Owner Profiles Part 2

Hello again,

Here is the next installment of owner profiles from the Winter Meetings Q and A.
Hope you enjoy learning more about the fine, upstanding people your fellow owners are. Our mothers would be so proud.

DSMBA - KANSAS CITY BLUES
1. Denver, CO
2. 39
3. CPA
4. Married no kids
5. Lou Pinella gotta love Lou.
6. Early, played in high school. Unfortunately I was a much better football player (played Div II) but baseball was my love.


DYUEN - MEXICO CITY BANDEJOS
1. Chicago
2. 40
3. Attorney
4. Single but live with girlfriend who discusses with Jwendt's wife what losers we are for playing "robot baseball"
5. Ozzie Guillen of course. I hate Lou Pinella cause he is a Cubs bafoon who says nonsensical things but is cast as a genious when Ozzie says the same things and people call him an idiot. I hate Tony LaRussa because no matter what he does people says he is innovative and brilliant and hes not. Why would you ever bat a pitcher 8th?
6. When I started playing hardball again 3 years ago and hit a tapper back to the pitcher.

JROOSTER35 - CHEYENNE SEMINOLES
1. Cincinati, Ohio
2. 26
3. Single according to taxes. But have a g/f of 5 years we just recently got engaged.(Guess she would be my fiance then but i like the sound of g/f better.)
4. Build airplane parts at a factory. (3 classes away from graduating with a BS in Criminal Justice from University of Cincinnati, graduated from Police Academy but haven't found a job.
5. I like to argue and yell so it would have to be Lou Pinella
6. 5 years after high school when my high school g/f and i split up. During the HS years I was more worried about my the puntang than anything else. I Decided to pass up on miami hamiltons baseball team because i thought i would be able to walk on at UC. Never got that far cause i was too busy chasing the coooter What a dumb ass I was.

HOCKEY_BRIAN - TOLEDO BOONSE FARMERS
1. Mt. Pleasant Michigan
2. 42 soon to be 43
3. Sales Manager
4. Married with three boys 10 5 and 2 (my wife hates Wis)
5. Hate any yankee Manager most like Ozzie guillen
6. College ball when Iwas told I could walk on and maybe sit the bench did not want to put the work in to sit the bench

HARTEL - AUGUSTA STORM
1. Geneva Ohio
2. 46
3. Management at a Nuclear Power Plant
4. Married with 1 step child at home, two daughters on there own
5. Tony LaRussa
6. Never a dream, just a fan.

BUCK18 - COLORADO MOUNTAIN OYSTERS
1. Packwaukee, WI
2. 34
3. Sales rep
4. single
5. Don't really like or dislike any manager, I guess i would say i most dislike whoever is the manager of the yankees.
6. Well I new it before this but I would say senior year in college when i lost my starting possition to a freshman.

HCOHENMB - VANCOUVER JETS
1. Memphis Tennessee (and Long Island NY)
2. 57
3. Physician
4. Married with older kids and residing part of year in separate cities
5. Would emulate the manager of LA (formerly NY) if I could
6. In my mid30's despite having no real reason to believe there was a possibility

Owner Profiles from the Q and A

Hello fellow owners,
I received a great response so far to the Winter Meetings Owner Profile Q and A survey. Here are the responses I have gotten at this time. If you haven't done your yet and would like to you can still send it in and I will put it up in the next post.

Here are the questions again that were asked.
1. Location: City, State, or Region where you live
2. Age:
3. Occupation: your job, or student, or retired:
4. Relationshp: married?, married with kids?, or single:
5. Manager you are most like? Lou Pinella, Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa, or Bobby Cox:
6. At what point did your dream of really playing professional baseball die?

PIRATEFAN13 - FRESNO OUTLAWS
1. Bowie, MD
2. 37
3. Government
4. Married recently
5. Tony LaRussa definitely
6. After joining the USAF

TMFRAN - TACOMA TRUCKERS
1. St. Louis, MO
2. 32
3. Security
4. Married, 2 kids
5. I both love and hate Tony Larussa
6. Playing the game baseball stars on the old NES is as close to playing pro baseball as I made it.

