The Greatest Roto-Comeback of All Time

[DK]

In my work league, as late as June, I was down in the dumps, in 11th place with 40-something points. I was devastated to look up and see people who had missed the draft ( !) ahead of me.

Then something started to happen.

My hitters began hitting. My pitchers began pitching. I pulled off a couple of great trades. I picked up Lidge pre-closing, hoping he'd get the job eventually (and did). I started the LIMA plan, picking up Rincon, Linebrink, and BJ Ryan to complement Lidge, Kolb, and Julio(who was later traded).

Now, at my low in June of 40.5, I stand tall, a full 44 points later, at 84.5, and in second by 4 points. Only one obstacle still stands in my place.

First place.

First place, the guy who's been up there since day 1.

First place, who is killing us all at 106 points.

And I'm gonna make a run at him, 21.5 points down.

How will I do this?

Churning starter after starter after starter. Hope Soriano can pick it up, and Furcal/Crawford can get me enough steals to keep me in 1st in the Steal category. I've got 5.5 points (tied for sixth) in wins, but I need only 7 wins more than the next to get up to 11 points (second).

Get enough starters to complement my big 2 of Pedro and Oswalt (and Mussina... hence, big 2). Get some runs. Get the hot bats in time, and drop them when necessary.

My roster now:

C M. Piazza
1B D. Ortiz
2B A. Soriano
3B M. Lowell
SS R. Furcal
OF A. Huff
OF J. Guillén
OF G. Jenkins
Util A. Dunn
Util C. Crawford
BN J. Pierre
DL J. ReyesDL
DL M. OrdóñezDL


Pos Pitchers Edit Opp Status IP W SV K ERA WHIP
SP P. Martínez
SP C. Lee
SP Z. Greinke
RP B. Lidge
RP D. Kolb
P B. Ryan
P S. Linebrink
P J. Rincón
BN R. Oswalt
BN M. Mussina

I'm hoping that Piazza can pull out of this slump. Soriano's been productive enough, and I got him and Dunn for pennies (Julio and someone else unimportant). Huff has to PLAY! Jenkins has been .333 in the last month, with 7 HR, so I figured why not? Pierre's great category is steals, and I've got a comfortable lead (I had Pods earlier this year, too). Pedro's been on fire. BJ Ryan's been not so great as of late but he's got ratios too good to pass up. The spots occupied by Greinke and Lee are the one's I'll be changing daily. I've already picked up Kazmir (who I think will do well against NYY tomorrow) and Jose Lima for tomorrow.

So, in conclusion, what do I need to win? Superb churning skills, 372 innings (how many until my max), hot bats, and a lot of luck, which I'll be looking for from you guys.

Let's go DK!

Day 1: 21.5 out of first

[reiser]

In my work league, as late as June, I was down in the dumps, in 11th place with 40-something points.

i was in a similiar position in a Yahoo league. is there a way in Yahoo to look at the standings 3 months ago?

[ensanimal]

great work dk

good luck on your long voyage to the top. if you need any help, you obviously know the best place to ask.

[WhiteHot]

I was over 119 points in my roto league (now in first with 114, 15 more than the next best.) I was around 70-80 most of the time.

I traded for Santana, picked up Oliver Perez and Jason Marquis, traded for Colon, picked up Figgins, Bay, and Hafner. I drafted all offense but it paid off.

Helton, Vlad, Tejada, Chavez, Kent, Posada, Mora, Hafner, Patterson, Morneau, Glaus, Burrell, etc...

[thetongueofire]

nice job dk.

just so that you know we're here in case you need some help.

[raiders_umpire]

great job on the comeback dk..... the next couple weeks will be a little tougher on you as u only have one man to take down, but if things go well, u might have a shot at him......if u can get your wins u need, and if he is vulnerable in a couple of places, maybe the other guys in your league can help u there by knocking him down a couple of spots.....


fyi, last year i was basically in the same boat in a league, down by about 15 points in one league with only a month to go, but i came back to win the league by passing him the next to the last day of the season...as he had become a little complacent, not checking his team regularly and i came out of nowhere and jumped all over him....when he realized i was coming after him, it was too late as i had already started eating into several key categories and making big chunks of gains....so in other words dont give up as you can catch him.......

[DK]

great job on the comeback dk..... the next couple weeks will be a little tougher on you as u only have one man to take down, but if things go well, u might have a shot at him......if u can get your wins u need, and if he is vulnerable in a couple of places, maybe the other guys in your league can help u there by knocking him down a couple of spots.....


fyi, last year i was basically in the same boat in a league, down by about 15 points in one league with only a month to go, but i came back to win the league by passing him the next to the last day of the season...as he had become a little complacent, not checking his team regularly and i came out of nowhere and jumped all over him....when he realized i was coming after him, it was too late as i had already started eating into several key categories and making big chunks of gains....so in other words dont give up as you can catch him.......

