Weekend baseball

If you are really, really bored, follow the ongoing OBFLB draft. OBFLB stands for Original Bitnet Fantasy League Baseball.

You read that right. Bitnet.

This is a 24 team head-to-head fantasy baseball league that has been around for about 15 years. My Louisville Sluggers joined the league in 1991 and have won at least 5 World Series championships during that time (it may be 6...some records are missing from the archives).

Winning is made a bit easier by the fact that we play 2 seasons during each major league baseball season. Since the Sluggers first competed in the second half of 1991, 2004 will be my 27th season. The most recent championship was just last year (2003B), but the team played just around .500 ball in 2004A.

In any event, the ongoing draft is for the second half (2004B).

Each team keeps at least 7 players, but no more than 15, prior to the draft.

In addition to the draft picks, which you can see for yourself, I retained:

1B Jim Thome (PHI)
3B Eric Chavez (OAK)
SS Derek Jeter (NYY)
OF Gary Sheffield (NYY)
SP Pedro Martinez (BOS)
SP Zack Greinke (KC)
RP Eric Gagne (LA)

Yes, my team has a strong core of All Stars.

At the break, I sold OF Shawn Green (LA) and SP Greg Maddux (CHC) as part of a rebuilding effort. Both had been with the Sluggers through all the championships...Maddux was the last original player from 1991.

The draft picks reveal that I'm trying to turnover the roster towards youth. My top draft pick, 2B Omar Infante, is 22 years old and hitting .291/.360/.485 (Batting average, on-base average, slugging percentage). The "OPS" is 845, which is very good for a 22-year old middle infielder. I sure hope this isn't just a fluke first half.