INSTANT IMPACT

Mgraczykowsk has a chance at an Evangeline League record. He is 15 wins shy of the record (held by Phillyfan33) for biggest turnaround in a GM's first season after taking over a franchise. Here's a look at the 19 franchises that have improved under new management in EL history (original owners don't qualify, since we don't have records from the season before you took over):

Dif..Prev..1syYr..GM/Owner
+45...42.....77...Phillyfan
+37...57.....94...JohnnyDancer
+34...40.....74...Bigstegs
+30*..49.....79+..Mgraczykowsk
+28...53.....81...Spainard
+18...68.....86...Buddy Bee
+18...50.....68...Noccolo
+16...51.....67...JoeBoxer
+16...66.....82...Wigsluvslave
+13...42.....55...Deerhunter63
+12...78.....90...MrStickball
+11...81.....92...Lefty32
+10...52.....62...Bingles
+10...42.....52...Chowren
+9*...62.....71+..Pboys
+8....43.....51+..Rdorrian
+7....68.....75...BigOrange64
+4....72.....76...Rawagman
+3....82.....85...Slider15

Blog Interview: Dawgfan1974

Atlanta Peaches (AL) dawgfan1974 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Who is Dawgfan1974?
I am a 34 year old husband, father and businessman residing in the NE GA mountains.

How did you learn about whatifsports.com?
Through an internet search for sports fantasy simulators

Which games of ours have you played?
Sim baseball, basketball, football, clutch racing, gridiron and hoops dynasty, and of course HBD.

Besides sports, what are some of your other interests and hobbies?
Drawing and architecture, reading (mostly Ayn Rand), and a renewed interest in video games with the Wii

Which five people, past or present sit at your dream roundtable discussion?
Ayn Rand, Ty Cobb, Warren Buffett, Andrew Jackson, and the most odd man out Willie Nelson

Who are your favorite players of all-time?
Ty Cobb, Greg Maddux, Walter Payton, Mike Singletary, Jack Lambert

Which are your favorite teams of all-time?
die hard Braves and GA Bulldog fan.

Did you play baseball or basketball (or other sports) growing up?
baseball, basketball, football

What is the top sports-related thing you want to do in life that you have not yet done?
a hole in one.

What would you consider your greatest WIS moment?
Recently my HBD team in sharkey's world won 102 games and took our lcs to 7 games, but lost. not much, I know, but the season before I took over they won 47 I think and their minors were decimated. The 5-season plan worked.

In Hardball Dynasty, how do allocate your budget?
I like to keep player payroll below 85 and ideally around 60-70M. Of course I have not had a team that was worth 100 M yet. I'm usually moderate on training and medical and try not to go over 15 on coaches which is a lot easier since we can retain them now. I have spent more on scouting recently which seems to have improved my drafts at least.

How do you approach off-season events with players such as arbitration and free agency?
I have learned many hard lessons in both. In free agency I try to weigh who is leaving us against who I have coming up and who may possibly be available. I don't mind paying for consistent talent, but have had to overpay to get by. I usually go through arb. with every eligible player once, then go long term with core players, and either trade or release the backup types.

What is your general strategy for hiring/re-hiring coaches?
I try to rehire as many as possible as long as they are quality to begin with, then try to scoop up some blossoming minor league talent where possible.

How do you finalize rosters at each level? What role does spring training play in your decision making?
I promote future ML talent every season, and fill out the rosters with whatever I can get. Some may spend 2 yrs in AAA waiting for someone to leave. ST plays very little role in my ML roster unless I have two good players at the same pos. that I am considering putting on the ML squad.

What is your basic strategy for setting your starting lineups and pitching rotation?
I like to have 5 starters, 3 LR, 3 SU, 2 CL in the rotation. in the lineup I just basically try to start w/good eye or contact and speed, then contact/power, then fill it out with your weaker guys. It just depends on what you have I guess.

What do you believe are the most important individual player ratings for performance?
For hitters i like good contact and a good eye above all, and for pitchers good splits and gb/fb.

