It’s time for fantasy baseball! My transatlantic relationship with American culture will change profoundly in the next week. Commenter Extraordinaire Dave runs the league, and my draft is Saturday.
I dubbed my team “The Dublin Felons” this year. [Previously “Irish Felons”, in error. — Ed.] Before you get the wrong idea: The name is a tribute to The Irish Felon, a newspaper that helped build the foundation for the Land War of the late 19th Century. Here’s an excerpt from the first issue (24 June 1848):
The transportation of a man, as a felon, for uttering sentiments held and professed by at least five-sixths of his countrymen, seemed to me so violent and so insulting a national wrong, that submission to it must be taken to signify incurable slavishness. The English Government, the proclaimed enemy of our nationality, had deliberately selected John Mitchel to wreck their vengeance upon him, as representative of the Irish nation. By indicting him for a ‘felony’ they virtually indicted five-sixths of the Irish people for ‘felony’. By sentencing him to fourteen years transportation to a penal settlement, they pronounced five-sixths of the Irish people guilty of a crime worthy of such punishment; and they declared that every individual of the six million of Irish Repealers who escapes a similar doom, escapes it not through right and law, but through the mercy or at the discretion of the English minister.
The audacity of our tyrants must be acknowledged. They occupy our country with military force, in our despite, making barracks of our very marts and colleges, as if to defy and challenge any manly pride that might linger among our youth. They pervert our police force into an organisation of street bullies, as if to drive all peace-loving industrious citizens into the ranks of disaffection. — John Martin
I expect each good son (or daughter) of Ireland to throw his (or her) match against The Irish Felons. Otherwise, may the curse of Molly Malone and her seven rotten children chase you so far beyond the seventh hill of damnation that the Lord himself won’t be able to see you with a telescope.
In addition, I plan to use my six-hour advantage every morning to great effect. So maybe I’ll even finish as well as 8th of 12 teams. I’m sure you have a thousand questions, so I’ll answer them in the comments.
7 Comments to “A key element of US culture: Fantasy Baseball”
11 March 2008
When we meet in fantasy basebal, my starting lineup will include the following players:
SP: Eddie Cicotte
SP: Lefty Williams
1B: Chick Gandil
SS: Swede Risberg
3B: Fred McMullin
OF: Happy Felsch
OF: Shoeless Joe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Sox
12 March 2008
My keepers for this season:
Brian Roberts;
Carlos Lee;
Félix Hernández.
Dave: I like your baseball-pun, there. You’ll take the pitching categories anyway, I’m sure. You’d probably start Joe Cleary, but the rebel will play fiercely against his countrymen, just to spite a team named for Dublin.
13 March 2008
I think you should draft only players with irish names. Are there any players with irish names in MLB? That might be tough.
13 March 2008
oh, and I meant to say Fantasy Baseball?? Will, you’d better be careful. Fantasy baseball is a sure sign that you’ve got too much time on your hands. I mean, the football season has only 16 weeks/games, but you’ve 162 games in baseball!! btw, we’re heading to spring training in one week. wahoo!! Go Cubs Go!!
15 March 2008
The draft was today. Here’s my team:
1. Carlos Lee – OF
2. Félix Hernández – SP
3. Brian Roberts – 2B
4. VÃctor MartÃnez – C,1B
5. Derrek Lee – 1B
6. Garrett Atkins – 1B,3B
7. Édgar RenterÃa – SS
8. Aaron Harang – SP
9. Rich Hill – SP
10. Trevor Hoffman – RP
11. Shane Victorino – OF
12. Jason Isringhausen – RP
13. Juan Pierre – OF
14. Ian Snell – SP
15. Dustin Pedroia – 2B
16. Derek Lowe – SP
17. Shaun Marcum – SP,RP
18. Plácido Polanco – 2B
19. Ryan Garko – 1B
20. Kevin Kouzmanoff – 3B
21. Franklin Morales – SP
17 March 2008
I’m proud of Will, considering he could shake off Derek Lowe’s destruction of the Cards in 2004 long enough to draft him. When a player does that to my team, I hold a grude for eternity.
2 November 2008
Thank you for your site ;)
I made with photoshop backgrounds for myspace,youtube and whatever
my backgrounds:http://tinyurl.com/5cy5cq
all the best and thank you again!