Fantasy baseball > Fantasy football

My fantasy-football brethren are going to howl at this, but I believe that fantasy baseball is a superior game. There are more games in a season. Improving your team via waivers is more challenging and fun. Stat categories are uniform. NBL rosters may be larger than MLB rosters, but more players are selected on the average fantasy baseball team. More is better.

One thing that makes fantasy baseball a more ‘beautiful’ game is that every player has the same value. Lots of fantasy-football leagues devalue a quarterback’s touchdowns because it’s not fair. Tight ends, since they catch so few passes, get extra credit, so to speak, to increase their relative value. Can you imagine giving an outfielder credit for .8 of a home run just because catchers generally hit fewer of them? There’s no differentiating pitchers either. You don’t get credit for 1.2 Ks when your Devil Rays pitcher gets a strikeout, although you probably should.
Most fantasy-football leagues are made for cowards. Instead of playing individual defensive players (IDPs), you get a ‘team’ defense. Do you see many fantasy baseball leagues with ‘team’ pitching staffs? Casual fans pick pitchers as well as hitters, even though most of them can’t tell you who’s the closer for the Nationals (Chad Cordero). More players = more fun = more chances to outsmart (our outluck) your opponent.

Baseball is a stat-centric sport, and fantasy sports are all about the stats. Many players in the NFL don’t have these measureables. Plus, no one wants to get that granular when creating an NFL fantasy team. You get points for yardage, carries for a running back and catches for a receiver, touchdowns, and you’re penalized for fumbles and/or interceptions. That’s about it. In baseball, you have the simple categories (batting average, runs, runs batted in, home runs, stolen bases) and the more exotic (on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and the triple-scoop hot-fudge sundae stat, on-base+slugging percentage). With pitchers you can deal with earned-run average, innings pitched, wins, losses, walks, and strikeouts. More advanced fantasy players use the ever-popular walks + strikeouts divided by innings pitched (WHIP) category. More stats = more numbers = greater advantage over owners who can’t balance their checkbook.

There are greater offensive options in fantasy baseball. There are six positions (catcher, first base, second base, shortstop, third base, outfielder). Generally you get eight starters (three outfielders, just like in real life) plus the utility category. In football there are ‘flex’ positions, but those are limited. For example, you can’t have a quarterback as a flex player. Why? Because quarterbacks are pretty boys who get the money, the girls, and the stats. In baseball, they’re all just hitters.

The length of the baseball season and the frequency of games makes fantasy baseball more challenging and fun. With football it’s all about the weekend games. Sure, it’s easier on the casual fan, but if your ‘stud’ player has a bad week you have to stew on it for an entire week. This also means that waivers is a once-a-week process. In baseball it’s continuous. Managers have to change their lineup every day and so do you. Football’s a four-month proposition while baseball goes from April to October. Remember, more games = more fun = more opportunities to get your ‘rivals’ to yell Uncle.

Now that I’ve made my point, I will add one footnote. Football is the better game. I’ll go to see my Tennessee Titans six times a year but I probably will see two or three games of my current home Atlanta Braves. I’ll watch my favorite baseball team the Chicago White Sox (explanation of my favorite teams pending) less than that. I will check my fantasy team, the Buckhead Green Sox, at least twice a day. I have to defend my league title.