Wanted a softball on my first interview so I went with someone that I've played against in shucky - a championship winning owner here in Hunter. He turned in an engaging and entertaining interview.
The Basics:
Name: Mark
Age: 40
Where you live: I live in Katy, Texas, a suburb of Houston. I went to Texas A&M for undergrad and lived in Chicago for law school. Other than that, I've lived in an around Houston my entire life.
What do you do: I'm an attorney. Specifically, I'm an eminent domain lawyer.
How many HBD titles (in Hunter/out of): 13 titles total. One in Hunter.
Favorite rivalry (in and out of Hunter): They are personal rivalries more than with any team. I started playing WIS at the urging of bjb (a good friend of mine) and started with our other good friend victorzhao. Always enjoy playing (and beating) those guys. Like I did for my title in Hunter. :)
Favorite player you've had: Domingo Toca in Riley. International prospect that signed on my way to the airport (still remember getting that message years ago). He ended up in the Top 5 overall in almost every hitting category, including both home runs and steals.
What are some of the strategies you use for team building: Nothing too unusual or exciting, really. Financial payroll and flexibility are really important, obviously. I try to adjust where I spend money based on the age and potential of a given team. So, for instance, I'm open to spending big on international players one season and, then, front-loading bonuses in another to try and free up money in the future.
Let's Go Deeper
One more quick HBD question: With regards to team building - do you favor any type of scouting for the amateur draft, and why?
I'm a bit lost on the amateur draft now, honestly. I kind of fly blind and hope for the best.
Being an eminent domain lawyer in Texas, given all the wall building talk, gives me lots of questions lol. Though with urban sprawl being what it is in Texas does a lot of your job involve more infrastructure projects than anything else?
My job is entirely driven by infrastructure. Roadways. Pipelines. Power lines. The Wall. It's a very fun and interesting practice. You get to do way more "traditional lawyer-type things" than almost any other non-criminal practice.
Being on the inside of so many different infrastructure projects, what are the things in the near future that you see that will make our daily lives easier/better? How do you see things changing post Covid-19, especially with regards to commuting daily?
I'm most interested to see how infrastructure needs could be impacted. Certainly, if the economy goes into a depression, the condemning entities may not have the funds to start as many projects. I think we'll certainly see that with oil and gas companies. Also, this could really impact how people work going forward. For instance, do a significant number of people continue working from home? If so, that could change the way we travel into work. Which could impact things like the need to widen/create roadways.
With the halting of sports because of Covid-19, how are you passing the time? Do you find yourself missing sports more or less than you thought?
Sitting at home, like everyone else. Trying to maintain a semblance of a schedule. Honestly, I think I miss it less because baseball hadn't officially started and I'm not a huge NBA fan. Certainly, if this impacts the college football season, I'll be singing a much different tune. (Interviewer's note: I took a shower today and felt like I accomplished a lot).
As a Chicagoan, I'm always interested in hearing about people's time here in the city, especially when they're close to me in age -- where'd you go to law school, what neighborhood did you live in, any favorite places you used to frequent?
Went to the University of Chicago and lived in Hyde Park all three years. Loved the time there. Cliched answer, but my favorite place is Wrigley. My wife (a big Cubs fan) and I went to tons of games during law school and even made it back for a game during the 2016 WS.
What was it like being at Wrigley for those games, especially being able to be there with your wife as a big fan?
The WS game was as close to a major college football game atmosphere as you'll ever find at a baseball game. It really was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be there with my wife, who has loved the Cubs since she was a little girl watching Mark Grace on WGN. And, as a lifelong Cubs fan, she never really believed the day would come. Well worth the money we paid.
Did you play any sports growing up?
Lots of basketball and lots of tennis. Had some good on-court battles with bjb back in the day. Don't underestimate his post-up game.
If you had to compare bjb's post game to any player, who does he remind you of?
Think old guy at the Y in a young guy's body. Uses his body well. Good passer. Deceptive moves. And really competitive.
Thanks to shucky -- he was genuinely a game interviewee and it was fun catching up with someone I used to play with so long ago. One caveat to the interview is I now get to crash on his couch if I'm ever in Houston. I probably should have mentioned that before but...I'm sure he won't mind.
