In fantasy baseball, I hate playing players from the Red Sox. It ruins the real game for me. Instead of following the action, I get distracted by the individual at bat or inning pitched. I do not want to care if a player gets a walk instead of a hit. I do not want to be rooting for a player to steal a base when the team is up by nine runs.

I hate playing players from the American League East. Because those players often play Red Sox. I do not want to have mixed feelings about a Red Sox win. Is it okay if Aubrey Huff hits a home run when the Sox are already ahead by 6? I do not want to think like that.

Another problem is this: I know too much about the Sox. Listening to games on the radio I will hear about who’s in a slump, who doesn’t look sharp, who has a nagging injury, and all of this is bad information. All that matters in fantasy baseball are the numbers. Impressionistic color commentary is mind-junk.

Now, do I avoid drafting Sox players? Do I avoid the entire AL East? Not consciously. Aubrey Huff is my Paul Konerko replacement at the moment. I have several times tried to put together a deal this season for Kevin Youkilis (let’s just say I’ve lucked out with Aubrey Huff.)

But there must be a subconscious disincentive at work, a potential bias in my player analysis given that I’m definitely happy to have no Red Sox players on my fantasy team.

If ever I play a single-league competition, it must be the National League. I don’t care a whit about the National League.