The Roundballs
are the Best Team Ever
Posted
April 18, 2005
What a difference
a week can make in the wonderful world of fantasy baseball. A week ago, things
were looking a little bleak for the Roundballs. The hitters weren’t
hitting, the pitchers weren’t pitching (successfully), and the team’s
morale was sinking to a new low. Fortunately, after a pep talk and a realization
that they seriously couldn’t possibly be that bad, the Roundballs rebounded
with a huge week and have soared into second place in the RRBL standings.
The quest for first is looking a bit more realistic these days, now isn’t
it?
Now I won’t lie: the hitting still isn’t where it needs to be.
We’re tenth in the league in overall hitting despite having what appears
to be a very powerful lineup. There are plenty of hitters on my roster getting
off to really slow starts, but I won’t worry about them until their
poor starts begin to become poor seasons.
As for the pitching, I really can’t complain. But I will. Javier Vazquez remains the burden on the shoulders of an otherwise great pitching staff. Vazquez continued dealing in terrible this past week with another rough outing. He did look a little better, though, and he might be back on track. Josh Beckett, Rich Harden, Jason Marquis, Matt Clement, Zack Greinke, and Kevin Millwood have all been very good in the early-going. Clement had his share of early struggles, but now appears to be fine. Beckett has only allowed one earned run all season in three starts, Harden looks absolutely dominant, Greinke has a season-long shutout going, Millwood should have three wins, and Marquis has been the Cardinals’ best starter. All in all, my starting pitching is absolutely great. Jason Isringhausen has managed to go 4-4 in save situations despite having a fat head and walking 49 batters an inning. Braden Looper, my other closer, has been a little off, but he does have a save and a win and he should be fine.
Perhaps the most shocking thing about my team so far is their durability. Usually by now, half of my team is residing on the disabled list. With guys like Luis Gonzalez and Mike Sweeney on my team, I fully expected to be making constant trips to the hospital this season. After all, being the good-hearted individual that I am, I take it upon myself to visit my injured and ill players in their darkest hours. Except for Javier Vazquez. I’d just send him a card or something.
There’s not a whole lot going on in the way of league news. The Slybirds and St. Louis 69ers made a trade this week, breaking the lull in regular season transactions. The Slybirds sent pitcher Jose Capellan ($1, 07) (in minors, currently replaced by pitcher Erik Bedard) and outfielder Reggie Sanders ($14, 06) to the 69ers for pitcher Trevor Hoffman ($18, 06) and outfielder Shawn Green ($14, 05). This trade looks to favor the Slybirds for 2005. Hoffman and Green have both started slow, but will likely both be as productive as expected for the remainder of the season. Capellan is likely to spend much of the season in the minors, and likely won’t ever be more than a middle reliever. As for Bedard, his replacement, he isn’t going to be anything above average. Reggie Sanders is a solid outfielder and is likely to be on about the same level as Green, with a little more speed and a little less batting average.
Hopefully, when I write this column a week from now, I’ll be doing it as the operator of a first place fantasy team. Here are the standings as of April 18, 2005:
| Hitting | Pitching | Total | Difference | |
| 1. Bolivar White Rats | 47.0 | 55.5 | 102.5 | +1.0 |
| 2. Roundballs | 31.5 | 58.5 | 90.0 | +22.5 |
| 3. The Dogs | 27.5 | 58.0 | 85.0 | +6.0 |
| 4. Monroe St. Massacre | 40.0 | 42.5 | 82.5 | -3.5 |
| 4. Pigeons | 33.0 | 49.5 | 82.5 | +5.5 |
| 6. Durham Bulls | 59.0 | 21.5 | 80.5 | -9.5 |
| 7. Team Carr | 52.5 | 25.0 | 77.5 | +14.0 |
| 8. St. Louis 69ers | 36.0 | 40.0 | 76.0 | -1.0 |
| 9. Slybirds | 50.0 | 22.0 | 72.0 | +1.5 |
| 10. Morloks | 22.5 | 45.5 | 68.0 | -21.5 |
| 11. Billings Ball Breakers | 34.5 | 30.5 | 65.0 | -22.0 |
| 12. Big Bashers | 43.5 | 19.5 | 63.0 | -6.5 |
| 13. TV Sex | 27.0 | 28.5 | 55.5 | +4.0 |
| 14. Hawks | 21.0 | 28.5 | 49.5 | +9.0 |
