Fantasy Baseball Meets Social Gaming: The Rise of Community-Driven Platforms

And with this comes the hope of all the 30 fan bases of their team to win a World Series championship. Without a doubt, all teams will try to knock off the championship winners and favorites to defend their dominant World Series win, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and their phenom, Shohei Ohtani.

For those hardcore fans that go further than enjoying an iconic hot dog and a cold beverage, fantasy baseball is in season. William Gamson, a Law Professor from the University of Boston College, created the first fantasy baseball league in Boston circa 1960; he is also known as one of the fathers of the game. He brought the idea to the University of Michigan, his alma mater, where he played it with colleagues and students. The league he started was called the "Baseball Seminar," it was set so the different would form rosters that would earn points on the players' final standings stats like batting average, RBI, ERA, and wins.

With the advancement of computers and the early days of the Internet, Yahoo! Fantasy Sports hosted the first fantasy baseball league in the 1980s.

Fantasy baseball is divided into two main categories: daily fantasy sports (DFS) and season-long.

Leagues may have as few as eight teams or as many as thirty and have three basic formats to choose from:

• Redraft league: managers select a new team in a redraft league every season. This is the most often used league format, and the redraft version is the basis for most published standings.

• Owners of a keeper league will choose a set number of players from their roster to carry over to the roster for the upcoming season. In the keeper structure, distinct minor league rosters are occasionally utilized and are typically carried over in full year to year.

• Dynasty league: The dynasty format lets fantasy owners' function more like MLB general managers. Owners in dynasty leagues will retain all their minor league players and all but a select few players from year to year. Minor league and major league players typically have different cut-downs and drafts in this arrangement.

In fantasy baseball, the two most common formats are Head-to-Head and Rotisserie.

Rotisserie: The original league structure used by the creators of fantasy baseball was the rotisserie. It was named like this because, in the 1980s, a group of journalists created Rotisserie League Baseball, and it received its name after the New York City restaurant La Rotisserie Française; it is also known sometimes as the Roto format. Teams are given points according to their standings in the categories after accumulating statistics. The total score for the standings is calculated by adding all those points. The league is won by the team with the highest total score during the season.

Head-to-Head has emerged as the most popular fantasy baseball style in recent years. Teams will play one opponent every week under this structure, and a victor will be determined by comparing their scores. This is terribly similar to the NFL Fantasy leagues.

The most fun any player has with any fantasy sport is draft day. After countless mock drafts relying on diverse sources, everything from prominent news outlets like ESPN or Fox Sports to the local radio, there is no more incredible feeling than getting that team that will dominate your friends. Following fantasy baseball rankings is a great way to see who the favorites are, and which one could be a sleeper pick.

Fantasy Baseball offers three types of drafts for the managers:

Snake draft: the most common draft in different sports leagues including football and basket. It consists of every manager getting a slot at the beginning of the draft, and this slot gets flipped in every round. For example, if the league is a 12-team league, the manager who selects 12th in the first round gets to pick 1st in the second round, and so on.

Standard draft: is a less popular format where the draft order in each round stays the same as round one: 1-12 instead of switching places every round.

Auction drafts: This draft is growing in popularity because you can select any player you desire. You are given $260 to spend on your roster at an auction. Teams can bid for one player at a time under a nomination order rather than a draft order. The owners will place bids on each player until there is a high bid and a winner.

First Base: Jake Burger, 1B/3B, Rangers

The Rangers acquired him from the Marlins last season, and with the trade of Nate Lowe, Burger is set to be the starting 1B for the Texas team. Given his top-of-the-scale exit velocity readings, he might hit .260 with 35 homers.

Sean Manaea, SP, Mets

An oblique strain can keep managers away from him in the draft, but his career 4.00 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and 8.4 K/9 are starting-ace numbers.

Dansby Swanson, SS, Cubs

After a disappointing season in 2024, many managers believe that those underwhelming numbers are Swanson's new normal. But after his surgery to fix an injury, there is a chance that he can be back among the top 120 players.

To be a successful Fantasy manager, preparation and strategy are key. Before the big day known as draft day, having your own cheat sheet is king on it you will have information such as player statistics, injury reports, and depth charts to ensure you build a well-balanced roster. Researching and learning the different scoring formats will help you tailor your squad for success. Drafting a mix of performers, favorites and sleepers will give you an edge over your competition. And staying up to date with the league to see injuries, slums and breakout seasons is a most.