How do you approach in-season player events like the draft, international prospects, waivers and promotions/demotions?
I have learned to build through the draft, look for superstars in international. I will try to go all out for 1 or 2 intl. guys a season but that's about it. I don't really do much with waivers, although I probably should. I like to keep the future ML'ers on a steady rise and rarely demote anyone except the "fillers".

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?
Apparently not at all effective here. This was my first team and I really screwed up some things, but my other team, the 2nd team, is starting to look somewhat like a dynasty type team.

Do you have any favorite players from any of your HBD teams?
In Evangeline it would have to be John Hernandez from a few seasons ago, and in the other league I currently have a great young trio at 2nd, SS, and 3rd.

How much time do you spend on your Hardball Dynasty teams? How much do you think is necessary to be competitive?
not enough. probably 15 min. each day. would like to double that at least to be more competitive.

Who are the users you respect the most?
I have been fortunate to be in two very good worlds w/a lot of good long-term owners. for the most part I respect all of them. It's only occasionally that I run across someone I have a problem with. GD and HD brought out the worst in people when it came to recruiting. But in HBD there seems to be enough continuity with owners that most co-exist very well.

What is your favorite aspect of HBD?
The complexity. the ratings that make the players and trying to fit them all together under a salary cap to produce a winner.

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?
Of course I would like to be able to sign coaches long-term, fire them etc., more flexibility to transfer budget, and would like to see the pitching/hitting balanced a little better. The game has always seemed to me to favor offense. but understand for a guy who used to buy games (sports only) just to sim. them over and over HBD is great. no real complaints here.

If you were in one of our games, which sport would you play? At which position? And, what would you be rated?

I would probably be a AAA, possibly ML, backup 1B with a good glove, good patience, makeup, avg. durability/health, 15 speed, 70 contact, 30 power, 50 rhp, 70 lhp, 80 eye. yeah a definite rule 5 journeyman type.

Cheyenne Raptors (NL) Schlemiel View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Q: Who is the Schlemiel?
A: I am a 67 year old man who tries to do things right but screws it up each and every time -- hence, schlemiel

Q: How did you learn about whatifsports.com?
A: That is a fine question, but I plead oldheimers disease because I just don't recall.

Q: Which games of ours have you played?
A: Sim baseball and football and HBD. Came to Evangeline thru Kbrick's AAA league (probably following vdaino - going to beat him one of these days.)

Q: Besides sports, what are some of your other interests and hobbies?
A: Backpacking with background of wildlife and range management. Women.

Q: Which five people, past or present sit at your dream roundtable discussion?
A: The Lord Jesus (OMG), Carol my deceased wife, Lonna my murdered fiance, St. John of the Cross, and Al Kaline

Q: Who are your favorite players of all-time?
A: Al Kaline, Bob DiPietro (a minor league 3b), Willie Mays, Y.A. Tittle, Greg Minton (load the bases 1st then get them out - lights on closer).

Q: Which are your favorite teams of all-time?
A: '53 and '84 49ers, '55 SF Seals, all Giants good and bad.

Q: Did you play baseball or basketball (or other sports) growing up?
A: baseball and some football. Lots of tennis out of high school.

Q: What is the top sports-related thing you want to do in life that you have not yet done?
A: Win the California State 65-70 Mens Tennis
Championship. Tour the 4 grand slam tournaments in one year.

Q: What would you consider your greatest WIS moment?
A: Breaking a eleven game losing streak even more than the World Championship.

Q: In Hardball Dynasty, how do allocate your budget?
A: Growing up before free agency I still try to emulate those days, so am more loyal to my players than real life is now. So, I sign my core to long term contracts and allocate that to my player budget with 3 million extra. Get max scouting all departments except international which I avoid (too costly), training more and more.

Q: How do you approach off-season events with players such as arbitration and free agency?
A: I don"t yet allow enough players to go into free agency until they approach ages just over 32. Core players I sign longterm, others I let go thru arbitration and take those as they come. I rarely sign free agents for the Major club but fill in the minors thruout the season.

