One of the reasons I started playing Fantasy/Rotisserie Baseball back in 1989 was to try to extricate myself from the dysfunctional relationship that is being a fan of a professional sports team.

Most kids become fans of a team because someone in their family was a fan (father, uncle, brother, etc.) – that didn’t happen with me, I started playing baseball with friends and that sparked my interest in the game, but how I decided what team to root for was completely arbitrary.
Back in 1972/1973 American League umpires were still using the large outside chest protectors, their National League counterparts were using the now standard inside the shirt protectors, I thought the American League outside protector looked silly, and because of that trivial reason I became a Mets fan instead of a Yankees fan, little did I know at the time that this decision would lead to countless years of torture!!

I know many of you will disagree with me, but even at an early age I realized the idea of having your emotions controlled by a group of strangers that you didn’t personally know was at best strange and at worst psychologically harmful. This one sided relationship, even as a 12 year old made no sense to me – the lack of control, the horrible feeling after a loss, the caring and rooting for people that would never reciprocate your affection, the feeling of being manipulated by 25 puppet masters dressed in blue pinstripes.
I could go on and on, but the most vivid example I can remember is when Tom Seaver was traded to the Reds in 1977, I was heartbroken, did anyone from the Mets organization ask me for my opinion? Did anyone call to console me? NOPE – and that’s my point, as a fan of any professional team, you have ZERO control or input over the decisions that are made, yes, you can say you will stop watching the team, you can say you’ll stop buying tickets, but really, how many fans actually carry out those threats, few do, once hooked, many are hooked for life.
Fast forward to 1988. The Mets loose in the NLCS to a clearly inferior LA Dodgers team, this was the tipping point for me, I was desperately looking for a way out of being a Mets fan.
Around this time I was introduced to a game called Rotisserie Baseball (now more commonly referred to as Fantasy Baseball) – I quickly saw the appeal of the game and its potential to allow me to walk away from the dependency of being a Mets fan. I started two Rottiserie baseball leagues in 1989 and have never looked back. Fantasy baseball allowed me to root for MY guys, the players I purchased on auction day, it gave me control, if my players had lousy seasons, that was OK since I chose them instead of having them chosen for me. Furthermore, Fantasy Baseball broadened my knowledge and appreciation for all the players, it allowed me to become a BASEBALL fan, not just a fan of one team.
My exorcism from the Mets didn’t happen overnight, but by 1991, I really couldn’t care less what the Mets did.
I understand the difficulty in severing relationships and I respect anyone who has retained the traditional fan/team symbiosis that probably started as a young boy/girl, but for me that fanaticism never felt quite right and I was thankful to find a way out.
That back story allows me to segue into my next auction/simulation project – back when I was still a Mets fan, I would say my favorite two seasons were 1985 and 1986. In that 1980’s era, Dwight Gooden was my favorite player and in 1985 he crafted one of the best seasons in MLB history going 24-4 with a 1.53 ERA and 268 Ks. That great performance brought joy but was negated by the fact that the Mets, despite winning 98 games would not make the playoffs, thanks to the St.Louis Cardinals winning 101 games.
I wanted to see how Doc Gooden would perform in one of my simulations, now I just needed another team. I wanted the team to be from a similar era and preferably for it to have an ace pitcher of Gooden’s ilk, fortunately I did not have to look far to find Ron Guidry and the 1978 Yankees. In this particular auction we also added a 3rd team, for two reasons:
- APBA did not grade every player for the 1985 season
- We were using the DH for both teams
So to have sufficient pitchers and bench players, we added the 1978 Mariners, they were chosen because they were the worst team in the American League that year, we wanted to ensure we were not creating all star teams, hence the selection of the Mariners as the third team (the 3rd team could have also been the Pittsburgh Pirates – the worst team in the National League in 1985).
I never approach any of my auctions with a “gotta have that player” mentality, be it Fantasy Baseball or these Sim Auctions, but there are plenty of players I target if the price is right. I was fortunate to acquire Gooden early on in the auction, similar to the the 1968 Tigers/Cardinals auction, I contemplated the idea of having two aces on my team, but again my opponent thwarted my plans by overbidding me for Guidry ($34) a few rounds later.
