The first week of baseball. The sights. The smells. The bacon-wrapped corn dogs stuffed with jalapeno cheddar tots. What a week it was indeed.
A long winter has passed and many things changed. Most notably, was Ricky Vaughn, who shed his trademark leather jacket and punk rock hairdo for a suit, tie and styling mousse. Jack Taylor’s knees were weaker than ever, and Pedro Cerrano ditched the rum-loving Jobu for Buddhism. Even Willie Mays Hayes elected to have cosmetic surgery.
Some things need to be replaced. The classic film Major League was not one of them. Yet they made a sequel. Not the worst baseball movie to grace the big screen, but we could’ve done without it. Unlike the original Wesley Snipes character, in fantasy baseball, finding replacements is part of the game. It’s how leagues are won. You can’t just sit back and watch as players are picked up off the wire while you “wait to see how the guys you drafted do”. That’s one of the most common phrases I hear early on. Yes, it’s early, so you’re not kicking any studs to the curb, but if the “sleeper” you drafted in the 29th round has begun the season 1-for-16, and there’s a player on the wire who is playing well, go grab him! Hanging on to an older vet with the delusion that he’ll somehow hit like he’s not 36 years old (Chase Utley, 100 percent owned on ESPN), will keep you from realizing your championship dreams.
This is the “Deep Impact” column, where I’ll only be featuring players under 10 percent owned in ESPN leagues. During Opening Week I’ve been asked more questions about middle infielders than any other position, so I figured this would be an opportune time to reveal some of my top adds heading into the weekend:
Please, blog, may I have some more?