Thursday, April 2, 2020
Monday, February 10, 2020
Charter Owner Interview Series: Dizzlebob
Dizzlebob has been an owner in Hunter since season 1 and has owned the Pittsburgh Studdabubbas the entire time in the NL North. During his ownership the team has made (1) World Series appearance, (5) NLCS Appearances and won the AL North (8) times. Also as mentioned Dizzlebob is one of three commissioners in the history of Hunter along with Leppykahn, who I used to be the God of Hunter since he created the world and myself (Jahu43).
Real Name (First Name is good):
Jack
How did you find out about HBD and how did you end up in Hunter?
I was playing the WIS college football game and, when the site started advertising HBD, I wanted in. I wound up in Hunter simply because I thought it was going to fill quickest at the time I signed up. I'm not a baseball guy, though, which isn't surprising for anyone who lives in...
City:
Pittsburgh
Description of where you were in your life when you joined Hunter (mid to late 2006): (age, martial status, job, etc)
I guess I was 38 years old. Recently married with a baby girl. I was a graphic artist at a design firm in the South Side of Pittsburgh and I had recently begun coaching youth volleyball at a nearby catholic school.
Do you know any Hunter members in real life, present or past?
I've known Carmandjr since the early 90s. We worked at Camelot Music together back in the days when such a store existed. He's been in my fantasy football league since 1993 (he actually won this year!) and I introduced him to HBD. You would think a guy with a user name like "Carmandjr" would be a cool, manly, muscle car dude—"car man?"—but his name is C. Armand Jr. and he drives a Hyundai.
Favorite Player and Favorite pitcher that played for your team and why?
LF - Willie Drew - Willie Drew
I drafted Willie and he played 15 seasons with Pittsburgh and still holds the record for most home runs in Studdabubba history (413). Every time he hit one over the fence, the voices in my head would scream "Dreeewwwww".
SP - Butch Griffith - Butch Griffith
The Studdabubbas were terrible at drafting pitching for the first 17 seasons or so. Butchie changed that and still holds the record for most wins as a Studdabubba (152). I think he is also the only Studdabubba to ever win a Cy Young.
Favorite Player and pitcher that never played for your team and why? [I didn't have a pitcher]
The guy who came to mind first was Frank Zhang because he was, like, the first stud in the league. Leppykhan picked him up was an International Free Agent in season 4 with no competition—he got him for less than 10M. He still has the best batting average of anyone who played a full career in Hunter.
Comish Edit: Sorry Wolfy, Dizz is right I know your boy has the highest every average in Hunter but Zhang did it with a "Real" career worth of at bats
Least Favorite Hunter Owner (Only accepting owners that no longer play HBD) and why, don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but like to add spice
We had a couple disruptive owners over the last 50 seasons but Radek was the one that stands out to me. He would go on rants about how the sim was wrong and how other team's players were performing better than he thought they should. It became tiresome and I think a few owners left because of him.
Comish Edit: For those who weren't here Radek literally complained every season all season about how power ratings world especially in Coors. It was like Groundhog every season except it wasn't fun like the Bill Murray classic
Biggest Hunter Rivals and why:
Well, I'm not sure he's a rival because I don't pose any threat to him but djbradford has been a pain in my arse for years. I keep waiting for him to go back to the AL but he never does.
Comish Edit: He's never allowed back in the AL
How does it feels to be part of the very special club one of the three Commissioners of Hunter?
I'm glad my reign is over. I don't even recall how long I ran the league but the whole time I knew I was just keeping it warm for Jahu.
Comish Edit: I took over commissionership from Leppy in season 21 but somewhere between then and now between children and my job I was unable to perform to an acceptable level as Comish and Dizz did myself and the world a huge favor by stepping in. Without Dizz we don't make season 50, more on that......
