My brother is a huge baseball fan, but he absolutely hates fantasy baseball.  He tried it – once – and vowed never to do it again.  It’s not that he’s against fantasy sports; he pays fantasy football every year.  He avoids fantasy baseball for one simple reason – hometown bias. 

As a devout San Francisco Giants fan, he simply can’t overcome the separation between fantasy and reality (“There’s no way I’ll ever pick a Dodger!” – type of attitude).  I understand, since there can be a conflict of interest between your hometown team and your fantasy team.

I want to offer up some suggestions to help overcome any hometown bias that arises.

Let me say this simply, you always root for your “real” hometown squad first and your fantasy team second.  Think about it, your “real” team (i.e. the San Diego Padres) may not have another playoff run for several years.  When it comes to your fantasy team you ”always” have another shot next year, something you can’t say about real Major League teams.

Suppose you are a fanatical Giants supporter like my brother.  You could always play in an AL-only league.  Other than a few interleague games, you’ll be in the clear.  Even if you’re in a NL-only league, you could build a pretty good lineup using just the Giants and the teams in the Central and East.  The same goes for mixed leaguers.  You could go AL-heavy along with a sprinkling of players from your favorite team.

I know these aren’t perfect solutions, but maybe it help you shed any lingering hometown bias and enjoy both the fantasy and reality sides of a great game.