Shut It Down!

West Stockbridge Fantasy Baseball Week 17

Banks Yanks beats Fallon Sports

The big winner in week 17 was the Bank!  He had the biggest margin at 15-7 and the biggest significance knocking off the “former” first place team Fallon Sports.  I can’t imagine what is going on in the clubhouse over at Fallon Sports.  After a season long average of winning 15-7 during a 14 week span, the team is now losing by those large margins.  Arguing among players?  Too much drinking on the team bus?

Banks Yanks fell behind early in the week and it looked like it was going to be a week of ‘damage control’ for the Bank.  I thought if he finished 12-12 he would be happy.  But he kept pouring it on to a large Market

of victory.  Did I say large “Market” of victory?  I meant margin.  But the Market is now in first place thanks to Neil and the Bank.  So, from the clean and sober clubhouse at the Market to the Bank.  Thank you.

Quiet Knoll Road is Hot!

Quiet Knoll Road is the next huge comeback story of the week.  It looked like he was going down big, which would have made a shift in the standings bringing My Braun Eye up to certain playoff contention.  Very late in the week QKR made his move and flew past MBEI.  The weird part is that several teams were poised to make a big jump in the standings!  This is a good thing!  But, then like kissing your sister they all tied!  Ugh.

Galumpkies staves off large defeat

But for the Galumpkies it was good news, great news.  That was ‘damage control’ at its finest.  He was losing all week and losing solidly.  But ended it at 12-12.  Keeps him real close to the playoffs.  Another come back this wee happened with Bye Week versus Troy’s Garage.  Troy’s was winning big all week.  Then John of Bye week started rolling.  John was up about 15-7 and may have won 15-7 if it wasn’t for Yankees great, Phil Hughes.  The score ended up 12-11 in favor of Thomas of Troy’s (who is sporting a nice new logo – a real image of Troy’s Garage).

Gordie settles for one point victory

Gordie was the Mohicans was winning big but finished up at 12-11.   Queensborough and the Stockbridge Indians tied at 12-12.  They were close all week, and Bruce needs a 20 point win to get him close.  Heck any of those teams Bye Week or the Mohicans can win by 20 and it’s a different view.  We’re still looking great for the playoffs.  My Braun Eye is within reach.  Stateline and the Galimpkies are within reach. 

Match up of This Week

A hot team in the league winning four weeks in a row is Quiet Knoll Road.  His team matches up against Troy’s Garage this week with a three week winning streak.  This is the matchup of the week.  The two teams are 4th and 5th representing their own 'tier' in the standings.  The other matchup is Queensborough versus Fallon Sports.  Fallon is on their heels falling apart at the seams.  Bruce of Queensborough is playing solid baseball.  Will it be another losing week for Fallon Sports?  Will Queensborough get that 20 point win?  Stay tuned.

Week 16 in West Stockbridge Fantasy Baseball

Wow, great week! The standings tightened up pulling the top 11 teams closer. This, thanks to the big weeks by My Braun Eye Itches and Stockbridge Indians. Those Indians won the Battle of Stockbridge over Gordie. The Indians, who either win real big or lose real big, jumped back into playoff contention. And, of course, MBEI is within an arm's reach. This is good!

A day or two ago, the biggest blowout was Bone digger of Troy's Garage over Galumpkies, but you never, ever count the Galumpkies out. I think it was about 22-2 on Friday or Saturday. Pete implemented some damage control and finished at 13-11. A Matchup of the Week last week had Quiet Knoll Road Quietly rising up the standings. The Dealer of ARods Roids is still solidly in the thick of things. But the Knoll is looking to pass the Bone.

The FIRST PLACE team Fallon Sports has lost two weeks in a row. And they were pretty big losses. Is Jeff's team crumbling? We'll find out this week as he takes on a very hot Banks Yanks team. Banks Yanks has only lost twice in twelve weeks (9-2-1) and that by a total of four points. He's his usual late season hot as a pistol. But what's gonna happen? Is Jeff going to come back? A couple of good offensive teams in this one. The top two teams, so, that is a Matchup of the Week:

Banks Yanks vs

Fallon Sports

Keep an eye on that one. Also,

Galumpkies vs

Up Up & A Hey

Good luck everyone. Have a great week!

Another note on the playoff race - interesting if My Braun Eye, State Line and Galumkies win (the 11th, 10th and 9th place teams) that really tightens up the standings. Of course, I am hoping Stateline doesn't win because that team is playing me. But, those wins would make the standings tight! AND... it's possible that Queensborough, Bye Week and Mohicans could win also. Let's see what happens and see how the playoff race tightens up.

Troy's Garage Avatar for TBone's Fantasy Baseball Team

These are a couple of options for TBone's Troy's Garage Avatar.

Winning Money at Fan Duel Daily Fantasy Baseball

So, I tried an experiment for the last two days with Fan Duel.  I made some adjustments.  The results were very good.

