TV's Frink said:
Hey, any of you guys play fantasy baseball? A little late for this year obviously, but maybe we do a league next year?
Warbler said:
I've never done that before, how does it work?
Ah cool, a newbie to take advantage of!
J/k Warb. At the beginning of the year we have a draft. With each pick you can take any player from any team that hasn't been picked by someone else yet. For hitters, you have to have someone at every position, so you would pick at least one 1B, one 2B, etc. Typically you also have a extra "utility" spot that you can play any position player in. For pitchers, you normally have several starting pitchers as well as a few relievers (normally closers). You also have several bench spots you can use for either extra hitters or extra pitchers, in case of injury or bad performance by your starting players. The actual roster you have to fill varies from league to league - for instance in the outfield, some leagues make you pick LF, RF, and CF, while other leagues just make you pick 3 OF players. But this is the basic idea.
For scoring, there are two different types of leagues. My personal favorite it roto scoring. Your starting players accumulate stats, which depend on the league. Traditional stats are R, HR, RBI, SB, and AVG for hitters, and W, K, ERA, WHIP, and SV for pitchers. All teams in the league get points depending on what their cumulative stats are compared to the rest of the league. For instance, let's say there are 10 teams in the league. At the end of the year, if you have the most home runs in the league, you get 10 points for the HR category. If you have the least home runs, you get 1 point for that category. You get points for each category, and whoever has the most total points wins.
The other scoring system is head-to-head. It's more common in fantasy football but a lot of people like it for baseball (I don't). Each week you play one other team, so let's say in Week 1 you and I play. The winner of each category for the week wins that category. So let's say I have more R, HR, RBI, and SV than you for the week. And you have more SB, W, and K, and a better AVG, ERA, and WHIP. You win the week 6-4. Near the end of the season, the teams with the best records make the playoffs, and you play each other in individual matchups to determine who advances and who ultimately wins.
I love fantasy baseball because when the Cubs are sucking in August, I can still root for the players on my fantasy team.