With Gooden secured I switched to targeting hitting and was able to acquire the best 1st Baseman and Catcher (Keith Hernandez & Gary Carter) and also acquired a very underrated Leon Roberts (.879 OPS) as one of my outfielders for $13.
My opponent secured a nice foundation for his team by acquiring Reggie Jackson at $25 and Darryl Strawberry at $23, he also fortified his bullpen by adding Jesse Orosco and Rich Gossage. Additionally, three solid SPs were added in Dick Tidrow, Sid Fernandez, and Catfish Hunter, but a weak link was also added in Rick Honeycutt.
On my team I was able to add Ed Figueroa and Ed Lynch, in addition, although I was forced to overpay for him ($25), I was fortunate to add Ron Darling at a point in the auction when the pitching talent was evaporating.
I was able to round out my hitting with Greg Nettles at $18 and Willie Randolph at $13, my opponent made two good acquisitions in Chris Chambliss at $10 and Thurman Munson at $12.
My team had a slight edge in hitting (my purchased players had a .718 OPS compared to my opponents .679) – but the real difference maker between the two teams was the pitching, the Bronx Mets tallied a 2.98 ERA compared to the 4.74 ERA delivered by pitchers from the Queens Yankees.
MVP- The award goes to Gary Carter – he led the league in Home Runs, RBIs and OPS. Keith Hernandez was a very close second, but Carter’s impressive 48 Home Runs put him over the top!
CY YOUNG – The undisputed star of the show was Dwight Gooden going an incredible 33-4 coupled with a 1.37 ERA, even better than his real life 1.53 mark. Due to his dominance, Doc was able to pitch 316 innings and narrowly missed 300 K’s ending his remarkable season with 298 Ks.
Below are the final standings and statistics:
Year | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Away |
1978-1985 | Bronx Mets | 108 | 54 | 0.67 | – | 54-27 | 54-27 |
1978-1985 | Queens Yankees | 54 | 108 | 0.33 | 54 | 27-54 | 27-54 |
Players | Tm | AVG | AB | R | 2B | 3B | HR | TB | RBI | BB | SB |
CARTER, G. | Bronx Mets | 0.299 | 592 | 103 | 18 | 0 | 48 | 339 | 136 | 69 | 5 |
HERNANDEZ, K. | Bronx Mets | 0.347 | 666 | 118 | 31 | 3 | 26 | 346 | 131 | 65 | 2 |
FOSTER, G. | Bronx Mets | 0.247 | 477 | 61 | 22 | 2 | 25 | 219 | 67 | 38 | 0 |
ROBERTS, L. | Bronx Mets | 0.299 | 492 | 66 | 22 | 5 | 25 | 254 | 88 | 49 | 1 |
JACKSON, R. | Queens Yankees | 0.193 | 539 | 71 | 11 | 2 | 25 | 194 | 67 | 54 | 1 |
STRAWBERRY, D. | Queens Yankees | 0.262 | 404 | 63 | 22 | 4 | 21 | 199 | 61 | 62 | 8 |
NETTLES, G. | Bronx Mets | 0.234 | 624 | 77 | 29 | 2 | 18 | 233 | 76 | 51 | 1 |
RIVERS, M. | Queens Yankees | 0.239 | 519 | 56 | 19 | 6 | 15 | 200 | 56 | 21 | 33 |
BOCHTE, B. | Bronx Mets | 0.248 | 282 | 41 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 122 | 34 | 37 | 1 |
CHAMBLISS, C. | Queens Yankees | 0.259 | 580 | 55 | 28 | 3 | 12 | 220 | 51 | 35 | 1 |
HEEP, D. | Bronx Mets | 0.259 | 266 | 33 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 102 | 41 | 25 | 2 |
WILSON, M. | Queens Yankees | 0.222 | 365 | 51 | 23 | 8 | 8 | 144 | 33 | 34 | 8 |
PINIELLA, L. | Bronx Mets | 0.256 | 500 | 53 | 32 | 1 | 8 | 186 | 48 | 30 | 0 |
PACIOREK, T. | Bronx Mets | 0.239 | 297 | 37 | 27 | 1 | 6 | 118 | 35 | 20 | 0 |
