There are some things about fantasy ball that are just counterintuitive. Like Wade Boggs, who was always a great player on the field, but it never really translated into a fantasy value worthy of his actual skill set.

In this particular instance I am talking about platooning, something that has to be an integral of a successful Strat-O-Matic team. And, yet I sometimes fight it.

For example, in my American League I selected Eric Chavez as my third sacker a couple of years back when we had our initial draft. He was young, had power and great defense and good on-base numbers, even if he seemed like an underachiever.

I have also had, on the same roster, both Casey Blake and Mark DeRosa.

But, Blake I played mainly in right, and DeRosa was an afterthought utility guy when I drafted him three years ago. The following year DeRosa proved he was more than a fluke, while at the same time Chavez took a real dive in his totals.

So, for the first part of 2007, I stubbornly played Chavez every day as my third baseman, and though my team was over .500, and even contenders, they were not playing as well as I thought they could.

And, then I started playing Blake and DeRosa at third and the outfield, along with shuffling Robb Quinlan and Ross Gload in as DH, or the outfield, depending upon the pitcher.

And bingo, the Mountaineers simply took off.

So, with Opening Day for our 2008 season a little over a week away, it is time for me to set my Computer Managers for both my AL and NL teams, I am trying to remind myself of that success and that the onfield logic of "play your best player at each position as much as you can" is not necessarily the best case scenario in Strat-O-land.

I mean, I know Blake and Chavvy are platooning (I traded DeRosa for David Bush in the off-season) at third, and I have Curtis Thigpen as a right handed counterpart to Joe Mauer (there are player usage limitations). And, I will again work Gload and Quinlan in as DH and spelling other spots as much as I can.

And, in the NL Carlos Ruiz and Mike Rabelo will share the backstop duties, but other than that I have a pretty set lineup, largely the result of no DH.

But, the important things for me to remember are both to use that platoon that works so well, and to not start my absolute best lineup the first few months hoping to get out to a good start.

Not that I won't play the best lineups I can, but, I am going to remember that the second strength is making sure later in the season, when my opponents have hit player limits are have weaker rosters, I can take advantage.

I can wait for the first dice to roll.