By Bob in Cleveland
League 4
Greetings, fellow Mafia members!
I trust that you’ve all had a fabulously successful draft season and have put yourself in the proverbial ‘driver’s seats’ in all of your leagues by following some of the great podcast and written content provided by FantasyBaseballMafia.com. Remember … we’re here to help you win!
With our help, surely, all of your leagues will ‘quiver and quake’ at your every trade and transaction this year.
Being gluttons for punishment, ourselves, the Mafia Writing Staff has banded together to create, what can only be called, a ‘super league’ of participants. In the coming months, we’ll share our exploits with you in the hope that you can learn from some of our triumphs and tribulations.
What are the rules? Who are the combatants?
The Writing Staff League is a 15 team, 5×5, vanilla category league with standard Mafia roster construction. A funny story … I originally aimed to ‘cut us all a break’ and set the league up to require 1 catcher and 2 UTs. Big mistake. The league conspired to revolt and DEMANDED 2 catchers! I told you they were ‘gluttons for punishment’. Clearly, this is a brave bunch. Just between you and I, I think we’re all nuts … we’re going to draft 30 catchers?! Oh, boy.
And who makes up this band of brethren?
Gabriel Lundeen (Pick #11) - Staff Columnist and author of our weekly column, “An Offer They Couldn’t Refuse”. Gabriel is the commissioner, and defending champion, of League 10.
TEAM NAME: An Offer They Couldn’t Refuse
Tony Bartlett (Pick #15) - Also known as ‘Tony in Hitchin’, Tony is a member of League 4 … as well as countless other expert leagues. A long-time MLBRadioFan, you’ll see Tony appear from time to time with a number of feature pieces, most notably his on-going series called, “Fantasy Writers & Bloggers League”. He holds the position of Associate Editor.
TEAM NAME: Bats Right, Writes Left
Alton Clark (Pick #1) - Like Tony, Alton is also a member of League 4 and also holds the position of Associate Editor.
TEAM NAME: Columbia Chaos
Keith Wire (Pick #14) - Champion of last year’s Mafia Mid-Season Staff League, Keith is a member of League 8. As Staff Columnist, Keith will pass along his wisdom in feature articles and as a member of our “Key Starts of the Day” team.
TEAM NAME: Grammercy Riffs
The Jersey Hitman (Pick #2) - A member of both League 6 and League 17, and a Staff Columnist, The Jersey Hitman comes at us each week with his column, “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly”.
TEAM NAME: Jersey Hitmen
David Gignilliat (Pick #8) - Every Sunday, you can catch David’s, somewhat whimsical, take on fantasy baseball in his column, “Members Only”. Every day, this Staff Columnist battles for his fantasy baseball ‘life’ in League 10.
TEAM NAME: Pb Dirigibles
Tim Collins (Pick #7) - Statistical analyst extraordinaire, and Feature Writer, Tim Collins, finds his home in League 14.
TEAM NAME: Texas Leaguers
Ken Balderston (Pick #5) - A frequent guest on Fantasy Baseball Mafia Live!, expert on the performance of aging baseball players, and author of this year’s Mafia 420 player rankings, you know him best as ‘Ken in Toronto’. Ken, a Staff Columnist, takes up residence in Leagues 14 and 15. He’s the commissioner of League 14.
TEAM NAME: The Hulkamaniacs
Butters in DC (Pick #3) - You better be careful, or you just might end up on “The Hit List”! Catch Butters’ column every Tuesday. A Staff Columnist, he plays in League 14 and League 16.
TEAM NAME: The Pen-Is Mightier …
Terry Mahoney (Pick #6) - A Feature Writer who will soon bring us his “Power Rankings”, Terry is the commissioner of League 13.
TEAM NAME: The Windy Citizens
Phil Stupak (Pick #12) - Associate Editor, Phil in DC, spends his days and nights plotting the respective demise of Leagues 3 and 4. Wouldn’t you just love to hear Wire Tap and FBM Live! star, Tony Cincotta, pronounce Phil’s team name?
TEAM NAME: Tortious Malfeasance
Chris DiGiovanni (Pick #9) - A multi-talented statistician, writer and podcaster, Chris in NorCal holds down the commissioner job in League 6. Check Chris out on his new podcast, “Fantasy Baseball Mafia Game Plan”!
TEAM NAME: bA’Seball
Pete in Jordan (Pick #4) - What can I say? We are very fortunate to have this infamous ‘desert-dweller’ on our staff. He is a frequent visitor to MLB.com’s Fantasy 411 show and does battle in League 6. Pete can be found every Monday in his column, “Peteinjordan’s Man-Crush Monologues”.
TEAM NAME: mancrushes united
Todd Dulmes (Pick #10) - Look for Feature Writer, Todd in Sheboygan, to add his fantasy baseball expertise to our ‘arsenal’ of knowledge throughout the entire season.
TEAM NAME: shoeless
Bob Sikon (Pick #13) - Finally, yours truly, Bob in Cleveland … humble Senior Editor of FantasyBaseballMafia.com and, not so humble, defending champion of League 4. I only hope to survive amongst this amazing bunch of fantasy baseball sharks.
TEAM NAME: Outlaws United BC
There you have it, folks … the 2008 Fantasy Baseball Mafia Writing Staff League. Click the link, below, to see the results of our draft. But we’re not done yet … check back all this week to see our take on this draft. Then, check back during the year to hear us report on our season.
Enjoy Opening Day!