To determine the draft order for their fantasy football league Orioles players bought Maryland blue crabs, assigned one to each team, and raced them through a tunnel in Camden Yards.

League commissioner/Orioles closer Jim Johnson and setup man Darren O’Day were in charge, as O’Day explained to Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun:

Jim and I were trying to think of something creative because everybody just does the blind draw. And we wanted to do something big. We were going to do snails, but crabs just seemed better to us. It seemed more apropos. It was more exciting than any other draft order.

Chris Davis’ crab won the race, giving him the first pick in the draft. And then the Orioles turned all 12 racers into crab dip.

As for who Davis is going to select with the No. 1 pick … he’s not sure. Which makes me think he ought to get the Rotoworld online draft guide and do a little research like I did before my draft this week.