Best Hunter Moment:
Since I never win anything, my favorite Hunter moment was the Season 21 rollover which I recounted a few years back: https://hbd-hunterworld.blogspot.com/2014/
Comish Edit: For those who haven't read it Dizz recounts the story well but the part that he very much undersells is his sleuthing to suss out that ABU was a bad league to merge. If not for Dizz figuring it out we would have merged we wouldn't be in season 50, we'd be season 29 and likely it would be a dead world as the merger would have likely broken the wills of the remaining owners. Kudos Dizz you saved Hunter
Favorite Hunter Owner by whatever definition you want to use:
Of course, I'm a big carmandjr fan but I'll say Jahu. Not only did he save Hunter but he actually tried to mentor me on how to play HBD back in the early years. That clearly didn't work but it was still really cool of him.
Comish Edit: Thanks Dizz and to be clear so people don't go searching Pittsburgh-Louisville trades (9 ever) trying to piece together an Astro-like conspiracy we only discussed on of his other active teams.
What is the best part of Hunter?
It's a secret family of strangers. We check in with each other everyday but we don't know each other's names. And we've been doing it for 14 years. And I rarely talk about Hunter. I've been playing for 13 years and I bet my 15 year-old daughter has no idea I play an online baseball game with a bunch of other weirdos. The only reason my wife knows is because it shows up on the credit card every once in a while.
After 13 years where are you in your life now? (age, martial status, childern job etc?)
I'm now 51. Last year, my wife and I quit our real jobs and we now own an online gift shop that sells nerdy porcelain dinnerware (www.calamityware.com). This career change also gave me the opportunity to take a gig as a high school volleyball coach. We made the playoffs our first year but lost in the first round—sound familiar? If HBD is any indication, that's as far as my coaching abilities will ever take me.
Comish Edit: Congrats on the new gig Dizz, there is some pretty cool stuff on the site. Given as Dizz as already pointed out that we are a bunch of online weirdos be sure to check it out.
Any words to celebrate Hunter 50?
Probably not the celebration you imagined, but I sometimes wonder how Hunter will end. Will we play another 13 years and eventually start to die off? I'll be 64! If you're like me and your family doesn't know about HBD, will we even know when someone has died? I know my wife isn't going to log on to tell you all that I croaked.
What I really think will happen is that technology will advance and the WIS website will suddenly stop working. And, since nobody seems to be around to fix it, it will all just cease to exist.
Dang, that got dark. Happy Anniversary!?
Comish Edit: Well that took a turn for the dark
Real Name (First Name is good):
Jack
How did you find out about HBD and how did you end up in Hunter?
I was playing the WIS college football game and, when the site started advertising HBD, I wanted in. I wound up in Hunter simply because I thought it was going to fill quickest at the time I signed up. I'm not a baseball guy, though, which isn't surprising for anyone who lives in...
City:
Pittsburgh
Description of where you were in your life when you joined Hunter (mid to late 2006): (age, martial status, job, etc)
I guess I was 38 years old. Recently married with a baby girl. I was a graphic artist at a design firm in the South Side of Pittsburgh and I had recently begun coaching youth volleyball at a nearby catholic school.
Do you know any Hunter members in real life, present or past?
I've known Carmandjr since the early 90s. We worked at Camelot Music together back in the days when such a store existed. He's been in my fantasy football league since 1993 (he actually won this year!) and I introduced him to HBD. You would think a guy with a user name like "Carmandjr" would be a cool, manly, muscle car dude—"car man?"—but his name is C. Armand Jr. and he drives a Hyundai.
Favorite Player and Favorite pitcher that played for your team and why?
LF - Willie Drew - Willie Drew
I drafted Willie and he played 15 seasons with Pittsburgh and still holds the record for most home runs in Studdabubba history (413). Every time he hit one over the fence, the voices in my head would scream "Dreeewwwww".
SP - Butch Griffith - Butch Griffith
The Studdabubbas were terrible at drafting pitching for the first 17 seasons or so. Butchie changed that and still holds the record for most wins as a Studdabubba (152). I think he is also the only Studdabubba to ever win a Cy Young.
Favorite Player and pitcher that never played for your team and why? [I didn't have a pitcher]
The guy who came to mind first was Frank Zhang because he was, like, the first stud in the league. Leppykhan picked him up was an International Free Agent in season 4 with no competition—he got him for less than 10M. He still has the best batting average of anyone who played a full career in Hunter.
