I will never forget the first season I got involved in fantasy baseball. The year was 1992 and my first pick was an up-and-coming first baseman from the Chicago White Sox named Frank Thomas. I was hooked. Following “Big Frank” that season and watching him rake his way through the American League is something I will never forget. I enjoyed baseball before that year, but that was the year I fell in love with the game. And I have fantasy baseball to thank.

Spending that whole season following box scores and checking the highlights to see how my fantasy team was performing turned me into a rabid baseball stats junkie. But it did much more than that. Fantasy baseball made me into a baseball FAN.

I started to follow the Detroit Tigers because my catcher was Mickey Tettleton. My love for the Blue Jays deepened because I had a young starter named Juan Guzman in my rotation. I pored over box scores for Red Sox games because I had Wade Boggs at the hot corner. In other words, I started to follow many teams and many players. In my mind, that is the definition of a baseball fan.

I didn't win my fantasy league in 1992. I learned that I wasn't the best owner in my first fantasy season, but you know what I did learn? That fantasy baseball is about one thing and one thing only..... HAVING FUN.

More and more as I have the opportunity to discuss and analyze fantasy baseball with other fans, I need to constantly remind myself that fantasy baseball really comes down to having fun.

John Marino over at The Fantasy Fix wrote a great article about introductory tips for fantasy baseball beginners. It got me thinking that the number one rule in fantasy baseball is to remember that it is just a game and can really complement the whole baseball experience.

I hear all the time about fantasy owners trying to work the rules in their favor, making unseemly trade offers to unsuspecting opponents and using loopholes in their rosters to try to win at all costs. The more I hear about these things, the more I think back to 1992 and remember how much I loved fantasy baseball then. And you know what? I still do. I just have to remind myself every now and then.

..