The 2024 Fantasy Baseball UK season gained an extra day due to the postponed doubleheader between the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets getting made up on Monday 30 September, the day after the scheduled conclusion of the MLB regular season. The fantasy season’s final days featured close duels in FBUK LTD and each of the championship finals in the inaugural FBUK Head-to-Head leagues. There were also close battles in some of the regional division pennant races in the main FBUK League.
This year there were five different fantasy league types as we continued to increase the options each season since FBUK relaunched in 2020. As well as gradually bringing back all the formats from the original version of FBUK, by popular demand this year we ran Head-to-Head leagues for the first time since FBUK went live back in 2004. Having the widest choice of league formats we have ever offered was a great way to celebrate Fantasy Baseball UK’s 20th Anniversary season.
Congratulations go to the overall champions in each of the league formats:
- David Herrington (FBUK League)
- Gareth Jones (FBUK LTD – limited trade game)
- Matt Farley (FBUK Classic – salary cap game)
- René Becker (FBUK $5m Game – limited budget salary cap)
- Mark Finbow (H2H National League)
- Tim Stride (H2H Atlantic League)
Scroll down for the full round-up!
Winners list
Division Pennant Winners
| South | Secret Agents | René Becker |
| South East | Stealing Home | Michael Hatch |
| South West | Year of the Cub | Joshua Lucas |
| East | Tube Monkey | David Blowes |
| West | Heathens | David Herrington |
| Central | Davy Dodgers | Michael Davy |
| North | It’s Shohei Time | Simon Middleton |
| North East | Clavering Indians | Dean Robinson |
| North West | Weebles | Jonathan Tugwood |
Division Pennant Winners
| South | Hits and Giggles | Dave Perrin |
| Central | Gallo’s Humour | Gareth Jones |
| North | The Batting Bats | Nathaniel Tugwood |
Division Pennant Winners
| Channel | Secret Agents | René Becker |
| Mountain | Tiggerrrrr | Matt Farley |
All the divisional and overall standings from the various leagues can be viewed in the Standings section of the website. It also includes an area for archived season standings since FBUK relaunched in 2020.
FBUK All-Star Team of the Season
Based on fantasy points accumulated between 28 March and 30 September, here are the top performers at each position during the 2024 regular season:
| Ps. | Player | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | William Contreras | MIL | 749 |
| 1B | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | TOR | 854 |
| 2B | Ketel Marte | AZ | 776 |
| 3B | José Ramírez | CLE | 1090 |
| SS | Gunnar Henderson | BAL | 885 |
| OF | Aaron Judge | NYY | 1128 |
| OF | Juan Soto | NYY | 990 |
| OF | Jarren Duran | BOS | 828 |
| UT | Shohei Ohtani | LAD | 1278 |
| SP | Zack Wheeler | PHI | 840 |
| RP | Emmanuel Clase | BAL | 514 |
Notes: Points and position eligibility is based on Fantrax, where the salary cap league is run. Although the Fantrax and Yahoo leagues use the same scoring system, position eligibility might vary slightly for some MLB players. The Utility spot is the highest-scoring hitter who didn’t top a position category. Here, the Relief Pitcher spot is reserved for true relievers/closers rather than starting pitchers who happen to also be eligible at the RP spot.
Fantasy League Standings (top): Final
In all formats except the $5m Game and Head-to-Head, fantasy teams are grouped into roughly regional divisions that are also combined to give overall standings. As the $5m Game is a smaller group of teams, they are all in one division. Here is the overall Top 10 in each league at the conclusion of the season.
| Ps. | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heathens | 12877 |
| 2 | Year of the Cub | 12644 |
| 3 | It’s Shohei Time | 12491 |
| 4 | The Rescue Party | 12359 |
| 5 | Davy Dodgers | 12331 |
| 6 | Stealing Home | 12224 |
| 7 | YINRFC55 | 12174 |
| 8 | Secret Agents | 12104 |
| 9 | Beat Gould&Lengl | 12100 |
| 10 | HAFC – FTW | 12095 |
Having won the West regional division last year, Heathens (David Herrington) went better in 2024 and won the FBUK League Championship. Leading the overall standings heading into September, Heathens held off the challenge of Year of the Cub (Joshua Lucas) and a late surge from outside the Top 10 to third place by It’s Shohei Time (Simon Middleton – on the way to a third consecutive title in the North division).
The closest divisional races through September took place in the Central, East, North East and North West divisions.
By mid-September in the Central, last year’s division winner, Beat Gould&Lengl (John Steele) had closed a 200-point deficit to take over first place from Davy Dodgers (Michael Davy). Both managers engaged in September trades with other teams in the division to set themselves up for the last push. Over the final week or so, Davy Dodgers regained top spot and stretched out to a 231-point lead to take the division title.
