Steve Gardner was recently crowned champion of the inaugural Strat-O-Matic Baseball Daily Media Experts League. After winning the title, Gardner took some time to reflect on his overall experience playing Baseball Daily.
First of all, it was a blast playing with such a great group of sports luminaries. I was thrilled to be included because I’ve watched, read and listened to all of these people and respect their knowledge so much. As it turned out, it was a dream season for my team.
The key to winning may have been the one trade I didn’t make: I offered Buster Posey and Jose Bautista to Jon Miller’s Giants for Bryce Harper and Yasmani Grandal. Even though he seriously considered it (and was even encouraged by some Giants fans to do whatever it took to get Posey), he decided not to make the deal. Thankfully he didn’t because Posey ended up being the MVP of the league!
The season flew by in a flash. And with the player cards updated so frequently, you really have to stay on top of things to make sure you’re putting the best roster you can out there. I think that my experience playing fantasy baseball may have helped me a little in this league because we have to make those kinds of moves throughout the fantasy season.
Not having played Strat-O-Matic a whole lot the past several years, I have to say there wasn’t a major learning curve at all. I felt really comfortable with my team after only a few series. And you can go into as much (or as little) detail as you want in juggling lineups and roles.
Personally, I loved being able to move players around the batting order depending on which pitchers are up next … or tweaking my rotation to counter my opponents’ lineup.
I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was tremendous fun interacting with the other owners in the league on social media. And I couldn’t believe how anxious I was to find out the results of each series. There’s nothing quite like finding out your team has pulled off a three-game sweep.
I have to applaud Strat-O-Matic for taking a game that was already very good and making it even better by adding the daily component. It gives the game another layer of strategy and keeps owners on their toes all season long, while still remaining true to the original idea of head-to-head competition.
Thanks also to Strat-O-Matic for their generous donation to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. If the competition and camaraderie weren’t enough, having a donation made to their cause in my name made the championship even more gratifying.
Steve Gardner
Senior Fantasy Editor
USA Today Sports
Steve Gardner
Senior Fantasy Editor
USA Today Sports
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