Team pitching
This variety of fantasy wiffleball always presents a challenge to fantasy owners who are not blessed with the fortune of a top three pick. The staffs of Eagan West, the Reds, Indians and Royals, were the first three names off the board and none of them disappointed in carrying their respective fantasy squads in the pitching column. After the top three the waters got a little murkier, as the Twins, Red Sox and Tigers staffs dropped below their expected output. To be fair, the Twins and Sox had solid fantasy seasons but the Tigers missed the usual innings workhorses of two time Cy Wiffler, Doc, and the uber consistent Seibs, dropping the staff all the way to fifteenth in the fantasy wiffle rater. The top three staffs did not actually lead their fantasy squads to victory in 2008. Rather, it was Tugboat’s “Robot Ninjas” hijacking of the Braves staff in the fifth round, the fourth best staff in fantasy, that propelled the team to fantasy gold. Truck’s “All Up in Your Tub” was kept afloat despite some less than stellar offensive support, by drafting the Padres in round 5, who ended up tying the Bravos as the fourth best fantasy hurling squad in the HRL. The biggest surprise was the A’s, lead by the fresh arm of Santi, who went from being a bottom three staff in ’07 to the tenth best staff in the league in ’08.
As for the hitters, J-Ski reclaimed his throne as the dominant fantasy slugger in the league and provided a solid return on the first round pick Dr. Seuss’s “Underground Network” spent on him. Two third round picks provided huge pay-offs to their respective owners, as Tugboat and Molgs ended up in the top ten of all fantasy sluggers, far ahead of where their draft slots have indicated they would fall. The steal of the draft was easily Starting Goalie’s “Big Os” nabbing Monsoon, the fourth best hitter in fantasy, with the 26th pick. The surprise of the year was the undrafted Madman taking Eagan by storm and joining the fantasy elite in the top ten. Honorable mention for the surprise award goes to Daubs who slugged his way into the top ten. Don’t expect either of these guys to go undrafted again. And the biggest bust of 2008 was… Spaz, a first round pick who ended up playing in only three games (where the hell was that guy anyway?)
The Fantasy Wiffle Rater explained: The top twelve fantasy pitching staffs are ranked, as are the top thirty fantasy sluggers. The system is less than scientific, but takes into account where each player ranked in each category for ’08 (i.e. J-Ski had the second best average, so he gets two points for that category. He was first in homers so he gets one point in dingers.) The four categories are added together and then divided by four to give each player/team a Fantasy Wiffle Rater Score. Since their values are drastically different, the pitching staffs and batters are scored and listed separately below:
FANTASY WIFFLE RATER 2008: HITTERS
| Player |
AVG |
HR |
RBI |
R |
Score |
| 1.) J-Ski |
2 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
2.50 |
| 2.) Tugboat |
9 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
3.75 |
| 3.) Chops |
6 |
9 |
1 |
1 |
4.25 |
| 4.)Monsoon |
1 |
5 |
7 |
7 |
5.00 |
| 5t.)Sanchez |
16 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
6.25 |
| 5t.)Spoon |
3 |
12 |
4 |
6 |
6.25 |
| 7.)Molgs |
4 |
4 |
9 |
10 |
6.75 |
| 8.)DJ |
5 |
9 |
12 |
10 |
9.00 |
| 9t.)Edgar |
17 |
11 |
6 |
4 |
9.50 |
| 9t.)Madman |
10 |
5 |
16 |
7 |
9.50 |
| 11.)The Man |
21 |
7 |
8 |
12 |
12.00 |
| 12.)Doc |
8 |
12 |
23 |
24 |