At the end of August, TheUmpireStrikesOut (Dave Perrin) led the East by 111 points with the next three teams separated by only 70 points. By the middle of September, Tube Monkey (David Blowes) had moved into first place with a 60-point lead. Those two teams jostled for pole position heading into the final week but only around 70 points separated the top four teams, which also included Rupe’s Troops (Rupert Russell) and JoGarza Mavericks (Matt Bone).
TheUmpireStrikesOut hit their Innings Pitched (IP) limit on 26 September and gradually faded from the title race. Before the ATL–NYM doubleheader on the final day of the season on 30 September, only six points separated Tube Monkey in first and Rupe’s Troops in second. Both fantasy teams rostered players from the Braves and Mets but Tube Monkey managed enough points to preserve the lead and seal the East title.
In the North East, only 23 points separated division leader Clavering Indians (Dean Robinson) and last year’s pennant winner, Hartlepool A’s (Liam Tweddle), towards the end of August. The two teams continued to trade first place through September but a blockbuster trade on 12 September by Hartlepool A’s to procure Francisco Lindor went awry when Lindor spent most of the following fortnight injured. By the time Lindor returned for two high-scoring days on 29 and 30 September (44 points) he was on a different fantasy team. However, even if Lindor had remained with Hartlepool A’s those points wouldn’t have been enough to fully erase Clavering Indians‘ eventual 63-point lead in winning the division.
At the end of August, 2022 North West division champion Detroit Technos UK (David Crabtree) was around 100 points ahead of Shane Warnes Flipper (Jonathan Glover). On 19 September, Shane Warnes Flipper had moved into first place following a massive 140-point night but had hit their IP limit. Weebles (Jonathan Tugwood) was in third place, 158 points behind the leader. By the start of the final week, both the teams in the top two positions had reached their IP limits. From that point, Weebles, with 40 IP remaining, overturned the gap from third place to leapfrog into top spot, securing a repeat of last year’s North West division win.
| Ps. | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gallo’s Humour | 10682 |
| 2 | Hits and Giggles | 10602 |
| 3 | The Batting Bats | 10541 |
| 4 | CF G-Men | 10439 |
| 5 | Bazza’s Bareheads | 10329 |
| 6 | Karl’s First-Class Team | 10294 |
| 7 | Atlantic Crossing | 10237 |
| 8 | No Trade Clause | 10228 |
| 9 | Team Moran | 10215 |
| 10 | Jevinder’s Giants 1 | 9944 |
In FBUK LTD, where the number of player trades and acquisitions is limited, by the time September arrived, Hits and Giggles (Dave Perrin) had been in first place virtually all season in the South division and overall standings. Through the final month, Gallo’s Humour (Gareth Jones) rose from 250 points behind in third to take the lead. At the beginning of the final week, things had closed up with Batting Bats (Nathaniel Tugwood) rising from ninth to third and CF G-Men (Andy Quinton) in fourth, separated from top by fewer than 100 points. Ultimately, Gallo’s Humour was left smiling, the Limited Trade championship win complementing manager Gareth Jones’ fourth-place finish in the FBUK League.
| Ps. | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiggerrrrr | 13510 |
| 2 | Secret Agents | 12835 |
| 3 | BILKO | 12815 |
| 4 | Secret Agents Too | 12746 |
| 5 | Disposable Heroes | 12217 |
| 6 | Tacoma Rainfrogs | 11778 |
| 7 | Moonshot Cardinals | 11736 |
| 8 | Bleacher Creatures | 11705 |
| 9 | Moments on the Diamond | 11667 |
| 10 | Ready Eddie Go | 11659 |
| Ps. | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Abreu Bombers | 10479 |
| 2 | Freeway Express | 9506 |
| 3 | The Turtle Said | 9229 |
| 4 | Ready Eddie Go $5m | 8774 |
| 5 | Cray River Crawfish | 8740 |
| 6 | Tiggerrrrr $5m | 8590 |
| 7 | Sultans of Swat | 6814 |
| 8 | Westleigh Wombats | 4495 |
| 9 | Montybum | 3777 |
In the salary cap leagues — where managers build a roster within a budget for player salaries — last year’s champions in FBUK Classic and the $5m Game respectively, Tiggerrrrr (Matt Farley) and Jose Abreu Bombers (René Becker), convincingly repeated those feats in 2024, winning their leagues by large margins.
René’s other team, Secret Agents, comfortably took the division title in the Channel Conference, one of the two divisions in FBUK Classic.
