Kicking Rocks: Right Place, Right Time

They say that, in life, timing is everything. Yes, success is often something you achieve when you put in the proper amount of work, but for many, it can simply be a matter of being in the right place at the right time.  Sometimes, it can be an amazing occurrence in life, at least when it happens to you, and other times you just sit there and watch in complete disbelief, wondering how some people can catch such a break. It can be as big as randomly meeting someone who, in the end, offers you your dream job, or as small as simply flipping on the TV and catching a ballgame in the fourth inning that ends up being Matt Cain’s perfect game. 

To be honest, I’ve never actually been one of those guys. You know, the guy who can step in a pile of dog doo and somehow find a winning lottery ticket stuck to his shoe? I usually leave that to my buddy Floyd, who somehow just can help but have these ridiculously fortunate things happen to him for no reason whatsoever. No one’s karma can be that good, can it? But for me, in one fantasy league, I’ve become that guy and dammit, it feels good.

I feel like I can brag about this a little because I do put in a tremendous amount of work into my fantasy teams. I don’t just show up on draft day and stumble my way into a winning team. Draft sheets, depth charts, player projections, I’m all over it. But so far, in this one league, it’s been much less about the work I’ve put in and more about timing and sheer dumb luck.

From the announcement of Yoenis Cespedes signing with the A’s just moments before my pick in the 20th round of the draft to turning on my computer and catching breaking news that Brian Wilson’s elbow was putting him on the shelf, I’ve lucked into some solid players. Sure, Cespedes has been hurt, but as a late pick-up, he’s simply just added depth for me. When healthy though, he’s a beast. Santiago Casilla, on the other hand, has just been great.

A friend of mine invited me to lunch one day and when I walked in to meet him, he happened to be sitting at a table in full view of the TV which was showing the MLB Network and the upcoming Yankees game. It just so happened to be the day that Mariano Rivera hurt his knee shagging fly balls in the outfield and the network was covering it all just seconds after it happened. Thanks to my trusty smart phone, I immediately picked up both David Robertson and Rafael Soriano. I didn’t need the extra closer, but the guy who owned Mo sure did and sitting on his bench was a highly touted rookie who was batting just .182 at the time. Hello, Mike Trout.  Thanks for stopping by.

Best of all, it doesn’t end there. In between our draft and the season starting, Johnny Giavotella got sent down and all that was left on the wire was some 5′ 5″ dude on Houston named Jose Altuve. A Nolan Reimold injury spawned a Josh Reddick pick-up. And believe it or not, I was actually watching the Mariners game when Brandon League blew up in the ninth for the last time and was able to grab Tom Wilhelmsen immediately. I know….who really watches Mariners games? Oh yeah, and did I mention that a guy in my league offered me Matt Cain and Paul Goldschmidt for Roy Halladay? Yup. Right before Halladay went down, Goldy went on his hitting tear and, well, you know what happened with Cain.

Now I’m certainly not saying that you don’t need to put the necessary work in to be successful.  Seasons like these rarely happen. But on the chance that they do……if you’re in the right place at the right time….you’ve got to just sit back and enjoy the moment. Give a nod of thanks to the fantasy baseball gods and smile your way to the championship.