Murdering the Ink with Jah

1. Let's start with the basics. Where are you from? What do you do for a living? How did you first get involved in OOTP and how did you find out about this league? Does "JAH" represent your actual initials?

I am from right around Baltimore Maryland. I have been here a good portion of my life. I was in the Air Force for about five years, so I have lived in Biloxi Mississippi for school and was stationed in Hampton, Virginia for a few years. I did software testing/programming/system admin while in the AF. After I got out, I did much of the same on government contracts for about six years. Now I own a small used car dealership. Get to deal with people that are broke and have 450 credit scores. Ohh yeah and JAH is my initials. Jonathan Ali H_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .

Good stuff there. Seems like you have lived a rather productive life thus far. What car make do you sell? I hope your business goes well!

2. Which is your favorite real life team and which players did you idolize while growing up?

I’m guessing we are talking just baseball. That would be the Orioles and Braves. O’s my #1 of course. When I was like 6 years old, I would sneak my little hand held radio under my pillow and listen to the games when I was supposed to be asleep. The Braves were always the other team on TV so I was a big fan of them too. Every Orioles fan in the 80s and 90s was all about Cal, Raffy, Mussina and even fan favorites like Joe Orsulak, Chris Hoiles and Mickey Tettleton. For Atlanta, it was Glavine, Maddux, Smoltz, and Avery of course. For all sports, I was a huge fan of Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp.

Yeah I figured you were an O's fan, but just wanted to make sure. I've seen Cal twice. Once many years ago during the 90s at some mall near Baltimore when I was a little kid. The other time was a few weeks ago at MLB Fan Fest when he was hosted a clinic for kids that was sponsored by Under Armour. I remember all those guys on the O's. Orsulak was a Mets outfielder from 93-95. I'm guessing you were able to see the Braves a lot because of their long TV deal with TBS.





3. It seems as if you and Dave/D2A have known each other in person for a long time. Assuming that's the case, how did you and him first meet and how long have you known each other?

We met at the basketball courts near where we went to school like 16 or 17 years ago. That was back when he could beat me every once in a while. Besides a 6 month time frame about 15 years ago we have been very good friends ever since. Play ball together multiple times a week. Coach little league together and so on.

That's what's up! I'm glad to hear that the friendship between you two has become that strong. It's also good that you two participate together not just in activities, but physical activities like basketball, which of course is good for your health.

I've really gotten to notice how many people here actually know each other in person. We've got the NC clique that consists of 5 of our GM's. And then Erbes and Mark became college roomies. There's Break and D-Rowe, who are childhood friends. Matt (Braves) and Jeff (Twins) have known each other in person for many years as well. I met Break and D-Rowe in person last year and Stutter in person a couple weeks ago. Now we can add Jah and Dave to the list.

4. Play vs Dave/D2A. Who would win in a street fight and why?

Well Dave is 33 years old and like 5’10 170….Play is like twice his freaking size. So it would be a lot of bobbing and weaving and hoping Play got tired. Dave would destroy him in a phone fight though. No contest!

LOL'd @ phone fight. Dave definitely would destroy anyone at that. I think Dave could hold his own for a while if he's got some strength and technique to work with.

5. Your Orioles here have been pesky and persistent. Despite rarely being considered an AL East favorite, the Orioles have never won less than 92 games in a season and through 2000 were sixth all-time in total wins. Yet, the Orioles have only 1 postseason appearance to show for. Do you look at the Orioles' first 6 seasons in this league as more of a success or a disappointment at this point? Any regrets or poor decisions that prevented the Orioles from possibly doing better?

The playoff appearances are a disappointment. Lets face it though the Yankees and Red Sox both started with more talent and a lot more disposable income at their hands. We literally missed the playoffs by one game at least twice. I think it was three times.

Yeah it can be tougher to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox when they are loaded in all areas and have the money to spend. The O's have been extremely close at least 2 or 3 years and it just sucks that they fell short all the time until 2000.

6. How much longer do you think your aging team will be able to compete? Do you think you will be able to get at least 1 more postseason appearance before your rebuild eventually begins?

I think my young pitching is top notch. Rupe, Anderson, Hudson, Chisolm, Towers and so on are going to keep us very high on the pitching ladder for years to come. On offense, Cust of course will need to become a superstar. It would be nice if Mendoza develops into a #3 hitter as well. If that is the case I think Kendall/ Mendoza/Cust/Nevin will still be a very good 2-3-4-5. So I doubt a full rebuild will come anytime soon. That and I simply hate sucking for multiple seasons in OOTP leagues. As for the upcoming season, I think we are about two pieces away from having a very good team that can easily compete.