Comish Edit: Sorry Wolfy, Dizz is right I know your boy has the highest every average in Hunter but Zhang did it with a "Real" career worth of at bats
Least Favorite Hunter Owner (Only accepting owners that no longer play HBD) and why, don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but like to add spice
We had a couple disruptive owners over the last 50 seasons but Radek was the one that stands out to me. He would go on rants about how the sim was wrong and how other team's players were performing better than he thought they should. It became tiresome and I think a few owners left because of him.
Comish Edit: For those who weren't here Radek literally complained every season all season about how power ratings world especially in Coors. It was like Groundhog every season except it wasn't fun like the Bill Murray classic
Biggest Hunter Rivals and why:
Well, I'm not sure he's a rival because I don't pose any threat to him but djbradford has been a pain in my arse for years. I keep waiting for him to go back to the AL but he never does.
Comish Edit: He's never allowed back in the AL
How does it feels to be part of the very special club one of the three Commissioners of Hunter?
I'm glad my reign is over. I don't even recall how long I ran the league but the whole time I knew I was just keeping it warm for Jahu.
Comish Edit: I took over commissionership from Leppy in season 21 but somewhere between then and now between children and my job I was unable to perform to an acceptable level as Comish and Dizz did myself and the world a huge favor by stepping in. Without Dizz we don't make season 50, more on that......
Best Hunter Moment:
Since I never win anything, my favorite Hunter moment was the Season 21 rollover which I recounted a few years back: https://hbd-hunterworld.blogspot.com/2014/
Comish Edit: For those who haven't read it Dizz recounts the story well but the part that he very much undersells is his sleuthing to suss out that ABU was a bad league to merge. If not for Dizz figuring it out we would have merged we wouldn't be in season 50, we'd be season 29 and likely it would be a dead world as the merger would have likely broken the wills of the remaining owners. Kudos Dizz you saved Hunter
Favorite Hunter Owner by whatever definition you want to use:
Of course, I'm a big carmandjr fan but I'll say Jahu. Not only did he save Hunter but he actually tried to mentor me on how to play HBD back in the early years. That clearly didn't work but it was still really cool of him.
Comish Edit: Thanks Dizz and to be clear so people don't go searching Pittsburgh-Louisville trades (9 ever) trying to piece together an Astro-like conspiracy we only discussed on of his other active teams.
What is the best part of Hunter?
It's a secret family of strangers. We check in with each other everyday but we don't know each other's names. And we've been doing it for 14 years. And I rarely talk about Hunter. I've been playing for 13 years and I bet my 15 year-old daughter has no idea I play an online baseball game with a bunch of other weirdos. The only reason my wife knows is because it shows up on the credit card every once in a while.
After 13 years where are you in your life now? (age, martial status, childern job etc?)
I'm now 51. Last year, my wife and I quit our real jobs and we now own an online gift shop that sells nerdy porcelain dinnerware (www.calamityware.com). This career change also gave me the opportunity to take a gig as a high school volleyball coach. We made the playoffs our first year but lost in the first round—sound familiar? If HBD is any indication, that's as far as my coaching abilities will ever take me.
Comish Edit: Congrats on the new gig Dizz, there is some pretty cool stuff on the site. Given as Dizz as already pointed out that we are a bunch of online weirdos be sure to check it out.
Any words to celebrate Hunter 50?
Probably not the celebration you imagined, but I sometimes wonder how Hunter will end. Will we play another 13 years and eventually start to die off? I'll be 64! If you're like me and your family doesn't know about HBD, will we even know when someone has died? I know my wife isn't going to log on to tell you all that I croaked.
What I really think will happen is that technology will advance and the WIS website will suddenly stop working. And, since nobody seems to be around to fix it, it will all just cease to exist.
Dang, that got dark. Happy Anniversary!?
Comish Edit: Well that took a turn for the dark
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Charter Owner Interview Series: Dufferman
Welcome to owner number 2 of the charter owner chat series Dufferman has owned the Baltimore BayDogs in the NL East for all 50 seasons of Hunter. While there are still 8 charter owners in Hunter Dufferman is one of 5 owners who has spent all 50 seasons with the same team.
Real Name (First Name is good): Ed
How did you find out about HBD and how did you end up in Hunter? I was playing SimLeague Baseball when HBD was introduced. I really enjoyed SLB and thought. building my own team would be interesting so I looked for a league to sign up with. Hunter was the first that had openings so I joined uup.
