About LetsPlay3

March 20, 2007

If Ernie Banks were really such an eager beaver, he say "Let's play three!" Yes?

The LetsPlay3 fantasy baseball league evolved from the original LetsPlay2 league. Like the snake and the mongoose, fantasy leagues and the D-word are mortal enemies. So be it.

The song remains the same.

enjoy... yow, bill

March 11, 2006

We started the LetsPlay2 fantasy baseball league back in 2004. It's really been a blast, and I think for a lot of us fantasy baseball is so much fun that it has ruined us for fantasy football. So be it!

For the too young, too uncivilized, too uncultured and White Sox fans, "Let's play two" is the rally call of Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks. The ultimate prize of any LetsPlay2 competitor is possesion of the LetPlay2 Ernie Banks Cup, honoring the champion of the LetsPlay2 fantasy baseball league.

The league web site is www.williamt.com/fantasy/baseball and you can email me, Bill, at williamt@williamt.com 

Potpourri

Fantasy baseball is just a smidge more complicated than fantasy football.

It's 50 bucks to play... winner takes almost all.

The league is run on Yahoo, which is really a nice setup. This is just an auxiliary site where I can rant and post silly stastics that no one cares about. He he!

Your team

So, you pick a team at the draft comprised of position players and pitchers. I think we usually pick 19 players in all, but that doesn't really matter that much.

Once you've got a roster, then you can pick a starting lineup of hitters and pitchers:

  • Your hitting lineup includes: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF, and DH
  • Your pitching lineup includes: 2 starting pitchers (SP), 2 relief pitchers (RP), and 1 of either SP or RP

The rest of your guys rest on the bench waiting for injury or whatever, so that you can put them in your lineup. For example, Albert Pujols might be your first baseman, but if he has an off day, then you can throw Hee-Sop Choi in there off your bench for a day or two.

Competing

Ah yes, the competition thing:
  • Games are weekly and head-to-head
  • There are 10 categories: 5 hitting (home run, run, rbi, stolen base, and total base) and 5 pitching (win, save, strikeout, era, and whip, which is Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched)
  • If during a week, your team wins 7 of these categories and the other team wins 3, then your "score" for that week's game will be 7-3. Get it?
  • You can change your lineup daily, but you don't have to. I would say the minimum commitment is to check your team twice weekly. At the maximum commitment level, you may end up in the unemployment line and/or divorce court. So be it!
  • These games are tallied week-by-week over the course of the season, and the top 4 (well, usually 4) teams square off in the playoffs.
Also, in the playoffs, the first tiebreaker (in the case of a tie in the number of categories won) is ERA, so there is a tiny bias toward pitching.

That's a wrap

Our seasons and playoffs have been crazy close and exciting thus far. It's been a lot of fun.

Finally, how does fantasy baseball compare to fantasy football? If fantasy football is picking up some drunk girl at a bar and taking her home for the night, then fantasy baseball is like taking the drunk girl and her drunker, hotter twin sister home and they don't talk too much (except to tell you they've "been bad")  and they both, like, each own a liquor store and... ya know, I think I'm a little off track here. Never mind.

That's a wrap.

let's play two... yow, bill

williamt@williamt.com