Fantasy Baseball history

 

Passion for fantasy baseball came today from a group of men who grew up playing baseball board games, namely the APBA (American Professional Baseball Association) and Strat-O-Matic. APBA, invented by Dick Seitz in 1951, was the first baseball board games to base its findings on the Statistics of actual major league players. Strat-O-Matic, invented by Hal Richman, followed with his new games in 1963 and a new phenomenon was born. If you grew up in the 60 's or 70, played you without a doubt one of those baseball board games. (I still have a number of Strat-O-Matic game map from the first season of my brethren began to play in 1966).

The day the card arrived,  usually  in February, was the biggest day of the year. While we all had our orders, we would rush to whomever was the luckiest to get cards first. Then we would help him separate cards (they came in a large sheet of nine cards linked to each other as I remember) and place them on the right team.

The game was with results based on the roll of the dice, statistically very accurate. However, there was a major problem with APBA and Strat-O-Matic: do we replay last season or use last season statistics to replay this season? Some guys (this is how I did it) would get the new card and immediately make the subjects which were done through the Hot Stove League other replayed the previous season.

Rudimentary game played with cards and dice is boring by today's video standards. APBA and Strat-O-Matic is moved to a computer-based games in the 1990s, but it was still basic card game will be played via a computerised dice roll. Stacked up against graphics MLB 2008, I could not see today's video generation to get in a baseball board games for a very long time.

No doubt, however, that it was a love for baseball statistics learned of many young men from player APBA and Strat-O-Matic, fantasy baseball such an instant hit. And a 1981 baseball strike, left the original leaders, who were all journalists, scrambling for something to write about.

Daniel Okrent, of The New York Times, is credited with the creation of concept for fantasy baseball in 1980. There seems to be considerable evidence that Okrent invented the game as opposed to Abner Doubleday's claims, there is a clean explanation. Back then it was called Rotisserie Baseball because the origins of the game began at La Francoise Rotisserie a restaurant in New York City where the original fantasy baseball leaders met.

A little known fantasy baseball is to beat the idea of Okrent had to organize the first ever league week before to a group of friends on another restaurant called "Pit." Okrents original group does not, however, was interested. It is good, or we would play PitBall today. Does not sound as Nice, makes it?

Okrent was born in 1948, and was graduated from the University of Michigan. Okrent began the tradition of naming the team for the Manager's name. Okrents original team was Okrent Fenokees. Recently succeeded him Dan Druffs.

Several other leaders from the original Rotisserie League moved to become very famous journalists. Glenn Waggoner is the Publisher of ESPN The Magazine. Rob Fleder and then leader of Fleder mouse is Executive Editor of Sports Illustrated. Valerie Salerbien is Deputy Director for Esquire magazine.

Statistics from the Fantasy Sports Trade Association shows that 16 million people play fantasy sports in the United States. Fantasy football is the largest part of the fantasy circle with an estimated 10 million players. Fantasy baseball managers use on average three hours per week managing their teams. They invest $ 175 per year on fantasy sports for software, research, magazines and league prize money. This makes fantasy sport a $ 1.5 billion industry.

Back in the days when the pastime was known as Rotisserie Baseball, it was not quite so easy to run a League. Statistics were not so easy to get and league standings had to be kept in the hand. United States Today is credited with makes it much easier to be a Rotisserie manager through its comprehensive and easy to read box scores and statistics.

Today, CBS Sports line, Yahoo and ESPN do run a fantasy baseball team and league. The three units pay Major League Baseball Advanced Media $ 2 million per year for rights to use the player statistics, images and logos on their sites. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, which collects licensing payments on behalf of the MLB Players ' Association, works now with only seven licensees to fantasy baseball, in contrast to 19 as late as in 2004.

Fantasy baseball today is everywhere and shows no signs of decline. Heck, even if you see the movie in Knocked Up, you see a reference to fantasy baseball.

"Hey, I got Matsui. I got Matsui. "