City: Bel Air MD. (north of Baltimore)
Description of where you were in your life when you joined Hunter (mid to late 2006): (age, martial status, job, etc). I was 50 years old, married with one son and a supervisor in an organization on Aberdeen Proving Ground.
Do you know any Hunter members in real life, present or past? No
Favorite Player and Favorite pitcher that played for your team and why?
(Assuming Rich Peters for player, still best HOF plaque, he has 2). You're correct on Peters - still the best player I've had and worthy of at least 2 HoF plaques. Favorite pitcher is James Sinclair, my original closer. He had 471 career saves, is 4th overall in Hunter for saves and still holds 4 of the top 5 single season save records for the BayDogs - and he pitched on some bad teams!
Comish Edit: I believe this is a little known fact, Rich Peters by his HOF plaque is the greatest player Hunter and maybe HBD in general. Having just rechecked the HOF, Peters is down to one plaque. On the plaque that remains he is credited with 1116 HR and 2892 RBIs, which 2x his career numbers, they used to have a correct plaque a well. So the apparently coded so you can't have two plaques BUT you do get to keep double the numbers)
Favorite Player and pitcher that never played for your team and why? I guess for pitcher it would have to be Bob Creek because he was so dominating. And for hitter it would be Branch Gardner for his sustained excellence.
Comish Edit: Those are great choices Bob Creek wears his Louisville cap proudly in the hall. Branch Gardner often states that the 316 AB he spent in Louisville was the greatest point in his career. Which is weird for a guy with 10951 career AB, 8 MVP and countless Silver Slugger and All-star appearances . In all seriousness Gardner would be on the short list of greatest Hunter players of all time
Least Favorite Hunter Owner (Only accepting owners that no longer play HBD) and why, don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but like to add spice. Don't have one.
Biggest Hunter Rivals and why:The BayDogs have always been a bottom feeder, with just a couple exceptions) so we really haven't had any big rivals. I will say that the New Britain Yorkies managed by djbradford seem to have our number.
Comish Edit: Dufferman you are in fine company DJ and his 12 titles has ALL of our numbers
Best Hunter Moment: Without a doubt, winning the Division title in season 19 - our first title even though we won with a losing record. We went on to have 3 more good seasons before returning to the bottom.
Favorite Hunter Owner by whatever definition you want to use: I don't really have one but if I had to choose I'd say dizzlebob because I like the name.
Comish Edit: Continual reminder that Dizz is an unsung hero in Hunter who also was the commissioner for a stretch of seasons.
What is the best part of Hunter? It has always been a friendly world, without much drama (that I can remember), had good commissioners and active owners.
After 13 years where are you in your life now? (age, martial status, childern job etc?). I'm 63, still married, still one son, now retired. Just survived colon cancer and still playing HBD!
Comish Edit: Very happy to hear about the good health news as I am sure the rest of the league is
Any words to celebrate Hunter 50? It's my favorite league and in the HBD universe it is amazing that Hunter has lasted for 50 seasons given the difficulty of filling the worlds. And I hope it lasts another 50 seasons!
Comish Edit: I agree it's my favorite league and already starting research for Hunter 100, ours will blow the NFL 100 out of the water
Real Name (First Name is good): Ed
How did you find out about HBD and how did you end up in Hunter? I was playing SimLeague Baseball when HBD was introduced. I really enjoyed SLB and thought. building my own team would be interesting so I looked for a league to sign up with. Hunter was the first that had openings so I joined uup.
City: Bel Air MD. (north of Baltimore)
Description of where you were in your life when you joined Hunter (mid to late 2006): (age, martial status, job, etc). I was 50 years old, married with one son and a supervisor in an organization on Aberdeen Proving Ground.
Do you know any Hunter members in real life, present or past? No
Favorite Player and Favorite pitcher that played for your team and why?
(Assuming Rich Peters for player, still best HOF plaque, he has 2). You're correct on Peters - still the best player I've had and worthy of at least 2 HoF plaques. Favorite pitcher is James Sinclair, my original closer. He had 471 career saves, is 4th overall in Hunter for saves and still holds 4 of the top 5 single season save records for the BayDogs - and he pitched on some bad teams!
