MLB Fantasy Baseball
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MLB Fantasy Baseball

MLB Fantasy Baseball History And How It Killed The Baseball Card Industry! 

The over production of baseball cards is a main reason the industry went from boom to bust.  However, to the sports card industry, the evolution of Fantasy Baseball has been like an ‘Angel Of Death’.  In our minds, Fantasy Sports was the final NAIL in the sports card coffin! It is a big factor in why those Ken Griffey Jr., Cal Ripken, etc. rookie cards are worth A LOT less than they once were. This might be blunt but those cards are worth DOG SHIT!       

At the sports cards industry’s peak, kids connected with baseball players through trading cards.  Like a broker accumulating stocks, youths showed their schoolyard net worth by the number of Derek Jeter rookie cards they had in a card binder.  These cards had value while also being coveted, sought after and traded.  When value in the trading card market was lost, trading players within a fantasy MLB league became a lot more interesting. 

Value or $$$ quickly becomes part of the of the Fantasy Baseball equation.  Drafting players to be a part of your fantasy team became more appealing than hording worthless cards.  Let’s jump into the history of this phenomenon.  

The Early History Of Fantasy Baseball

Materials in an archive at the New York Public Library show how the famous author, Jack Kerouac, created and played a private fake version of Fantasy Baseball. (Fake Fantasy Baseball by yourself…. What a weirdo!) 

In 1961, an early form of REAL fantasy baseball was coded for IBM computers by John Burgeson.  The program allowed two teams to play one another using random number generation while gathering stats to determine game outcomes. 

The 1st publicly open fantasy baseball game, Dugout Derby, was made in 1989 by Lee Marc, Robert Barbiere and Brad Wendkos of Phoneworks. However, to launch the game in twelve newspapers throughout the country, they teamed with Wakeman & deForest from the West Coast. Papers that offered Dugout Derby included the LA Times, Chicago Sun Times, and NY Post and now archives of Dugout Derby are available in most libraries. Dugout Derby allowed readers to create a team of major league players. These players would then earn stats based on actual performance. Plus, the readers could trade those players on a daily basis and gain points in an effort to beat each other to win prizes.

StatementGames Fantasy Sports  

From a traditional sense, there are three main types of Fantasy Baseball formats. Those formats are Rotisserie, Head-to-Head & Points but now, StatementGames has created a different type of Fantasy Baseball. The 1-minute overview video found on the platforms Home Page will show how StatementGames is different.  In the StatementGames version of Fantasy Baseball, players pick Baseball “Prop-Bets” or “Statements” that pertain to an individual sporting event.  As a game is played, points are awarded for correct statements.  Compete in leagues of 8-12 and the user with the most points from correct “Statements” Wins!

Playing StatementGames is a no-brainer because it is FREE 2 Play! Also, winners can cash in their coins to get various gift cards. In addition to gift cards, some tournaments will have MLB tickets as the main prize!

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