Q: What is your general strategy for hiring/re-hiring coaches?
A: Generally rehire to avoid hassle and frustration. Generally stress hitting coaches in pitcher home parks and pitching in hitter parks. Sometimes wait till end to pick up pretty good talent.

Q: How do you finalize rosters at each level? What role does spring training play in your decision making?
A: Good spring training stats consideration in first call to majors, parttime for major plyrs to avoid injury. Watch who computer selects for particular situations off the bench or bullpen. Promotion based on merit as well as talent and letting 3A older players leave determine roster levels.

Q: What is your basic strategy for setting your starting lineups and pitching rotation?
A: Use APBA technique: 1) on base % and speed and SB success. 2) Bat control and speed to avoid double plays and enable hit and run and sacrifice. 3)Best all around hitter on team for rbi - should not be slow speed. 4) Very good power and on base % to lead off an inning. 5) High average hitter to bat in leavings. 6) hitter with more power than #7 ) (and maybe even #5). 8)on base % and SB success to set up sacrifice by pitcher.
Start with best 5 rotation. Observe quality starts and make adjustments. Sometimes drop down to 4 man rotation and back to 5 towards end of season. For me, many good relievers because I tend to end up with quality but not great stamina starters.

Q: What do you believe are the most important individual player ratings for performance?
A: For batters power (groundballs thru the infield travel faster for power bats and thus more singles than same ball hit by low power bat) and batting eye combined with pushpull. For pitchers patience rating (home runs seem to occur more often by pitcher challenging the batter early in the count with to good a pitch) and control with lefty-righty almost as important.

Q: How do you approach in-season player events like the draft, international prospects, waivers and promotions/demotions?
A: I love prepping the draft knocking down for injury, no control, difficult to sign potentials. I don't mess with internationals directly - let someone else sign them. I check waivers every cycle especially for minor league critical positions. Promotions made infrequently during season when obvious mismatch develops. Demotions rarely also, except into rookie league roster. Otherwise, promotions at end of season or beginning of next depending upon money available.

Q: 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?
A: My strategy develops a team into a every year dynasty capable of attaining new lows each subsequent year. More trading or free agent adroitness would help but goes against my baseball old time (never thought I would say that) roots.

Q: Do you have any favorite players from any of your HBD teams?
A: Each of my teams seem to have maybe two - no coincidence they do well which helps. Always a fan.....lol

Q: How much time do you spend on your Hardball Dynasty teams? How much do you think is necessary to be competitive?
A: I have time usually to spend about 10 minutes per team per cycle and do. The change in the minors they made allowing several players to be switched in or out at the same time allowed me to buy into another world.

Q: Who are the users you respect the most?
A: Vdaino because I am always looking at his backside in the standings it seems. Actually all of them that sustain themselves thru the difficult times. Like in tennis which I teach - there is little sympathy but a whole lot of empathy.

Q: What is your favorite aspect of HBD?
A: The building of teams in the minors and watching the progress on their cards.

Q: 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?
A: Coaching so can hire a manager at the major level for 3 years with several subcoaches associated with him, and perhaps one coach position missing occasionally allowing promotion of minor league coaches. Second, scouting which misses ratings (what was the name of that dodger catcher- Giants fan here) and allows a top prospect to be way down in the draft and upon signing realization is made that guy has major league potential. Third, a ruling that allows me to have a 151 game lead on Vdaino before the season gets underway.

Q: If you were in one of our games, which sport would you play? At which position? And, what would you be rated?
A: I would be a bench coach in this league at the major level roasting opponents, moving my fielders around to parts of the dugout where the beer can be found, intercepting opponent signs as to where their beer can be found, and otherwise being my usual obnoxious good self.

Durham JAGUARS (NL) PBOYS View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Q: Who is PBOYS?
Paul Chastain, 40-year old married Florida boy with a 9-month-old baby boy, born in Orlando, sales manager at auto dealership, spent ten years in the air force.

Q: How did you learn about whatifsports.com?
A: don't really remember, probably search engine

Q: Which games of ours have you played?
A: mostly dynasty but have tried them all at least one time.

