Chris Davis is very loudly putting up an All-Star and maybe even an MVP type season. In a mere 52 games so far this season he has blasted 19 homers including two last night that helped power the O’s to victory. But what could be the key to his success is vastly cutting down his strikeouts and increasing his walks. Getting on base and making more contact gets you more pitches to hit and a better opportunity to continue pounding opposing pitching. Last season Davis walked a total of 37 times in 139 games. That is his career high for a season. This year he already has 29 walks showing much better plate discipline.

The power Davis has shown so far this season is not unheard of, he blasted 33 homers just last year and he averaged nearly 20 a season in his six years in the minors. He is posting the 3rd best average(.359), a league leading OBP (.447), SLG (.776), and OPS (1.214). His OPS so far this season is 219, now that is absurdly high. If he could maintain this kind of production all season than that would be good for first all time. Yes, first alltime passing the likes of Ruth, Williams, and Cobb.

Now I’m not saying this will happen or that pitchers won’t figure out a different way to pitch to Davis or that he won’t go into a slump. But his first two months of this season have been very impressive and he should be given all the recognition.

The Orioles are in 3rd place right now in the AL East and that is mainly due to their suspect pitching both in the rotation and the bullpen but if they can figure that out they stand a chance to make a play to return to the playoffs for the first time since the 1996-1997 seasons.

The Washington Nationals a team many picked to win the World Series this year have not lived up to those expectations so far this year. At the halfway point the Nationals sat at one game over .500 (41-40) trailing the Atlanta Braves by six games. The offense this year has had to deal with many injuries with regulars such as Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth, Wilson Ramos and Bryce Harper all spending significant time out of the lineup. However, on July 1st the Nationals welcomed back Harper into the lineup. 15-16 Since May 26th (The day Harper went on the disabled list) the Nats offense has been the primary culprit of their losing ways. The left fielders who replaced Harper combined for the lowest WAR (Wins above Replacement) among left fielders in the National League. Harper returned with a bang as he homered on the second pitch he saw, resulting in a curtain call for him. The Nats offense was sparked by him and went on to score ten runs and defeating the Milwaukee Brewers 10-5. The Nationals hope that Harper can continue to jumpstart this offense and lead them back to the playoffs with a second straight divisional title.

Less than a year after throwing his first career no-hitter on September 28th, 2012 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Homer Bailey threw another no-hitter just ten months later tonight against the San Francisco Giants. The right-hander became the third Reds pitcher to throw multiple no-no’s joining Jim Maloney and Johnny Vander Meer. Bailey improves his record this season to 5 wins and 6 losses with the no hitter tonight. Bailey missed the opportunity to throw a perfect game by walking Giants lead-off hitter Gregor Blanco to lead off the seventh inning. However, he did not let the walk get the best of him as he retired the final nine batters he faced to complete the no hitter. 27,509 fans were in attendance to see the 280th no-hitter in Major League Baseball.

Fantasy sports or roto as it is sometimes called, has seen a rapid growth over the past couple of years with more and more sports lovers embracing and subscribing to fantasy sports sites. Statistics show that in the US and UK alone, there has been a 10% increase in fantasy sports players. Because fantasy sports leagues have changed the way people experience sports, it is increasingly becoming popular.

Most people are getting more interested in getting into the shoes of some of the best managers and since fantasy sports leagues give them a chance to become managers and own their teams, most find it so interesting compared to simply watching the action on the big screen. As a matter of fact, 85% of NFL fans interviewed would rather watch a game at home than in a stadium with 37% of those admitting that they regularly follow the progress of their fantasy sports team on a second screen.
The increase in fantasy sports leagues has seen more fantasy sports sites being established as well as more sports being ventured into. Statistics show that more people are getting drawn away from following their teams to rather following their fantasy sports teams. A survey conducted by Turnkey sports shows that close to 28% of participants feel worse when their fantasy team loses than when their favorite NFL team loses, further demonstrating how fantasy sports leagues are fast becoming part of our daily lives. A very popular book can also be read to compliment one’s knowledge.

