Manny in Fantasyland

Two weeks ago I was in the cellar. Well, not me. My fantasy league team. I entered this year as a sophomore fantasy leaguer. I finished out last year somewhere near the bottom (8th of 12). I chalked it up to inexperience and a bad draft. In fact, last year I didn't even bother ranking players for the draft. I should have done that (by "That" I mean nothing) again this year.

I entered this year with a strategy. I ranked my players. I was going to put an emphasis on pitching. K's and Wins! Then some strong RBI hitters. That was my focus. Then the draft was over. I went through the line-up and I realized I don't have any pop. None. Not one big bat. I NEEDED SOME POP! I panicked.

I had some great starting pitching, Lincecum, Shields, Maine, Garza. Not bad.

I started shopping some starting pitching. Someone was willing to trade for Shields. No Dice.

I met "Big Game" James at the beginning of the 2008 season. Then I saw him pitch (albeit losing) against Boston in Game 6 of the 2008 ALCS. No, Shields is my man. I narrowed it down. I was shopping Lincecum.

Tim had a couple of bad starts but nobody was worried. Then he had some great starts, lots of K's. An offer arrived. Not much of one. Mike Jacobs and someone else. Naw. Then another offer. A blockbuster. Manny for Lincecum! Then the offer went away. Then it reappeared.

I took it.

I'm not a fan of Manny's. The palms down superman routine when he hits a HR bores me. He acts like no one else has ever done it before. I say act like you knew you could do it. You knew you would smash the ball off this guy. It should be no big deal. That's the kinda player I like. Unassuming. Manny is anything but. On the other hand.....look at those numbers!

I'm not making excuses but, maybe I'm just like Manny. I compromised myself because I wanted the glory. I wanted to win. Mike Jacobs is a good ballplayer. I could have had him and got some satisfaction knowing that the players I manage (and root for) are clean. But no. I had to have someone who would really make an impact. Manny wants to win. He wants to be known as a great hitter. So he may have compromised himself. He could have been known as a player who played clean. Like I said, I'm not making excuses but, we're only human.

Picked up some Topps series one stuff

I'm slowly moving towards finishing this set. (Except for those pesky chrome refractors). Ah, a handful of chrome-gold. Nightowl's post about Topps Series 1 chrome refractors, from cereal boxes, making us all rich was very funny. But, alas, I still covet the inserts from this series. I hope to collect them all. I'm keeping this short so I can head over to Nightowl's to see what he snagged at the card show.

Here are a few highlights from todays pick-up:

Frank Thomas - "The Big Hurt." Is he still playing?

Tug Hullet - Guessing his folks were fans of Tug McGraw?

Mike Pelfrey - "Big Pelf"

Jon Niese - Rookie Card - Could he replace Ollie in the rotation? Was born on October 7th, 1986. Game 7. Coincidence?

Longoria. Gold Cup.

Ian Kinsler

Matt Kemp. Kemp, Loney and now Hudson are a young group that could make the Dodgers a very good team for a long time.

Juan Castro - Parachuted in to make this catch.

Stadium Club 2008

The set that started it all for me last year. I picked up a pack at Target and was hooked. Well, almost a year later I am 4 cards away from the complete set. So here are the 5 I picked up from ebay. They arrived in the mail this afternoon.

I was searching for the score of this dismal, final Opening Day at Shea. I found this photo on the NY Daily News site. It's the flip side:

The cards I need to finish the set are:
21-Ellsbury, 27-Carlos Lee, 69-Hamels and 72-Cano. I'm stumped on the DiMaggio card. Everything I've seen is a cutout variation card. Well, I'm not letting that hold me back from a complete set. No Sir. As far as I'm concerned that card doesn't exist. I will stick to that story and eventually, it will be a reality. To me.

42

I started working at the College of Charleston - North Campus in late 2006. The year before I had started what I call the "Annual Pilgrimage" to Florida. This pilgrimage is a return to my home. Sunny Florida. In Spring. Back to the ball fields. A place where you can meet your heroes.
In 2007, I was still new at the job. When people heard I was a baseball fan they told me about College of Charleston Communications Professor and author, Dr. Chris Lamb's, book. "Blackout: The Untold Story of Jackie Robinson's First Spring Training." I picked up a copy right before I left for Spring Exhibition games.

I read Dr. Lamb's book while I was on my trip that year. I contacted him before I left and informed him I was traveling down there and would be blogging. He answered with an encouraging word and a wish to be there with me. I carried the book with me as I walked around Dodgertown (my first trip). Even though Jackie didn't play there in his inaugural season, he was a mainstay in Dodgertown for many years to come. The book added a road map to what Jackie faced before he went to "The Show." Racism in Florida was a reality then and provided him with a glimpse of what lay ahead. His (and Rachel's) courage should never be forgotten.

If you are a fan who would like to learn more about the game than the what's in the box score, this book is for you. Check it out.

Finishing up Opening Week

The NY Mets lost to the Marlins. The pitching in this game was tremendous. Josh Johnson and Johan Santana were incredible. The difference was Daniel Murphy's catching error. A long fly ball that he initially misjudged, and headed in, then recovered and got under it, but it bounced out of his glove. A run scored. Another run scored on a hit to left. The pitching in this game was awesome.


J. Johnson (W 2-0) 9 IP 5 H 1R 1ER 1BB 7K
J. Santana (L 1-1) 7 IP 3 H 2R 0ER 1BB 13K

I can only hope that Murphy can shake this off. I want him to be the everyday LF an to bat second. The kid has a ton of potential.

I also attended the fourth game of the Charleston Riverdogs. It was a 5:05 start. The Riverdogs won 2-0. The park was kinda empty and we had to move to the third base side because it was chilly in the shade.

Busy Week

It was a busy week. The highlight was going to the Charleston Riverdogs home opener vs the Rome Braves. The weather was great. The game started well for the R-Dogs but errors got the best of them. They lost 8-2. The park was packed. It was great. I picked up a pack of 2008 Charleston Riverdogs baseball cards.

Thanks to jeff@cardjunkie for a surprise package of 2009 Topps Series One. I knocked a couple more off my wants list. Again, Thanks Jeff. I'm hoping once the season settles in I am able to post more oftener. Of course, if the Mets play like they did last night in their loss to the Marlins, I will hardly be able to get out of bed, much less post.

Check out dayf's post @ about his visit to "the Ted". dayf we have to get together for a game when the Mets visit Atlanta. If you've never been to Turner Field, treat yourself. It's a great ballpark. The people are very friendly, even to Mets fans.

Opening Day Fun