Boston turned fantasy football draft order into a clubhouse spectacle. Names were written on baseballs and Jason Varitek, the Red Sox game-planning and run-prevention coach, gave the swings. The farther a ball traveled, the better the pick. Greg Weissert endured a miscue and slid to a late slot, a reminder that preseason theatrics can tilt rosters as surely as last season’s stats.

Boston isn’t alone in park-based odds-setting: Fenway’s Green Monster golf-shot ritual preceded this, and Toronto used Rogers Centre to drop parachutable army figurines toward a bucket. These quirks showcase how teams blend sport and strategy for fantasy leverage; for managers, the takeaway is to treat the order as chaos and seek value where it emerges in the shuffle.