Paul Oberjuerge header image 2

Year 29 (!) of the Sun Baseball League

March 29th, 2011 · 4 Comments · Abu Dhabi, Baseball, UAE

Yes, this is about fantasy baseball. Feel free to tune it out immediately.

I don’t write about any of this often. Fantasy ball is like fantasies of all sorts; probably we should keep them to ourselves.

But if you have the slightest interest in which players this 29-year-old league considers the most valuable … read on.

The top five in our draft tonight?

1. Albert Pujols

2. Robinson Cano

3. Hanley Ramirez

4. Evan Longoria

5. Troy Tulowitzki.

Interersting, in that all five are infielders, and a demonstration of an observation others have made that the concentration of big hitters in the outfield positions is a thing of the past. Only two outfielders went in our first round — Carlos Gonzalez at No. 6 and Ryan Braun at No. 12.

Here is the entire, 324-player draft … by 12 guys … covering both the American and National leagues, as input by Dennis Pope, one of the owners.

Some highlights:

1. First pitcher selected: Roy Halladay, No. 29, by the Bristow Barristers. Second pitcher taken? Next pick, Tim Lincecum, by the Godfathers.

2. First relief pitcher taken: Heath Bell, No. 38, by JP’s Whiteskins.

3. First Dodger taken: Matt Kemp, No. 19, by Patton’s Inmates.

4. First Angel taken: Kendrys Morales, No 28, the Madmen

5. Last big-league team to put a player in our league: Baltimore, with Mark Reynolds at 110.

6. Last National League team to put a player into our league: The Chicago Cubs, Aramis Ramirez, No. 78.

7. Team with the most players drafted from our 300: Boston Red Sox, with 14 — Adrian Gonzalez (9), Carl Crawford (11), Kevin Youkilis (21), Dustin Pedroia (26), Jon Lester (39), Jonathan Papelbon (67), Jacoby Ellsbury (89), David Ortiz (123), Clay Buchholz (124), Daniel Bard (158), Marco Scutaro (177), Josh Beckett (225), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (241), J.D. Drew (299).

That’s all eight of their position players, their DH, three-fifths of their starting rotation and two of their relievers.

8. My first two picks — Ryan Braun and Jose Bautista at No. 12-13 … the double pick for the guy picking last. No pressure guys, but my season hinges on you. I don’t need Bautista to hit 54 homers, like last year, but 35 would be nice.

It took us five hours to work through this. Nine members of the league were in a room in Chino Hills, California, one was on the other end of a phone in Texas, another on the phone from Seattle and me, live via Skype, from Abu Dhabi, the UAE.

(Question of the night: “Why are you there, again?”)

The draft began at 7 p.m. in California … which was 6 a.m. in the UAE. That’s my excuse, if my team goes south: I had only 2.5 hours of sleep.

Tags:

4 responses so far ↓

  • 1 hv // Mar 30, 2011 at 9:29 AM

    i have a feeling Braun will disappoint this year, hopefully for your sake I’ll be wrong

  • 2 Gil Hulse // Mar 30, 2011 at 10:41 AM

    Was it Gregg’s house? I remember the early ones at The Sun.

  • 3 Chuck Hickey // Mar 31, 2011 at 7:31 PM

    Those were great nights, the SBL draft. Put out the paper, retreat to the conference room for the draft until 6, 7 a.m. One of the best nights of the year at 399 N. D st.

  • 4 Badge // Apr 4, 2011 at 2:22 PM

    First time I pulled the No.1 pick!

    And Albert Pujols goes 0-for-5 with 3 GIDPs on opening day!

    I think I will wait at least a week before dumping him.

Leave a Comment