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Tuesday, July 14, 2009
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
SPORTS
HEARD ON
THE FIELD ...
T
Teen Golf Phenom
To Tee Off With Tiger
MLBFantasy
ALL-STARS
vs. Reality
he All Star break: that
time of year when baseball fans ignore the advice to “root, root, root
for the home team” and
The youngest-ever winner on
the Japan Golf Tour will try this
week to become the youngest to
win the British Open since 1868.
Ryo Ishikawa, 17, is the rising star
of golf in Japan. He was the second-youngest player ever to compete
in the Masters—he missed the cut,
shooting 6-over par—and has an invite to next month’s PGA Championship. And though Mr. Ishikawa already has a constant media
following, it’ll be more intense this
week. He’s in a trio with Tiger
Woods for the first two days of the
Open Championship.
— David Biderman
who draft imaginary teams and
compete based on real-life stats.
Falling at the season’s midway
point, the All Star Game provides a
chance to see how fantasy teams
THREE FANTASY SUPERSTARS
stack up. Can the owners of 38.2
million fantasy baseball teams outperform the guys in real life? Here’s
a snapshot of how close fantasy is
to reality.
—Nando Di Fino
THREE FANTASY BUSTS
Albert Pujols (ADP* of 2.13)
At the halfway point, he is on
pace to threaten for the Triple
Crown, sporting a .332 average,
and leading the majors in both
home runs (32) and RBI (87).
Hanley Ramirez (ADP of 1.26)
More often than not the No. 1 overall
pick in drafts this year, Mr. Ramirez
has delighted his owners with a NLleading .349 average to go along with
14 HR, 61 RBI and 13 steals.
Lesser-Known Names
In New Halls of Fame
Sports enthusiasts devoted to
niche events can add two new halls
of fame to their bucket list. The
BMX Hall of Fame will open in September in Chula Vista, Calif., inside
the U.S. Olympic Training Center. In
the Midwest, the 16-Inch Softball
Hall of Fame opens on Sunday in
Forest Park, Ill. Both shrines will
have plaques and individual displays
that highlight their respective stars,
including Dave Clinton in BMX and
Benny Holt, the Babe Ruth of 16inch softball.
—David Biderman
Miguel Cabrera (ADP of 6.21)
The Tigers first baseman has
lived up to his lofty potential,
giving his owners 18 HR, 50 RBI
and a solid .321 batting average
in the first half of the year.
Russell Martin (ADP of 41.39)
He was the first catcher taken
in most drafts but hits the
halfway mark with just two
home runs in 283 at-bats and a
.258 average.
Alfonso Soriano (ADP 24.37) A .233
batting average and just seven steals
have made Mr. Soriano one of the
more glaring busts; many teams spent
a second-round pick on the Cubs
outfielder.
Garrett Atkins (ADP of 72.76)
Mr. Atkins’s .230 at the halfway
point wouldn’t be so terrible if
he would only contribute some
power (just six home runs in
239 at-bats) to make up for it.
*Average Draft Position (ADP), which is where a player was selected in online fantasy drafts before the season (provided by MockDraftCentral.com)
REALITY VS. FANTASY STANDINGS
Major League Baseball rankings (based on win% at the season’s midpoint) as compared to the fantasy-team rankings, which represent the percentage of all
ballplayers owned in fantasy leagues who play for each team. Fantasy-team rankings are broken down by season’s midpoint (MP) and on opening day (OD).
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (MP 3, OD 4)
2. Boston Red Sox (MP 1, OD 2)
3. New York Yankees (MP 2, OD 1)
4. Los Angeles Angels (MP 6, OD 6)
5. Texas Rangers (MP 12, OD 13)
6. San Francisco Giants (MP 24, OD 24)
7. Detroit Tigers (MP 15, OD 14)
8. St. Louis Cardinals (MP 14, OD 18)
9. Tampa Bay Rays (MP 5, OD 5)
10. Philadelphia Phillies (MP 10, OD 8)
Heard on the Field (t-b): Agence France-Presse/Getty Images, Getty Images (2); Main: Getty Images (6), MLB (logos)
For All-Star Beltran,
Pay and No Play
New York Mets outfielder Carlos
Beltran will make about $33,000 an
hour Tuesday night during the MLB
All-Star Game, but he won’t be in
it. As part of his contract, Mr. Beltran received a $100,000 bonus for
being voted to the All-Star team,
even though he hasn’t played since
June 21 because of a knee injury. In
the 20 games he’s missed since
then, he’s made about $2.3 million.
The Los Angeles Angels’ Torii
Hunter will also pocket $100,000
without leaving the dugout—he
went on the disabled list last week
with a groin injury.
—David Biderman
instead celebrate the greatest players in the game today. Also taking a
break are fantasy-team owners, the
tightly wrapped, obsessive-compulsive sorts (you know who you are)
5
11. Colorado Rockies (MP 9, OD 17)
12. Chicago White Sox (MP 7, OD 11)
13. Seattle Mariners (MP 25, OD 27)
14. Milwaukee Brewers (MP 23, OD 15)
15. Minnesota Twins (MP 13, OD 19)
16. Toronto Blue Jays (MP 11, OD 28)
17. Florida Marlins (MP 16, OD 22)
18. Chicago Cubs (MP 4, OD 3)
19. Cincinnati Reds (MP 17, OD 10)
20. Houston Astros (MP 22, OD 21)
FANTASY PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS
Based on fantasy-team rankings, here’s what teams
would make the postseason.