Comish Edit: I believe this is a little known fact, Rich Peters by his HOF plaque is the greatest player Hunter and maybe HBD in general. Having just rechecked the HOF, Peters is down to one plaque. On the plaque that remains he is credited with 1116 HR and 2892 RBIs, which 2x his career numbers, they used to have a correct plaque a well. So the apparently coded so you can't have two plaques BUT you do get to keep double the numbers)
Favorite Player and pitcher that never played for your team and why? I guess for pitcher it would have to be Bob Creek because he was so dominating. And for hitter it would be Branch Gardner for his sustained excellence.
Comish Edit: Those are great choices Bob Creek wears his Louisville cap proudly in the hall. Branch Gardner often states that the 316 AB he spent in Louisville was the greatest point in his career. Which is weird for a guy with 10951 career AB, 8 MVP and countless Silver Slugger and All-star appearances . In all seriousness Gardner would be on the short list of greatest Hunter players of all time
Least Favorite Hunter Owner (Only accepting owners that no longer play HBD) and why, don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but like to add spice. Don't have one.
Biggest Hunter Rivals and why:The BayDogs have always been a bottom feeder, with just a couple exceptions) so we really haven't had any big rivals. I will say that the New Britain Yorkies managed by djbradford seem to have our number.
Comish Edit: Dufferman you are in fine company DJ and his 12 titles has ALL of our numbers
Best Hunter Moment: Without a doubt, winning the Division title in season 19 - our first title even though we won with a losing record. We went on to have 3 more good seasons before returning to the bottom.
Favorite Hunter Owner by whatever definition you want to use: I don't really have one but if I had to choose I'd say dizzlebob because I like the name.
Comish Edit: Continual reminder that Dizz is an unsung hero in Hunter who also was the commissioner for a stretch of seasons.
What is the best part of Hunter? It has always been a friendly world, without much drama (that I can remember), had good commissioners and active owners.
After 13 years where are you in your life now? (age, martial status, childern job etc?). I'm 63, still married, still one son, now retired. Just survived colon cancer and still playing HBD!
Comish Edit: Very happy to hear about the good health news as I am sure the rest of the league is
Any words to celebrate Hunter 50? It's my favorite league and in the HBD universe it is amazing that Hunter has lasted for 50 seasons given the difficulty of filling the worlds. And I hope it lasts another 50 seasons!
Comish Edit: I agree it's my favorite league and already starting research for Hunter 100, ours will blow the NFL 100 out of the water
Friday, January 24, 2020
Charter Owner Interview Series: Wolfhoundkl
As mentioned in my prior post there are still 8 owners around from season 1 of Hunter. The first person in this series is Wolfhoundkl. Wolf is in his 3rd stint with Hunter, he played seasons 1-19 are the Texas Beefeaters in the AL South, which is now Tropicana's Little Rock Returns. Then returned for a short stint S23-25 in the NL East as Tampa Bay Manatees which is now Bluenoser's Syrcacuse Sultan of Swat before finally rejoining us in the NL north as the Toronto Trashpandas his current team.
I will get into the interview shortly but just to add a little colour I personally know Wolf as he was a housemate from my university years at McMaster University. Him and I were really big fans of a simulation game called baseball mogul, once HBD launched he was the first person I knew that I tried to get to join and we went head to head for 19 seasons in the AL south and not to boast but I hold a career record of 131-65 versus Wolf's teams (Okay maybe that was meant as a boast. Which might explain why his last two returns have been the Louisville free confines of the NL. All kidding aside time to start the interview
Real Name : Kristian
How did you find out about HBD and how did you end up in Hunter? Jahu and I go way, way back, to undergrad actually. I have a hard time saying no to the guy, so I was sort of an easy mark when he presented the idea to me. Back in the day I remembered him playing the NCAA basketball version and thinking it seemed kind of neat but that's not a sport or league/association I understood very well at the time; baseball was way more accessible for me.
City: Toronto
Description of where you were in your life when you joined Hunter (mid to late 2006): Eesh. Uh, I guess that was early law school for me, so I had a LOT of spare time to fill* at my computer having just moved to a new city and not having a lot of friends.
