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Bleacher Features - Where's Your Heart
Rick Wion plays in a draft-based league that draws from both the NL and AL, and works with a salary cap. He loves watching his players perform, unless Baywatch happens to be on.
It happens all too often. The real world interrupting the perfect Fantasy situation. A phone call during Baywatch, is bad enough, but it pales in comparison to a common malady among Fantasy leaguers -- the collision of a favorite baseball team and a player on your Fantasy team. I purposely did not draft any Cubs this year. Last year's nightmare seemed like a stern warning not to let my Fantasy team suffer along with my real life favorites. And to think I laughed at a friend that nabbed Brant Brown. To be safe, though, I loaded up on AL talent -- my league draws from both the AL and NL.
As the Cubs show signs of, gasp, contention -- I cringe to hear of certain teams coming to town for fear that torn allegiances will leave me miserable no matter who wins. It doesn't always turn out bad, though. The first, and still best instance, of fan-dom and Fantasy collided in Cleveland this April. An early-season series saw the Indians and Angels squaring off at Jacob's Field. I love the Indians and have Jim Thome and Tim Salmon on my team. With the Tribe comfortably ahead by four runs in the sixth, I silently rooted for Salmon to hit a home run as he stepped into the batter's box with a man on. Four pitches later, the ball sailed into the standing room only section over the left field wall. But then things fell apart. The Angels scored the next inning and added two more in the eighth to take a two run lead. Just as bad, the Cleveland lineup was suddenly shut down and couldn't muster a single hit over four innings. Thank goodness for the Indians' penchant for ninth-inning heroics. A lead-off walk combined with a throwing error to put two on for Thome. The Indians were down to their last out, but just as cool as could be, Thome deposited a game-winning home run about four feet from Salmon's earlier blast. When a pitcher is facing your favorite team, it's best to simply hope for seven or eight shutout innings and a manager to yank him by following a pitch count. Of course, torn loyalties can make heckling much more fun. It is far more sweet to sit in the bleachers of Wrigley Field and dog an underachiever like Steve Finley when you know that he is dragging down your Fantasy team and his fate rests in your hands. Suddenly, million dollar pinch hitters seem much more human. As Saturday draws near, the crisis of the year inches that much closer. John Smoltz will face Kerry Wood. I'll just have to watch the bottom half of each inning and flip back to Baywatch in between. Take me to the Fantasy Baseball Forum Take me back to the Bleacher Feature page. |
