Talk:Fantasy baseball

Popularity?

Early in the article, it is stated that fantasy baseball is the most popular fantasy sport. Later in the article, it says fantasy football is the most popular. Neither is referenced. I deleted the statement stating baseball is the most popular. I can intuitively say with 99.999% confidence that football is more popular; if you can prove otherwise more power to you. --2S 06:56, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Content

It'd be good to have a quick review of draft types. I can get to it later this week unless someone else wants it.

What about adding salary cap to the types of fantasy games?--Gavinturner 01:53, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

Content== ==history

Dec 3 2007

I added a paragraph about Jack Kerouac's play and copious documentation of an apparently private version of fantasy baseball starting ca 1931 or 1935 at latest. Perhaps this mention should be in the Pop Culture section but I dont know whether fantasy baseball is mentioned in any of his stories; if not it wouldnt in be Pop Culture awareness but it's definitely historical.

Here is material for a citation: I viewed an exhibition including lots of Kerouac FB materials at the Library last Thursday November 29, 2007. My information is from Curator Isaac Gewirtz's essay in "Fantasy Sports," part 8 of Gewirtz' brochure for the exhibition "Beatific Soul: Jack Kerouac On The Road," November 9, 2007 - February 24, 2008.

Jayhawker53 15:03, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

June 24, 2010 Just a question on Fantasy Baseball history, as to whether this should be added: The first Online Live Draft for Fantasy Baseball was held in 1987 via Cable and wireless Dialcom when 10 players in Hong Kong and 8 players in Manila communicated via Dialcom -- and drafted a league based on the APBA 1985 player's disk. The league was composed of mainly American ex-pat journalists and called the South China Sea Baseball League (SCSBL). A championship game was held in Manila in 1987 and 1988. SCSBL still plays on CBS Sportsline, and is composed of many of the same players from 1987.

Records of the live draft still exist as backups of the computer files exist. Should this be added to the Fantasy Baseball article. Thanks, Pat Ptbenic (talk) 13:37, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

Feb. 26, 2014

I have some doubt to the validity of the Roach Motel League, founded in 1981 as being the first Rotoball league. My father was one of the cofounders of the Newsweek Rotisserie League, which also started in 1981 among coworkers at Newsweek Magazine after reading about Mr. Okrent. We have an extensive league history dating back to 1981 and I can bring this matter up with some of the league's founders.

Links

Dec 3 2007

Further regarding Kerouac's fantasy baseball, I also nominate a link to the NYPL press release for the exhibition, which includes one line on Kerouac's fantasy sports: "Kerouac's minutely detailed fantasy baseball and horse racing materials, which he created as a boy and played with throughout his life, will also be on display."

http://www.nypl.org/press/2007/Beatific_exhibition.cfm

Jayhawker53 15:03, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

I think the links section at the bottom is cluttered with useless web sites. If anything, the Fantasy Baseball Cafe forums should be on there, the most useful fantsy resource on the web. These web sites like Creative Sports seem to be updated like twice a month because a quote from the page:

Read about the Zen Master of Fantasy Baseball, Lawr Michaels in the upcoming book, Fantasyland.

The book already came out, why should Wikipedia direct readers to an outdated source? >L<

This page is lacking in documentation. I would like, for instance, yo check easily on the info that in 1999 the interest in fantasy baseball started falling.

Fantasy sports are at their peak if anything. >L<

The Fantasy 411 link is broken.

I agree that there's too much clutter with the links. If you're going to allow sites to advertise their games on here, then at least add the free sites like foxsports.com which appears to be a stable game with most free features I've had to pay for at other sites. Check it out and see if you think it should be included - foxsports.com/fantasybaseball I have no affiliation with the site.

I think a link to rotostuds.com should be added. This site is a daily must read in staying competitive in my roto league.~

Link nomination

I believe you gotta add [FantasyBaseball.com] in your links section. You must find time to visit this site daily. Great projections and very accurate. Player profiles, depth charts, etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.253.232.173 (talk) 19:57, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

As per discussion with SubSeven I would like to nominate Fantasy Baseball Cafe (www.fantasybaseballcafe.com) and Fantasy Baseball Hub (www.fantasybaseballhub.com - the former Fantasy Baseball Central) to be included as external links to this article, in my opinion they are leading authorities in the field and should easily make any shortlist of fantasy baseball links. Fact is though that I'm also in a conflict of interest here which is why I am putting the links up for discussion to make sure my view is actually shared by the bulk of readers. Menyak 08:39, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

FantasyBaseballCafe.com finished 4th of 5 squads in a 20 team (4 members per site) website challenge versus FantasyPlaymakers.com, FantasySportswire.com, RotoKingdom.net, and RotoChamps.com last year. RotoKingdom.net, FantasyPlaymakers.com, and RotoChamps.com who finished 1-2-3 respectively are more deserving as they have more knowledgeable staff members and fantasy players. RotoKingdom.net took the overall team score and had the top two individual placers. Here are the final standings in cafe's forum http://www.fantasybaseballcafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=234863&start=15

