I’ve been playing fantasy baseball in The Sporting News Basic Baseball league for a couple of years now – an obsessive, but not altogether unhealthy diversion. The league is a stock market model league with a fixed starting salary. Buy low, sell high and increase your buying power for better players. There is no limit to the number of managers that can own a given player and standing is based on total points earned. It’s mildly embarrassing due to the amount of time I spend pouring through baseball stats and results. Regardless, the first fantasy season just ended here at All Star Break and out of 355,000 competitors worldwide, I managed to finish in a tie for 20th. That topples my previous best of 41st (2003 Season 1), which I thought I’d probably never beat. Take that Team Tribeca, Kansas City Lowballers and M&M Boys of the Bronx!