Skip to main content

5 Minutes with moethedog

By
moethedog has been running the Syracuse Sicilians in the NL East since Capra's 15th season. During this run the Sicilians have won a World Series (26) and battled in the Series five more times.


1/What If Sports. How long have you been on the site, and how did you end up here? What is your favorite game here? Favorite team or experience on the site? 
          I first came to HBD (and Capra) in Year 15. I had played several seasons, with mixed results, in SimLeague Baseball. I was lucky enough to win a Tournament of Champion in the theme leagues and used that chunk of credit to take the HBD dive. I loved it from Day 1. HBD is the ONLY game I play. I’ve resisted others simply because I have enough of a jones for this one. I was lucky enough to win a Capra World Series a while back. I was also lucky enough to lose 5 WS in 8 seasons, just recently. I have to admit to loving all of it.
2/Sports. What are your favorite teams in the real world? Favorite players and/or sports memories? What drives you crazy about sports or sports culture? 
          I’m a big Seattle Mariners fan. I’m a graduate of the University of Oregon, Class of ’79, so I’m a pretty large Duck fan, too. Back in the day, when I was attending, the Ducks were terrible in football (anybody remember the Bottom Ten rankings?), or beyond terrible (if you were there, you know what I’m talking about). To really appreciate the recent football success you have to had experienced the dismal years, too. We were pretty decent in b-ball back then (The Kamikaze Kids). I will say that only 8 teams made the tournament WAY back then. Hey, we won an NCAA game tonight! Go Ducks! I’m a big Tom Brady fan and like the Packers, as well. Still remember the Ice Bowl. And it was the Miracle Mets of ’69 that really ignited my baseball love.
3/Music. What are the last three things you listened to? All-time three favorite artists? Best show you've seen?
          Probably Sinatra, Mellencamp, and some 1940s jazz (My ring-tone is Louis Prima’s Sing Sing Sing). All-time favs are Buffett (saw him 7-8 times, even before he was famous), Sinatra, and Springsteen . . . maybe. Favorite shows were Buffett, Jerry Jeff Walker, The Moody Blues, Jethro Tull and . . . (yes) Elvis (Winter of ’76).
4/Aside from sports and music, what are your favorite hobbies, films, books, etc? What might surprise us about your interests?
          I love movies where people actually talk and there is nuance. Hollywood doesn’t do that anymore. Sigh. I was once a highly competitive scratch-type golfer, but practice too much now and play too little. Mostly now you will find me standing in a river chasing steelhead with a flyrod. In November I try to topple an elk. I read anything and everything (really), especially loving history (which I teach) and Ivan Doig. I recently ended 6 terms as Mayor, have been a Port Commissioner for more than two decades, am directly involved in regional economic development, am a state-wide leader in an alternative energy field, was once named one of Oregon’s 50 Great Leaders, and am finishing my 35th year as a HS teacher. My wife teaches as well. I have a daughter who is a sophomore at the University of Montana. She was an All-State Volleyball player. My youngest daughter, (pictured with yours truly) was All-League in B-ball and Homecoming Queen this year. She’s heading to Oregon State. I’ve been blessed, to say the least.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Anaheim Anteaters Future Shock: Top 10 Prospects

By
1/ SP Hugh Palmer . Age 24. AAA. ETA: S10 Selected 13th in the 1st round of the S6 draft, Palmer dominated the lower minors and has averaged a 16-4/3.35 record in 3 minor league seasons. Palmer's big calling card has been the punchout as he's K'd 502 batters in 51o frames. His heater is in the mid-90s and still developing. Palmer comes with 2 good pitchers, the fastball and slider, but could use a better forkball and curveball to sharpen his repertoire. Palmer's about a season away from the bigs and projects to a solid #2 or #3 starter. 2/ SP Vasco Almonte . Age 22. AAA. ETA: S10 A former 1st round draft pick by Atlanta/Chicago, Almonte was traded to Anaheim for fellow prospect Tony Mendoza . Almonte has been consistent in the minors, if unspectacular, with a 4.15 era and 1.32 whip. However, Almonte is just 22 and has progressed quickly through the minors with a AAA season already in the books. If he continues to develop his fastball and change-up he can become a stalwa...
Post a Comment
Read more

HBD Ballpark Factors

By
Ballpark effects are ranked on a scale from - 4 to + 4, based on their impact on hits (1B), doubles (2B), triples (3B), home runs to left field (HR LF) and home runs to right field (HR RF). The more negative or positive number, the more extreme the effect for that hit in that direction. These numbers are just indicators of the relative effect in the simulation engine. They are important for users and founded entirely on historical fact, but are meant for display purposes and not explicitly used in the simulation engine. City/State Ballpark Capacity 1B 2B 3B LF RF PF Division  Albuquerque (New Mexico) Isotopes Park 11,124 4 4 4 1 0 1.211 West  Anaheim (California) Angel Stadium 45,050 0 -2 -2 0 0 0.951 West  Atlanta (Georgia) Turner Field 50,062 -1 -1 0 1 1 0.950 South, East ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Recent HBD Update

By
The March 6 update to the HBD engine features some important developments we should all be aware of. mnnorthstars mentioned one of these in the chat page: Spring Training playing time now has increased importance. Specifically, those with adequate playing time could get a friendlier boost in ratings, and big league players who don't get enough playing time can take a hit in their ratings. This latter element is the key thing here to note. As far as what equals adequate( or as tzentmeyer called it "enough") playing time, we don't know yet. Since this update is so recent, there have yet to be any studies in the forum. Before the update, I tried to get as many players as possible 40 at bats and 15-20 innings for starting pitchers to capture the Spring ratings boost. Perhaps when ST is over some of us can report back here with the varying results of playing time. The other update to the engine involes rookies and big league service time. Previously, you could call up rook...
4 comments
Read more