Statistics by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association show that close to 32 million people played fantasy sports in the United States and Canada in 2010 alone further showing its popularity. Statistics also show that participation in fantasy sports has grown by over 60% in the last four years and amazingly 19% of males in the US participate in fantasy sports leagues. Prior to that, a study carried out showed that close to 13 million people ages 12 and above in the US played fantasy sports and that 22% of adult males with internet access played fantasy sports on a regular basis.
The pass time has also crossed borders with fantasy sports leagues and sites now available in most countries and leagues in other sports disciplines like cricket, soccer and other sports. Britain is one of the countries with the highest number of fantasy sports lovers outside of the United States with close to 8 million people aged 16 and above playing fantasy sports in 2008. Of these, 80% played fantasy soccer. The numbers have continued to rise over the years with more people especially the young adults loving the prospect of selecting and managing their own teams rather than just laying back and watching the action on screen.
And with fantasy sports sites enticing players with various prizes and awards, more people have been attracted to join in. Not only do players select and manage their own teams but the best managers or players at the end of the season also stand to win various prizes and cash rewards. This all makes it more enticing to players thus accounting for its growth.
The growing interest in fantasy sports has seen more fantasy sports disciplines coming up. Apart from traditional fantasy sports disciplines like Fantasy football, fantasy baseball and fantasy soccer, there is also now fantasy cricket, fantasy golf, fantasy hockey, fantasy auto racing, fantasy pro wrestling, fantasy congress and fantasy sports stock simulations. With the increasing popularity of fantasy sports, we shall soon see more sports disciplines being ventured into. The increasing number of fantasy sports disciplines means that more people are catered for and more people get to participate in fantasy sports regardless of their favorite sports disciplines.
The increase in the popularity of fantasy sports has also seen the number of fantasy sports sites go up tremendously and also more sites dedicated purely to fantasy sports have been established. Apart from traditional sites like ESPN, NFL, NBA and MLB sites that offered fans the chance to participate in fantasy games, new sites have also come up, fully dedicated to fantasy sports. One that has got every player talking is www.rotoguys.com/dev1 which offers upto date information about baseball, basketball, hockey and football to players and gives fans an opportunity to take part in fantasy various pools tailored to their satisfaction.
Fantasy sports is fast becoming the best way for fans to get closer to the sports action and stats seen above show that it is still growing.

Welcome to RotoGuys.com. We offer detailed reviews on daily fantasy sports sites, news in the

Roto World and Strategies from a unique perspective.

Although we have only been live for a few weeks we are gearing ourselves to be your one stop shop for all Roto needs from detailed reviews to strategies on picking your next team.   Remember to name and bookmark us now: RotoGuys.com.

As you undoubtedly know by now, the fantasy sports industry has been growing for several years.

How much? Led by the big players —Yahoo, ESPN, CBS Sports, Fox Sports — growth from 2007 to 2012 has averaged 12% annually, according to industry analyst IBISWorld, bringing annual profit to an estimated $397 million on $1.1 billion in revenue. The industry’s dominant sports league, the NFL, accounts for over 36% of the action.

Is the fantasy sports industry due to slow down? A little. Hit a wall altogether? No. Fantasy has succeeded in becoming ingrained in the way we consume sports these days. Can you imagine the reaction of NFL fans if Red Zone were suddenly taken away?

IBISWorld forecasts annual growth of 8.8% over the next five years, making fantasy a $1.7 billion business by 2017. The biggest drivers: the proliferation of mobile apps that make joining and following fantasy leagues easier; growth in non-traditional fantasy sports like auto racing, soccer and golf; and milking more money out of female players, who currently comprise 25% of the market but only 10% of the associated spending. “Fantasy sports providers that find a way to cater to this growing but underspending demographic will be well situated,” IBISWorld analysts wrote in a recent report.

Meantime, low barriers to entry have new players entering all the time. There are 295 of them out there, estimates IBISWorld, with further growth expected to take the total to 330 within a few years. Often, the more successful eventually sell out to one of the four  major players which, for all their power, still control only 30% of the market. All figures to grow incrementally as the big, revolving door of small players continues to bring in new business.

In January of 2013, Comcast Ventures invested 11 Million dollars via Series C funding in FanDuel which is regarded as the largest company in the space.  Comcast is the well known capital arm of the media and cable conglomerate as well as other firms.  Rounding out the lot was Cantor Fitzgerald LP, an investment bank which launched its own daily fantasy sports service, called Cantor Fantasy Sports. Lastly, MGT Capital Investments, a publicly-traded patent holding company, purchased a 65% stake in FanTD LLC, an operator of  Fanthrowdown.com, a new company in the industry for approximately $200,000 in cash and about $2.5 million in stock.