16.75 |
| 13t.)Daubs |
24 |
15 |
13 |
17 |
17.25 |
| 13t.) Yo |
15 |
8 |
11 |
35 |
17.25 |
| 15.)Al |
7 |
16 |
18 |
29 |
17.50 |
| 16.)K-Mart |
18 |
23 |
15 |
19 |
18.75 |
| 17.)Hendi |
39 |
16 |
10 |
13 |
19.50 |
| 18.)J-Zilla |
32 |
12 |
17 |
24 |
21.25 |
| 19.)BenBox |
33 |
46 |
13 |
9 |
25.25 |
| 20.)T-Bag |
14 |
23 |
35 |
31 |
25.75 |
| 21.)Balls |
49 |
16 |
18 |
21 |
26.00 |
| 22t.)Alex |
28 |
23 |
21 |
35 |
26.75 |
| 22t.)The Kid |
29 |
31 |
18 |
29 |
26.75 |
| 24.)Dr. Seuss |
31 |
36 |
26 |
15 |
27.00 |
| 25.)Rocket |
12 |
31 |
52 |
14 |
27.25 |
| 26.)Truck |
20 |
20 |
23 |
51 |
28.50 |
| 27t.)Joe |
40 |
33 |
27 |
15 |
28.75 |
| 27t.)Fitz |
42 |
16 |
33 |
24 |
28.75 |
| 29.)CX |
27 |
27 |
42 |
21 |
29.25 |
| 30.)The Deuce |
38 |
36 |
26 |
15 |
27.00 |
FANTASY WIFFLE RATER 2008: PITCHING STAFFS
| TEAM |
ERA |
K |
WHIP |
W |
Score |
| 1.)Reds |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1.25 |
| 2.)Royals |
2 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
2.75 |
| 3.)Indians |
5 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
3.75 |
| 4t.)Braves |
4 |
9 |
3 |
1 |
4.25 |
| 4t.)PADRES! |
3 |
3 |
4 |
7 |
4.25 |
| 6t.)Brewers |
6 |
5 |
9 |
8 |
7.00 |
| 6t.)Red Sox |
9 |
6 |
8 |
5 |
7.00 |
| 6t.)Twins |
7 |
7 |
6 |
8 |
7.00 |
| 9.)Pirates |
8 |
12 |
7 |
11 |
9.50 |
| 10.)A’s |
12 |
8 |
12 |
12 |
11.00 |
| 11.)X |
14 |
10 |
15 |
6 |
11.25 |
| 12.)Mets |
10 |
17 |
10 |
10 |
11.75 |
Individual pitching
Team Chops dominated individual pitching fantasy in 2008, snagging DJ, Tugboat, Al, Joe and Benbox with his first five picks, all of whom contributed significantly to all eight categories, and absolutely dominating the hitting stats. Team Cheezy and Team Rocket each boasted strong pitching staffs but could not keep up with Chops and his Ruthian dominance of slugging. Two Bat and Sanchez, while solid, were the only first rounders who did not provide the 8-cat dominance their respective owners expected. The second round was filled with either tremendous value or dream-shattering disappointment (see Team Pitching section on Spaz) with two of the top four fantasy wiffles coming off the board. Round three provided good value for fantasy owners as well, producing six top twenty fantasy wifflers, including two in the top ten. The highlight of round four was Team Rocket snagging Hal, who delivered a top fifteen season and looks poised to rise into pure, unadulterated fantasy stardom in ‘09. Benbox was a steal at the end of the fifth, while Monsoon secured his place as the individual pitching fantasy steal of the season, going 37th overall and riding a solid season on the hill to compliment his league leading OPS all the way to 11th place on the Fantasy Wiffle Rater.
Figuring out the rating system for individual pitching was a bit more complex, as it does not take into account the number of innings pitched when calculating ERA and WHIP value. T-Bag, who threw only fifteen innings but boasted a top ten ERA, did not provide nearly as much help to his fantasy team as Tugboat, whose ERA fell just below T-Bag’s, but whose 50 more innings gave his owner a much more positive effect on his overall team ERA. T-bag is unique in that his minimal innings pitched were extremely positive for his team, so the Rater has weighted his scored slightly differently. Players who did not pitch a significant number of innings are for the most part not included in the ’08 Fantasy Wiffler Rater, unless their hitting stats were enough to carry their minimal pitching output (see Daubs, T-Bag, etc.)
