Fantasy baseball

Despite the odds (my lack of interest in college basketball whatsoever), I was declared the champion of this year's NCAA tournament in our friends' pool. Dan came in 9 out of 10. It was a very exciting day!

To every one's dismay, fantasy baseball season started on Monday. It's not something that I like to talk about, but fantasy baseball season is a malaise that occurs in my household every year. It is the worst because it lasts six months of the year, and for the duration of this season, Dan compulsively, frantically watches charts and graphs on his computer while pulling on his hair for hours every night. The numbers on these graphs and charts indicate things such as home runs and hits other baseball things, along with information about how his numbers compare to those of his friends who are competing against him. Dan's mood for the evening changes as these numbers change. Think the highs and lows of a manic depressive.

While I do not play, I imagine that given that the season is six months, it is not necessary to watch every second of every game and that the numbers fluctuate over time and there is no need to freak out on any given day. Its kind of like the stock market: some days are good, some days are bad. Watching it daily does no good. Judging from actions, Dan doesn't share my view. There is a need for celebration or panic on a daily basis, sometimes both.

I do not like baseball and graphs of numbers do not interest me much, yet Dan feels compelled to update me on the status of these numbers and his mood frequently. We call it the "Fantasy Minute" meaning he has one minute to tell me everything, but it usually ends up being "Fantasy 10-minutes" if you combine all the updates. I don't pay attention to what he says but he likes to tell me anyway.

During this season, we also end up watching way too many Yankee games on television. Dan came to New York a Mets fan but since the Mets aren't involved in his fantasy baseball league, we are forced to watch the Yankees. Dan would tell you that I have it good, that he doesn't watch sports as much as other guys out there, but considering that I watched zero sports before meeting Dan, this increase in my schedule is not a welcome change. And given that we live in a tiny one-bedroom apartment, there's nowhere to go when the game is on. Even in the bedroom, I can hear that annoying "sports on TV noise" through the walls.

Despite my aversion to baseball, I do have a favorite baseball player named Hideki Matsui who plays for the Yankees. I got into Hideki because when I worked at the advertising agency a few years ago, one of our sales reps took us out to a Yankees game. This was my first baseball game ever and we had pretty good seats in left field, which a great vantage of Hideki. I got excited and called his name and tried to get his attention. The sales rep was so impressed by my interest that he bought me a Matsui t-shirt.

Hideki has been on Dan's fantasy team for the last few years which made fantasy season and watching Yankee games a tad more bearable for me, but for some horrible reason, Dan did not recruit Hideki for his team this year which means that fantasy baseball has no reason for existence.

But it does exist. Every year. Six months. Every day. The things you put up with for true love.