A Fine Line of Fanaticism

Growing up my friends and I chose our favorite athletes because they were the best. They could be home run hitters, award winners or champions — It didn't matter what on-field accomplishment — as long as they were the best.

Along the way something changed.

I'm an Oakland A's fan so individual players haven't meant much to me in a long, long time. But is that because the team's management moves pieces like a set of Legos or because of my fascination with fantasy baseball?

I don't remember when I drafted my first fantasy baseball team, but I started becoming really serious about it shortly after the A's were eliminated from their most recent trip to the postseason. That would be 2006, so let's say I started really paying attention to fantasy baseball in the spring of 2007. When one dedicates all that time and effort into building a championship caliber lineup you have to study each team and each lineup carefully.

All of that research often leads to forming "crushes" on certain players because of the value they have in the fantasy realm. For example, Atlanta Brave Brian McCann will always be my catcher as long a I can help it. I'm not from Atlanta and am not a Braves fan, but he's a great fantasy asset from behind the dish. I'll usually find myself tuning into games he's playing in to see how he plays.

That is my dilema. I love the game of baseball and I love the Oakland A's, but I've stopped caring about the players on my team as much as I care about the team itself. Is that okay? Can I love the mascot, the team colors, the ballpark and the game-day atmosphere more than the players I'm paying to see?

I'd rather see the the team light up the win column than a player from my team get elected to the All-Star game. And I certainly don't care if that player gets traded because I'll enjoy his replacement just as much.

I've decided to follow the 19 or so players I select of draft day in March and not the fluctuating 25-man roster on Oaklandathletics.com.

And I'm fine with that because players don't win the World Series, teams do.