Fantasy Baseball Wrap for 2008

I do 2 fantasy baseball leagues every year, the NFBC and a ‘beer’ league on Sportsline with some friends of mine, click here for my post about my auction draft and if you’d like a laugh here is Part 1 NFBC Draft Results, Part 2 NFBC Draft Results, Part 3 NFBC Draft Results, and Part 4 NFBC Draft Results. Here are the results and some highs and lows.

I came in 3rd in my Sportsline league, so I got paid a little. In a daring move I traded Tim Lincecum for Ryan Howard at the trade deadline to bump up my offense. I got swept in the first round however. My league plays best of 3 and in the championship week my breakdown was a perfect 18-0, just missed it.

I think my best pickups were Alexei Ramirez (pictured Upper Deck rookie baseball card) and Kevin Slowey. At $1 I’ll probably keep both for next year. I really think Slowey will put together more consistency and is on the verge of being a top 20 pitcher. Alexei Ramirez is older and from Cuba so he’s more of a finished product. Looks to me like a 300 BA, 20/20 middle infielder. Since he’s a little older I don’t anticipate a sophomore slump – should be a solid gold fantasy baseball player.

We came in 9th in the NFBC, but finished above average overall at 160 out of 390 teams in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship. Our pitching was dominant, top 5 out of 390 up through early September – led by Johan Santana and Brandon Webb and Brad Lidge and “Good Vibrations” Brian Wilson in the pen. Just could not string an offense together.

Josh Field was a bust. Wladimir Balentine never panned out and I thought he was a nice bet for rookie of the year. I’d keep an eye on him next year if he can cut down his Ks, but I’m not drafting him until I see something. Don’t get me started on JR Towels. One of these years we’ll put it all together and get our $100,000.

Time to get on the bandwagon and score an Alexei Ramirez baseball card on eBay!

T206 Baseball Cards with Tolstoi Backs – Auction Results 10/9/08

It's been a while since I've posted Tolstoi's. Really looks like the market may be a little soft for T206s, if not all baseball cards. Check out the Bescher SGC 80 that only went for $316 - that's an exceptional card. Back in September the Joss PSA 6.5 went for more than $1,300. A PSA 2 Cobb pushed a grand but what's new.

T206 McGraw New York HOF - Rare HiGrade Tolstoi !	PSA 6	8/10/08	$ 787
1909 T206 Tolstoi Frank Delehanty Louisville Good	PSA 2	8/12/08	$ 63
1910 T206 - Jimmy Collins (Minneapolis) - Tolstoi !!		8/17/08	$ 81
T206 White Border Ty Cobb Red Portrait Tolstoi	PSA 2	8/18/08	$ 998
T206 TY COBB Red Portrait VG 3 TOLSTOI Back	SGC 40	8/18/08	$ 710
1909-11 Tolstoi Cigarettes T206 Davy Jones	SGC 20	8/24/08	$ 27
1909-11 Tolstoi Cigarettes T206 Frank Delehanty	SGC 20	8/24/08	$ 24
T206 T-206 Livingstone - Tolstoi		8/28/08	$ 49
1909 T206 "Happy" Smith Tolstoi reverse Good 2	SGC 30	8/31/08	$ 47
T206 TOLSTOI TOM NEEDHAM CUBS	PSA-3	9/4/08	$ 48
T206 T-206 Jap Barbeau baseball card Tolstoi back	PSA 1	9/2/08	$ 30
T206 Joss HOF EX-MT+ Rare HiGrade Tolstoi back!	PSA 6.5	9/7/08	$ 1,346
1909-11 Tolstoi Cigs T206 Rube Marquard	SGC 60	9/8/08	$ 510
T206 T-206 HOME RUN BAKER TOLSTOI BACK	SGC 40	9/14/08	$ 132
T206 Tim Jordan Brooklyn Dodgers TOLSTOI	GAI 4	9/12/08	$ 61
1909-11 T206 TOLSTOI CHRISTY MATHEWSON Dark Cap	SGC 40	9/10/08	$ 330
1909 - 1911 T206 Hugh Duffy Tolstoi	PSA 5	9/9/08	$ 458
1909-11 Tolstoi Cigs John McGraw T206	SGC 40	9/9/08	$ 134
T-206 T206 McIntyre Blazer w Rare Tolstoi bk!	SGC 60	10/5/08	$ 214
1909 T206 Strang,Baltimore-Tolstoi Back-Rare		10/2/08	$ 33
T206 T-206 Camnitz - Tolstoi Back		10/1/08	$ 20
T-206 T206 Mattern Blazer w/ Rare Tolstoi bk !	SGC 60	9/28/08	$ 280
T-206 T206 Schlei NY Blazer w Rare Tolstoi bk!	SGC 60	9/28/08	$ 127
T206 Hal CHASE Throwing, Dark Cap, Tolstoi Back	PSA 5	9/27/08	$ 264
T206 Pfeffer TOLSTOI Back		9/27/08	$ 23
T206 Geyer TOLSTOI Back		9/27/08	$ 22
T206 Crandall TOLSTOI Back		9/27/08	$ 27
1909-11 T206 Tim Jordan Batting Tolstoi	PSA 4	9/25/08	$ 68
1909-11 TOLSTOI CIGARETTES T206 BOB BESCHER	SGC 80	9/25/08	$ 316
1909-11 TOLSTOI CIGARETTES T206 JACK HAYDEN	SGC 60	9/25/08	$ 203
1909 TOLSTOI CIGARETTES T206 CHARLIE RHODES	PSA 5	9/25/08	$ 155
T206 DOUGHERTY ARM IN AIR TOLSTOI BACK!	GAI 5	9/21/08	$ 114
T206 FRANK CHANCE (Portrait) Chicago Nat’l TOLSTOI		9/20/08	$ 90

Find your T206 Baseball Cards with Tolstoi Backs on eBay!

