ROSENBERG: Looking back at the best, worst of fantasy baseball

And, mercifully, that's a wrap.

Wednesday concluded the 2011 Major League Baseball regular season and a six-month fantasy roller coaster ride for yours truly.

While there were many highs — Robinson Cano, Victor Martinez, Ricky Romero, Jeremy Hellickson and Freddie Freeman among them — they weren't enough to offset the lows — Grady Sizemore, Hanley Ramirez, Aubrey Huff, Jair Jurrjens Act II and a brutal August — that doomed me to a fifth-place finish and out of the money (my league pays out the top four spots) for the first time in four years.

But, hey, you can't win them all, right?

Besides, my football team is off to a 4-0 start, Drew Brees is on my side, trading Antonio Gates for Jason Witten wasn't dumb, Steve Smith is beautiful and Fred Jackson has been everything has-been Rashard Mendenhall hasn't.

Here's a look back at the best and worst of fantasy baseball 2011.

The Good

P: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers — The term "filthy" best describes the 23-year-old southpaw, who won the NL Triple Crown by pacing the Senior Circuit in wins (his 21 tied for top honors with Arizona's Ian Kennedy), ERA (2.28) and strikeouts (248).

P: Justin Verlander, Tigers — While Kershaw was tearing through NL bats like a Godzilla-sized termite, Verlander was doing the same for the Tigers, winning the AL Triple Crown with a major league-best 24 wins and 250 strikeouts to go along with a nifty 2.40 ERA.

C: Victor Martinez, Tigers — His power was lacking (his 12 homers were down from the 20 he hit in 2010), but Martinez's .330 average and 103 RBIs more than made up for it. Thank you, Third Round Curse, for sparing me.

1B: Miguel Cabrera, Tigers — Cabrera's levels of crazy caused some owners to shy away on draft day, but those who rolled with him were rewarded with an MVP-caliber campaign that included an AL-leading .344 average, 30 HRs, 105 RBIs and 111 runs.

2B: Robinson Cano, Yankees — Cano didn't win the AL batting title I predicted for him, but his .302 average, 28 HRs, 118 RBIs, 104 runs more than justified my using the 11th overall pick to secure his services six months ago.

SS: Troy Tulowitzki, Rockies — Though his stolen base total dipped for the third straight season (20 to 11 to 9), Tulo cemented his status as a first-round fantasy pick with a .302 average, 30 HRs, a career-high 105 RBIs and 81 runs.

3B: Jose Bautista, Blue Jays — Bautista proved his breakout 2010 — which featured 54 HRs, 124 RBIs and 109 runs — was no fluke by delivering 43 HRs, 103 RBIs and 105 runs while adding 40-plus points to his average in 2011.

OF: Matt Kemp, Dodgers — Kemp flirted with becoming baseball's first Triple Crown winner since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 up until the final hours of the regular season before winding up first in the NL with 39 HRs, leading the free world with 126 RBIs and producing the NL's third-best average (.324). His 40 steals would have looked great on my roster, too.

OF: Ryan Braun, Brewers — The only person not named Matt Kemp in the NL MVP discussion, Braun was a fantasy behemoth in 2011, batting a career-best .332 (second to the Mets' Jose Reyes, who finished at .337 — and should be required to wear a "Hello Kitty" Snuggie for the remainder of his career for his duck-and-cover act Wednesday — and swiping a career-high 33 bases to go along with 33 HRs, 111 RBIs and 109 runs.

OF: Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox — Ellsbury was a dirty word in fantasy circles during an injury-plagued 2010, but he rebounded big time by establishing career highs in HRs (32), RBIs (105) and runs (119) while batting .321 with 39 steals.