The 500 Win Challenge: Week 1 Update

Sunday concludes week 1 of my August Challenge. It’s been a very good week, with some slight concern developing over the weekend. My teams were on fire out of the gate. I had 4 amazing days that really kick started me. Friday and Saturday though, that dreaded word “variance” began to peak it’s little head. There hasn’t been a true landslide night yet, where I’ve won all my games, and honestly, I doubt that ever comes. I’ve also been able to avoid nights where I’ve lost all my games. I’ve had some nights where I’ve hit 80%, and 80% does great wonders to the win totals; I’ve also had nights (2) where I hit 35-40% which does very little to my bankroll and confidence moving forward. Unfortunately, those two nights came back to back and lead us to me sitting here writing this. On Sunday, I’m going for a huge conclusion to a poor weekend, but a GREAT week! To sum up my week one results, through Saturday, let’s look at some totals:

The Breakdown

Leagues Entered: 393
Leagues Won: 217 (55.2%)
Leagues Cashed: 240 (61%)
Avg Entry-Fee: $9.22
Avg Players: 3.07
Gross Earnings: $4318.59

I love those numbers. After tomorrow, I will have already played more games than all of last month combined and probably more than you’ll play all of this month. Only one word describes the past week: Insane. It’s been such a sick week that I’ve given great though to starting the Insanity workout program. I figured if they name a work out program after me, the least I can do is give it a shot. Anyhow, This is probably the last week that my numbers will look that good so I’m going to brag while I have the opportunity. I should have posted after Thursday nights games when my numbers were super sick. Nothing really matters unless you profit and this week I’ve (almost) done nothing but that. I have no clue how much I’m up for the month, but it’s a fortune for a low stakes grinder like myself. Heading into Sunday, let’s take a look at my preliminary line-up; a line-up that will hopefully take me over the 250 win mark and halfway to my goal. If you happen to be one of my many opponents, reading my actual line-up for today is fine, just don’t use it against me! (TIES DONT COUNT AS WINS AND YOU LOSE THE JUICE IF YOU TIE SO YOU LOSE MONEY TOO!!!) I kindly ask that you assemble a slightly different team and let the best man win. There are no promises this is my final team, but with it being a Saturday night and me loving to sleep in, who knows how much maneuvering I’ll do on Sunday. With that being said, let’s look at the line-up that will, hopefully, carry me halfway:

Position – Name – Salary

C Joe Mauer (MIN-C) $5,235

Mauer is slowly creaping towards .300 on the season. On Sunday I want a catcher I know will play, and he fits that bill.

1B Michael Morse (WAS-1B) $6,883

Morse has been fairly consistent and swinging the wood well recently. He’s facing some guy who is cooking up the recipe for A BIG DAY out of Morse and Zimmerman!!!

2B Ian Kinsler (TEX-2B) $6,330

Get on Kinsler now! His price is quickly rising as he’s now over 6k. I had him on Saturday, which was frustrating until his insane run to throw together points at the end of the game. At home against a weak pitcher, in a potent line-up = success at second base.

3B Ryan Zimmerman (WAS-3B) $7,098

Zimmerman is a Morse clone on Sunday. These guys should tag team for big things against the Chef himself.

SS Tsuyoshi Nishioka (MIN-SS) $1,733

How cool is it to have Yoshi on your team? It’s awesome, that’s what it is. At a cheaper price than Dunn, Yoshi fills a void (where I didn’t want to spend 9k at) as well as gives the opportunity to spend money elsewhere. Let’s just not go negative Yoshi!!! Be optimistic for us!

OF Nelson Cruz (TEX-OF) $7,176

My outfield is a bit of a gamble on Sunday. I have 3, .270 type hitters who should hit 30HR and are facing match-ups that may let them get, not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, not 6, not 7, home-runs on Sunday. For reference, see the guy that gives me my motivation!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT-I8jQDQ7c

OF Mike Stanton (FLA-OF) $6,210

Stanton fits the same bill as Cruz but with less of an offensively gifted team backing him. He does get left-handed slinging Jamie Garcia at home though. Jamie struggles on the road, and Stanton hits lefties well.

OF Jay Bruce (CIN-OF) $6,505

The Bruceman is back and ready to spring into action! Facing Randy Wells at Wrigly is a gift on Sunday. I don’t want to pay 9.7k for Votto so I’ll take his powerful, and overly aggressive, cousin.