Q: Besides sports, what are some of your other interests and hobbies?
A: I don't really have time for hobbies with a nine-month-old. This is my first baby and after doing what I want when I want for 20 years its a shocker to say the least. lol

Q: Which five people, past or present sit at your dream roundtable discussion?
A: Elvis, Travolta, Hugh Hefner, Ty Cobb, Joe Namath

Q: Who are your favorite players of all-time?
A: Cal Ripken, Pete Rose, Dale Murphy, John Smoltz

Q: Which are your favorite teams of all-time?
A: 1991 Atlanta Braves

Q: Did you play baseball or basketball (or other sports) growing up?
A: Baseball every day

Q: What is the top sports-related thing you want to do in life that you have not yet done?
A: Be at a world series game seven

Q: What would you consider your greatest WIS moment?
A: Season 3 gerhinger, world series winner

Q: In Hardball Dynasty, how do allocate your budget?
A: I look at free agency first and if i have a chance to win this season will make bold moves to get certain players that will help, doesn't always work out though. If I have no shot I will build through international free agency and draft prospects.

Q: How do you approach off-season events with players such as arbitration and free agency?
A: If its a player I plan on keeping for a while and can afford the salary in the budget I will pay what he wants so that he doesn't get negative

Q: What is your general strategy for hiring/re-hiring coaches?
A: I hate hiring coaches, more and more of my budget is going towards coaches now just cause you can't lock them up for more than one year.

Q: How do you finalize rosters at each level? What role does spring training play in your decision making?
A: I look at my 40-man roster mostly at what they did the year before at what level and their age plays into it also.

Q: What is your basic strategy for setting your starting lineups and pitching rotation?
A: Same as everyone else, put your best players on the field and hope for the best

Q: What do you believe are the most important individual player ratings for performance?
A: Hitters - contact and vs rhp, pitchers - walk ratio and vs rhb

Q: How do you approach in-season player events like the draft, international prospects, waivers and promotions/demotions?
A: Do your homework early on what players I would like to focus on.

Q: 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?
A: Dynasty

Q: Do you have any favorite players from any of your HBD teams?
A: If they are on my roster they are my favorites

Q: How much time do you spend on your Hardball Dynasty teams? How much do you think is necessary to be competitive?
A: I'm off and on all day until I get home then the wife and baby occupy my time

Q: Who are the users you respect the most?
A: av84aal and Pubs

Q: What is your favorite aspect of HBD?
A: living the baseball dream through the internet with other washups like myself around this great country of ours.

Q: 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?
A: Coach hiring, coach hiring and coach hiring

Q: If you were in one of our games, which sport would you play? At which position? And, what would you be rated?
A: Shortstop 80 good contact, great range, good speed with a hot head

Blog interview: Gibbog

Honolulu Breeze (NL) gibbog View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Q: Who is Gibbog?
A: Geoff Noseworthy

Q: How did you learn about whatifsports.com?
A: From nhl.com

Q: Which games of ours have you played?
A: Hockey, Baseball, Basketball, Football, Clutch Racing, Soccer, including the dynasty games

Q: Besides sports, what are some of your other interests and hobbies?
A: Writing, reading, movies & music

Q: Which five people, past or present sit at your dream roundtable discussion?
A: Clint Eastwood, Frank Zappa, my grandfather, my uncle and my grandmother

Q: Who are your favorite players of all-time?
A: Patrick Roy, Guy Lafleur, Larry Bird

Q: Which are your favorite teams of all-time?
A: Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bears

Q: Did you play baseball or basketball (or other sports) growing up?
A: Hockey, Baseball, Softball

Q: What is the top sports-related thing you want to do in life that you have not yet done?
A: Attend an NHL game

Q: What would you consider your greatest WIS moment?
A: It hasn't happened yet. I am at the top of the 'most wins, no championship list in hockey, and have had a string of losing seasons in HBD. I play the games purely for fun, though a championship would be nice

Q: In Hardball Dynasty, how do allocate your budget?
A: Depends on a lot of factors, but lately player payroll has taken a back seat to other areas in an attempt to try and rebuild