What we are actually witnessing is investment funds cautiously getting into the space via established players which further cements its position as a serious contender with online audiences seeking to wager without risk.  In addition, the fantasy sports world referred to as ‘Roto’ has had its loyal following for some time now.

Many larger players are also cautiously keeping an eye on the industry such as the major sports leagues and sports broadcasters realized the potential and synergies that can be implemented given the niche and need for updates, stats and news from its players/fan base.  

Unlike the purest form of gambling through either Poker, BlackJack of online Slot machines, a successful fantasy sports player will need skill.  He will need to know the ‘playing field’ including player stats, injury reports and history.   With the onset of daily games the bar is raised even further for a player to shine.

What we do now is that fantasy sports is big business with over 35 million players in North America with the average spending over 450.00 a year.  Players are also usually upper middle class with incomes of up over 90,000 annually.    We will all keep a watchful eye and enjoy…Play Ball!

Underrated Baseball Players of the Season

There are a number of players who manage to prove themselves as highly productive in Major League Baseball when they have been underrated all along. From rookies to veterans, this season saw a number of underrated veterans outshine themselves. While not all of the players we mention here are stars or franchise players, they have managed to fly under the radar while being part of the more exciting seasons of MLB.

Arizona Diamondbacks’ Paul Goldschmidt

This young 25 year old first baseman was one of the most underrated players this season. Goldschmidt from Diamondbacks batted 286 with 20 homeruns, 18 stolen bases, 82 RBI as well as an on base percentage of .359. His fielding percentage too was clocked at .995. Goldschmidt was picked out from Texas State University and rose quickly through the minors to the majors with unbelievable numbers. He is a true five tool player, something that we don’t get to see in the game these days. If you ask us, he will soon rise to the ranks of Jason Kubel, Justin Upton, Aaron Hill and Cody Ross.

Cincinnati Reds’ Homer Bailey

2012 was Bailey’s breakout season where he made a record of 13 – 10 with 168 strikeouts and a 3.68 ERA. Not only that, he performed consistently through the season. Pitching his way to the first no hitter who happened to be one of the best, Bailey fanned 10 in only 115 pitches, bringing in a victory for the Reds.

Oakland Athletics’ Josh Reddick

Unless this 25 year old performed the way he did, we have our doubts about Athletics’ victory in this American League West. After getting his first chance with Oakland Athletics as a regular starter, Reddick shined unexpectedly batting 242 with 85 RBI and 32 homeruns. He didn’t just do wonders with his bat but he also won the Gold Glove as an outfielder. He is undoubtedly one of the rising stars in MLB.

Toronto Blue Jays’ Brandon Morrow

Even though he is mostly on the injured list, when healthy, Morrow proves to be a true asset for the Toronto Blue Jays. This 28 year old has gone 10 – 7 with 108 strikeouts and a 2.96 ERA. He also averaged six innings a start through three complete games. While playing against Tampa Bay, Baltimore, New York and Oakland that are considered to bethe best teams in baseball, Morrow’s performance can be referred to as nasty. The poor chap has suffered a number of injuries since he started playing in 2007 but his career high was seen in 2011 where he pitches 179 innings.

Milwaukee Brewers’ Norichika Aoki

Despite ending up as the fifth Rookie of the Year, this 31 year old Japanese player was highly underrated even in 2013. Norichika ended his rookie career with 10 homeruns, a .288 average, 50 RBI and an on base percentage of .355 after giving the Brewers 520 at bats. He seems to be a valuable asset to the team, especially after reporting only 3 mistakes and 30 stolen bases. This makes Norichika just short of being called a five tool player.

Pittsburg Pirates’ Wandy Rodriguez

This 33 year old Pittsburg Pirates player is perhaps the most underrated pitcher we have seen in the last ten years. Never having won a major MLB award, he has never even been voted into an All Star Game. You will be shocked to learn that in his last five seasons, Wandy Rodriguez posted a sub four ERA, managing a record more than 500 only once. For the most part of his career, he played with Houston who has to their credit some of the worst rosters we have seen in the last decade. In 2012 however, Rodriguez ended with a sub four ERA under 500 and was also tied for second place in the games while pitching 205 innings.

