Fantasy reunites friends

By Brian Betz

So I got this phone call last week from a 2003 graduate. He wanted me to join his fantasy baseball league. Having hung up my fantasy baseball jersey two years ago, I normally would've declined.

There's no money involved, so naturally I ask, "Dave, where the hell is the fun in that?" Then he told me five of the other guys in the league were buddies of mine who graduated, so I joined.

So draft day came and I had one personal vow: a refusal to draft any Yankees. I worried about getting the first pick because Alex Rodriguez was clearly the top player available. Luckily, I got the last pick, which sounds bad except that the draft order reverses each round, meaning I got two picks whenever I was on the clock.

Editor Blake Twisselman had the first pick and took A-Rod. He claimed he "didn't want to but had to do it." Normally I'd believe him, however taking Mike Mussina with his second pick made me want to go check his wardrobe for pinstripes.

I went Pedro Martinez, Carlos Delgado with my first two picks. Later I selected Eric Chavez and Jason Schmidt only to piss off an Athletics fan and a Giants fan that were clearly eyeing them with their next picks.

During all this I realized why I joined the league. As I watched UConn-Duke (otherwise known as the real national title game), we were all posting messages in a chat room to which everyone could respond. I was able to tell my buddy in St. Louis, who I hadn't talked to in nine months, that Benito Santiago was a terrible middle-round pick considering he might need a wheelchair by season's end. Later I informed a friend in Phoenix that I haven't seen since September that the Arizona Cardinals should just let the Arizona State football team play their games, because no one would tell the difference.

For two hours of that draft, I felt like the biggest, but happiest, nerd around. I had a reason to track professional baseball more closely, while being able to keep in touch with some sorely missed chums. And wouldn't you know, we solved the money issue with the agreement that the winner gets a case of beer from each one of the losers.

I just hope I don't have a hard time collecting my winnings come September.

û Contact Brian Betz at (408) 554-4852 or bbetz@scu.edu.