I agree that these sites are among the best for information about fantasy baseball, but I wish www.fantasybaseballhub.com looked more professional. Because of their homepage it is going to look like "link spam" to other wikipedia editors. I am not affiliated with either site. LloydSommerer 12:44, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

Fantasy Baseball Cafe and Fantasy Baseball Hub should both be included in the links section. Both of these sites are free, require no registration, and offer excellent information. They seem to meet the guidelines for external links while others currently listed may or may not. Anthony 16:06, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

I agree with Lloyd. Fantasy Baseball Hub looks like a spam site. If they were to eliminate the dozens of banner ads, they may get better consideration. The current external links are sufficient. mjconnor10 19:26, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

This is a fair point about the advertisements. WP:EL does advise against external links with, I quote, "objectionable amounts of advertising". In this case, it is pretty objectionable when you consider how much scrolling past ads you have to do, just to get to the content. --SubSeven 06:36, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Personally I would support fantasybaseballhub.com for inclusion but not fantasybaseballcafe.com. Fantasybaseballhub.com is a launching point to a lot of good resources which seems to be acceptable under WP:EL as it is essentially a web directory. However, fantasybaseballcafe.com seems to be a hardcore strategy site for serious players. Being that Wikipedia is not a game guide/strategy guide/how-to, I don't see how this link adds anything to the encyclopedic value of the article. SubSeven 22:22, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

What about adding www.fantasybaseballuk.com? Free to enter (2nd teams £5) UK based Fantasy Baseball run by BaseballSoftballUK primarily used as a tool to get people living in the UK more interested in baseball.--Gavinturner 01:52, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

Rotoworld.com is the most trafficked fantasy baseball content website on the internet. Yes higher than the big boys wikipedia is listing now. It has also been around since 1998. Most of the sites listed above are small and probably not worthy of inclusion. You have the main ones - but you should add Foxsports.com, Rotoworld.com, rotowire.com and that is basically it. 10:35, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

RotoKingdom.net merits inclusion. A sports forum in which anyone can join and get immediate help with their fantasy troubles.

I agree with Bucko, Rotostuds should be included. It only has one ad on it.Mbstrlbstr 20:55, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

Please stop making sockpuppet accounts. --SubSeven 03:00, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

It is either a sockpuppet or a meatpuppet account. Both of you have asked various times for external links to JoostSwap and RotoStuds [1] [2]and have no other contributions to Wikipedia. --SubSeven 22:50, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

And I see from WHOIS lookups that JoostSwap.com and RotoStuds.com are both registered to one John S Crowley! Imagine that! --SubSeven 22:53, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

I agree with UTC above. RotoWire is one of the major providers to Yahoo, ESPN and XM Radio. Perhaps there should be a listing somewhere of the big companies in the industry. If not, then at least the major onces sited above should be added. Many times the big media sites are not the best for this type of stuff. --Schoenke 22:38, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

Why isn't MLB.com's fantasy page listed? http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/fantasy/index.jsp They are the official arm of baseball. (Roscfb 21:05, 1 December 2007 (UTC))

I think it should be listed. And a simpler URL: http://fantasy.mlb.com/ -- Win777 (talk) 21:42, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Interesting read: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/05/scitech/pcanswer/main2885523_page2.shtml (I know this will lead nowhere, but simply couldn't keep it for myself - sorry, I'm outta here ;o) Menyak (talk) 18:07, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

I propose that Fantasy Baseball Heaven (www.fantasybaseballheaven.com) be added as an external link. The site has a unique format in that it offers daily head-to-head competition. The game is free and each player gets a win or a loss every day of the major league baseball season. It also allows managers to combine current players with historical greats from every era, including players from the Negro Leagues, as well as Sadaharu Oh, the great Japanese home run champion. User: fzvonec 29, March 2008

It would be be interesting to see www.FantasySportsStocks.com listed as an external link. This is a FREE site that takes a different spin on Fantasy Sports industry. Players use a virtual stock market to buy & sell stocks in their favorite sports teams. Team stock values move based on the team's perfeormance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Johnny9831 (talk • contribs) 00:38, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

Other fantasy baseball games

The bulk of this article seems to confound "fantasy baseball" with "rotisserie baseball." While the latter is doubtless the most popular of the fantasy games, there are others out there that have their devotees. I would hope somebody could add a section about some of those alternatives, and how they differ from roto. I have in mind in particular Scoresheet Baseball and Diamond Mind Baseball. I haven't played those games, so I can't write the entries here, but I know some people who do.--Mack2 22:09, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

A good article on the background and play of Scoresheet Baseball can be found here: Nando Di Fino, "Fantasy's Dose of Reality," Wall Street Journal, May 8, 2008.--Mack2 (talk) 23:57, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Vandalism

The very first sentence of this article has been vandalised with inappropriate content. It must be changed.

