Chad Schroeder isn't a fantasy baseball player, but this year he had to throw his hat in the ring when the WCOFB offered a $200,000 prize. When someone follows sports for a living, playing a little game of fantasy baseball can be like riding a bike. His team Cocktails and Dreams II is starting to heat up and it is on top of the leader board in the WCOFB with 1031.5 points (81.9 %). Believe me, it isn't an accident that Chad is in the hunt this year. He's been playing high stakes fantasy sports for years. He's one of the best fantasy football players in the country and now making his mark in the world of high stakes fantasy baseball. I can't imagine what his overall winning have been for his career, but my quick math from the last two years has him well over $250,000 from the leagues I know about. I can't think of a better way to support his football career than winning $200,000 playing fantasy baseball. Cocktails and Dreams II has been in the top 10 most of the year and it looks like it is built for the long haul. The only down side to his baseball success is his lack of attention to his football prep. I can personally attest, it is extremely difficult to change gears when you have a team in the hunt to win money. With 10 weeks to go, he'll have to do a lot of football prep in between clicks to yahoo or whatever sports site he uses for updates on his baseball squad.

Greg Morgan's team Liquid Hippos III isn't letting Chad run to the bank just yet as he has 1025.5 (81.2 %). Both teams have been playing well for the last month. Most of the other contenders have started to drop points as 3rd overall only has 968.5 points (FFBL's Finest II).  As teams start to drop points, more teams are creeping up the leader board. It appears that there are 15-17 team who have a solid shot at a big check at the end of the year. There are ten weeks left in the season and a lot can change in a short period of time in this game.

The big rise in the standings for Cocktails and Dreams II is a result of his improved pitching. Last week his team won 7 games with a 2.386 ERA and a 1.053 whip with 61 K's and 3 SV's. His offense was a bit short in BA (.24149) and RBI (35), but he had solid steals (11), Runs (47) and HR's (10). Liquid Hippos III wasn't great in any area, but he was in the ballpark in every category. His week looked like this: .2814 BA, 44 R's, 8 HR's, 42 RBI, 7 SB's, 6 Wins, 3.857 ERA, 1.311 Whip, 71 K's and 5 SV's. The 3rd place team overall FFBL's Finest II had a good week in wins (8) and he gained in most of the offensive categories, hitting .27551, 45 Runs, 14 HR's, 54 RBI, and 9 SB's.  At this time of year, you can still make a big push in points on the offensive side with a great week. If a team can string together four good weeks, it will position itself for an exciting September.

For a frame of reference, a couple years ago I was in a league where the leader had 129 points out of 150 with 5 and 1/2 weeks to go in the season. I was in fourth with 91.5 points after I had one of my pitchers give up 10 runs in less than two innings. Depending on how your team is set up, you can still make a big push that late in the season. I finished the year with 117 points (1/2 point from winning). The team leading the league fell to 3rd with 106 points. As the season winds down, you never know who will get hot.  Maybe you have a core of five or six players that play their best ball the last month of the year. The way this season has gone in the WCOFB I can see a nerve wracking last couple of weeks.  

Here's the target goals to be in the top 20 % in all categories:

BA: .27566

Runs: 674

HR's: 163

RBI: 654

SB's: 109

Wins: 79

ERA: 3.702

Whip: 1.267

K's: 993

SV's: 59

If you want to gain points, you will have to beat these numbers each week:

BA: .276, Runs: 44, HR's: 11, RBI: 42, SB's 7, Wins: 5, ERA: 3.75, Whip: 1.27, K's: 63, SV's: 4