From the beginning of the season until the end of August, only 750 people can call themselves Major League baseball players. On April Fools Day, twenty baseball fanatics chose 500 of them in the 2004 draft for the Alomar Division of the Batter's Box Fantasy League.
2004 BBFL Alomar Division Draft Results
Per league rules, each owner kept five players from the previous season. The drama commenced in Round 6 when the Horse Field Hammers selected closer Keith Foulke with the first non-keeper pick. Derek Lowe, Jim Edmonds and Blue Jay Eric Hinske disappeared in short order.
The entire draft lasted a breezy two hours and ten minutes, but with so many players selected, every round tested the endurance and savvy of each owner. The Gashouse Gorillas and Horse Field Hammers, both on the ends of the "snake" draft format, would select two players in a row and then watch thirty-eight players evaporate before making another pick. By the last few rounds, owners foraged among middle relievers, platoon hitters, and 5th starters, hoping for some good fortune. According to my pre-draft rankings, the best undrafted pitcher was Mike Remlinger, and the best unselected hitter was Omar Vizquel. As for Kenny Rogers, Chan Ho Park and R.A. Dickey, three members of the deservedly maligned Texas Ranger rotation? All drafted.
Owners, feel free to post your opinions of the draft. Onlookers, feel free to offer your critiques of my competition. Ha ha.
Postscript: Thanks to an inadvertent mouse click and a temporary computer freeze, I drafted Rick Reed in the 17th round. My embarrassment knows no bounds.
Let the games begin!
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