Introduction: Testimony
The problem is that Ron is a Rotoholic. The journey to sobriety begins.
1. Backstory
Everything you never wanted to know about the first 27 years of his life.
2. The Founders
Bill James, the founders of Rotisserie and their common ancestry.
3. Civil War
The American Dream League challenges Rotisserie’s sacrosanct rules which leads to the first wave of pioneering analysts.
4. The Baseball Association of the Granite State
Ron’s first forays into the fantasy world and what it was like to play the game in the 1980s.
5. Thanksgiving
The genesis of the Baseball Forecaster and a small business begins.
6. The Next Pioneers
The beginnings of John Benson, Steve Mann and the rise of “anyone with a typewriter.”
7. The Golden Age of Fantasy Media
Origin stories – Fantasy Baseball magazine, USA Today Baseball Weekly, radio, phone, video and what “online” meant in the early 1990s.
8. Seeds of Discontent
The gambling aura, fantasy vs sabermetrics and the rise of intra-industry literary criticism.
9. Marketing 101
Some basic concepts that helped set the Baseball Forecaster apart from the rest.
10. The Most Accurate Projections in the Universe
Early efforts at player projections, Alex Patton, accuracy acrimony attacks, and early analytical breakthroughs.
11. Meetings of the Minds
John Hunt, the origins of LABR, ESPN’s pay-per-view special and Ron’s room in the castle.
12. The Great Strike
Players go on strike, putting the industry into crisis, and the first fantasy baseball conference.
13. Building the Mother Ship
The evolution of Baseball HQ and Ron’s business philosophies.
14. LABR Unrest
The first live LABR draft and some of the personalities and controversies.
15. The Next Wave
The internet happens. Early rise of major media sites, Rotonews, explosion of independent sites and “information is supposed to be free.”
16. The REBEL League
The creation of Tout Wars and the inaugural draft extravaganza.
17. AfterMath
The LIMA Plan, the title defense and a Cease and Desist letter is sent to Tout Wars.
18. Davids and Goliaths
The creation of fantasy’s first trade associations and the little guys get left behind.
19. Esprit de Corps
Expansions of First Pitch Arizona, Tout Wars, spring magazines and road trips.
20. Welcome to McLean
A cornucopia of controversies in the experts leagues and the creation of the XFL.
21. Sincerest Form of Flattery
Intellectual property infringers and upping the competitive acrimony.
22. Realityland
Fantasyland – the book. the film, the reality.
23. Cardinal Rules
Ron gets the call to help form an advisory group for the St. Louis Cardinals.
24. Words
The crusade to change “fantasy,” and what is an expert, anyway?
25. Sodom and Gomorrah
Troubling industry tremors, high stakes competitions and the fallout from legalizing fantasy.
26. The Best of Times
The peak of the addiction, the resolution and the final epiphany.
Epilogue: What Then?
In the years since 2008.