Important Things to Know in Order to Play Fantasy Baseball

The more I play fantasy baseball, the more I love the game of baseball itself. There is no better way to closely follow box scores, standings, player trends, hot streaks, cold slumps and the inevitable friendly competition which arises from trying to best your opponents then by participating in fantasy baseball. However, more and more I am approached by people interested in this mysterious game and all of its quirks and quarks. Since I love the game of baseball, I love to talk about the sport in all of its forms – both on the field and off. For the uninitiated, here are the basics of fantasy baseball:

Fantasy Formats:

There are several different forms of fantasy baseball. You can play rotisserie(or, "roto" as it is often called), head-to-head, points leagues or many other formats. However, the one consistent element in all formats is that a group of owners each draft a "team" made up of real-life baseball players. As those players accumulate statistics on the field (in real games) their fantasy owners accumulate these same stats in an effort to gain more overall stats then their fantasy opponents. For example, if the home run total of your entire fantasy team is better than the home run total of your opponent, you win (that category at least!). Regardless of the format, your ultimate goal is to accumulate better overall stats than your opponents.