Why We Love Fantasy Baseball

“It’s hard not to be romantic about baseball” (Moneyball)

This sentence sums up a lot of what I have to say in regards to fantasy baseball and baseball in general. When you look back at a magical season, you feel something, something you just can’t explain through words alone. As a St. Louis Cardinal fan, when I think back to the magical 2011 season and what they went through to win their second World Series in my lifetime, it makes me feel like a kid again.

That is what baseball is really about, whether fantasy or real. It’s about all of us being kids again. Like when we sit in front of our televisions and watch Mike Trout or Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run. It’s about watching Clayton Kershaw or Max Scherzer mowing down the competition on the way to a no-hitter. These moments aren’t just a part of history, they are a part of who we are as baseball fans. “People ask me what I do in the winter when there is no baseball, I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring” (Rogers Hornsby).

Fantasy Baseball is no different. We play because we love the game, and we want to be a small part of it, even if it’s just fictionally owning a team. We love the thought of managing a team, deciding who starts, orchestrating the perfect lineup. I keep bringing up the kid metaphor, but it’s true. When I draft a team or compete in a league, I feel like a kid at the candy store. It’s sort of like collecting baseball cards, but in the virtual world.

Fantasy Baseball does that, but it has so much more to offer. I wouldn’t have the friends I have today without playing in fantasy leagues. The comradery that comes with it is something I treasure. It brings people together. From your league with friends nearby to your friends that are halfway across the country, fantasy leagues bring like-minded people together for one goal– to play the sport we love.

“You gotta be a man to play baseball for a living, but you gotta have a lot of little boy too” (Roy Campanella). I have been playing fantasy baseball for 13 years now. You may have way more experience than me, or you may be new to the sport. Whatever point we are at in our fantasy baseball “careers”, we still all share that one common bond, the love of the game. “The other sports are just sports, Baseball is love” (Bryant Gumbel).