Q: How do you approach off-season events with players such as arbitration and free agency?
A: Same as above

Q: What is your general strategy for hiring/re-hiring coaches?
A: I actually look at loyalty ratings, and if the coaches ratings are high in the other essential areas, I bring him back

Q: How do you finalize rosters at each level? What role does spring training play in your decision making?
A: I tend to have a good idea who will make my ML roster before ST. That might change from here on in

Q: What is your basic strategy for setting your starting lineups and pitching rotation?
A: (Lineups: A good baserunner at the top, power in the middle, and I usually put my lower averages at the bottom. Pitching: varies at each level depending on energy levels. I look closely at records and ERA and not so much at ratings)

Q: What do you believe are the most important individual player ratings for performance?
A: For hitters and pitchers it would have to be L/R splits

Q: How do you approach in-season player events like the draft, international prospects, waivers and promotions/demotions?
A: The draft will depend on my budget. IFA's the same for the most part, but if it's late in the season and I have salary left, I may sign some marginal guys. I try and check the WW daily. Promotions and demotions are all ratings-based and sometimes have little to do with performance.

Q: 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?
A: The latter, but without the 'great' part

Q: Do you have any favorite players from any of your HBD teams?
A: None. None of them have wowed me or the rest of the league. Though on one of my other teams I keep re-signing a pitcher with L/R splits of 22

Q: How much time do you spend on your Hardball Dynasty teams? How much do you think is necessary to be competitive?
A: At least a half hour, sometimes up to an hour. I think to keep everything running smoothly you have to spend at least that

Q: Who are the users you respect the most?
A: Coming over from hockey, I would have to say Cam & nordique, as both encouraged me to join this league

Q: What is your favorite aspect of HBD?
A: The off-season. Though it needs a few tweaks, it is the most enjoyable part by far. If I actually make the playoffs in the bigs that might change

Q: 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?
A: Coach hiring. Too long a process and slightly unrealistic. You can offer a Low A coach triple his previous salary and he comes back saying it's not about $$$, but he has a family to feed. Coach hiring needs to be seriously overhauled

Q: If you were in one of our games, which sport would you play? At which position? And, what would you be rated?
A: It would be hockey. I would be a goalie, I would have about a 50 stamina, a 60 saving, and would be a 60 overall, including a Ron Hextall temper

Blog Interview: Kbrick

New Orleans Pelicans (NL) kbrick View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Q: Who is Kbrick?
A: A 45-year old sports copy editor from New Orleans. Married for 22 years, two teenage daughters, three labradors.

Q: How did you learn about whatifsports.com?
A: I work with Spainard and JohnGPF, and a few members of this league, too. One of those two, I can't remember which, came in one day and organized a sim league. I was hooked.

Q: Which games of ours have you played?
A: Baseball sim leagues, one uneventful season of NFL sim, one season of NBA sim, many seasons of Gridiron and Hoops Dynasty, and of course Hardball

Q: Besides sports, what are some of your other interests and hobbies?
A: Economics, politics, cooking, music (metal and hard rock mostly, a little jazz for sanity sake), good sci-fi

Q: Which five people, past or present sit at your dream roundtable discussion?
A: This is the toughest question of the bunch. If we're all talking about the same topic, it should be five people with some interest in common? Here's five different groups from different subject matters, you can pick one from each to get the traditional five (it's good to be the king, or commissioner in this case):
-- BASEBALL: Whitey Herzog, Bob Costas, Hank Aaron, Mel Ott, Joe Morgan
-- POLITICS: Ronald Reagan, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman
-- MUSIC: Kirk Hammett, John Bonham, Angus Young, Geoff Tate, Dusty Hill
-- ENTERTAINMENT: Rockne O'Bannon, Ridley Scott, Pen Densham, John Carpenter, James Cameron
-- OTHERS: John Paul II, Pierre LeMoyne d'Iberville, Jesse Marcel, Criss Angel, Pete Maravich

Q: Who are your favorite players of all-time?
A: I grew up an Astros fan. Morgan, Cesar Cedeno, Bob Watson, Larry Dierker, then Biggio, Bagwell, Caminiti, Berkman, Oswalt later on. Non-Astros would include Hank
Aaron, George Brett, Kirby Puckett, Reggie Jackson. And I have to admit, I was a Clemens fan.