STINSON, B. | Bronx Mets | 0.315 | 54 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 33 | 9 | 8 | 1 |
JOHNSON, H. | Queens Yankees | 0.211 | 403 | 34 | 19 | 1 | 5 | 121 | 41 | 38 | 0 |
MUNSON, T. | Queens Yankees | 0.241 | 580 | 41 | 28 | 1 | 5 | 185 | 53 | 21 | 0 |
REYNOLDS, C. | Bronx Mets | 0.296 | 575 | 76 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 214 | 60 | 37 | 7 |
DENT, B. | Queens Yankees | 0.170 | 393 | 22 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 87 | 25 | 24 | 1 |
PLUMMER, B. | Queens Yankees | 0.174 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
WHITE, R. | Bronx Mets | 0.289 | 90 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 37 | 8 | 6 | 3 |
CRUZ, J. | Bronx Mets | 0.262 | 107 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 35 | 17 | 11 | 10 |
SPENCER, J. | Queens Yankees | 0.196 | 46 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
BLAIR, P. | Bronx Mets | 0.056 | 54 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
BACKMAN, W. | Queens Yankees | 0.206 | 554 | 38 | 21 | 9 | 1 | 156 | 49 | 22 | 13 |
BURKE, S. | Bronx Mets | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
LINDBLAD, P. | Bronx Mets | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
LYNCH, E. | Bronx Mets | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
MILBOURNE, L. | Bronx Mets | 0.333 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
KNIGHT, R. | Bronx Mets | 0.400 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
SANTANA, R. | Bronx Mets | 0.200 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
MEYER, D. | Bronx Mets | 0.273 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
ROBERTSON, B. | Queens Yankees | 0.200 | 40 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
BOWA, L. | Queens Yankees | 0.229 | 48 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
HURDLE, C. | Queens Yankees | 0.125 | 56 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
STAUB, R. | Queens Yankees | 0.327 | 49 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 12 | 0 |
STANLEY, F. | Queens Yankees | 0.223 | 130 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 17 | 20 | 0 |
DYKSTRA, L. | Queens Yankees | 0.128 | 141 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 4 | 19 | 13 |
STEIN, B. | Queens Yankees | 0.197 | 203 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 57 | 17 | 14 | 0 |
JONES, R. | Queens Yankees | 0.214 | 266 | 25 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 72 | 18 | 26 | 11 |
RANDOLPH, W. | Bronx Mets | 0.236 | 491 | 92 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 141 | 35 | 106 | 36 |
Total | 0.247 | 10972 | 1362 | 465 | 70 | 289 | 4178 | 1303 | 987 | 163 |
Players | Tm | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | ISO | TA | RC | RC/G | PA |
STINSON, B. | Bronx Mets | 0.315 | 0.391 | 0.611 | 1.002 | 0.3 | 1.14 | 14.1 | 9.8 | 64 |
CARTER, G. | Bronx Mets | 0.299 | 0.370 | 0.573 | 0.943 | 0.27 | 0.96 | 124.6 | 7.7 | 671 |
HERNANDEZ, K. | Bronx Mets | 0.347 | 0.402 | 0.520 | 0.922 | 0.17 | 0.93 | 142.4 | 8.5 | 741 |
ROBERTS, L. | Bronx Mets | 0.299 | 0.365 | 0.516 | 0.881 | 0.22 | 0.86 | 91.2 | 6.7 | 555 |