SRIRAM12078 - PAWTUCKET QUAHOG CRUSH
1. Arlington, VA
2. 31
3. Consultant
4. Single though in a relationship involved enough to make HBD a little trickier
5. Like Cox, hate LaRussa, would take Francona over all of your choices.
6. When I discovered I was afraid of the ball

MADMULDOON - NEW YORK HELLRAISERS
1. San Antonio Texas ( From Couer D' Alene Idaho)
2. 46
3. Retired Oil Field Worker--- Student at UTSA
4. Single Grandfather with one Son and Grandson
5. Billy Martin Love his Passion,But hated his Demons
6. When I was 16-- was an all-state Catcher then a family tragedy occured .Which forced me to give up School and Childish Ways and Go to Work for my Family .Now I can continue my Childish Ways .

BOSSMAO - SALEM GRAND SALAMIES
1. Portland Or
2. 53
3. auto parts warehouse/sales
4. Married /w4
5. Like LaRussa he wins most with least - dislike Cocky Cox
6. American Legion ball when i blew out arm. They call it rotater cuff now....then it was put some ice on it kid.

MR_ORANGE - BALTIMORE DEAD HOMIES
1. Cincinnati, Ohio
2. 36
3. Youth Sports Director
4. Married with a 4 year old daughter (Mazzy)
5. Even though I dislike Pete Rose, probably him because I would like to bet on these games.
6. High school, when I decided I would rather be inside playing basketball, even when it was nice outside.

REIGNY - SANTA FE FIREHAWKS
1. Reston VA (about 12 miles west of D.C.)
2. Biological age is 41, but my wife will be the first to say I'm worse than a 3 yr. old.
3. Owner and Director of Construction of Precision Design/ Build Services LLC. ( a residential, commercial, and historical renovation comapny. I have also built on average 10-15 5,000 to 10,000 sq ft homes a year.)
4. I am married for 5 years (second marriage) to Brenda and I have a precocious 2 yr. old daughter named Jaelyn.
5. I am most like Connie Mack (3731- 3948 .486). Mack never had good teams (much like I do) but he refused to give up. (much like I do.... maybe his ex-wife and my ex-wife talked support payments). Oh... I can't stand Joe Torre.
6. My dream hasn't died yet. I'm actually a starting first baseman and occasional relief pitcher in the Northern Virginia Ponce DeLeon Baseball League. (If Robert Redford could do it in the natural, I can do it too).

DBERUBE7 - HELENA HOUND DOGS
1. Boston, MA
2. 27
3. Marketing at a professional theatre
4. Have live-in girlfriend
5. As a Red Sox fan, I have to say Terry Francona, but I have a appreciation for Joe Torre was well.
6. At what point did your dream of really playing professional baseball die?
Never played baseball growing up. I did play basketball when I was younger, but my talents were always in music, not sports.

BIGKING0505 - SACRAMENTO SHOCKES
1. I live in a small city called Ripon California. Its about an hour south of Sacramento and about and hour and a half east of San Fransisco
2. 30 almost 31
3. I am a police officer in the City of Ripon for now and am currently working on my MBA online.
4. I am married and have been for the last 3 years.
5. The manager I am most like would have to be Art Howe... I could get my teams to the playoffs but could not win anything :)
6. My dream died after my first year of playing baseball in college. I realized that a lot of people could through 90-91, and being only 5'10 that was about as much as I could get out of my arm. That and the fact that I blew out my shoulder that year. I liked to drink to much back then so I didnt take the best care of my body.