Longoria and Rays Continue World Series Push

After winning the American League East with 97 wins the Tampa Bay Rays continue their push to their first World Series. I think I’m the only person in New Jersey that has a Carl Crawford Devil Rays Jersey (that’s right, not ‘Rays’, old school ‘Devil Rays’ circa 2007) which is going to get a lot of wear over the next several weeks.

I’ve been making a living off of the Rays in fantasy baseball for 3-4 years now. Carl Crawford has been a centerpiece of several of my fantasy teams and guys like BJ Upton, Shields, Sonnanstine, and Kazmir have all been on my teams. Bummed out that I missed out on Evan Longoria but loved his two home runs last night.

Some think the Rays are a fluke but they have the starting pitching and a fairly deep bullpen. The general theory in baseball is that good pitching beats good hitting and I think they have the best staff in the playoffs. I also like the speed that Crawford and Upton bring to the game – very disruptive for the opposition. Baseball’s ‘surprise team’ looks more like a favorite to me. We’ll see how it plays out but I’m stoked for some of my fantasy baseball mainstays to have a chance at a big ‘reality’ World Series win!

Click Here to get Evan Longoria gear for the playoffs on eBay!

T206 Drum Wrappers Show Up on eBay

While not confirmed if T206 baseball cards where distributed in these Drum cigarette wrappers I couldn’t help but check them out on eBay. I have no clue what these might fetch but for a tobacco era baseball card collector like T206s or T205s these seem like a great complimentary piece of accent memorabilia.

Check out the latest Drum T206 baseball cards on eBay!

Final Home Run Baseball at Shea – Beltran’s Ball Snagged by Zack

Found this article today about Zack Hample, The Baseball Collector, and it reminded me of my buddy Chris – The Ultimate Baseball Collector. Not only did Zack get the final home run ball at Shea (courtesy of Carlos Beltran) but he caught 2 other historic baseballs last week at Yankee Stadium.

Zack is open about his baseball shagging techniques – get a seat in the picnic area, watch batting practice, etc. I’m inclined to believe he has real instincts for how to position himself and move toward the ball. Just a guess but he’s probably pretty aggressive too.

Click here to buy a commemorative baseballs of Shea Stadium on eBay!

T206 Baseball Cards with Cycle Backs – Auction Results 9/19/08

Here are some Cycle T206s from the past few months. Check out the Tris Speaker pushing a grand – nice baseball card. He may have to be the next hall of famer I add to my collection but I may need a different back as that price is a tad rich.

T206 Doc Crandall Cycle	460 GAI	8/10/08	$74
T206 T-206 Bliss - Rare HiGrade Cycle Back!	PSA 6 EX-MT	8/10/08	$587
1909 T206 Cycle Frank Delehanty Louisville	SGC 30	8/12/08	$47
GEORGE MULLEN T206 *CYCLE* TOBACCO CARD	PSA 3	8/13/08	$81
1909 T206 CYCLE BACK - KRAUSE - PORTRAIT	PSA 4	8/17/08	$32
T206 CYCLE HOF TRIS SPEAKER Boston RED SOX RaRe !	PSA 4	8/17/08	$852
T206 T-206 Bliss EX-MT - Rare HiGrade Cycle Back!	PSA 6	8/10/08	$587
T206 Doc Crandall Cycle 460 GAI		8/10/08	$74
1909 T206 Cycle Frank Delehanty Louisville	SGC 30	8/12/08	$47
GEORGE MULLEN T206 *CYCLE* TOBACCO CARD	PSA 3	8/13/08	$81
T206 CYCLE HOF TRIS SPEAKER Boston RED SOX RaRe !	PSA 4	8/17/08	$852
1909 T206 CYCLE BACK - KRAUSE - PORTRAIT	PSA 4	8/17/08	$32
1909-11 T206 T 206 Harry Howell CYCLE Pop=1 EX-MT+		8/29/08	$123
T206 T-206 Pryor McElveen front card Cycle back	PSA 1	9/2/08	$23
T206 CYCLE 350 CHARLIE RHODES	PSA-2	9/4/08	$50
T206 CYCLE RUBE MARQUARD FOLLOW THROUGH	PSA-3	9/7/08	$136

Get T206 Baseball Cards for your collection with Cycle Backs on eBay!

USAA and Strikeouts for Troops Team Up to Help U.S. Veterans

I first wrote about Strikeouts for Troops this past July and decided this is a topic worth promoting after receiving and email from John at USAA. I’m a big believer in doing as much as possible to help U.S. veterans and personally their needs are at the top of my non-profit causes. Presently I’m broke so for now I’ll blog, the fact that Strikeouts for Troops is promoted by Barry Zito and over 100 other major league baseball players makes it a natural fit for Bloop Single.

John is part of an advocacy team at USAA which specializes in insurance and financial services products for vets (John, feel free to comment if you’d like to add more) and he reached out to me to let me know about a special event they held called Patriot Day on September 11th. USAA matched $500 per strikeout thrown across all Major League Baseball Games that day.

The contributions from Strikeouts for Troops help wounded vets and their families. I know it’s late in the season but it’s never too late to help our vets so please check go to StrikeoutsForTroops.com, pick out your favorite Major League Baseball Player that participates and do what you can to help out.