Link Nomination

See RotoHog article.

• RotoHog Fantasy Baseball Website —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.171.32.84 (talk) 08:21, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

• Fantasy Baseball Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Service Website —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.171.32.84 (talk) 08:21, 27 March 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Eqm1 (talk • contribs)

link

Hey, Maybe adding this link would be good?: http://www.virtualstock-exchange.com/Home/Sportpredictionmarket/tabid/4916/Default.aspx —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.197.8.28 (talk) 08:42, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't recommend it as WP isn't here to advertise sites. Montco (talk) 20:33, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Why is ESPN the only site linked? The other big ones should at least be mentioned, like Yahoo Sports and Foxsports.com. 71.94.130.65 (talk) 06:43, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Recent history edits

I reverted several recent history edits, not because the additions to the history section were bad, but because they (seeming systematically) removed all of the Fantasy Baseball references from before the mid 1980s. I don't have any reason to think that the additions themselves were incorrect (though they, like most of the article were uncited), but it seemed suspicious that so much history was removed. Of course, feel free to correct me if I am mistaken about those edits. LloydSommerer (talk) 03:27, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

Frankly, your reversal of my recent edits is not doing any favors to this article. I removed the mention of Pursue the Pennant because it did not fit well into the chronology presented in the History Section (it came out in 1985, long after the first Rotisserie League; potentially it should have been retained but been moved down). I removed the mention of the Robert Coover novel and whatever Jack Kerouac did by himself in his spare time because they both seemed to be completely irrelevant to the development of fantasy baseball. I added extensive information about the first Rotisserie Baseball League, all of which was sourced by an in-line external link to an excellent 1984 Sports Illustrated article by original Rotissier League owner Steve Wulf [3]. I am not going to waste any time undoing your undos... but if you read this excellent SI article maybe you will see fit to put some of my edits back in as they were essentially all sourced from there. Incidentally, what on earth do you mean that my edits were "suspicious"... the edits were simply a (successful) effort to present a more consise and relevant chronology. Roentgendoc (talk) 02:15, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

I added information on an early (1960) game at the front, with citations. Burgeson (talk) 21:01, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

I added some useful citations and additions re: Kerouac's fantasy baseball (which is nothing like the modern day fantasy baseball), Orkent's story behind the development of roto, and some numbers on how many fantasy baseball players there are thanks to an article from Forbes.

I agree with some of the people up top that sites like Rotowire should be considered for addition to the external links, along with Rotoworld and possibly CBS Fantasy News. If you're going to add game sites only, how can you have ESPN and not Yahoo! or CBS?

Also, while I fully admit that I am a bit partial to blogs that provide fantasy advice, how can you not include sites like Razzball, Fantasy Baseball Cafe, Fantasy Baseball Dugout, or Fantasy Fanhouse in the list of external sites? Many fantasy baseball players use sites like these during the season for advice, and that certainly should not be overlooked. JonathanBentz (talk) 21:51, 16 April 2010

Game play == vague

Suppose that the "Cincinnati Reds" are to play a head-to-head format game against the "Chicago Bears." How exactly is the final score of this match calculated? 75.186.5.185 (talk) 00:59, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

Additional External Links for the article

There's a good E:60 show on ESPN relating to the history of fantasy / rotisserie baseball.

Also, some other sites that are out there should be noted - www.rotoworld.com (part of NBC Sports) supplies a lot of the fantasy guidance used by several publications, and CBS' Sportsline has a big following. Also, there are Fantasy articles and TV shows not referenced here. I am not sure how to update this information but it said to go here first so I thought I would ask - I can help once I have tools and permission! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.28.61.225 (talk) 03:34, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Two scoring methods

In fantasy baseball, there are two common scoring methods - head to head, and rotisserie. With head to head scoring, you compete every week against a different player, in specific statistical categories such as home runs, wins, RBIs, etc. Rotisserie on the other hand is a season long endeavor, where you are ranked against every other player in those scoring categories. Finishing first in a category is worth a certain amount of points, as is second, third, etc. The person at the end of the year with the highest overall score is the winner. Therefore, Fantasy Baseball and Rotisserie baseball are not interchangeable terms, as they are mistakenly used in this article. I'm going to see how I can modify the info to fix this.Timtempleton (talk) 19:58, 16 September 2015 (UTC)

Baseball assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Fantasy baseball/Comments (baseball), and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

This article is a decent start but assumes that there is only one kind of fantasy baseball game -- rotisserie or roto. While that's the most popular, there are others of note including Scoresheet and Diamond Mind. Article could be structured differently and also discuss relation between fantasy baseball, sabermetrics, and real baseball more systematically. Special attention is due to the MLBAM efforts to stifle or monopolize (or extract fees) for use of player stats, and the legal aspects of this case. --Mack2 15:22, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Last edited at 15:59, 6 July 2007 (UTC). Substituted at 14:19, 10 October 2016 (UTC)