Bio
About Ron Shandler
RON SHANDLER began publishing his unique brand of statistical information under the Shandler Enterprises name in 1986. A fantasy leaguer since 1984 and a simulation gamer since 1971, Ron was the first author to develop sabermetric applications for fantasy league play. He is the author of the annual Baseball Forecaster, celebrating its 38th edition in 2024; he is the founder of the industry trail-blazing web site, BaseballHQ.com and the First Pitch Forums nationwide conference series. Ron also helped spearhead the creation of the Tout Wars national experts league, which was the focus of the “Fantasyland” book and documentary film. He is a member of the FSGA and FSWA Halls of Fame.
Chronology
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
1980s
1984
(from L to R) Ron Shandler, Tom Cecere, Walter Heinhold, Mark Johnson, and Neil Claffey
Joined first Rotisserie league (Hockey Association of the Granite State). Following spring created the Baseball Association of the Granite State, which would run for 10 years.
1985
Joined the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).
1986
Formed Shandler Enterprises Co.
Published Baseball SuperSTATS; renamed Baseball Forecaster in 1988.
1987
Launched the “Sports Forecaster” newsletter; renamed “Baseball Forecaster” newsletter in 1990.
1988
“Rotisserie Baseball and the New Statistics” article
Published in SABR’s Baseball Research Journal.
1990s
1994
Invited to participate in LABR, the industry’s first national experts competition. Spent the entire summer in first place, but dropped to third as the players went on strike.
1996
Launched BaseballHQ.com.
Took over Arizona Fall League fantasy baseball conference from Fantasy Sports Journal. Renamed First Pitch Arizona.
Shandler Enterprises Co. was reformed as Shandler Enterprises, LLC.
1997
Finished in 3rd place, LABR-NL.
1998
Spearheaded the founding of Tout Wars, the industry’s second national experts competition.
Won both AL and NL Tout Wars competitions.
Created the LIMA Plan.
Discontinued publishing the “Baseball Forecaster” newsletter.
1999
Published Fantasy Baseball Workbook.
Finished in 2nd place, Tout Wars-AL.
Finished in 1st place tie, Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) Experts League.
2000s
2000
Published Rotisserie Baseball Cookbook.
BaseballHQ.com won the Fantasy Sports Trade Association‘s (FSTA) “Best Fantasy Baseball Online Content” award.
Won Tout Wars-AL
2001
Launched RotoHQ.com, a site dedicated to fantasy baseball strategy
Baseball HQ data was used to demonstrate a fantasy baseball model in the college textbook, Business Forecasting by John E. Hanke, 7th Edition.
Won LABR-National League.
Finished in 2nd place, FSTA
2002
Shandler Enterprises LLC. named FSTA’s “Small Business of the Year.”
2003
Launched First Pitch Forums local conferences.
Launched the XFL (fantasyxperts.com), the industry’s only national experts keeper league.
BaseballHQ.com won the FSTA’s “Best Fantasy Baseball Online Content” award.
2004
Helped create and participate in an advisory board for the St. Louis Cardinals baseball club.
Created Tout Wars, LLC and became part of the management group.
BaseballHQ.com won the FSTA’s “Best Fantasy Baseball Online Content” award.
Finished in 2nd place, Tout Wars-AL
Finished in 3rd place, XFL
2005
Received the FSTA’s Lifetime Achievement Award, one of only four people in the industry to receive the honor at the time.
Finished in 3rd place, XFL
2006
Featured in the book Fantasyland by Sam Walker.
Began publishing the Minor League Baseball Analyst annual book.
Began publishing the Graphical Pitcher (by John Burnson), which became the Graphical Player in 2007 (through 2008).
2007
Regular columnist for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com.
Was one of 12 industry analysts who each contributed a chapter to the book, How Bill James Changed Our View of Baseball.
Published the second edition of How to Value Players for Rotisserie Baseball (by Art McGee).
Published the Baseball Injury Report (by Rick Wilton).
2008
Sold Shandler Enterprises, LLC to Fantasy Sports Ventures. Created The Shandler Company, LLC.
“Fanalytics” column began running weekly during the baseball season in USA TODAY (through 2014).
2009
“Shandler” appears as an entry in The Dickson Baseball Dictionary 3rd Edition.
Began a periodic blog in the Huffington Post.
Finished in 3rd place, Tout Wars-AL.
Finished in 2nd place tie, FSTA
2010s
2010
Appeared in the 2010 ESPN documentary, “Silly Little Game,” part of the network’s “30-for-30” series.
Featured in “Fantasyland”, the documentary film based on the book.
First Pitch Arizona won FSTA’s “Best Live Fantasy Event” award.
Won the FSTA Experts League.
Finished in 3rd place, Bloomberg Sports / MLB.com Experts League
2011
The 2002 edition of the Baseball Forecaster appeared in the movie, “Moneyball.”
2012
Inducted into the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Hall of Fame.
Fantasy Sports Ventures sold to Gannett, Inc.’s USA Today Sports Media Group.
Finished in 3rd place, Tout Wars-AL
Finished in 3rd place, XFL
Finished in 2nd place, FSTA
2013
Launched monthly fantasy leagues at ShandlerPark.com (through 2015)
Named to the FSWA Board of Directors.
Wrote the Introduction to Winning Fantasy Baseball by Larry Schechter.
Stepped down from running the operations of BaseballHQ.com.
Finished in 3rd place, XFL
2014
Celebrated the 20th anniversary of First Pitch Arizona.
Finished in 2nd place, FSTA
2015
Stepped down from contributing to BaseballHQ.com.
Re-launched RonShandler.com as a content site.
Restarted regular contributions to ESPN.com (through 2018).
Baseball Forecaster won the FSWA’s “Best Fantasy Baseball Publication” award.
Celebrated the 30th Anniversary edition of the Baseball Forecaster.
Finished in 2nd place, FSTA
2016
Published Ron Shandler’s Other Book.
Celebrated the 20th anniversary of BaseballHQ.com.
Finished in 3rd place, XFL
Finished in 3rd place, FSTA
2017
Published The BABS Project: Uncovering the Truth About Winning at Fantasy Baseball.
BaseballHQ.com won the FSTA’s “Best News & Analysis Site, Single Sport” award.
Finished in 4th place, Tout Wars Mixed (but 1 hit out of 2nd)
2018
Baseball Forecaster won the FSTA’s “Best Print Publication” award.
2019
Launched BABSbaseball.com.
Joined TheAthletic.com as a weekly columnist.
Finished in 2nd place, XFL
Finished in 1st place, TheAthletic Best Ball league
2020s
2020
Finished in 3rd place, XFL
2021
Won the LABR 12-team Mixed League
Retired from LABR and Tout Wars
2023
Fantasy Expert, Ron’s historical memoir released.
2023