The Origins of Fantasy Baseball

[Pochucker]

Your right Ive hijacked the thread and I apologize. Let me leave with this statement --played in same h2h league for 7yrs this will be our 8th . I have replaced one owner for inactivity one for incompetence. How many roto leagues can say that? Oh thats right you "like" deadbeats so you can win , I prefer real competition --and our winners get between 900 and 1200 dollars for winning depending on seeding.

[West]

Your right Ive hijacked the thread and I apologize. Let me leave with this statement --played in same h2h league for 7yrs this will be our 8th . I have replaced one owner for inactivity one for incompetence. How many roto leagues can say that? Oh thats right you "like" deadbeats so you can win , I prefer real competition --and our winners get between 900 and 1200 dollars for winning depending on seeding.

That's good you have a core of guys to play with. In my roto keeper I've had to replace anywhere from 1-3 owners every year. However it is still very competitive every year.
We don't play for any money, strictly bragging rights among friends.

[Matthias]

Your right Ive hijacked the thread and I apologize. Let me leave with this statement --played in same h2h league for 7yrs this will be our 8th . I have replaced one owner for inactivity one for incompetence. How many roto leagues can say that? Oh thats right you "like" deadbeats so you can win , I prefer real competition --and our winners get between 900 and 1200 dollars for winning depending on seeding.

Do you also have an 18" arm of masculinity?

[AussieDodger]

Your right Ive hijacked the thread and I apologize. Let me leave with this statement --played in same h2h league for 7yrs this will be our 8th . I have replaced one owner for inactivity one for incompetence. How many roto leagues can say that? Oh thats right you "like" deadbeats so you can win , I prefer real competition --and our winners get between 900 and 1200 dollars for winning depending on seeding.

Do you also have an 18" arm of masculinity?

No, he actually has the 23" pythons.

[AussieDodger]

Fantasyland by Sam Walker has a quick rundown on how fantasy baseball was born.
1960 in Detroit if I remember correctly.

[Neato Torpedo]

Your right Ive hijacked the thread and I apologize. Let me leave with this statement --played in same h2h league for 7yrs this will be our 8th . I have replaced one owner for inactivity one for incompetence. How many roto leagues can say that? Oh thats right you "like" deadbeats so you can win , I prefer real competition --and our winners get between 900 and 1200 dollars for winning depending on seeding.

Every H2H league I've played in had anywhere between 3-6 guys giving up halfway through the year. See, that's the problem with sampling bias, you can't just use your own experience and universalize it. Of all the anti-roto arguments I've heard, this is the silliest.

It just comes down to personal preference. I like accuracy over excitement, and I believe that roto offers more excitement than H2H does accuracy.

[carter]

haha, yea i didnt mean for this to just be a H2H vs Roto thread, but its a fun argument..

heres a thread in another forum where they talk about the CompuServe leagues.. http://forums.mocksports.com/phpbb/view ... 0bca198161 was that the 1st online version of fantasy?

[RugbyD]

this has been on my mind alot lately... I read somewhere that Fantasy Baseball started in the 70's ... Does anyone know what kind of line-ups and settings they used?

I recently joined a league that was started in 1971. The rules haven't changed much and the stats used are relatively simple b/c everything was self-reported weekly via box scores. It is now website-based at customstat.com. Its a dynasty league with one roster and anyone can be drafted or traded for player or future draft picks. It has MLB-style roster cut-down dates. Stats used are R, HR, RBI, BA, W, L and ERA. All stats are retro-active once the final lineups are set. Only one non-injury sub is allowed thereafter. There are weekly H2H prizes, but the bigger payouts are the points-based year-end prizes.

As far as finding a satisfying league, the settings are far less integral than the qualitative aspects of your league. I prefer roto for real-life proxy value, but there's plenty of arguemtn to be made on that topic. If you want a satisfying league I would focus on these things:

stable, committed membership
dynasty/keeper format
auction draft with little or no keepers
order-of-finish draft for dynasty or high-keeper
draft in-person / annual meeting
minimal rule changes
strong, specific league constitution
fungible draft assets
little-to-no trade barriers (deadlines excepted)
consistent finances
high threshold for rule changes

[Wright2Reyes]

I just read an article on ESPN the Mag about the Origins of Fantasy baseball, so if you can, you should take a look. It gives you the perspective of all the original members and how they came up with the idea.

[garf112]

Your right Ive hijacked the thread and I apologize. Let me leave with this statement --played in same h2h league for 7yrs this will be our 8th . I have replaced one owner for inactivity one for incompetence. How many roto leagues can say that? Oh thats right you "like" deadbeats so you can win , I prefer real competition --and our winners get between 900 and 1200 dollars for winning depending on seeding.

i play in a 12 team keeper roto league. We have had the same 12 owners for the past 7 years.