20 questions with bbwinnow

1. What should we call you?
Brendan

2. Any hobbies or favorite pastimes besides HBD?
I play Pokémon a lot (the video games, not the trading cards) and I used to play softball at my old school. I was a pitcher and I sucked.

3. How did you fall into HBD?
I used to be a SLB guy, but I discovered HBD pretty early on. I took over my brother's team when he left the old Stargell world.

4. How many teams do you run? How many hours per week do you pour into your teams?
At one point I had three teams, but this is my only current team. I generally spend 30 minutes per day on HBD during the regular season, more in the offseason.

5. Married? Children?
No.

6. City/State you live in? Hometown where you grew up?
I live in Conway, MA (a bit closer to Boston than NYC) and have lived there since 2003. I have lived in western Massachusetts for nearly my entire life.

7. Occupation? Do you check in on your teams often during the workday?
Currently unemployed. I quit my job six months ago since I didn't have time for both it and college.

8. Who is your all time favorite baseball player?
David Ortiz. Though that's a bit obvious considering what he did in 2004. Seriously, three walk-off hits, two of them HRs, in 6 games?

9. What makes you laugh?
Watching reruns of old TV shows and seeing how stupid they seem all these years later.

10. Top 3 all time movies?
I don't watch movies all that much, and I really don't have favorites.

11. What popular song past/present do you most identify with?
"How Far We've Come" by Matchbox Twenty. It kind of fits who I am, and considering the "world is ending" theme of that song, it might mean more than that to people who thought it would end last month (during a Red Sox-Cubs series, no less!) or next year.

12. Real baseball team you grew up loving? Still in love with them?
Red Sox! They feel a bit different to me now that they won in 2004 and 2007.

13. Tell me 2 things you wish you knew about particular AU owners?
how the heck kevmax100 had 16 straight seasons in first or second place before I finished ahead of him in season 17.

14. You're fairly outspoken as an AU owner. Why?
I'm just surprised I managed to win my division at 80-82 last season. I guess I'm following in the steps of csherwood, taking the worst team in AU and turning it into a better yet not good enough team.

15. What is your GM philosophy?
Trade away prospects for guys that can win a title for me immediately. Of course, with all the Type B free agents I've had these last two seasons, I'm not quite sure which guys to keep. I'll be an 100-win team by season 21 if I keep this up.

16. Any special meaning for your WIS nickname? Your AU team name?
"Let's Play Two" comes from both the classic Ernie Banks quote and from my "Let's Play" video game walkthroughs on YouTube (though I won't give my YT username here.) My name here, bbwinnow, reflects my HBD tendencies, though this may be a coincidence since I started with SLB.

17. Who is/was your favorite AU owner? Why?
Csherwood, though he left well before I joined. There are interesting parallels between his team and mine, including two players that have played for both me and the 'Traps.

18. Which MLB Commissioner do you admire or identify with most? Why?
Bud Selig. This might be a surprise to most, but since he gave the Red Sox a chance to win in 2004 by introducing the wild card ten years earlier...

19. General pet peeves about the HBD game?
Owners who sign a lot of bad players or minor league FAs to long-term contracts then bolt after a season. On that note, guys who don't check their minors.

20. If I was AU Commish for a day I would...
institute a $20M prospect payroll cap.