I started playing fantasy baseball and football in 1993 with a company called SportsBuff.
In the beginning I made the rookie mistake of choosing my favorite players regardless of how good they were. I also made the mistake of choosing pitchers who only had one start a week.
However, for the last four years, I have tracked player performances and compiled a list that gives me a good idea of how many points to expect from that player each week.
So at this time Baltimore Oriole pitcher Erik Bedard is beating out New York Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez for the top spot with 31. 33 fantasy points earned per week.
A Rod is a close second with an average of 30.34 earned.
His teammate Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte is third with an average of 29.38.
Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz is next with 28.11, followed by St.Louis Cardinal first baseman Albert Pujols in fifth with 27.5.
Seattle Mariner closer J.J. Putz leaped into sixth place with an average total of 27.1 fantasy points earned per week selected.
Chicago Cub Alfonso Soriano is seventh with 26.59 and Milwaukee Brewer Prince Fielder debuts on my fantasy list in eighth place with 26.25 fantasy points earned per week selected.
Yankee closer Mariano Rivera is in ninth place with an average of 26.05 fantasy points earned.
Rounding out my top-10 is Cubs starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano with an average total of 26.05 fantasy points.
No second baseman, shortstop or catcher is listed in my top-10.
This year my top ranking second baseman is Braves rookie Kelly Johns with an average of 19.77.
Top ranking shortstop is Detroit Tiger Carlos Guillen with a 22.1 average.
In the catcher spot is Braves All-Star Brian McCann edging out Tigers' All Star Ivan Rodriguez by .07 of a point. McCann averaged 18.53 points while I Rod averaged 18.46 points.
Now we are missing two outfielders to make a team.
New home run king Barry Bonds ranks 16th on my list and is second to Soriano among outfielders with 24.32 point average. In 2007 Bonds' average was just over 20 fantasy points.
Tigers outfielder Gary Sheffield ranked 18th on my overall lost and third among outfielders with an average of 23.77.
On the football side of things, is QB Daunte Culpepper with a 21.9 fantasy average. It is doubtful Culpepper will see much playing time.
Second is Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers with 21.29.
Third is Super Bowl Champion QB Peyton Manning of the Colts with an average of 21.23 fantasy points.
Former Oklahoma Sooner running back Adrian Peterson is fourth as after two NFL games with the Minnesota Vikings, he is averaging 20.5 fantasy points.
In fifth is Washington Redskin running back Clinton Portis wth an average of 20.4 fantasy points.
Next is Eagle's running back Brian Westbrook with 20.26 fantasy points earned per game selected.
San Diego Chargers RB Ladainian Tomlinson is next with 19.81 average followed by Rams wide receiver Tory Holt with 1954 and finally Frank Gore of the San Francisco 49ers with an average 19.26.
Adam Vinitari is my top ranked kicker with an average of 10.2 and Minnesota is the top rating defense averaging 11 fantasy points.
It was a long wait, a 1,436 day wait to be exact but it was worth it.
That is how long it took former Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Royals infielder Keith Lockhart to return my TTM autograph request.
