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Anticipating Opening Day

July 17, 2020

Opening Day will be here in just over 24 hours, and soon we will find out if hard work pays off on the field. The lineups are set. The pitching rotation is in place. The relievers know their roles. 

Sometime after 1 am Eastern on July 19, a server in some unknown building will kick around some code and issue the outcome in the form of one complete box score of a baseball game. One I will care more about than I reasonably should, considering it is completely a work of fiction.

Simulated baseball games include no baseballs. No equipment. No hot dogs and peanuts. No umpires or coaches or trainers. Not even players. This “team” I have created only exists in a shared fiction for myself and 23 other owners in this unimaginatively named 24×24 Draft League, but there is ample imagination involved.

Hard work, too. All 24 owners spent hour after hour preparing for and executing a draft process that lasted 20 exhilarating days. There was nothing fictional about the commitment and passion we put into it. 

More than a hobby, this is equal parts competition, entertainment, relived youth, mental exercise, camaraderie, and creativity. It’s an investment of mind, heart, and soul … and about $12.95, too. 

By Jason Winston

Jason Winston is a lifelong baseball fan and player of various simulation games. He has worked as (among other things) a professional educator, journalist, marketing writer, and compliance analyst. He has managed tens of thousands more games than Connie Mack did, and with a better winning percentage, too!

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