Fantasy Baseball Preview: 1-10

1. Albert Pujols, 1B - STL. Mr. Pujols wants to force teams to offer him $30 million per season, and he'll do it.

2. Miguel Cabrera, 1B - DET. Other than Albert, Miguel has been the write-it-down fantasy performer of the past seven seasons. Take him with confidence.

3. Hanley Ramirez, SS - FLA. Position eligibility doesn't make Hanley a top-3 pick. Hanley does. Take him off a "down" year (in which he was still the top shortstop) and expect him to play to his resume in his age-27 season.

4. Joey Votto, 1B - DET. National League MVP Joey's .324/37/113/16 in 2010 is enough to give him the edge over clear-cut top 2B Cano.

5. Robinson Cano, 2B - NYY. And the first Yankee taken is...Robbie Cano. Don't ya know, he's earned it. In 2009 Cano finally reached the lofty expectations that had been set for him by hitting .320/25/85. In 2010 he became a top-10 fantasy player with .319/29/109, and a repeat would make him a value buy in this slot.

6. Carlos Gonzalez, OF - COL. Carlos Gomez was CarGo for about 14 seconds. The top OF in fantasy, Carlos put together a .336/34/117/26 campaign in the year of the pitcher. What will he do for an encore? You'll need to use your mid-first round pick to find out.

7. Josh Hamilton, OF - TEX. The reigning AL MVP is the number two OF in fantasy not because of his .359/32/100 line in 2010, but because of the 29 games he missed. Hamilton's reckless, all-out style has gotten him nicked up here and there over the past few years making him slightly more risky. If Josh can play a full season, he might blow the roof off his ceiling.

8. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B - BOS. Ahh-dree-ahn has averaged 35 homers over the past three years with Petco as his home park. With the way he'd check into and out of pitcher's parks Dodger Stadium and PacBell, he practically invented Four Square. Finally out of the NL West and into the lush BoSox lineup and cozy ballparks of the AL East, Gonzalez should have a career year.

9. Carl Crawford, OF - BOS. Carl pulled off a rare feat this winter. He stayed in the same division and moved to a better lineup. This year, he'll be even more of a threat to your opponents in every offensive category.

10. Ryan Braun, OF - MIL. Since his incredible debut in 2007 (.324/34/97/15 in just 113 games), Ryan Braun has been one of fantasy's ten best. In the year of the pitcher (that's two mentions), Ryan had a career-low .304/25/103/14 and scored 105 runs. Look for more in 2011.

A Baseball Journey: Chapter II

At a secret location, a meeting. The heads of the five teams were all in attendance. Abercrombie and McKiernan, Clairol, Handyman Hardware, Palmer's Market and Springdale Shell. Baseball men. Men of action. Men who had built Springdale into one of the most talented and competitive Little Leagues in Connecticut.

It was 1989. The children of disco were coming of age. Soon, the signup forms would be far longer than the roster sheets, forcing the five teams (bound by the Little League spirit of inclusion) to reluctantly add a sixth. But these were competitive men. Men who had scouted, farmed and developed talent in town for years. Men with championship aspirations.

The 80's became the 90's and March finally arrived. Baseball tryouts. I was ten years old. A few kids made it to the "majors" at nine, but that wasn't me. This was my year. Fly balls in the outfield, can o' corn. Ground balls on the infield, no problem. My arm was my best tool, and I made them see it. I was really good in the field, and though I lacked speed, I didn't need much more than good reflexes at third base.

My only nervous moments came during hitting tryouts, as I was much more comfortable with my glove on than with a bat in my hand. The coaches were seated in folding chairs between first and second, clipboards and pens in hand. The left side of the field was open, and the commissioner of the league stood at the front of the mound. The tall man's easy toss was on me instantly and "crack!" a liner over second made one of the coaches duck. The next pitch came and "bang!" a whistling grounder to the right side got another coach out of his seat. Three or four more shots in their direction and all of the coaches were now on their feet and alert. Call it inexperience, call it late reaction time, but on that afternoon an opposite field hitter was born.

I was so happy. No whiffs in at least 8 pitches. Better than I had hoped. I had no idea that I should be hitting the ball to left field as a righthanded batter. All I knew is I hit the ball hard every time. All I knew is I was good.

Maybe I was too good. Shortly after the tryouts were finished, I was told that I was among the first 10 year-olds selected, and that I would be on the new team, George's Barbers. Child psychology is a beautiful thing, because at the time I was flattered to be among the first group taken. What I did not realize was that the expansion team I was on had been comprised entirely of players new to the league. This meant that while we did get some of the best 9 and 10 year-olds (and one 8 year-old prodigy) the 11 and 12 year-olds on our team would be skateboard kids who just randomly decided (or were forced) to take up baseball, or kids who just moved to the neighborhood. And Kelly Leak did not move into the neighborhood.

A Baseball Journey: Chapter I

Old Yankee Stadium. Ok, not that old. Middle Yankee Stadium. Freakin' Yankee Stadium. Ahem. Yankee Stadium. Bottom 9th, Yanks down 5-4, 1 out and 1 on. Bob Sheppard: "Pinch hitting, Number Thirty-Three, Gary Ward. Number Thirty-Three."

"He's gonna do it," a boy said out loud. "This guy? He's a bum," his father replied. "No, he's gonna do it. He's gonna do it," the boy insisted. Other than when bedtime was, this was the first time the boy had dared disagree with his father, putting the old man's perfect record of being right on the line.

