Taxi Squad Confessions

Chris, if we're confessing, I'm probably in that geek class as well. I follow sports, baseball in particular, way too much. Always have and probably always will.

In my younger days, I was like many kids and dreamed of playing pro ball. That didn't happen, obviously, and I was left to be a fan. But I still had that competitive spirit and also had the desire to be connected to the game of baseball. Luckily, I was introduced to fantasy baseball and it filled that void.

I still remember my first pick ever: Howard Johnson. My starting rotation was Dwight Gooden, Dave Stewart and Frank "Sweet Music" Viola. Mike Schooler and Dave Righetti were my closers. I also had a young Barry Bonds...an absolute steal that year.

Since then my fantasy sports "career" has come a very long way and, I like to think, I have as well. I think I have acquired several things over the years that I can pass along to other fantasy gamers that can help them succeed in their leagues. Will I make you a champion? Not unless you have a pretty good knowledge already. I'm not a miracle worker. But I think I can offer some tips and strategies that can improve teams and make them more competitive. Look, we can all still learn things about these games.

I'm usually in two leagues, one being a point-based system and the other being head-to-head. Both use AL and NL. In the future days, weeks, months, I'll go more into detail about my history with fantasy sports and my leagues.

But, for now, I will say again...I'm a geek too.

PS - Chris, can I borrow your Prospectus?

We're Back! (And Better Than Ever!)

Before I get too deep into why we're all here, I have a confession to make.

I'm a geek.

There it is. I said it. And it's taken me 36 1/2 years to get to this point.

I'm geeky about music. (Saw Genesis 3 times in 2007)

I'm geeky about technology. (Namely, I'm behind on most of the trends, but think most of them are cool)

And, I'm REALLY geeky about baseball.

How geeky? Well, raise your hand if any of this sounds familiar.

I still collect baseball cards.

I played Strat-O-Matic religously as a kid, and kept detailed stats for all the players.

When computers arrived, I always bought the best simulation available (anyone remember the floppy disk version of Earl Weaver Baseball?)

The only video game I currently own is a text-based baseball simulation that allows me to be both GM and manager of a team. And I think it's much more fun than "arcade" games.

Get the point? I'm a baseball geek.

Which leads me to the world of fantasy baseball.

I live for 3 things, rooting on the Indians, rooting on the Cubs, and rooting on my fantasy team. (And let me get this straight, the real teams always come first ... well, mostly)

I've played in the same locally-run league for 13 seasons. The league owns a "brick" near the Bob Feller statue at Progressive Field. That's how old it is.

So, when WKYC decided to make blogs a larger part of what we do, I jumped at the chance to write a fantasy baseball blog for wkyc.com.

Am I an expert? Well, I 'm a two-time champion of my highly competitive league. But, no, I'm not any smarter than a lot of you out there.

I want this to become a place for fellow fantasy players to come and chat, share tips, and maybe help each other win some titles. Maybe even help moderate a trade debate or two.

And we can even talk some "real" baseball along the way.

In the coming days, I'm going to talk leagues, draft strategies, players, and even let you watch as I undoubtably trade my team right into the second division. And hopefully, have more than a few laughs along the way.

So, that's my story. More to come, as I hope to be a regular presence here throughout the season.

Chris (who's counting the days until my Baseball Prospectus arrives in the mail.)