Fantasy Baseball

Yes, the moment everyone who reads this blog has been waiting for: fantasy baseball season. At last you can hear more about your favorite topic - fake baseball.

We held our draft yesterday in Chicago and I'm quite happy with my team this year:


Starting Pitchers:
John Lackey
Jason Schmidt
Barry Zito
Josh Beckett
Doug Davis
Bartolo Colon
Noah Lowry

Relief Pitchers:
Octavio Dotel
Fernando Rodney
Mike Gonzalez
Jonathan Broxton
David Weathers

Starters:
C - Joe Mauer
1B - Albert Pujols
2B - Jeff Kent
3B - Hank Blalock
SS - Orlando Cabrera
OF - Lance Berkman
OF - Manny Ramirez
OF - Raul Ibanez
OF - Torii Hunter
Util - Richie Sexson

Backups:
1B/2B/3B/SS - Rich Aurillia
3B - Eric Chavez
1B - Nick Johnson

I'm very happy with my offense. I had the first pick and took the obvious choice: Pujols. After that I was pleasantly surprised to find Lance Berkman still on the board when I had my turn again at pick #24 and very surprised to still find Manny Ramirez at that point. I was later able to land three more 30HR 100RBI guys as well as getting a great deal on Joe Mauer. I hadn't been targetting one of the best catchers (as Mauer is) but he was on the board at a point that I felt was a full 20 picks too late and I just had to go for it.

I was also able to land 5 pitchers with more than 150Ks. I slightly overpaid for John Lackey - but not too bad. Zito I definitely overpaid for him but I really like him coming into his first year in the NL - I really didn't want to miss out while trying to make him into a "good deal".

My bullpen is probably my weak spot but to be honest: that's exactly where I wanted my weak spot to be. I've been burned several years in a row by taking a high priced closer only to have him fall way way short - not happening this year!

Mt. Bohemia 2007

Accompanied by Burt and Jon, I made my annual pilgrimage to the skiing mecca of the midwest... Mt. Bohemia.

Again (4 for 4) the conditions were less than ideal. Seems like each time I head up there it's been just a bit too long since the last snow - and it's just a bit too warm. Unlike previous years, I don't think that I can really claim that we were unlucky in weather... it is after all nearly mid-March.

As you can see: definitely some grass, rocks, and roots showing out there:


This was the first year that I haven't stayed at the 'on hill' cabins. We got our act together just a little too late for them to still be available, but we were able to find a place in nearby Copper Harbor. It was a nice change of pace - Copper Harbor is located on the northern most point of Michigan on the shores of Lake Superior. Getting there was a gorgeous drive both on the night we arrived and on subsequent days. In exchange for the 10 minute trip to the hill, we gained a bar that actually had some people in it at night! Quite the changeup from staying on the hill.



Both Friday and Saturday featured wet and heavy snow. It may be better than ice, but it really makes you work hard to get down the hill. Moving that much heavy snow with each turn, combined with the length and pitch of Mt.Bohemia leads to some pretty tired legs by the end of the weekend.

While discussing Burt's lack of a cellphone on the way up he tried convincing me that it was getting harder and harder to find a payphone. To prove him wrong, I took a shot of this easily accessible and heavily used phone in Copper Harbor.



Despite the conditions, it was a great trip and we're already plotting next years trip up.