Q: Which are your favorite teams of all-time?
A: In baseball, any of Herzog's teams in the 80s, the A's of the 70s. The '98 Astros should have gotten a lot further. In football, the Saints of '91 and '92.

Q: Did you play baseball or basketball (or other sports) growing up?
A: Played baseball and basketball as long as I could; was out of organized sports by my sophomore year of high school. Played in flag football and overhand softball leagues until about 10 years ago.

Q: What is the top sports-related thing you want to do in life that you have not yet done?
A: First would be to witness the Saints winning the Super Bowl. Two would be to spend a year touring the country, seeing a different sporting event or facility every day.

Q: What would you consider your greatest WIS moment?
A: I've got titles in Hardball and Gridiron, but I got more of a sense of accomplishment from two second-place teams. In Gridiron, I had a team that went 7-6 in the regular season in I-AA and fought all the way through the playoffs before losing in the title game. In Hoops, my Loyola-Chicago team reached the national title game after not being ranked most of the season. In both instances, I was able to game-plan my way past better teams, and that was the most satisfying part of those games.

Q: In Hardball Dynasty, how do allocate your budget?
A: First I figure out how much I absolutely have to have in the big league payroll, and add 3 million for callups and unforseen situations. Then I try to max out on High School, college and international signing and on training. Coaching usually takes 12-14 million, depending on how many want to return. I leave 10 in medical, since even at that low level injuries seem to occur at a much slower rate than in real life. I figure on 4 million-5 million to sign draft picks, and then figure out the other budget categories after adding all the preliminary stuff.

Q: How do you approach off-season events with players such as arbitration and free agency?
A: Obviously arbitration is changing, since some players that go to arbitration three times will now refuse to resign afterward. I think the optimal now is to go to arbitration twice, then decide if you want to commit to that player long term. Free agency, I rarely find worth the price you have to pay to land someone who will make a difference. I spend a lot of effort on developing my own prospects, so unless there's a free agent too good to be true, I usually pass. After spring training, I may sign a couple of minor-league guys to fill in holes on those rosters.

Q: What is your general strategy for hiring/re-hiring coaches?
A: In case no one has heard me say this before, I HATE the coach-hiring process. It seems like they loved the way the recruiting software works in gridiron dynasty and HAD to carry that over to this game. I'd be in favor of a much more realistic approach - since we're all basically serving as GMs, not managers (we don't make any in-game decisions), I think we should negotiate a contract with a manager, who could get up to 7 or 8 million. That manager would bring his staff with him, or at least offer the GM a choice of a few options, and he would also limit the ranges in the manager's settings page. That way we would be seeking to hire managers that fit our style of play - just like in real life. And you should be able to sign up to five years at a time, just like with players. If you have money left over during the season, you could fire the manager, and promote someone out of the minors. Think of the dimension that would add to the game, if they worked out the bugs.

With that rant out of the way, I used to try to hire the best possible coach at every single spot, and it got ridiculous. So now I just re-hire everyone I can, then identify a few candidates for the spots left open and try to go after them as hard as possible.

Q: How do you finalize rosters at each level? What role does spring training play in your decision making?
A: I view spring training the way NFL teams view preseason - do whatever you want, just don't get injured. I usually make most of my roster decisions before spring training begins.

Q: What is your basic strategy for setting your starting lineups and pitching rotation?
A: I've toyed around with a few ideas here. I like speed in the No. 1 and 2 spots, and insist on above average defense at catcher, short, second and center. I find myself platooning a lot the past few seasons, with mixed success. As for pitching, I stick with a five-man rotation. I begin the season with one pitcher set as closer, the rest as setup A, and I let Simmy pick and choose who to use in what spot. If someone is struggling, I might move them to Setup B. If they really suck (Royce Goodwin, for example), I set them at mopup. But I'm wondering about the closer setting - seems a lot of pitchers perform better in the ninth if they're called SETUP (with no one listed as closer) instead of CLOSER. I haven't done any statistical study of this, just something that seems to be the case in my franchise.