National League
| Rank | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| Final Placings | ||
| 1 | Mark63’s Magnificent Team | |
| 2 | CF Giants | |
| 3 | Ted&Yaz&Manny&Me | |
| 4 | Yes Ndidi | |
| 5 | BayJays | |
| 6 | NoItchyRow | |
| 7 | Sonoran Desert Experience | |
| 8 | Monty Boomers |
It was the inaugural season of the FBUK Head-to-Head competition, featuring weekly matchups between fantasy teams. Two separate leagues ran their regular season until mid-September, after which playoffs took place to decide final placings and the eventual champion. The championship finals in both leagues were close affairs going down to the final day of the MLB regular season, which was extended to include the postponed doubleheader between Atlanta Braves New York Mets on Monday 30 September.
In the eight-team National League, the two group winners and the next two top-ranked teams progressed to the championship playoffs beginning 16 September to decide 1st to 4th place. The remaining four teams went into consolation playoffs to decide 5th to 8th place.
The no.1 seed CF Giants (Andy Quinton), which went 20-3 in the regular season, progressed through the semi-finals, as did no.3 seed Mark63’s Magnificent Team (Mark Finbow). The two faced off in the championship final matchup week beginning 23 September. Halfway through the week, there was little to separate the teams as Mark63 had just a two-point lead of 161-159. Going into the final day on 30 September, CF Giants now had a 61-point advantage but Mark63 had two Braves starting pitchers on their roster that it turned out would each throw in Monday’s doubleheader against the Mets.
In Game 1, Spencer Schwellenbach earned the quality start and 29 points, allowing one earned run over seven innings. In a last-minute change, Grant Holmes started on the mound for the Braves in Game 2 due to Chris Sale’s back problems. Holmes delivered four scoreless innings and seven strikeouts to provide Mark63 with a further 19 points. Including a 28-point day by Braves’ second baseman Ozzie Albies, Mark63’s Magnificent Team scored 84 points on Monday to take over the lead and win the championship 475-460 versus CF Giants.
Atlantic League
| Rank | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| Final Placings | ||
| 1 | Silver State 51s | |
| 2 | Acuña maTatis | |
| 3 | Secret Agents Too | |
| 4 | Han Soto | |
| 5 | Steelees Stunners | |
| 6 | Teddy’s Wellies | |
| 7 | Wasteland Eskimos | |
| 8 | Steven’s Fabulous Team | |
| 9 | Ruth’s Bambinos | |
| 10 | Men Behaving Adley |
In the 10-team Atlantic League, the two group winners and the next four top-ranked teams progressed to the championship playoffs beginning 9 September. Due to being a slightly larger league than the National League, the Atlantic League had an extra playoff round but the two group winners — Acuña maTatis (Dave Perrin) and Silver State 51s (Tim Stride) — secured a bye to avoid the quarter-finals and head directly to the semi-finals. As in the National League, the remaining four teams in the standings went into consolation playoffs.
The race to finish group winners and secure the bye was close. Heading into September, teams were tied in first and second in both groups in the Atlantic League. Group A was a tight battle all season between Dan and Dave Perrin (Han Soto and Acuña maTatis respectively). A loss by Han Soto in the final regular season matchup against Steven’s Fabulous Team helped Acuña maTatis win Group A by one game. Group B had been led by Teddy’s Wellies (Edward Hall) for the majority of the season but in the second half Silver State 51s went 9-1 to take over top spot in the penultimate week then hold it to secure the group win.
It was those top two seeds that progressed through the playoffs to meet in the final. Silver State 51s built up an early lead of around 100 points in the first half of the matchup week but Acuña maTatis closed the gap, including a high-scoring day on the final Sunday that added 137 points mainly via pitching and a big day by New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor, recently returned from injury.
Heading into the Braves–Mets doubleheader on the extended Monday, Silver State 51s‘ lead had been cut to 28 points. The teams had virtually no players involved in Monday’s doubleheader except the key factor of Francisco Lindor being on Acuña maTatis‘ roster and whether he would continue Sunday’s performance into the doubleheader. He did so in Game 1, providing 19 points to Acuña maTatis, including a 2-run homerun. However, with the Mets winning Game 1 and securing their postseason berth, they rested Lindor in Game 2, meaning Silver State 51s could breathe a sigh of relief. With a few insurance points added via a solid inning of relief from Reynaldo López (usually in the Braves’ starting rotation), Silver State 51s sealed the Atlantic League championship with a narrow 470-456 win.
The full details of the Head-to-Head League regular season standings and postseason results can be view in the Standings section of the website.
The closer
Over the offseason, the forums on the FBUK website will remain open and you can also follow Fantasy Baseball UK on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. Look out for announcements about the 2025 fantasy league, which usually start going out in February.
Thanks for playing, and hopefully see you next season!
Fantasy Baseball UK
