for either side (again, a Dodger win or a Lincecum win). Now actually cheering explicitly for the Giants because Lincecum did well is a no-no.

Now, I still consider myself very much an avid Dodger fan but the difference is I don't quite live and die by the results like the same way I would as a Lakers, Manchester United, or FC Barcelona fan. For that reason, I don't play fantasy basketball because cheering for anyone except the Lakers isn't quite right. I do play fantasy soccer (the Premiership and La Liga), but those fantasy teams are a very, very distant second to United and Barca as to what's more important. When it comes to fantasy baseball, I do side with my fantasy baseball teams more simply because fantasy baseball is the most fun to play and win. Plus, the Dodgers can't amount to anything anyway; they've mucked up many a good thing since 1988, why expect any different.

[thejusman1]

I'm also guilty of rooting for quality starts for my fantasy baseball pitchers whenever they take the mound against the Red Sox or Dodgers, but I temper it by always rooting for a late-game comeback. I purposefully avoided having a single Yankee on my team simply because I'd refuse to root for them and would ship them off asap. (earlier in the year, I temporarily had Mariano Rivera on my roster, whom I traded away asap because it aggravated me that the save I was earning meant another Yankee win). There haven't been many Giants worthy of rostering, but I'd dump mine (Bengie) if there was just better options on the FA.