The other morning I was sitting in my office, working away. Since
it was Thursday, I flipped on MLB Extra Innings, as I knew there was a
day game between the Orioles and Blue Jays.
Roy Halladay was scheduled to start
for the Jays, and since I have Halladay on a couple of teams, I
decided to watch the game, jinx or not. As it turned out, Halladay was matched up against Danny
Cabrera, which made it kind of funny.
It was funny because a month ago I swapped Aubrey Huff
from my Tout Wars team for Cabrera as I was scrambling for a starter after
losing Jake Westbrook. Truth is, I really boxed myself in a few
weeks earlier when I passed on a chance to unload Eric Chavez
for a starter just as Chavy was being activated from the DL. I succumbed to
those worst enemies of the fantasy owner: sentiment and hope.
A few weeks later, I
really was desperate for a starter with Dustin McGowan
struggling and headed for the DL, so I swapped Huff, gambling that Cabrera
could harness a little of his potential and help my strikeouts, if nothing else,
while not hurting my WHIP and ERA.
It was a long shot, but eventually I was able to parlay Cabreras Daniel and Melky into Halladay from
a struggling Joe Sheehan.
So, Thursday, I am watching my new pitcher face my former
pitcher, and you know how that goes in the fantasy world. Your pitcher faces
your pitcher. Your batter faces your pitcher. Your pitcher faces your batter.
And you cringe, hoping your guy gets a hit, but not too much of one, and if
there is going to be an out, let it be a strikeout or a sacrifice of some kind.
Of course the calculus rapidly escalates the more
teams one has. I might have James Shields on three
teams, but not on my fourth, meaning I have all kinds of mixed messages when he
throws. I want him to do well for my struggling teams so they are no
longer struggling--except when Shields faces my hitters on my hot team, because,
well, you know the conundrum. If you have been playing this
game long enough and had enough teams, you know what I mean.
And that boils down to at some point or other, which is that it seems by this point that
I have owned everyone and played against everyone to the degree that all I can
do is be somewhat amused when a match-up like Thursday’s came around.
I mean, it’s like all in the family, no? Of course the fact
that Halladay won, and Cabrera was sent packing after six innings and six runs
didn’t hurt, you know?