Seattle Mariners’ Jason Vargas

Vargas was so underrated that he was even traded for Kendrys Morales by Los Angeles Angels. In 2012, he was part of the Seattle Mariners who ended up with the most disappointing team batting averages in Major League Baseball’s history. With no backing whatsoever, Vargas still managed an ERA of 3.85 and 14 wins while playing in the tough offensive division.

San Francisco Giants’ Marco Scutaro

Scutaro is known to be one of the best fielders and most versatile players of baseball. He can play in a range of positions and plays them really well. After starting off in 2012 Scutaro was taken into his current team when they gave up a minor league infielder Charlie Culberson. Since then, Scutaro has played a beautiful second and third base having batted .362 with 22 RBI.

The popularity of fantasy sports has greatly grown ever since the boom of the internet in the late 1990’s. Basing on the information obtained by the trade association of fantasy sports, more than 32 million people are engaged actively in Fantasy sports in Canada and the United States of America. Almost every existing sport has got a Fantasy league; this includes cricket, golf, soccer, basketball, baseball and football.

The reason why the popularity of Fantasy sports has increased greatly is because they permit people not to just be spectators, but gives them an opportunity to actively get involved with the sporting invent which is taking place. Besides that, the industry further encourages more people to tune in to those sports events. The sports which have benefited most from this rapid growth of interest in the fantasy games are those which are televised. Examples include baseball, basketball and football.

There is the argument that national productivity is down during the season of football. The reason for this is said to be because the people are taking a break out of their work days to manage their fantasy teams or fix their rosters. Even though in the industry of fantasy gaming there are some drawbacks, benefits do also exist. It has the capability to boost friendship among the employees and it can also help workers to make a valuable business contact.

Draftstreet

This is one of the top sites for online fantasy sports. They offer a wide range of sports leagues. They also have a variety of drafting options which make them different from the other big sites of fantasy sports like FanDuel. Currently, Draftstreet offers leagues for the MLB, NHL, NBA, NFL, PGA golf, college football, and college basketball. Most of the leagues of Draftstreet use the standard salary cap format for your team selection; however snake drafts and pick’em drafts are also offered.

Withdraws and deposits are very easy when it comes to Draftstreet. The easiest way is the use of a PayPal account for secure and quick withdraws and deposits. Draftstreet also accepts other payments methods like the Master card, Visa, American Express and Discover card. For persons who are used to depositing at online sportbooks, their ease of payments to and from their Draftstreet accounts will be refreshingly easy.

To add on that, Draftstreet has got an extremely good support team. They gave also got an extensive FAQ section which is to help you get answers to any basic questions you may be having. You can also get in touch with the customer service team by email or phone.
FanDuel

This is another customer friendly site for players of Fantasy sports. It offers a variety of games and community experience which cannot be found on any of the other sites. It offers sports daily games for all sports which you may ever want; this includes NFL, CBB, NHL, MLB, NBA and so many others. Besides the regularly offered 5 Player contests, 1010 Player contests and Heads Up contests, FanDuel also includes a multiplicity of customizable private contests which are floating around the chat box and buy-ins which range from $1 to $535. They offer Large Field contests (GPPs) which have got large guaranteed prize pools up to $10,000 and at times more.

FanDuel sets the example of how customer service should be operated in the world of daily fantasy sports. Besides the standard information, support email and contact, FanDuel also offers a phone number, live Chat, a contact form and a supplementary chat box through which you can get queries attended to by other users 24/7.
Cashing system of FanDuel is secure and simple. You may use PayPal or Visa to deposit instantly. However, all the withdrawals are handled by means of PayPal and the processing may be as soon as that same day.

DraftDay

DraftDay is also a site which is all about Fantasy sports betting. All games including NHL, MLB, NBA, and NFL are covered. Members can make a game selection, post the buy-in, and in case they win, the entire prize pool or portion thereof; is given their prize. The requirement for a standard game is number of entries which are enough to cover the encoded prize pool or the action is cancelled and all the buy-ins refunded. There is a guaranteed prize pool for guaranteed games. This simply implies that always action takes place and the prize is paid in full regardless of the number of registered players. HI-SI or Hit It & Split It games are very common due to the fact that all players who hit a specific number of points will share the prize pool equally.