Bang! Ward's powerful swing sent the ball high, deep and into the Right Field bleachers. Already on his feet, the boy leapt in the air and delivered a Shou RyuKen Uppercut right to his mother's nose. Sheer joy instantly turned to panic, as the boy had really put something into the triumphant fist pump. Tempered excitement was soon restored (the woman had a fantastic chin) and The Chairman walked the boy out.

That was July 31st, 1987. I was seven years old.

I quickly reasoned that I was so overjoyed when Ward came through (enough to knock my own mother's block off) not because the Yankees won, but because it was Ward that came through. First, my dad was wrong. This opened up a world of possibilities, though I did give plenty of weight to this being a matter of chance, and he was still flawless in matters of fact. Second, I was right. In my first such leap of faith, I had hit paydirt.

I was a Mets fan. Not only a Mets fan, but a Mets fan raised to hate the Yankees. Maybe it was being at the game in person (I had watched the Buckner play just ten months earlier) maybe I got caught up in "The Wave," or maybe I just liked the matchup. In reality, it was baseball's anthem still ringing in my head from two innings earlier. "Root, root, root for the home team. If they don't win, it's a shame." Right? I mean, what did I owe Detroit? They weren't playing the Mets, so why not? At that moment, it made sense. And I latched on to Gary Ward, and he to me forever. That was the night I became a baseball fan.

RomoBall's Family Ties: Share Your Captions!

Cal Ripken and Steve Wilkos
Baseball and TV's Iron Men

Scott Rolen and Mark Wahlberg
"I'm the guy who does his job- you must be the other guy."


David Ortiz and Esther Rolle
Good times...


Ramon Castro and Bill Nunn
"Two minutes to deadline, Jonah!"

Brandon Dubinsky and Freddie Prinze, Jr.
I still don't know what you did last offseason...


Phil Ivey and Tiger Woods
WSOP with that?

Stan Van Gundy and Ron Jeremy
Magic Time


Kyle Korver and Ashton Kutcher
Punk's


Andy Roddick and Seann William Scott
Stifler/Roddick


Mike Tomlin and Omar Epps
Don't Be a Menace to the AFC Central while starring in Juice and The Wood


Jim Fassel and Robin Williams
Insomnia

Andrew Bynum and Tracy Morgan
Pass the 30 Rock


Vlade Divac, Yasir Arafat and Ringo Starr
"I hate Thanksgiving. Can we go out for Chinese this year?

Hiccups and Pickups: Week 8

FALLING DOWN

Felix Jones. Jon Kitna went as Tony Romo for Halloween. He dropped back 45+ times, threw for 375+ yards, turned it over more than three times, and lost at home. He's sure to be good pill hunting today after his first start in two years, but the loss is not his fault. Two of his picks were on drops, and he never should've been asked to do that much, which brings us to Jones. The Cowboys' are a throw-first offense and can't stop anyone on defense, making Felix a non-factor by halftime most weeks. He has no touchdowns on the year and has only hit double-digit fantasy points twice. Treat this week's loss vs. the Jaguars as a bellwether game and conclude that if Dallas goes down big early at home to Jacksonville, that's just who they are.

Randy Moss. In an unprecedented move, the Minnesota Vikings have hired special assistant Dr. Emmett Lathrop "Doc" Brown to help with the passing game. Unconfirmed sources are reporting that he and Brett Favre are working on something "big." Brown's $10 million dollar fee may seem high, but you can't put a price on 2-5 and a share of last place. Moss quitting on a ball after a pass interference call and his lengthy embrace with Bill Belichick, coupled with the trainer having to re-attach Favre's head was a series of smacks to the face for team owner Zygi Wilf, whose Vikings' record (and personal finances) would be better without Favre and Moss this year.

Chad Ochocinco. When the sum of your name changes and television shows is greater than your touchdowns, it's time to drop yourself from your own fantasy team. Chad, if you're reading, Steve Johnson may still be available.

Ronnie Brown. Remember when the Dolphins were so savvy and took Ronnie Brown instead of Cadillac Williams? They were right, but not by much. Brown has been the more productive of the two, but both have been disappointing at the pro level and are again this year. To Miami's credit, 2005 was loaded with first-round busts, semi-busts and wastes-of-time (Alex Smith, Adam Jones, Cadillac, Troy Williamson, Mike Williams, Shawne Merriman, Braylon Edwards) and at least Ronnie is still wearing teal.

MERCURY RISING

Matthew Stafford. Stafford-to-Johnson was a peach of a connection on Sunday, as the best QB in UGA history hit the best wideout in Georgia Tech history for 101 yards and three scores. Matthew threw another to Pettigrew, and threw himself into the mix of quarterbacks to consider for bye Weeks 9 and 10.

Michael Crabtree. Crabtree heads into the bye a wideout with breakout potential in the second half. Mike has had three fantasy games in his last four, the 49ers may be without Vernon Davis, and their schedule is favorable the rest of the way.

LeGarrette Blount. LeGarrette Blount will be LeMost added fantasy player this week, and he's definitely worth a shot as the lead ballcarrier in Tampa Bay. 120 yards and two TDs on 22 carries looks slightly better than it is, (nearly half his points came on a 48-yard run late in the game), but it's more than enough to trade in the Cadillac for him.

Mike Sims-Walker. Welcome to Jacksonville, home of the hyphen and the most-frustrating players in fantasy. While Jones-Drew owners are still waiting for that monster game (or two?), many Sims-Walker owners had already bailed before his Week 8 breakout. Currently owned in 65% of Yahoo! leagues, Mike caught 8 for 153 and a score in Dallas and has shown he can get it going with Garrard.

Keiland Williams. Washington running backs have been going down faster than a lead zeppelin. Okay. That should cure them, right? Curse, go out from this place! There you go. Now grab Keiland Williams.