Q: What do you believe are the most important individual player ratings for performance?
A: Depends on the player and the strategy. Catchers MUST have a high pitch-calling number, I'm convinced they help some pitchers who have a few poor pitches in their mix. Shortstop must be high-glove and range. Batting eye I like to be high, and I try to avoid the Rob Deer approach, so contact has to at least be a passable number. After that, the lefty-righty splits for both hitting and pitching seem to be the most reliable.

Q: How do you approach in-season player events like the draft, international prospects, waivers and promotions/demotions?
A: for the draft, I have to be creative. I try to identify players my scouts rated as second or third-round picks that i think can make a difference one day in the bigs, and move them up the board. International prospects I divide into two spots - one, a player that is likely to be a big-league contributor, I'll bid on. Those are rare, though. two, at the end of the season, I empty the prospect budget on leftover internationals, and carry them on the rookie squad at least until the draft the next season.

I find waivers can have some pretty good deals if you keep your eyes open. Shooter Donatello, one of my favorite relievers in HBD, was claimed off waivers in season 1.

Promotions and demotions, I tend to be very deliberate. I believe the game has a mechanism built in to stunt the growth of players that get rushed through the minors; there are a lot of examples of this in our league. So I almost always limit a player to one, or in very rare circumstances, two levels of promotion per season. College players, since they're starting out at 22 or 23, obviously I'll be a little less patient with them, but I don't expect to see a high school prospect reach the big leagues until age 22 or later.

Q: 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?
A: I don't think there will be any dynasties in our league, there are too many good players that know what they're doing. My goal is to just make the playoffs each year, and see what happens from there. If a pitcher or two get hot, you can win the title.

Q: Do you have any favorite players from any of your HBD teams?
A: Bruce Hayes always seemed to win big games. My first acquisition was Brian Sakamoto, he was the backbone of my franchise for a long time. Brandon Standridge, because he seems to pitch better than his rankings every season.

Q: How much time do you spend on your Hardball Dynasty teams? How much do you think is necessary to be competitive?
A: 10 minutes per cycle, three times a day for the simple management part. It takes me about two hours to set up all the minor leagues and managerial settings before the season, and several hours to rank the draft picks. After that, you can spend as much time as you like looking for trade possibilities and the like. I find now, in my 11th season, I finally know who most of my players are, so I don't spend as much time figuring out who can play and who cant.

Q: Who are the users you respect the most?
A: I love the fact that we have such a stable league, returning 29 or 30 owners every season. I have great respect for guys like Nordique and 2U23L, who took over losing teams and proved you can build a winner on your own. And I work with Sbarroque and Philpitt, so we talk a lot of baseball anyway.

Q: What is your favorite aspect of HBD?
A: It's like a dream career, building a major-league franchise. The detail in this game is stunning, and the fact that they update every couple of months with improvements shows they still put a lot of attention into improving it.

Q: 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?
A: One - see coaching discussion above. Two - Individual player settings more similar to sim baseball. I hate when the backup catcher gets thrown out stealing 10 times a season, just because I have the steal setting on 5, when in sim ball you just tell him to never steal. Three - In Gridiron and Hoops dynasty, the game creates "filler" players when a team comes up short in recruiting and such. I think we should have a similar concept to fill minor-league rosters left short by the owners. We haven't had that issue this season, but last season one rookie team didn't have a pitcher all year.

Q: If you were in one of our games, which sport would you play? At which position? And, what would you be rated?
A: In my playing days I would be a catcher, with good ratings for pitch-calling, contact and left-right splits, bad numbers for arm strength and accuracy and batting eye, and I would have the first negative number in Hardball history for speed. Today, I'd be a bench coach, with no particular area rated very high, probably a low discipline rating.

