The Gehrig Story

I have a sentimental attachment to Gehrig World - the world, not so much

the Rochester team - which is probably a little different than most.

What follows is an explanation of what happened to Gehrig and 

why the sentiment exists.

Gehrig World started out as a public one. Like many public leagues, it converted 

to a private league after questionable trade activities happened - not outright 

collusion, but people skeptical of one or more trade partners and about tanking. 

The usual stuff.

A league wide vote was made and I (hypnotoad) was named commish.

I considered it a real honor, and took it very seriously. We had probably over

25 seasons as a very stable, competent private league. We didn’t have any

forum celebrities like MikeT there as a distraction and to garner attention, but 

we also never had any serious issues with collusive activity or tanking. I 

remember there being exactly one instance of asking an owner to withdraw 

because he didn’t meet the modest minimum win requirements. So a very 

good HBD experience for  most.

This is where things get dark.

Nearing the end of season 42 (in early 2017), I had a routine colonoscopy as

I had recently turned 50. Turns out the large polyp they removed was cancerous

and I would need surgery to determine if the cancer had spread. [Spoiler Alert: 

It didn’t spread and I’m fine. Also, get your colonoscopies!].

However, the surgery did have complications and as a result I spent about a

month in the hospital, another month at home in very bad shape and another 

month at home finally getting better.

I managed to win the season 42 World Series while in such bad shape in the 

hospital that I didn’t even make any managerial moves. That was bittersweet. 

But I was so out of it as the season concluded I wasn’t able to do the recruiting

work that every private league needs to get to the next season.

It soon became apparent that I couldn’t continue as commish. Unfortunately,

no other league members were willing to make the commitment to be the next

commish, so it went public. After that watershed event, many owners left -

they enjoyed the private league, and didn’t want to play in a public one without 

things like minimum win requirements and owner screenings. I was astounded 

to see that ultimately almost 30 owners left.

There are a few die hards who have stayed almost the entire time. There are 

also a few former owners who have checked in and out.

It was a long recovery and I not only managed to get back to work but also back

into the world of WiS, including HBD by the late Spring/Summer of 2017. It was 

at that point that I checked back into Gehrig and grabbed my old team. If nothing 

else I get to look at my WS trophy every time I visit the office page.

But the once thriving league hasn’t been that in almost 2 years now. A league 

where I ‘met’ many good fantasy baseball owners, and still follow on twitter. 

A league that had the coveted “Hypno’s Hootenanny” award that rewarded the

league’s best defense with a gift certificate. A league where I and others 

enjoyed season after season.

I’m hoping that new owners can join Gehrig and help revive it.