U Travis Hafner (CLE-DH) $6,656

The runs should be plentiful in Texas on Sunday. I’ll take Travis Hafner for now, but at the discretion of knowing he may not even play. Unfortunately, I won’t even know that before the games start tomorrow, given the night game, but I’ll pencil him in now and make my decision if I’m awake and functioning before the start of games tomorrow. Look for Carlos Quentin if you’re feeling like taking the safe route!

U Miguel Cabrera (DET-1B) $7,103

Miggy is the Sprizouse Sports MASTERLOCK of the Day! He’s fallen to 7k and starting to feel slightly disrespected on DS. If you take this disrespect and couple it with a Chen and a bottle of scotch, you get my most confident pick of the day. DISCLOSURE A day game after a heavy night of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlRPkzicFr0 = Use at your own risk!

Pitchers

You don’t even have to pay for pitching on Sunday to build a pretty elite squad, but the pitching pool is so deep, I feel like going 3SP is a must. With my pitching, my general rule, developed over the course of the season, has been to not spend over 40k but spend at least 30k. Sometimes I break that rule, but for the most part, I find this rule to be pretty solid in building a consistent team. With pitching being so deep on Sunday, I’m knocking right on the door of 40k. Sunday I almost feel like you can go a lot of different directions with your SP.

A) You can start 2 elites (kershaw/lincy for example) and 2RP.

B) You can start 3 mid range type guys

C) You can go with 1 elite (say lince), 1 middle of the pack guy (say Latos) and 1 cheap guy (say Cahill).

I love Cahill at that price but being on the road and looking horrendous at times (cough his last start cough), I’ve decided to go with option B.

Position – Name – Salary

SP Mat Latos (SD-SP) $11,695

Latos should K a ton on Sunday, something I always look for in a starting pitcher. He’s on the road, which is a bit of a negative, but he’s facing the Pirates which negates that negative (sorry Deez). He’s facing a pitcher that should get smacked a round a bit, which helps his odds for a W, and he can easily live up to 11.7k of value.

SP David Price (TB-SP) $11,850

Price looks and is elite at times. This year he’s faced some times where he’s struggled, and others where he’s looked like the David Price that’s gonna take Sprizouse Sports to the top. On Sunday, It’s the Sprizouse Sports Price taking the mound, at a very reasonable price. For just under 12k, I’m getting an ace at home against a less than mediocre Athletics team.

RP Kyle Farnsworth (TB-RP) $1,717

Tag teaming saves with starting pitching is the number one way to say F u to your opponent. I usually won’t take this approach as my norm, but when a cheap RP is paired with a great starter, facing a decent opposing pitcher, the formula leads to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mt0_0k40t4&feature=related

WHO WANT’S TO FIGHT MY GUYS??? Exactly, moving on.

P Felix Hernandez (SEA-SP) $13,768

Last but not least, to have a big Sunday, one must have The King. For under 14k, I’m getting one of the leagues best pitchers. He’s facing an extremely hot Ervin Santana. The King hasn’t looked quite as comfortable away from the Kings Court this year, but he’ll most certainly want to show up good ol’ Erv.

Two starting pitchers pitching on the road, coupled with a pair of home slinging guns on the same team gives us a fighting chance on Sunday. Add to that an offense that doesn’t stand out as being AMAZING and I think I have a real shot for a big day. On Saturday, I thought my team was unbelievably good. My offense was stacked, and my confidence was high. As is usual when this happens, I was let down. I saw the movie Crazy Stupid Love with my girl friend, and upon leaving the theater at 10, I was crazy and stupid, but lacking some much needed love (just kidding honey). Upon getting home, I quickly turned the games on (don’t worry, my girl friend was practically asleep already), loaded up my teams and sat down to root for a miracle finish. I sort of got that (just ask Frog) as I somehow managed to edge past him in the Late Night Charity Game with a miracle Asdrubel Cabrera single and pointless ninth inning Dan Uggla Home-run. This super crazy span of luck let me claim my second championship in the event. I also managed to get a great ending from Ian Kinsler, and just enough from the other guys to edge by a good portion of my opponents and salvage what could have been a disastrous day. Looking ahead to tomorrow, I’m extremely excited. I doubt I get the volume of games I would like, given the early starts and all, but that just puts my team in the position to HAVE to deliver a big day to end the week on a high note!

Good luck!

-Sprizouse