Goldie is a founding member of the world and I got a chance to check in with him on Hartford, winning his first HBD title and which prospect he would like to have on his team.1. How did you discover HBD?
I'm not really sure where I heard about WhatIfSports. Maybe it was an add on ESPN.com and I'd heard some simulation talk about whether the Red Sox would beat the Yankees in 2003. So, I checked it out and put together a team with Jim Rice/Ozzie Smith/Pedro Martinez/Rickey Henderson. You know; all my favorites but before long I found that I had used the 54 Richie Ashburn, 84 Puckett, 81 Andre Dawson and a couple of cats that I had no idea of who they were so many times I learned to hate them all. Had to have those A+++ fielders. So,I gave it up and used my last credits for HBD which I had heard so much about in the forums. I signed up for the 1st season in Puckett and my crack like addiction came quickly after that. BTW: they were wrong about the 2003 ALCS!
2. You've always had one of the top teams in the NL, what do you think has prevented you from getting to the big one?
I just think my team wasn't that good. This was my first league and had I traded away any player not making the league minimum in season 1. Since then; my team record has improved each season but one. Season 5 was the fist time my team was good enough to really do real damage in the playoffs. Just ran into a tough Durham team.
3. Will this be the season La Ciudad takes the division crown from the Whalers?
Oh, I want it bad. SoxFan is a pain in my ass and he'd better be below me in the standings AFTER game 162. The problem with that is the NL East isn't gonna just be about me beating Hartford. Richmond won 95 games and Boston was over .500 while rebuilding. The NL east averaged over 98 wins per team. So, I can't say for sure I'm taking it but OH.... do I want it.
4. If you could have any player in this world on your team that you don't already have, who would it be?
Tomas Soriano......... wait...... let me think about that........maybe its..... no.......well it could be...... no.......Yeah Soriano. From the day he showed up looking for 19 + mil as a IFA, I have had an unnatural man love for one Tomas Soriano.
5. Do you regret any trades, if so which one would take the cake?
I do regret one trade and one trade only. Some deals you get a little more or less talent... no be deal. In my first HBD season, the owner of a New York team had said they were packing it in and all ML talent was available. I sent some weak offer out with two high stamina AAA pitchers for A.J. Krueger. He took it, the league was pretty pissed, thor was pissed because he sent a bad offer but wasn't as bad as what I sent but I really didn't know how bad I hosed this guy.
6. What's the most important part of a team to you? The power bats? Strong starting pitching? Great bullpen? Speed & defense? Coaching?
You've got to send out starting pitchers that will be over .500 at the end of a season. If you have 5 solid starters you can build an offense and bullpen one piece at a time until you've got a winner. If you have a good offense and bullpen but could be down 7 runs after 5 inning you'll have a looser on your hands.
7. Res Sox, Cards, Mets? You list those as your favorite teams. So which one is your real favorite?
When I was first becoming a huge baseball fan in the mid 80s. The Cardinals were the most fun team in the league. I was a huge Willie McGee, Ozzie Smith, Tommie Herr and Tony Pena fan but I'm done with the Cards now. I'm from Boston and am really a Red Sox fan but after Pedro wasn't resigned in 2005 I've been pulling for the Mets too.
8. You recently won your first HBD Title. How did you feel when you saw that and how does that compare to the 3 Simleague titles you have.
My first Sim championship was big for me because I had made the playoffs in 16 of my first 20 teams (something like that) but no Championship. HBD is more personal for me. When I was playing sim leagues; every championship team had one or more of the same players from the same year. You're in a league with 40 Richie Ashburns on 32 teams. In Dynasty your players are yours and yours alone; making it a more meaningful win. Well unless you're Richie Ashburn.
9. What do you do in your spare time when your not running your HBD teams?
I'm the assistant director for a day-habilitation program that provides services for 38 mentally and physically disables adult. I'm a huge Boston area sports fan with 1/4 season tickets for the Celtics with my live-in girlfriend. I spend quite a bit of time trying to explain to her why my time is better suited checking out "the Cartoon Baseball guys" than watching some romantic comedy. The roll over part of the season is always tough.
10. If you can change one thing about HBD, what would it be and why?
I don't really get into this that much. I leave it to MikeT23 and some of the others that care about it more than I do. I do like the idea of the ratings/projection system not being so cut and dry. Maybe using something like the Baseball America 10 to 80 scouting system. You get a pre-draft ranking from your scouts saying a player projects to be a 70 big-league SS with 40 power, 80 speed and 60 contact. Maybe you get quarterly progress reports on that player each season with possible changes of 80 to 70 speed or that type of thing........ You know what.... this is all BS.... its fine as it is.
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