SZAVSZA23 - RICHMOND CONFEDERATES
1. Richmond,VA but I'm from Detroit orginally.
2. 36, 37 in Feb.
3. Senior Buyer at Circuit City(at least today)
4. Married with Kids.
5. Sparky Anderson rocks!!!
6. I played Minor League baseball for a year for the Dodgers back in the early 90's( I tore my knee up and the rest is History.)

DARRENMAYBEE - WASHINGTON D.C. HONOR AND COURAGE
1. Lynchburg, VA (but also lived in Oklahoma for a while)
2. 34
3. Pharmacist at a hospital (but also maintain the pharmacy computer system too)
4. Married for 5 years with one future Hall of Famer named Luke (14 months old now)
5. I still like old Lou Pinella.
6. I was the leadoff hitter and centerfield star for my championship winning tee-ball team. The next year my Dad wasn't the coach and somehow I didn't make the team. Go figure :)

Interview with a Champion - JWendt

Hello Jason, Champion of Season 10 with the Sioux Falls Dakota!

As always Darren Maybee, baseball analyst and blogger for the Windy City Musings, requested the first interview with a champion to start off season 11. It will help fill in the time until we see if Manny Ramirez signs with Mexico City.

DARREN
First of all, congratulations!
You have had a pretty strong team these past couple of seasons, what made it all click for you this season 10?

JASON
First - I want to thank all of Second City. For ten seasons this group has a been a blast to play with. We've had consistently excellent retention and the level of play gets better every year (not that I'm ready to concede the division to hockey_brian, dberube or goblkngld just yet!

Frankly, we just got hot at the right time. This was actually the fewest games my team had ever won in the pre-season. I faced elimination in the first round against Nashville and was lucky to escape.

DARREN
What critical trades or roster moves if any may have made a difference in winning?

JASON
I think adding Derrick Quinn before the season for Jim Hughes was a real key. Hughes is a nice SS but I needed a true leadoff man and Quinn really helped me out there.

DARREN
What was your greatest strength and weakness leading to the championship?

JASON
Well, the Dakota have always prided themselves on pitching, especially in the rotation. That was true again this year. The
bullpen also really stepped it up after some investments in that area. As for a weakness, this may have been one of my worst defensive teams in several years. Age the lack of a true CF took there toll.

DARREN
How much time on a daily basis did you dedicate to managing your team? Did it increase during the playoffs?

JASON
I make a point of spending 10 minutes in the morning everyday keeping an eye on the team. If I'm not busy, I'll usually log on after the PM cycle as well. So that's maybe 20 minutes a day. During some times like the draft or off-season that time goes up. Plus, when I can fit it in, I like to get a blog article up there every now and again, especially if it gives me a chance to give wang35, dyuen, or gtce a hard time about something.

DARREN
Do you change your game strategy by who you are facing or which parks you are in?

JASON
I never make a change based on ballpark. I will alter lineups and occasionally baserunning or steal settings based on an opponent's pitcher and catcher.

DARREN
Did you have any major injuries that almost made you give up?

JASON
I sure did. I lost my ace, Bartolo Gonzalez for 60 days with about 40 games to go in the season. I thought that really hurt my playoff chances. When I staged that miracle comeback in the first round I really thought that would be it. But Bartolo was back for the NLCS against the hated Bandejos. With him and a little help from the Green Fairy - I was off to the World Series!

DARREN
Did you think you have found the perfect "budget" formula?

JASON
I don't think there's a perfect formula for everyone. I've been fairly consistent spending about $90 on player payroll. If I don't have any compensation picks I've usually got enough prospect budget to find 1 or 2 useful parts in the Int'l market, but I can't usually afford a star.

DARREN
What one piece of advice would you give the newbies or those still struggling for that first playoff chance?

JASON
4 things
#1 - DEFENSE
#2 - DEFENSE
#3 - DEFENSE
#4 - Don't rush your prospects

DARREN
Lastly, what nickname would you like to have for Season 11 as the reigning champion? Sir J, J Master, J Rock, or J-Z and Beyonce?