FANTASY WIFFLE RATER 2008: INDIVIDUAL PITCHING
| Player |
AVG |
HR |
RBI |
R |
W |
ERA |
K |
WHIP |
Score |
| 1.)Tugboat |
9 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
15 |
10 |
13 |
10 |
7.88 |
| 2.)Spoon |
3 |
12 |
4 |
6 |
15 |
6 |
19 |
4 |
8.63 |
| 3.)Chops |
6 |
9 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
13 |
32 |
8 |
9.50 |
| 4.)Edgar |
17 |
11 |
6 |
4 |
15 |
1 |
31 |
6 |
11.38 |
| 5.)J-Ski |
2 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
6 |
30 |
28 |
25 |
12.38 |
| 6t.)The Man |
21 |
7 |
8 |
12 |
6 |
29 |
10 |
23 |
14.50 |
| 6t.)Dr Seuss |
31 |
36 |
26 |
15 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
14.50 |
| 8.)Doc |
8 |
12 |
23 |
24 |
27 |
2 |
42 |
1 |
17.38 |
| 9.)Al |
7 |
16 |
18 |
29 |
15 |
15 |
20 |
24 |
18.00 |
| 10.)The Kid |
29 |
31 |
18 |
29 |
4 |
14 |
6 |
14 |
18.13 |
| 11.)Monsoon |
1 |
5 |
7 |
7 |
31 |
17 |
46 |
32 |
18.25 |
| 12.)DJ |
5 |
9 |
12 |
10 |
31 |
37 |
16 |
28 |
18.50 |
| 13.)Hal9K |
66 |
20 |
29 |
21 |
11 |
5 |
3 |
5 |
20.00 |
| 14.)Hendi |
39 |
16 |
10 |
13 |
27 |
20 |
5 |
37 |
20.88 |
| 15.)Torpedo |
57 |
23 |
29 |
19 |
11 |
12 |
16 |
12 |
22.37 |
| 16.)Molgs |
4 |
4 |
9 |
10 |
43 |
38 |
39 |
36 |
22.88 |
| 17.)Rocket |
12 |
31 |
52 |
14 |
11 |
11 |
24 |
9 |
23.00 |
| 18.)K-Mart |
18 |
23 |
15 |
19 |
22 |
40 |
10 |
38 |
23.12 |
| 19t.)BenBox |
33 |
46 |
13 |
9 |
16 |
28 |
25 |
22 |
24.00 |
| 19t.)Yo |
15 |
8 |
11 |
35 |
15 |
42 |
25 |
41 |
24.00 |
| 21t.)AC |
51 |
41 |
35 |
42 |
1 |
7 |
4 |
11 |
24.13 |
| 21t.)Joe |
40 |
33 |
27 |
15 |
6 |
31 |
15 |
26 |
24.13 |
| 23.)Sanchez |
16 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
22 |
43 |
52 |
53 |
24.38 |
| 24.)CX |
27 |
27 |
42 |
21 |
27 |
26 |
26 |
20 |
28.25 |
| 25.)CJ |
71 |
41 |
48 |
51 |
1 |
8 |
1 |
7 |
28.50 |
| 26.)Two-Bat |
41 |
36 |
23 |
35 |
36 |
33 |
6 |
31 |
30.13 |
| 27.)Steve 1 |
26 |
33 |
42 |
50 |
27 |
25 |
27 |
21 |
31.38 |
| 28t.)Rondell |
34 |
27 |
40 |
31 |
36 |
24 |
32 |
35 |
32.38 |
| 28t.)Daubs |
24 |
15 |
13 |
17 |
43 |
56 |
44 |
47 |
32.38 |
| 30.)T-Bag |
14 |
23 |
35 |
31 |
56 |
9* |
48 |
13* |
32.50* |
| 31.)Nine |
75 |
37 |
35 |
31 |
11 |
22 |
9 |
43 |
32.88 |
| 32.)The Legend |
59 |
27 |
31 |
17 |
22 |
31 |
32 |
45 |
33.00 |
| 33.)Madman |
10 |
5 |
16 |
7 |
56 |
63 |
53 |
60 |
33.75 |
| 34.)Fitz |
42 |
16 |
33 |
24 |
36 |
36 |
51 |
33 |
33.88 |
| 35.)Alex |
28 |
23 |
21 |
35 |
43 |
53 |
32 |
49 |
35.50 |
| 36.)Shirls |
30 |
62 |
59 |
51 |
31 |
21 |
14 |
19 |
35.88 |
| 37.)Palpatine |
80 |
79 |
80 |
60 |
4 |
4 |
8 |
3 |
39.75 |
| 38.)Scarecrow |
44 |
27 |
35 |
44 |
43 |
44 |
40 |
42 |
39.88 |
| 39.)The Deuce |
38 |
20 |
22 |
39 |
43 |
50 |
50 |
58 |
40.00 |
| 40.)Dr. Hate |
25 |
41 |
50 |
40 |
43 |
49 |
23 |
50 |
40.13 |