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Who is trapapoodle?
Just another guy who doesn’t like poodles. However, I don’t actually condone cruelty to animals (even poodles).
How did you learn about whatifsports.com?
Back in 2001, I was surfing the web at work, and somehow I came across Whatifsports. At the time, there was no HBD. I won the World Series in my first Baseball Simleague, but I got bored with it after a few seasons. Then, a year or two ago, a friend introduced me to HBD, which is much more interesting (and addictive) than simleague baseball.
Which games of ours have you played?
As noted above, I played Simleague Baseball in 2001. I just played my last season of Hoops Dynasty after about 8 seasons. Now I play only HBD. I also did one free season of College Football Dynasty, which was not really that interesting to me.
Besides sports, what are some of your other interests and hobbies?
Reading, writing, hiking, playing guitar, spending time with the wife.
Which five people, past or present sit at your dream roundtable discussion?
Alice Cooper, Don Knotts, Aleister Crowley, Abraham Lincoln and Torquemada.
Who are your favorite players of all-time?
Graig Nettles, Don Mattingly, Mariano Rivera, Dave Stewart, Dennis Eckersley.
Which are your favorite teams of all-time?
1998 New York Yankees; 1989 Oakland A’s
Did you play baseball or basketball (or other sports) growing up?
Played football constantly growing up. Also played some baseball, softball and went through a brief interest in basketball, but I’m too short, and can’t shoot, which is a bad combination.
What is the top sports-related thing you want to do in life that you have not yet done?
Visit all the Major League baseball parks, including sites of the historic ones.
What would you consider your greatest WIS moment?
I guess it’s winning the SimLeague World Series when I first started WIS. I’m still working on achieving some great moments in HBD (especially in this league).
In Hardball Dynasty, how do allocate your budget?
I try to trim my player budget as much as possible, though I may go a bit overboard in this respect. I’ve recently realized that training is extremely important, so I’m trying to set it and medical as high as possible (which was not the case in the past). I max advance scouting and prospect budget, about $14 mil for coaches and try to make all other scouting respectable.
How do you approach off-season events with players such as arbitration and free agency?
If I sign a free agent, it’s usually after the free agency period has run. I generally have no interest in competing for free agents. I usually sign long-term players in the second arb period, and release others in the first or second arb period.
What is your general strategy for hiring/re-hiring coaches?
As a general rule, I re-sign as many as I can, unless they are clearly inferior or it’s a very important coach. In the minors, I try to select bench coaches with high pitching or hitting ratings, and concentrate less on strategy.
How do you finalize rosters at each level? What role does spring training play in your decision making?
I use Spring Training for prospects, primarily. Generally, I know what all my rosters will be going in to Spring Training, though there may be a player or two up in the air.
What is your basic strategy for setting your starting lineups and pitching rotation?
Nothing startling. I platoon only if necessary, but I prefer to have everyday players at each position. I tinker with the lineup throughout the season based on performance. I generally keep 13 pitchers with 5 starters, three long relievers, four short relievers and one mopup
What do you believe are the most important individual player ratings for performance?
On offense, it is batting eye and splits. In pitching, splits and control. But they’re all important.
How do you approach in-season player events like the draft, international prospects, waivers and promotions/demotions?
I had a terrible draft in another league last year, and I feel like it was a real setback. So, I’m very careful to put in the necessary time. First I eliminate players with very low health, bad splits and, for pitchers, poor control. Then I see if there are any gems hidden at the bottom of the draft. Then usually about three times, I go through the whole mess via each individual player up to about #80 to try and get them in the best order I can. I try to get one stud international, or a few good ones, though I’ve been left holding a bunch of cash at the end of the season a few times. I pretty much ignore waivers now, though I’ve gotten a few good players there in the past. I usually pull a decent player or two from the Rule 5 draft.
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 hope I’m building, because I haven’t had any great seasons. When I inherited this team, it was pretty good, but aging. After trying to compete (in a ridiculously tough division) for a few seasons, I decided it was time to rebuild. I feel pretty good about the future, but it would be nice just to hit .500 this season.
Do you have any favorite players from any of your HBD teams?
I’ve got some players that have done some good work, especially in Hornsby. However, I try not to “like” them, because I don’t want to hold onto players for sentimental reasons if it’s not going to benefit the team. Athletes in the real world complain that management has no loyalty (and vice versa), but in this case, I don’t think HBD has built in a loyalty factor affecting performance. Of course I could be wrong.
How much time do you spend on your Hardball Dynasty teams? How much do you think is necessary to be competitive?
I spend probably at least an hour a day on three teams. I do it because I enjoy planning and looking at numbers and, generally, avoiding work and other unpleasant things. As for the second part of the question, I’m plenty competitive no matter how long I spend at it. It’s my teams that aren’t.
Who are the users you respect the most?
If I don’t say Philpitt, eacadca and reggie988, they might pin it up in their locker rooms as some kind of challenge before our next series.
What is your favorite aspect of HBD?
I love the draft and the preaseason. I just love evaluating talent and making plans for the season and the future.
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?
I do think coach hiring could be more realistic, but it doesn’t bother me as much as it does many others. I definitely think the turnover rate for coaches should be much lower. I might make finances a little easier to transfer. Why, if you don’t spend money on coaches, would you have to forfeit half of it to spend it on something else? It’s good to budget, but moving available money around shouldn’t be so difficult. In the management console, I would allow moves to be made en masse, such as assignments, etc. It can be monotonous to check each player and make moves individually when you have several players with whom you are doing the same thing.
If you were in one of our games, which sport would you play? At which position? And, what would you be rated?
I would be a Rookie League bench coach wishing multiple-year coaching contracts were available.
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