STAUB, R. | Queens Yankees | 0.327 | 0.468 | 0.408 | 0.876 | 0.08 | 0.97 | 10.6 | 8.4 | 62 |
KNIGHT, R. | Bronx Mets | 0.400 | 0.400 | 0.467 | 0.867 | 0.07 | 0.78 | 2.8 | 8.4 | 15 |
STRAWBERRY, D. | Queens Yankees | 0.262 | 0.358 | 0.493 | 0.851 | 0.23 | 0.86 | 71 | 6.1 | 469 |
MILBOURNE, L. | Bronx Mets | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.444 | 0.778 | 0.11 | 0.67 | 1.3 | 6 | 9 |
BOCHTE, B. | Bronx Mets | 0.248 | 0.338 | 0.433 | 0.770 | 0.18 | 0.74 | 41.7 | 5.1 | 321 |
FOSTER, G. | Bronx Mets | 0.247 | 0.305 | 0.459 | 0.764 | 0.21 | 0.7 | 65.2 | 4.7 | 518 |
WHITE, R. | Bronx Mets | 0.289 | 0.347 | 0.411 | 0.758 | 0.12 | 0.72 | 12.9 | 5.2 | 98 |
HEEP, D. | Bronx Mets | 0.259 | 0.324 | 0.383 | 0.708 | 0.12 | 0.62 | 30.5 | 3.8 | 296 |
REYNOLDS, C. | Bronx Mets | 0.296 | 0.335 | 0.372 | 0.707 | 0.08 | 0.62 | 73.6 | 4.6 | 625 |
PACIOREK, T. | Bronx Mets | 0.239 | 0.289 | 0.397 | 0.687 | 0.16 | 0.6 | 33.8 | 3.9 | 318 |
WILSON, M. | Queens Yankees | 0.222 | 0.288 | 0.395 | 0.683 | 0.17 | 0.64 | 42.1 | 3.9 | 399 |
CHAMBLISS, C. | Queens Yankees | 0.259 | 0.303 | 0.379 | 0.682 | 0.12 | 0.59 | 67.4 | 4.1 | 622 |
PLUMMER, B. | Queens Yankees | 0.174 | 0.240 | 0.435 | 0.675 | 0.26 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 25 |
PINIELLA, L. | Bronx Mets | 0.256 | 0.297 | 0.372 | 0.669 | 0.12 | 0.56 | 52.2 | 3.6 | 532 |
NETTLES, G. | Bronx Mets | 0.234 | 0.293 | 0.373 | 0.666 | 0.14 | 0.58 | 66.1 | 3.6 | 679 |
RANDOLPH, W. | Bronx Mets | 0.236 | 0.370 | 0.287 | 0.658 | 0.05 | 0.73 | 66.5 | 4.6 | 604 |
CRUZ, J. | Bronx Mets | 0.262 | 0.328 | 0.327 | 0.655 | 0.07 | 0.65 | 11.7 | 3.6 | 119 |
RIVERS, M. | Queens Yankees | 0.239 | 0.268 | 0.385 | 0.653 | 0.15 | 0.62 | 54.6 | 3.5 | 556 |
JACKSON, R. | Queens Yankees | 0.193 | 0.275 | 0.360 | 0.635 | 0.17 | 0.59 | 57.1 | 3.5 | 604 |
MEYER, D. | Bronx Mets | 0.273 | 0.320 | 0.273 | 0.593 | 0 | 0.44 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 25 |
STANLEY, F. | Queens Yankees | 0.223 | 0.322 | 0.269 | 0.592 | 0.05 | 0.52 | 12.1 | 3 | 152 |
MUNSON, T. | Queens Yankees | 0.241 | 0.268 | 0.319 | 0.587 | 0.08 | 0.46 | 47.6 | 2.8 | 614 |
JOHNSON, H. | Queens Yankees | 0.211 | 0.273 | 0.300 | 0.574 | 0.09 | 0.49 | 34.4 | 2.8 | 450 |
SPENCER, J. | Queens Yankees | 0.196 | 0.275 | 0.283 | 0.557 | 0.09 | 0.49 | 3.6 | 2.7 | 51 |
JONES, R. | Queens Yankees | 0.214 | 0.284 | 0.271 | 0.555 | 0.06 | 0.49 | 19.8 | 2.4 | 295 |
ROBERTSON, B. | Queens Yankees | 0.200 | 0.304 | 0.250 | 0.554 | 0.05 | 0.49 | 3.3 | 2.7 | 46 |
STEIN, B. | Queens Yankees | 0.197 | 0.247 | 0.281 | 0.527 | 0.08 | 0.42 | 13.9 | 2.2 | 222 |
BOWA, L. | Queens Yankees | 0.229 | 0.275 | 0.250 | 0.525 | 0.02 | 0.46 | 2.9 | 1.9 | 51 |
BACKMAN, W. | Queens Yankees | 0.206 | 0.233 | 0.282 | 0.514 | 0.08 | 0.42 | 35 | 2 | 595 |
SANTANA, R. | Bronx Mets | 0.200 | 0.261 | 0.200 | 0.461 | 0 | 0.32 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 23 |
DENT, B. | Queens Yankees | 0.170 | 0.221 | 0.221 | 0.443 | 0.05 | 0.34 | 18.8 | 1.4 | 431 |
HURDLE, C. | Queens Yankees | 0.125 | 0.210 | 0.214 | 0.424 | 0.09 | 0.36 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 62 |
DYKSTRA, L. | Queens Yankees | 0.128 | 0.236 | 0.170 | 0.406 | 0.04 | 0.45 | 7.4 | 1.6 | 161 |