JASON - AKA THE J
I'd love to have J-Z and Beyonce on the Dakota staff, perhaps in the marketing department, but I'll stick with THE J for a nickname.

Good luck to all!
Jason

DAKOTA WIN TITLE - CITY PLANS CELBRATION!

The Sioux Falls Dakota won the Season 10 Championship over the Richmond Confederates tonight. Paul Rhodes threw 7 shutout innings completing a post-season that saw him throw 45 innings while allowing just 31 hits and 10 earned runs (2.00 ERA) while striking out 44 and walking just 9. The Dakota were powered to the 8-3 victory with a 3-run shot off the bat of Larry Price in the bottom of the first. Joaquin Medrano put an exclamation point on the series with a grand slam in the 7th.

As the city of Sioux Falls and state of South Dakota rejoiced, plans for a championship celebration were made. The parade to honor the champs will begin 77 miles west of Sioux Falls at the Mitchell Corn Palace (pictured right). Rarely has Sioux Falls seen a celebration like the one planned. Liquor stores for 150 miles are sold out of Tullamore Dew and Branca Mentha, key ingredients in the naughty girl scout, the official drink of the World Champion Dakota. Dakota manager Esteban Valentin declined to comment due to his drunkeness.

Absinthe doesn't spray - Dakota don't care

The Sioux Falls Dakota learned that even when you shake it up, Absinthe isn't great for spraying on your teammates like Champagne. But, nobody cared in the locker room after Sioux Falls won the NLCS behind 7 shutout innings by ace Paul Rhodes.

Clubhouse prankster Paul Byrne secretly replaced the traditional clubhouse champagne with a spread of Czech Abisnthe (pictured right). Byrne did this in response to widespread reporting of team owner jwendt's obsession with green fairy. Manager Esteban Valentin was widely criticized for his decision to start Bartolo Gonzalez coming off an elbow injury. But all that talk is water under the bridge. The big question know is how is the clubhouse manager gonna get all that green stuff out of the carpet in the Sioux Falls home clubhouse?

Gridiron Greats?

Football teams don't usually play 7-game series, but that appears to be the case in this year's ALCS. The recap so far:

Game 1: Salem kicker Justin Lewis nails a 47 yard field goal with under a minute remaining as the Salamie defense allows just one long TD pass to Slick Black in their 10-7 victory.

Game 2: The Richmond option attack gets rolling with TD runs by QB Angel Mercedes (37 yards), FB Joel Peterson (2 yards), and 5'7 scatback Cody Hall (22 yards) while rolling up 284 rushing yards in a 21-7 win.

Game 3: Defense prevails on a cold, rainy day in Richmond. The 'Feds jump out to a 2-0 lead on a sack by star DE Dick Caruso in the 1st quarter. The special teams fail them though after P Doc Belle pins the 'Feds deep on a coffin corner kick and Richmond can't rush it out of end zone. Then Richmond long-snapper Alan Spencer sails one over the head of the punter for another safety with just 30 seconds to play. Salem wins 4-2.

Game 4: Salem kick Willie Morales hits three of four FG attempts to lead the Salamies to a 9-7 win.

Game 5: Willie Morales misses twice, including a 38 yarder that sails wide as time expires, giving Richmond the 9-6 victory on the 3 sacks by Dick Caruso leading to game winning FG.

Dakota manager phased by Absinthe

Sioux Falls Dakota manager the J, in the most important series of the season against heated rival and neighbor, the Doc, made a huge tacitcal error in game 2. He started one time ace Bartolo Gonzales, who was coming off a severe shoulder injury and making his first start in over 2 months. Bart was blasted by the Bandejos for 9 runs in 2 innings.

