It’s Opening Night. With the first pitch from Marlin’s ace Josh Johnson to the first St. Louis Cardinal batter of the night, the 2012 baseball season is underway. What is more important for baseball fans across the country is that with that initial pitch, the fantasy baseball season is finally underway as well.
The official start of the season brings an undoubted amount of relief. The two hours you and your friends spent drafting players, cursing each other as players you so desperately wanted disappear from the available players list. You want to know that all the stress and pre-draft preparation was worth it.
See, it takes a very unique person to become an avid fantasy baseball player. There are so many changes of pace within the course of a game day that it is bound to eventually drive a man to madness. Assuming your probably questioning looks you’re giving your computer screen right now, let me illustrate what I’m talking about.
Take last weekend, opening weekend. The day starts off with a Coke Zero and a burger in front of the big screen at my fraternity house. The game? The Milwaukee Brewers vs. the St. Louis Cardinals. As the Cards jump out to a 4-0 lead, I am ecstatic, having quite a few of their batters. Hold that thought. As the Cardinals get further ahead, it makes it less likely that their closer, also on my team will make an appearance in the game.
On a dime, I become a Brewers fan. I plead their hitters to start doing something to get back in the game so my closer. Meanwhile, I flip to the Tigers and Red Sox, where one of my pitchers is getting the start. To my luck, on of my batters is coming to the plate, the ultimate catch 22. Any result is good and bad. Luckily, a batter incurs a walk, a virtual no decision. Now I switch games again.
This goes on for the remainder of the day. This is some insight into my life the remainder of the fantasy baseball season. You stroll down the street, feeling like a champion negotiator, and compile a scouting report for a person you will never actually interact with. You go from being a fan of a team to finding yourself rooting for players, and on a time, your cheers go to jeers if you have a pitcher and hitter in the same game.
This is the life of a fantasy baseball player. It takes a special breed of person to battle through 21 weeks of a season. And you're reward? The greatest of all, a picture of a trophy in a virtual trophy case. And who doesn't want that. Photo is courtesy of the website Zazzle. Thanks for reading!
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