A second opinion on fantasy baseball

Emily Killian wrote this week about her fantasy baseball woes. I share her frustrations with this season, but it's too soon to give up.

I used to be a really good fantasy baseball player -- until this year. My teams all fell apart. I'm in three leagues, a keeper league that's been going for years, a head-to-head league and another league. I'm currently fifth out of 10 in two leagues and eighth in my beloved keeper league.

The biggest disappointment is that keeper league. I had built up a great team until this year. I was the one who got Chase Utley (pictured above) from the free agent pool years ago, before he was a full-time starter. He's a particularly valuable fantasy player because he plays second base, where the talent pool isn't that strong. I was the one who knew David Wright was going to be a star. I was the one who knew Adam Dunn was worth it despite the poor batting average. I still have all those players.

But I'm also the idiot who insisted that Andruw Jones was due for a comeback year (he's on the DL). I'm also the idiot who knew Paul Konerko was going to have another great year (he's also on the DL). Both of them have a pitiful batting average and their power numbers have taken a dive. I'm also the one who chose to keep mainly offensive players (we only protect 10 players from year to year) and let my pitchers go.

The end result is a team with lots of power, no steals and no pitching. I've won this league twice in the past four or five years. This year I'm battling to stay out of the cellar. But I'll never give up. That's the good thing about fantasy baseball. If you're in sixth place, just set your new goal at fifth place and celebrate the small victories, kind of like the Atlanta Braves have to do.

Despite the frustrations, I'll never quit playing fantasy baseball. It's not as popular as fantasy football, but it's more fun and a lot more challenging. If this is Emily's first year, she should give it another try next year. You can't predict injuries and it takes a year or two to get a feel for it. I've also seen teams skyrocket from worst to first after the All-Star break. It's a marathon, not a sprint. And just like the Mets, there's always next year.

There's an industry springing up around fantasy sports. The hobby is also becoming more mainstream in nature, particularly NFL fantasy football.