The following methods of instant deposits are accepted by DraftDay. They include AmEx, Master Card, Visa and PayPal. The Payments of cashouts are done via mailed check or PayPal. All cashouts which exceed $600 require a social security number and physical mailing address.

Conclusion

It is not hard to see why the popularity of the industry of fantasy gaming has exploded over the past years. In addition to the sense of participation in the sport, more persons are becoming fans when they were not before. Fantasy gaming hasn’t only changed online activity, but also sports in general.

The Wall Street firm confirms its fantasy subsidiary is expanding its pay-to-play product by enhancing a smartphone app later this year amid rapid growth in the market.

Last week, Cantor Fantasy Sports, a unit of lower Manhattan-based investment shop Cantor Fitzgerald, confirmed it will be expanding its sophisticated pay-to-play fantasy products on smartphones later this year. The company is bringing a new playbook to the pay-to-play fantasy market dominated by CBS Sports, Yahoo Sports and others: Cantor’s niche is pay fantasy sports developed specifically for mobile devices.

“While currently a high percentage of people play fantasy on PCs and laptops, it’s a space that is rapidly moving to mobile. We believe we’ll see an uptick of mobile users,” said Cantor Fantasy Sports Vice President Matt Holt.

The Fantasy Sports Trade Association estimates that some 35 million Americans play fantasy sports, spending an average $95 each to play. Cantor’s entry fees range from $2 to $50,000.

Cantor Fantasy Sports, launched in 2012 by Cantor Data Services—a Cantor subsidiary based in Las Vegas—debuted a tablet app for fantasy games for Android devices last September and Apple devices at the beginning of the year.

Cantor’s fantasy push comes as pay-to-play fantasy games are seeing rapid growth and investor interest in New York. Manhattan-based pay-to-play fantasy provider FanDuel received an $11 million investment from Comcast Ventures earlier this year.

Cantor Fantasy Sports’ offering differs significantly from traditional fantasy leagues, most of which operate under a fictional salary cap. That is, users draft athletes—each assigned a dollar value—up to a set limit. Cantor’s new game allows users to pick any player who has been assigned a Cantor-generated point value that corresponds to each player’s expected performance.

The system is complex, but it more or less handicaps for the obvious stars—think LeBron James or Kobe Bryant—against lesser players who exceed their expected performance.

“We wanted to offer a game with no restrictions,” Mr. Holt said. “This means our customers can pick whoever they like.”

Big market

This kind of fast-moving fantasy sports represents a rapidly growing business, said Jason Waram, vice president of fantasy games and social media at ESPN, which offers more than 40 different fantasy games covering almost every sport imaginable. In the past several years, players have gravitated from hard-core, full-season fantasy-sports offerings to quick-decision, short-term games, usually involving only a handful of players for leagues that can exist for as short as one day.

“That’s something people can do quickly and still have a rooting interest when they go home at night,” Mr. Waram said.

But as competition for fantasy-sports dollars escalates, so does the risk that politicians will redefine the games as gambling and seek to impose regulations or taxes.

“Short-duration pay fantasy sports games introduce a really interesting wrinkle to the fantasy-sports world, legally,” said Jennifer Webb, regulatory and compliance manager with Gambling Compliance, a London-based gaming-industry market research firm.

Ms. Webb points out that regulators and legislators tend to focus on the integrity of the sport being played.

“If, hypothetically, short-duration pay-fantasy sports were to simulate or very nearly simulate a real-world sporting event or a real-world team, then the line between legal fantasy and illegal sports wagering starts to get pretty thin,” she said.

Marc Edelman, a law professor at Miami-based Barry University who studies the fantasy-sports industry, points out that these limits are almost certain to be tested in court.

“Even though Cantor seems to have very carefully eliminated the states with heightened risk,” said Mr. Edelman, “Cantor will have to show that their game involves more skill than chance [in order for it] to be legal.”

Cantor responded that it is aware of—and respects—the line between fantasy sports and gambling, and that its move into smartphone-based pay fantasy play is part of a long-term investment.

“We launched Cantor Fantasy Sports because we believe there is a robust fantasy-sports economy,” Mr. Holt said.

FULL ARTICLE:  http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20130227/TECHNOLOGY/130229886