Blog Interview: Sbarrouque

Seattle Pilots (AL) sbarrouque View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Q: Who is SBarrouque?
A: A 40-year old journlist from Metairie (suburb of NOLA) who should learn to evacuate for hurricanes instead of staying to work.

Q: How did you learn about whatifsports.com?
A: Kevin Spain (aka spainard555)

Q: Which games of ours have you played?
A: Everything but Car Racing.

Q: Besides sports, what are some of your other interests and hobbies?
A: Traveling, reading, music, the American West and Ireland.

Q: Which five people, past or present sit at your dream roundtable discussion?
A: Ronald Reagan, Sir Alex Ferguson, Michael Collins, Walter Hagen and Lewis Grizzard.

Q: Who are your favorite players of all-time?
A: Ryne Sandberg, Ernie Banks (never saw him play, met him..great guy), Roy Keane, Archie Manning and Guido Merkins.

Q: Which are your favorite teams of all-time?
A: '87 Saints (famous Mora speech 'woulda, coulda, shoulda' then went to win the NFC West for the first time), '84 Cubs, '03 and '07 LSU Tigers. '06 Saints, '07-08 Manchester United.

Q: Did you play baseball or basketball (or other sports) growing up?
A: Baseball, football, soccer and lawn darts.

Q: What is the top sports-related thing you want to do in life that you have not yet done?
A: Shoot even par or under so I can put on my tombstone 'he shot par'.

Q: What would you consider your greatest WIS moment?
A: Winning a couple baseball championships (none in the HBD).

Q: In Hardball Dynasty, how do allocate your budget?
A: Try to keep payroll in the 80s or lower, budgeting extra for training and college draft. For the first time in seasons, I budgeted money for international prospects although I don't have the funds to bid on the high end players.

Q: How do you approach off-season events with players such as arbitration and free agency?
A: I go to arb with first and second year players depending on their demands . if the long term deal seems good, I will take it. And it depends on if I have a good replacement in the minors. As for free agency, I only sign backups and minor leaguers to fill holes.

Q: What is your general strategy for hiring/re-hiring coaches?
A: Rehire whenever possible.

Q: How do you finalize rosters at each level? What role does spring training play in your decision making?
A: I promote my prospects to the best level for them. Spring Training plays no role in my decision making. I use it to help my players progress.

Q: What is your basic strategy for setting your starting lineups and pitching rotation?
A: Early in the season, I set up my lineup for the best righty-lefty combo. After a week or two, the hot hand players. As for pitchers, I try to find the best RH/LH, control, stamina and pitches.

Q: What do you believe are the most important individual player ratings for performance?
A: Not sure. Power seems important for hitters but it seems to vary from player to the stadium your team is playing.

Q: How do you approach in-season player events like the draft, international prospects, waivers and promotions/demotions?
A: Love the draft . It took me a few seasons to figure out what I wanted in the draft. Now I spend time trying to set up my top 100 whenever possible. At worst Top 50....I always check waivers for players that could help....as for promotions, lately I have been trying to be patient with my prospects by bringing them along a bit slower.

Q: 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?
A: I hope. I made the playoffs the first 8 seasons but did not win the WS (lost to philpitt). Sometimes, I feel the need for a couple of bad seasons to get some good young pitching.

Q: Do you have any favorite players from any of your HBD teams?
A: Giovanni Dawkins. If he played in a smaller stadium, his numbers would be out of this world. John Mullin is another favorite. He ratings are not good, but he is Rob Deer-like in homers.

Q: How much time do you spend on your Hardball Dynasty teams? How much do you think is necessary to be competitive?
A: Depends on if I am at work!

Q: Who are the users you respect the most?
A: kbrick, phillyfan...and the owners who have been in this league for many seasons.

Q: What is your favorite aspect of HBD?
A: I enjoy being the GM. Making all of the decisions.

Q: 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?
A: Coach hiring. Just awful. You be able to hire coaches to multi-year contracts.

Q: If you were in one of our games, which sport would you play? At which position? And, what would you be rated?
A: I would play CF with good speed, good fielder with a strong arm. A line driver hitter who could steal a few bases. Batting second in the order would be ideal for me.