BLAIR, P. | Bronx Mets | 0.056 | 0.188 | 0.130 | 0.317 | 0.07 | 0.32 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 64 |
BURKE, S. | Bronx Mets | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
LINDBLAD, P. | Bronx Mets | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
LYNCH, E. | Bronx Mets | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
Total | 0.247 | 0.309 | 0.381 | 0.690 | 0.13 | 0.63 | 1301 | 4 | 12144 |
Players | Tm | W | L | SV | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO | IP | H | HR | SO |
GOODEN, D. | Bronx Mets | 33 | 4 | 0 | 1.37 | 38 | 38 | 25 | 8 | 316 | 162 | 7 | 298 |
GUIDRY, R. | Queens Yankees | 21 | 11 | 4 | 2.31 | 43 | 30 | 18 | 6 | 269 | 179 | 20 | 222 |
FIGUEROA, E. | Bronx Mets | 25 | 7 | 0 | 2.67 | 34 | 34 | 13 | 4 | 266 | 195 | 25 | 101 |
DARLING, R. | Bronx Mets | 18 | 12 | 0 | 3.29 | 34 | 34 | 10 | 4 | 251 | 204 | 23 | 154 |
LYNCH, E. | Bronx Mets | 11 | 17 | 0 | 3.82 | 33 | 33 | 7 | 3 | 216 | 214 | 16 | 88 |
TIDROW, D. | Queens Yankees | 3 | 18 | 0 | 4.85 | 56 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 195 | 242 | 21 | 64 |
FERNANDEZ, S. | Queens Yankees | 8 | 16 | 0 | 5.34 | 43 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 168 | 200 | 19 | 145 |
HONEYCUTT, R. | Queens Yankees | 4 | 13 | 0 | 5.83 | 35 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 145 | 180 | 17 | 58 |
HUNTER, J. | Queens Yankees | 6 | 9 | 0 | 4.79 | 36 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 129 | 127 | 25 | 62 |
AGUILERA, R. | Queens Yankees | 7 | 11 | 0 | 5.44 | 30 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 129 | 166 | 18 | 51 |
BEATTIE, J. | Bronx Mets | 9 | 6 | 0 | 4.86 | 20 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 124 | 135 | 6 | 77 |
GOSSAGE, R. | Queens Yankees | 3 | 9 | 15 | 4.28 | 51 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 109 | 89 | 15 | 77 |
McLAUGHLIN, B. | Queens Yankees | 1 | 10 | 0 | 7.67 | 38 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 108 | 159 | 34 | 82 |
LYLE, S. | Bronx Mets | 3 | 3 | 12 | 2.97 | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 89 | 8 | 57 |
McDOWELL, R. | Bronx Mets | 4 | 2 | 16 | 4.19 | 55 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 73 | 67 | 9 | 33 |
OROSCO, J. | Queens Yankees | 0 | 3 | 5 | 4.61 | 49 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 70.1 | 67 | 11 | 53 |
ROMO, E. | Queens Yankees | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5.81 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 57.1 | 71 | 9 | 25 |
GULLETT, D. | Queens Yankees | 1 | 6 | 0 | 3.88 | 18 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 56 | 2 | 29 |
LINDBLAD, P. | Bronx Mets | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1.26 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 35 | 2 | 26 |
BURKE, S. | Bronx Mets | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4.42 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36.2 | 36 | 1 | 16 |
TODD, J. | Bronx Mets | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.78 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33.1 | 33 | 1 | 20 |
Total | 162 | 162 | 55 | 3.85 | 777 | 324 | 85 | 27 | 2893 | 2706 | 289 | 1738 |