Well, this guy's going to be a bit tougher to catch, he checks his team every day with a fanatical enthusiasm. His roster entails:

C V. Martínez
1B E. Durazo
2B B. Boone
3B Á. Rodríguez
SS D. Jeter
OF B. Abreu
OF M. Alou
OF M. Mora
Util D. Lee
Util C. Patterson
BN T. Hunter


Pos Pitchers Trade Opp Status IP W SV K ERA WHIP Watch
SP R. Johnson
SP B. Radke
SP J. Schmidt
RP D. Hermanson
RP D. Graves
P T. Glavine
P S. Takatsu
P C. Cordero
BN J. Vázquez
BN W. Williams

So it's not like he's at a standstill. He's got 12 in R, HR, and RBI (1st place). Here are the full standings (just us two)

Code: Select all

R  HR RBI SB AVG W SV  K ERA WHIP TOTAL
12 12  12 11 4   10 12 12 9  12    106
7   8  8  12 9   5.5  10 8  6  11  84.5

And the #'s:

Code: Select all

R   HR  RBI SB  AVG  W   SV   K    ERA WHIP 
797 234 790 126 .281 75 105  1094  3.95 1.24 
745 198 730 133 .288 69  83   903  4.14 1.25

But I'm not too worried. I can basically all but overtake everything that he doesn't have 12 in, and that average is killing him.

I'll post the ups and downs of each day, and ask for advice on FA scourging.

[Pokey Reese MVP]

Obviously spot start like crazy, which shouldn't be too hard. Just pick up any Boston/Houston/St Louis starters, if there are any left.

Look for teams who are facing horrible clubs, with an ace pitching, for example Arizona, when Johnson or Webb are pitching. You have a pretty good shot at the opposing mid reliever picking up a victory. Also when there are two very dominate pitchers against each other. Like Pedro and Hudson tonight, usually its a one run game where relief has a chance to pick up a victory. Except never pitch someone agasin't the red sox unless his name is Santana. They lead the league in opp. pithers ERA, somewhere around 6.7 ERA. Also if a team is facing an awful bullpen, you have a chance for a win. Of course you knew all this and are looking for names...

Julian Tavarez (Stl)
Ayala (Mon)
Qualls (Hou)
Carrara (LA) Those beltre homers tend to erase leads quickly
Francisco (Tex)

But its probably best to spot start your mid relief as well, as long as you want the long time consuming reserach for it. Good luck

[DK]

Obviously spot start like crazy, which shouldn't be too hard. Just pick up any Boston/Houston/St Louis starters, if there are any left.

Look for teams who are facing horrible clubs, with an ace pitching, for example Arizona, when Johnson or Webb are pitching. You have a pretty good shot at the opposing mid reliever picking up a victory. Also when there are two very dominate pitchers against each other. Like Pedro and Hudson tonight, usually its a one run game where relief has a chance to pick up a victory. Except never pitch someone agasin't the red sox unless his name is Santana. They lead the league in opp. pithers ERA, somewhere around 6.7 ERA. Also if a team is facing an awful bullpen, you have a chance for a win. Of course you knew all this and are looking for names...

Julian Tavarez (Stl)
Ayala (Mon)
Qualls (Hou)
Carrara (LA) Those beltre homers tend to erase leads quickly
Francisco (Tex)

But its probably best to spot start your mid relief as well, as long as you want the long time consuming reserach for it. Good luck

Trust me, I'm only spot starting:

1. Guys pitching against horrible teams (Lima vs. Ari tomorrow)
2. Young guns looking to prove themselves (Kazmir vs. NYY)
3. Guys pitching for high-profile offenses and teams on fire against decent or lower teams

For the most part. There are exceptions, but that's the main point of it. I can gain ground in wins easily this way, because I can move up 4 or 5 points with only 6 or 7 wins, and with 2 or 3 guys starting a day, that shouldn't be too hard.

I've got stud MR's (Rincon, Ryan, Linebrink) so I'm usually going to rely on them. Rincon's gotten me 11 vulture wins, so I'm happy with their performances so far.

Just waiting on my 3 starters tonight. Go Pedro, Cliff Lee, and Greinke! And tomorrow, go Mussina, Lima, and Kazmir! (Yes, I realize Kaz and Moose are starting against each other... but since losses aren't a factor here I can afford to do that. Chances are one of them's going to get the win, and Moose looked awful good in his last start).

[DK]

RRRRGH! Rain Delay in Detroit!

This game better be played today...