They say that it’s lonely at the top. In fantasy sports, it’s also lonely when you play in an abandoned league. It’s the kind of league in which other team managers stop showing up to adjust their rosters, pick up or drop guys, or even visit the league page. It’s a ghost league, and I just won mine.
That’s right, I was champion of a league, “oldmans hi scoring 7”, and I seem to have been the only one left visiting by the end of the season. It was a small, six-team auction draft league (head-to-head) in which I was able to snag several top-tier players. Here was my drafted roster:
| 1. | (6) | Andrew McCutchen (Pit – OF) | $180 |
| 2. | (9) | Paul Goldschmidt (Ari – 1B) | $119 |
| 3. | (11) | Greg Holland (KC – RP) | $50 |
| 4. | (14) | Robinson Canó (Sea – 2B) | $107 |
| 5. | (18) | Giancarlo Stanton (Mia – OF) | $151 |
| 6. | (20) | Stephen Strasburg (Was – SP) | $96 |
| 7. | (32) | Félix Hernández (Sea – SP) | $113 |
| 8. | (47) | Devin Mesoraco (Cin – C) | $8 |
| 9. | (58) | Jonathan Lucroy (Mil – C,1B) | $8 |
| 10. | (59) | David Robertson (CWS – RP) | $16 |
| 11. | (60) | Cole Hamels (Tex – SP) | $27 |
| 12. | (96) | Evan Longoria (TB – 3B) | $13 |
| 13. | (122) | Jorge Soler (ChC – OF) | $1 |
| 14. | (124) | Alex Wood (LAD – SP,RP) | $2 |
| 15. | (125) | Justin Verlander (Det – SP) | $1 |
| 16. | (127) | Nelson Cruz (Sea – OF) | $1 |
| 17. | (129) | Alexei Ramírez (CWS – SS) | $1 |
| 18. | (131) | Phil Hughes (Min – SP) | $1 |
| 19. | (133) | Marcell Ozuna (Mia – OF) | $1 |
| 20. | (135) | Kole Calhoun (LAA – OF) | $1 |
| 21. | (136) | Daniel Murphy (NYM – 1B,2B,3B) | $1 |
| 22. | (137) | Fernando Rodney (ChC – RP) | $1 |
| 23. | (138) | Brian McCann (NYY – C,1B) | $1 |
I was fortunate to have a strong team from the beginning, and I started beating my opponents right away. This continued throughout the months and I actually started to take quite a bit of a lead over my competition (we were all in the same division). By season’s end, my record was 22-0. This is the most successful I have ever been in a league, but of course I take it with a grain of salt.
Had other managers remained with the league, would I have won it all? I would like to think so since my team was pretty strong, but I think I would have only gotten about 16-18 wins, rather than 22. Of course, there’s no way to tell for sure.
Final Thoughts
I don’t really understand managers who quit on their leagues. I can understand if managers don’t want to adjust rosters on a daily basis, but a few times each month is not unreasonable. I’m going to stick with a league until the end, even if it means I’m playing against a team on autopilot. Granted, the thrill of victory may not be that sweet, but it is still palatable.