As I said, I won $100 my first night.  After that, my winnings were sporadic.  It was either stop playing or understand something.  I chose to at least attempt the latter.  Here is a running total.  On April 29th I entered five contests and won 4 of those 5.  My experiment began with smaller contests and smaller dollar amounts.  Here is a screenshot taken a bit earlier in the night.

First place in several contests

The next night, I entered eight contests and won 7 of 8.  This, of course, is just the beginning of the experiment.  I am looking for positive cash flow.  Let's see what happens.

In the past, I could go for three days and 24 contests winning ZERO.  But, now, I have won 11 of 13 contests.  So, I hope something is working excellently!  Check out FAN DUEL HERE.

Fantasy Baseball Challenge with Fan Duel Wins Money

Do you think you know baseball?  You can prove it every day with Fan Duel which has daily fantasy baseball games.  You can risk $1 to $500 and win money.

The very first night I tried it I won $100.  It was my very first game.  The next game, I won $3.60.  A couple of games later, I won again.  But is it that easy?  I found out that you cannot take things for granted or your winnings will dissolve.  I got careless and lost a bunch of games in a row.  I had to retool.

Over the last month I have won about 25 times.  I have learned a few things. Some of those I will write about here in this blog.  For now, Check Out Fan Duel!

Senior Citizen Keeps Score at the Ballpark

Walking around the Diamondbacks spring training stadium today, I noticed a woman keeping score!  When I was growing up, I loved keeping score.  Many of my friends knew how to keep the book and all the nuances of keeping score.  We had to do it for our little league through high school games.  Listening to Yankee games, I would keep a book.  True, I very rarely make it all the way through the game - but the thought was always there.

I loved the excitement of a fresh game starting entering the lineups in the book.  From my Massachusetts home, I could listen to a Cleveland radio station (wwwe) broadcasting live, "from the shores of Lake Erie."  And, I could listen to stations in Baltimore and Washington, D.C while keeping a score card!  But, keeping score is a less common practice now.  Maybe it's a different generational thing.  After my generation, the practice seemed to decline.

Senior Citizen Keeps Score at the Ballpark

Non-baseball fans can't appreciate it.  Casual baseball fans might wonder why we would do it?  Even serious baseball fans may not spend the time.
That is why I really appreciated seeing a senior citizen with a pencil and a score book.  It was about the eighth inning and I stuck up conversation from over her shoulder.

She turned around, smiled and said she had been keeping score since she was young. Her father brought her to her first game when she was five years old.  A pitcher for the Cleveland Indians was pitching is first game.  His name?  Bob Feller.  Her dad had tickets two rows back on the first base side.  She said she has been going to games ever since.

She actually flew to Arizona for ten days worth of spring training games.  Today's game was the Diamondbacks vs. the Royals.  She's a Cleveland Indian fan, but enjoys the game so here she was at this game.  It gets better.  In 1949 she told me that a book came out by Cleveland Indian announcer, Jimmy Dudley.  The book was a 'how to' book on score keeping.

Jimmy Dudley's  Baseball Score Book

Today there was a double header with the second game being Team USA vs. the Rockies.  She left the park with her small steps and waited for 75 minutes to re-enter the park.  Where would she go?  Her small steps would take 40 minutes to get to her car and back.  So, she must have just sat outside the gate!

I happened to see her come back in. I said hello.  She asked about the lineups so we walked over to the booth that had programs for sale.  These programs were the same as the day game, but the clerk said she had "tonight's lineups" coming out soon!  My senior citizen friend was so happy.  But, it was till 90 minutes before first pitch!

The woman stood at the booth waiting for the lineup card.  I told her if I was staying at the park, I would bring the lineup card to her seat.  Before I left the park, I got involved with one of my projects.  I looked back over at the program booth.  There she was still standing there waiting for tonight's lineup.  How sweet.  How cute she was.  Earlier she had asked me where she could get one of those BIG PRETZELS as she had a hot dog for lunch.  This would be her dinner.

From my view, I saw her buy the pretzel.

Later, I saw her sitting, still waiting for the lineup card!  She flashed me her pretzel with a smile as if she had done something sneaky.  It's a beautiful thing that people appreciate baseball the way she does.  It's a beautiful thing to be able to sit calmly, relaxed, doing anything these days (without multi-tasking and over stimulating).  There is a sweetness in keeping score that does go back to another time of Phil Rizzuto, Mel Allen and all the rest.  I will check on my friend tomorrow.  She will be there for Italy vs. Mexico!

NOTE: Update from 3/07/13.  She was one of the first ones into the ball park.  I saw her coming through the gate and had a small chat.  The next time I saw her was 11:30am when she told me she already ate her hot dog and was now looking for popcorn so she could enjoy the game of Mexico versus Italy.  Now, with the excitement of the Mexico fans, there's another story!

You think you know fantasy baseball?  You can try one day games for money by clicking here.