*work smart, not hard, folks
Do you know any Hunter members in real life, present or past?: Jahu and I lived together in iundergrad and are fortunately still tight to this day. A couple other owners in the league I know from that period of my life but haven't really kept up with (you know who you are) and ex-owner shmish0 and I have known each other since grade 4 and still play squash every other week or so!
Comish Edit: For those that don't remember shmish0 was a great owner and playing as the Salt Lake City Mormons from S6 to S34 winning two titles. Making him one of only 6 owners with multiple titles. I bug Kristian every season to get him to return.
Favorite Player and Favorite pitcher that played for your team and why?: Glenn McCarty (https://www.whatifsports.com/hbd/Pages/Popups/PlayerRatings.aspx?pid=61690) was my personal hero the first dozen seasons I played. He's still who I wanna be when I grow up. Didn't have much in the way of pitchers back in the day but Jose Diaz
(https://www.whatifsports.com/hbd/Pages/Popups/PlayerStats.aspx?pid=732353) despite never quite living up to the hype at least felt like a potential elite arm at a stage in the game I needed one.
Comish Edit: I thought for sure Kristian pick was going to be Bruce Kaufman and his 632 career HR, 1669 RBIs, .923 OPS and MVP and only Beefeater HOFer. That said Glen Mccarty is 2nd all time in OBP with .451 and 4th all time in batting average with .342 career marks
Favorite Player and pitcher that never played for your team and why?: Basically anyone good jahu ever had because he wouldn't shut up about them and he made me jealous. Actually no, almost forgot...Who here remembers Dusty Nation? Best name in the history of virtual sports, right there.
Comish Edit: This story checks out
Least Favorite Hunter Owner (Only accepting owners that no longer play HBD) and why, don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but like to add spice: I don't really remember the league makeup from ~30, 40 seasons ago when I was really active and engaged. (but really it's jahu)
Comish Edit: Dude?!
Biggest Hunter Rivals and why: Freakin' louisville, again, for the aforementioned reasons
Best Hunter Moment: Honestly? coming back last season. I was never any good at the game but just having the menus back on my screen after most of a decade away felt like pulling on a cozy pair of slippers.
Favorite Hunter Owner by whatever definition you want to use: Definitely not jahu, going to have to go with Bjb always respected his never ending stream of Cy young pitchers
What is the best part of Hunter?: it seems to be like the best hobbies in that it will expand to fill as much time as you need it to, buti f you're just in it for a lark it needn't be a chore.
After 13 years where are you in your life now? (age, martial status, childern job etc?): 36, running my own law practice in toronto, living the good life on my own in a new place. Been a messy few years but things are starting to fall into place little by little.
Any words to celebrate Hunter 50? : I can't believe I'm back doing this. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment...and THIS will be the year I hand-rank all the top 500 prospects for the draft. Definitely. For sure. Maybe. I think.
I will get into the interview shortly but just to add a little colour I personally know Wolf as he was a housemate from my university years at McMaster University. Him and I were really big fans of a simulation game called baseball mogul, once HBD launched he was the first person I knew that I tried to get to join and we went head to head for 19 seasons in the AL south and not to boast but I hold a career record of 131-65 versus Wolf's teams (Okay maybe that was meant as a boast. Which might explain why his last two returns have been the Louisville free confines of the NL. All kidding aside time to start the interview
Real Name : Kristian
How did you find out about HBD and how did you end up in Hunter? Jahu and I go way, way back, to undergrad actually. I have a hard time saying no to the guy, so I was sort of an easy mark when he presented the idea to me. Back in the day I remembered him playing the NCAA basketball version and thinking it seemed kind of neat but that's not a sport or league/association I understood very well at the time; baseball was way more accessible for me.
City: Toronto
Description of where you were in your life when you joined Hunter (mid to late 2006): Eesh. Uh, I guess that was early law school for me, so I had a LOT of spare time to fill* at my computer having just moved to a new city and not having a lot of friends.
*work smart, not hard, folks
Do you know any Hunter members in real life, present or past?: Jahu and I lived together in iundergrad and are fortunately still tight to this day. A couple other owners in the league I know from that period of my life but haven't really kept up with (you know who you are) and ex-owner shmish0 and I have known each other since grade 4 and still play squash every other week or so!