In the American League:
The Red Sox, Yankees, Angels, and White Sox
(The Rays would have made it had they played in
another division.)
In the National League:
The Dodgers, Cubs, Braves, and Rockies
WORLD SERIES MATCHUP
21. Atlanta Braves (MP 8, OD 16)
22. New York Mets (MP 19, OD 12)
23. Pittsburgh Pirates (MP 28, OD 29)
24. Baltimore Orioles (MP 20, OD 20)
25. Kansas City Royals (MP 26, OD 23)
26. Oakland Athletics (MP 27, OD 26)
27. San Diego Padres (MP 30, OD 30)
28. Arizona Diamondbacks (MP 18, OD 9)
29. Cleveland Indians (MP 21, OD 7)
30. Washington Nationals (MP 29, OD 25)
Even though an overwhelming number of fantasy players have tried
their hand at football, the smaller sports are catching up. The
average fantasy player owns 3.8 teams—here are the estimated
number of participants who have created a team in each sport:
Number of fantasy players by sport, in millions:
Professional
football
Baseball
10.4
20.4
Basketball
5.5
VS.
The top five most-traded
players on CBSSports.com:
1. Alfonso Soriano, traded
698 times this season
2. Johan Santana, 610
3. Matt Holliday, 580
4. Jimmy Rollins, 570
5. Manny Ramirez, 559
Nascar
5.5
Soccer
1.4
College football
Golf
Hockey
2.9
3.2
3.7
Source: Fantasy Sports Trade Association
( Read daily analysis of sports statistics by Numbers Guy Carl Bialik on WSJ.com/Sports
Forget Home Runs, Which All-Stars Rule eBay?
By every common statistical
measure Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols is superior to Yankees
shortstop Derek Jeter. But not on
eBay, where popularity and pinstripes trump production.
From June 5 to July 5, the merchandise of the 64 players originally
voted to the 2009 All-Star Game
represented nearly $850,000 in
sales on eBay, with an average of
$13,267 per player. But the popularity of the Yankee captain is evident,
as his merchandise (which counts
everything from autographs to a
Derek Jeter tote bag) totaled
$199,176, nearly 2 ½ times more
than Mr. Pujols, who ranked third
with $83,646 in sales. Last year’s
American League Rookie of the
Year, Evan Longoria, came in second
at $86,182. Joe Mauer and Ichiro
Suzuki rounded out the top five. At
$5,000, Mr. Suzuki’s autographed
Japanese World Baseball Classic jersey (which was also signed by the
rest of his team) was the priciest
item sold.
Selling the Stars
Of all the players who were originally picked for the AllStar Game, here is how they rank in terms of how their
merchandise sold on eBay from June 5 to July 5.
PLAYER/TEAM
# OF HIGHEST TOTAL $
ITEMS PRICE OF FOR ALL
SOLD ITEM SOLD ITEMS
1) Derek Jeter, NYY
2) Evan Longoria,TB
3) Albert Pujols, STL
4) Joe Mauer, MIN
5) Ichiro Suzuki, SEA
63) Ryan Franklin, STL
64) Francisco Cordero, CIN
6,505
2,518
1,502
2,111
1,095
6
13
$2,024
$1,075
$3,315
$998
$5,000
$22.50
$16.05
$199,176
$86,182
$83,646
$53,147
$49,685
$43
$42
75
All-Star Game Predictions, by AccuScore*
Source: eBay
To little surprise, the Red Sox and
Yankees rule the eBay sales standings.
The nine All-Stars from these two
clubs averaged $39,921 of sold merchandise. It also doesn’t pay to be a
reliever—they held four of the bottom
five spots in eBay sales, including
Reds’ reliever Francisco Cordero, whose
name garnered the lowest ranking of
any All-Star over this time period with
$42 in total sales.
Clearly, name cachet is vital. Ken
Griffey Jr. didn’t get voted in, but his
name brought in $173,417. Likewise,
Alex Rodriguez merchandise went for
$157,911. Still, Mr. Jeter and the current
Yankee stars can’t hold a candle to the
legends. During these 30 days, Mickey
Mantle represented $745,436 worth of
eBay sales.
— David Biderman
Game Winner
American League 4.9 (47%)
National League 5 (53%)
AL by one run 8.8%
NL by one run 12.8%
AL by 3+ runs 30%
NL by 3+ runs 32%
Source: Chicago’s Rush University
Medical Center
Game Details
% Extra Innings 8.2%
1-8 Total Runs 41.2%
9+ Total Runs 58.8%
Projected MVP Albert Pujols
*Scores and results are based on the average of a 10,000 game computer simulation
EVERY TEAM, EVERY SCORE, EVERY STAT at WSJ.com/Sports
(l-r) Reuters; Associated Press
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