Fantasy Fox: Vital links for running your fantasy team every day

Published Apr. 6, 2015 3:20 a.m. ET

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Ah, Opening Day.

The mere mention of it evokes memories of Dwight Evans belting a homer on the first pitch of the season (circa 1986), Tuffy Rhodes clubbing three homers off Dwight Gooden at Wrigley Field (circa 1994) or rookie Jason Heyward's crushing blow off Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano (circa 2010) -- putting the Turner Field crowd into a state of delirium.

(As great as that moment was, if the Braves had delayed Heyward's debut by 12-15 days ... the outfielder wouldn't have become an unrestricted free agent for two more seasons.)

It also brings reality to the fantasy-baseball universe, in terms of harvesting the fruits of one's roto-draft labor -- or in my case, seeking justification for spending $29 on Yasiel Puig in an "experts" auction league.

But with that, there's a sobering reminder: Winning a fantasy baseball pennant -- especially in daily leagues -- will be a cumbersome grind, and one that requires your attention every day. With very few exceptions.

It's not like fantasy football, where you can win a championship by merely drafting well ... and then addressing your team's roster page on Wednesday (free-agent acquisitions) and Sunday morning (submitting lineups).

To taste the sweetness of a baseball pennant, you'll probably have to overhaul 40 percent of your roster from beginning to end. And please, please don't fall asleep at the transactions/lineups wheel ... after the fun of fantasy football begins around mid-August.

And trust me, the siren call of fantasy football will be a monster -- especially when you get sucked into the first mock draft.

Here are some vital (and some not-so-vital) links to help you get through the fantasy baseball season:

DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

The official (and up-to-date) depth charts for each Major League Baseball club.

ESSENTIAL LINKS FOR EVERYDAY BROWSING

Here are the Web sites I check multiple times a weekâin the name of 24/7 roster improvements:

Baseball America
Baseball America's 2015 Top Prospects
FanGraphs
Rotowire's 2015 Player Projections
Rotoworld.com's Injury Page
MinorLeagueBaseball.com's stats page
MLB.com's fantasy page
MLB.com's Top 100 Prospects
Baseball-Reference
Baseball Prospectus
Accuscore.com MLB page
Retrosheet
The Hardball Times
The Fantasy Fox (shameless plug)

A YOUTUBE GIFT FROM THE GODS

As a serial YouTuber of sports-related events from the 1970s and 1980s, I stumbled upon a gem from 1978-79: Hall of Famer, er, legendary hit king Pete Rose introducing the world to Atari Baseball, with some assistance from an unknown umpire (definitely not Ron Luciano) and the world's clunkiest television setâone that undoubtedly forced viewers to manually change the channel every five minutes.

As a bonus, check out Don Knotts' borderline-creepy cameo for the game Breakout.

It's hard to believe now, but Rose was one of the most bankable product pitchmen of his time. From Atari, Kool-Aid and Wheaties to Tegrin and this jewel from Aqua Velva ... which might go down as the last sexist commercial toward women journalists in sports history.

For sitcom buffs, check out Vic Tayback, aka Mel from TV's Alice, giving Rose the business in an Aqua Velva spot, predating his sitcom rise to fame.

Good stuff ... minus the barbershop quartet-style rendition of "Nothing Beats An Aqua Velva Man."

Jay Clemons, the 2008 Fantasy Football Writer of the Year (Fantasy Sports Writers Association) and 2015 finalist for Sports Blog Of The Year (Cynopsis Media), can be reached, day or night, on Twitter at @ATL_JayClemons.