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Who is reggie988?
My name is Nick. I’m a 27 year old bachelor and live in Bloomington, IN. I work for Comcast (boo, hiss, I know) doing advance troubleshooting/quality control.
How did you learn about whatifsports.com?
I became a member in March 2003 after reading about the Baseball simleagues in Bill Simmons column. 5 years now…wow!
Which games of ours have you played?
Simleague Baseball and Football, Hoops and Gridiron Dynasty, and HBD. Currently I only play HD and HBD.
Besides sports, what are some of your other interests and hobbies?
I’m really into music and the local music scene here in town. It’s a college town, so there are a lot of great bands around. I’ve played in a few bands myself, but don’t have anything going on currently. I guess I spend most of my time out on the town, when I’m not plopped in front of a computer.
Which five people, past or present sit at your dream roundtable discussion?
I’d have to go with Bruce Springsteen, Kurt Vonnegut, Prince, Stanley Kubrick, and Winston Churchill…I have no idea what we’d talk about.
Who are your favorite players of all-time?
I’m a huge Cubs fan who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, so as a kid, I idolized Ryne Sandberg. I also loved Andre Dawson (he needs to be in the HOF) and Greg Maddux.
Which are your favorite teams of all-time?
Despite the letdown, I loved the 2003 Cubs team. When I was a kid, it was the ’89 Cubs. I’m also a Colts fan (before Manning even) and have to put the Super Bowl team on the list.
Did you play baseball or basketball (or other sports) growing up?
I played baseball, soccer, and ran track. Baseball was what I played the longest. I was just good enough to play in high school, but not good enough to play after that. Fittingly enough, I played 2nd just like Ryno.
What is the top sports-related thing you want to do in life that you have not yet done?
I want to be in Wrigley Field while the Cubs play in a World Series.
What would you consider your greatest WIS moment?
Well, I’ve only won 1 championship in my entire WIS career. So it’d have to be the Simleague Super Bowl title I took.
In Hardball Dynasty, how do allocate your budget?
I try and budget my player payroll pretty tight so I don’t have to skimp elsewhere. I generally keep it pretty even across the board, except a little more in scouting and prospect payroll.
How do you approach offseason events with players such as arbitration and free agency?
With arbitration, I generally offer just below what they’re asking. I win 50 percent of the time I guess. With free agency, I usually only need 1 or 2 players, so I seek out who I want, and go hard after them. I’ve overpaid a couple times, but I don’t think I have any contracts that are too out of control. I also like to pick up a couple cheap, scrapheap style relievers towards the end of the period and see if they can make the team.
What is your general strategy for hiring/re-hiring coaches?
Cheap, cheap, cheap. I only spent $8 million on coaches this year. I try and make sure they have decent ratings in what they’re doing, and above average in discipline and patience. Overall though, I don’t know if they matter all that much.
How do you finalize rosters at each level? What role does spring training play in your decision making?
Spring training usually doesn’t play much of a role at all, except to decide the last bullpen spot, and maybe the last position player. I like to keep a lot of pitchers available. In the ML I go 13 position and 12 pitchers, but every other level I go 12 position and 13 pitchers. 6-man minor league rotations, and switch guys out pretty regularly. I pretty much always have the max amount of people on my rosters.
What is your basic strategy for setting your starting lineups and pitching rotation?
With lineups, I tinker around with it a lot. I like to mix and match depending on righty/lefty matchups, especially in the minors. I feel like the better position I put my players in to succeed, the more improvement I’ll see out of them. Rotations in the minors are always 6-man, and I activate and deactivate relievers quite a bit.
What do you believe are the most important individual player ratings for performance?
Lefty/Righty splits seem pretty important, as well as control, batting eye, and power now seems to be big.
How do you approach in-season player events like the draft, international prospects, waivers and promotions/demotions?
I sign quite a few internationals, but I’m very selective about who I go for. As far as the draft, it sort of seems like a crapshoot, and I don’t spend too much time setting up for it. Due to signing a type A free agent most years, I tend to lose my 1st round pick a lot, and after that, it usually seems to come down to luck. I monitor the wire often, and have picked up quite a few useful players from it. As far as promotions, I usually do one waive of in-season moves after the all-star break, and that’s about it.
Do you think your strategy will be conducive to building a multi-season dynasty? Or, do you feel that your team may be great for a couple seasons, but then must rebuild?
Well, I feel like I do a good job of keeping things balanced and giving my team a chance to win each year. So far, I’ve had 6 out of 8 seasons with a winning record. Unfortunately, I think I’m in the hardest division in the whole world (NL North). Pittsburgh and Syracuse seem to win 100 games every season.
Do you have any favorite players from any of your HBD teams?
Luis Chavez (reigning MVP) is my boy. I’ve decided that I’ll do everything I can to make sure he plays his entire career with the Wavelands. He seems to be on track for the HOF as well.
How much time do you spend on your Hardball Dynasty teams? How much do you think is necessary to be competitive?
I spend too much time I’m sure. During the season, probably a half hour to an hour a day, but during the off season, its well over that.
Who are the users you respect the most?
Kbrick has done a fantastic job running the league. My fellow NL North owners are all excellent too. I don’t know how Philpitt and Eacadca keep it up every season, but the 3 of us have been battling since day 1. You also can’t help but respect the fearless dealing of phillyfan.
What is your favorite aspect of HBD?
I really like developing players. That is what really keeps me interested. I also just like to navigate through all of my levels and just check on how players who I know are never going to make it to the bigs are doing. I really do root for all of my guys to play well.
What is your least favorite aspect of Hardball Dynasty? As it is still a relatively new game, if you could change three things about HBD, what would they be?
Coach hiring is terrible…but everyone knows that. I like the idea of “diamonds in the rough,” but they don’t seem to make any sense. It just seems like random guys improve without the performance. I feel like it should be the fluke player in high A who has a great season should be rewarded, not a 24 year old backup catcher with 100 plate appearances who then retires at the end of the season. Also, when negotiating with internationals, if you get outbid, I think you should always have at least one cycle to counter.
If you were in one of our games, which sport would you play? At which position? And, what would you be rated?
I’d be a 2nd baseman with decent fielding ability. Much like in real life, I’d be a good contact hitter, with a good eye, and decent speed. However, my power rating would be abysmal.
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