Comish Edit: For those that don't remember shmish0 was a great owner and playing as the Salt Lake City Mormons from S6 to S34 winning two titles. Making him one of only 6 owners with multiple titles. I bug Kristian every season to get him to return.
Favorite Player and Favorite pitcher that played for your team and why?: Glenn McCarty (https://www.whatifsports.com/hbd/Pages/Popups/PlayerRatings.aspx?pid=61690) was my personal hero the first dozen seasons I played. He's still who I wanna be when I grow up. Didn't have much in the way of pitchers back in the day but Jose Diaz
(https://www.whatifsports.com/hbd/Pages/Popups/PlayerStats.aspx?pid=732353) despite never quite living up to the hype at least felt like a potential elite arm at a stage in the game I needed one.
Comish Edit: I thought for sure Kristian pick was going to be Bruce Kaufman and his 632 career HR, 1669 RBIs, .923 OPS and MVP and only Beefeater HOFer. That said Glen Mccarty is 2nd all time in OBP with .451 and 4th all time in batting average with .342 career marks
Favorite Player and pitcher that never played for your team and why?: Basically anyone good jahu ever had because he wouldn't shut up about them and he made me jealous. Actually no, almost forgot...Who here remembers Dusty Nation? Best name in the history of virtual sports, right there.
Comish Edit: This story checks out
Least Favorite Hunter Owner (Only accepting owners that no longer play HBD) and why, don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but like to add spice: I don't really remember the league makeup from ~30, 40 seasons ago when I was really active and engaged. (but really it's jahu)
Comish Edit: Dude?!
Biggest Hunter Rivals and why: Freakin' louisville, again, for the aforementioned reasons
Best Hunter Moment: Honestly? coming back last season. I was never any good at the game but just having the menus back on my screen after most of a decade away felt like pulling on a cozy pair of slippers.
Favorite Hunter Owner by whatever definition you want to use: Definitely not jahu, going to have to go with Bjb always respected his never ending stream of Cy young pitchers
What is the best part of Hunter?: it seems to be like the best hobbies in that it will expand to fill as much time as you need it to, buti f you're just in it for a lark it needn't be a chore.
After 13 years where are you in your life now? (age, martial status, childern job etc?): 36, running my own law practice in toronto, living the good life on my own in a new place. Been a messy few years but things are starting to fall into place little by little.
Any words to celebrate Hunter 50? : I can't believe I'm back doing this. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment...and THIS will be the year I hand-rank all the top 500 prospects for the draft. Definitely. For sure. Maybe. I think.
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Welcome to Hunter's 50th Anniversary Season
50 seasons....…. that's a long time, by my recollection and perhaps someone can correct me I believe Hunter launched in the fall of 2006 which is crazy to think about.
During this anniversary season I am going to try and run a few different features in addition to the Power Rankings on the blog. The first that I'm going to run is to celebrate the thing that makes Hunter so great and that's YOU the owners. In the first series I will be running will focus on those that have been here from the start. The owners that were here in Season 1...…….. 14 years ago.
So look for posts on the blog about the following owners, some have been with us for all 50 seasons others have left only to find their way home.
We have 8 owners from season 1
tbook
mdukes
dufferman
dizzlebob
bjb2378
pfontaine
jahu43
wolfhoundkl
Pretty incredible to have 25% of the owners from season 1 still in the league
Look for the first post to go up tomorrow.
During this anniversary season I am going to try and run a few different features in addition to the Power Rankings on the blog. The first that I'm going to run is to celebrate the thing that makes Hunter so great and that's YOU the owners. In the first series I will be running will focus on those that have been here from the start. The owners that were here in Season 1...…….. 14 years ago.
So look for posts on the blog about the following owners, some have been with us for all 50 seasons others have left only to find their way home.
We have 8 owners from season 1
tbook
mdukes
dufferman
dizzlebob
bjb2378
pfontaine
jahu43
wolfhoundkl
Pretty incredible to have 25% of the owners from season 1 still in the league
Look for the first post to go up tomorrow.
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