Sioux Falls well respected and only sports writer, Jimmy Olsen, blasted the J for this poor decision. After some crack investigation, it was determined that Doc was able to cloud J's mind by serving him repeated doses of the Green Fairy on New Year's Eve. In 1905 the Swiss government was convinced that it was absinthe alone that turned a law-abiding citizen into a homicidal maniac. After Jean Lanfray, a 31-year-old laborer, killed his pregnant wife and two children, the Swiss government banned the spirit. While Lanfray had sampled a bottle of absinthe before breakfast that morning, officials failed to take into consideration that he had also consumed Creme de Menthe, cognac and soda, more than six glasses of wine and a cup of coffee laced with brandy. "If you drink too much, something bad will happen." Luckily for the J it was only a baseball game.

Crownrifico owner questions physical fitness of fellow owner

San Juan Crownrifico owner wang35, already reeling from a 1st round playoff defeat at the hands of Burlington and mired in a battle with his fans over a "white-flag" trade, fired a shot across the bow of four of Second City's most successful owners. Wang referred szavsza, bossmao, dyuen, and jwendt as "heavyweights". When WCM corespondents pressed for details, Wang was heard muttering, "Have you seen these guys? The Crownrificos would be making money hand over fist if I could just get them to the hot-dog stands twice a year."

Angered by the quote, the teams PR staffs agreed to release this photo from the last Second City owners meeting. The owners in question are shown here in the workout gear, clearly making an effort to get in shape. The Crownrifico PR department is still hungover and failed to repsond to requests for further comment.

Championship re-makes start off with a shelling.

Virgil Chavez Richmond Confederates Age: 23 B/T: R/R Born: Birmingham, MI Position(s): P (SP1) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

23-year old Virgil Chavez is by all accounts a star in the making. The key words being 'in the making.' Chavez was lit up on the biggest of stages today by the Salem Grand Salamies. The Salamies touched Virgil for 6 runs in a 2nd inning that featured 4 singles, a double, a walk and a hit batsman. Chavez was lifted in before getting the 3rd out.

The Feds staged a dramatic rally in the fifth, plating 5 off Salem ace Greg Jameson. It was too little too late as the Salamies scored another 3 in the 7th to cruise to a 10-7 win and take a 1-0 series lead.

In the NL, the Sioux Falls Dakota pulled out a thriller in Game One, winning 3-2 behind Paul Rhodes and a strong bullpen effort. Game Two features the return of Dakota ace Bartolo Gonzalez, making his return from an elbow strain that's had him out for two months.

Hardball Dynasty's

Bartolo Gonzalez

Wreckless Jung ejected, Bandejos in another fight?

BOX SCORE LINK

Hardball Dynasty's

Brian Jung

Twenty Four year old Mexico City starter Brian Jung really came into his own in his 2nd big league season, winning 20 games. As an 18-year old, Jung signed with the New York BadFish (now Augusta) for $14 million. Scouts immediately recognized his talent, but coaches were just as quick to recognize his short temper. In fact, Jung left Japan after the short temper combined with the martial arts training given him by his father kept getting him in trouble.

Jung competed in martial arts throughout his youth until a tragic incident when the Kobra Kai Dojo, visiting from Southern California, met up with Jung at an event in Tokyo. In the semi-finals, Kobra Kai's Johnny Lawrence attempted to injur Jung with an illegal leg sweep. Jung won the match, but was disqualified from the tournament and banned from future competition when he paralyzed Lawrence in an unsanctioned rematch in the parking lot.

Jung turned his attention to baseball which led him eventually to Mexico City after the Augusta coaches ran out of patience for Jung's outbursts, including two fights with teammates. He seemed to have turned it around in Mexico City until game two of the division series. Coming to bat in a tie game (1-1) in the bottom of the 2nd, Jung was called out on strikes, and snapped. He lunged for the umpire. Only the quick actions of Bandejo 3rd base coach J.P. Springer kept Jung from attacking the ump. Second City commissioner was examining tapes of the incident to determine if a suspension was warranted. But the damage was done. The Bandejo bullpen was touched for 6 runs and the upstart Bulldogs squeeked out a victory evening the series and stealing home field advantage.