Rupe looks like an absolute stud. If his hits go up, look out! Towers could be legit with a TIA in home runs. The same could be said with both Luke Hudson and Jesse Delvalle, who are both average in home runs. Anderson looks like a beast, but his walks ratings still need to get filled out. Chisolm could be a solid 3 or 4 with a TIA to hits. Offensively, Mendoza is very solid with a TIA to walks. I liked the Nevin trade a lot. He was on my radar for a bit a while ago. You definitely have some young pieces, despite having an overall aging team.





7. Let's look at the AL East. The Yankees seem to be in good shape for the future. The Red Sox are trying to hang in there before their rebuild most likely begins in a season or 2. The Jays are finally getting somewhere with all their talent and the Rays seem like they will be at the basement of the division for a while. How do you see your division shaping up this season? How will it look 5 seasons from now?

The Red Sox are going to fall off the cliff soon if someone doesn’t bail them out. They have a really bad farm system and their ML level pitching is soon to be one deep. The Yankees have elite level pitching and a pretty good offense. They will have to pay all of those pitchers fairly soon though. And if Sosa drops off I’m not sure where they will be. The Jays have finally been getting somewhere with their talent for 5 years. And have they ever finished higher than 4th? Show me results and then I will believe their hype (if they even have hype anymore). The Rays is for sure a work in progress. They will finish last for at least 2 years and maybe a lot more. Time will tell.

This year :

1. NYY
2. BAL
3. BOS
4. TOR
5. TB

Five years:

1. BAL
2. NYY
3. TB
4. TOR
5. BOS

Those are some bold predictions there! I think the Jays will finally get above the hump soon. Might not be this year, but should be by 2003 once Break's rebuild likely begins. The O's have things going for them and if they can catch a few breaks, the sky is the limit.

8. Is the AL East still the toughest and most competitive division in BBSBL? Or has the NL East become even more competitive?

They are about even I believe. Over the course of the league there is no question the AL East has been the best though. Now with Philly rebuilding, the AL East may be the best this year. The past two seasons the NL East has been nice though. I can’t lie. Take away the bay area and the East coast has destroyed the West coast though.

That sounds about right. But I think the NL East will be better this year because I think this will finally be the year the Mets are ready to compete. If they can produce a decent transition season, I would put the NL East above the AL East. I think the Phillies will have more going for them and could still have some decent pieces, while the Rays basically have to start from scratch and won't have much to work with for at least a few seasons. But yeah over the course of BBSBL history, the AL East has been by far the best division.

9. How would you judge Erbes' job thus far as a commissioner? What suggestions and improvements would you have for him right now? Has he been the best commissioner you've had, compared to the other OOTP or other sim league commissioners you have dealt with?

Erbes has does a decent job. He posts sims on time for the most part. He does need to work on communication a little better though. There have been a few times when he has said one thing and then it turned out completely different. If you can’t ask the commish a question and get the true answer, I’m not sure who you are supposed to ask. I’d give him a B- overall though.

That's a very good analysis there and I agree with you on all points made. The communication at times has been an issue. And the thing with him and Habes and Dave with the tanking and dropping of picks was not handled too well overall. That situation got very messy, but hopefully, the bickering over picks and rule changes won't happen anymore.





10. Has BBSBL become your favorite OOTP league? Or do you still like GABL a lot more? Or does another league take the top spot for you in terms of fun and enjoyment? What kind of overall pace do you prefer? Fast paced like BBSBL or slower paced like GABL?

Those are the only two OOTP leagues I’m in. I prefer BBS, but also like the laid back no stress approach of GABL. Fast paced is better 75% of the time but when you are busy with something else it is kind of a pain in the ass to be pressured by others to interrupt your life to post about a sim league because they can’t wait for an hour.

Another very fair and respectable assessment there. I like this kind of fast paced league a lot myself, but slow paced leagues have their own benefits too. And yeah, if someone is legitimately busy and can't be on the forum to export or make a draft pick at a certain exact time, that shit can get annoying.

Sometimes, GM's can bend over backwards to accommodate everyone else here, but at other times, it just isn't possible and it would be nice to see more people become more patient about this. Luckily for me, my schedule is rarely ever on the busy side, so I can be flexible with whatever. It's not like we have a deadline for when certain seasons need to be finished. I like the fast pace and all, but at the same time, I try to take in and enjoy where we are at right now. Real life is going by way too fast for me, so I try to make other things I'm involved in go slower in my mind as a result.

11. Which 5 players would you most like to have in future drafts between 2003-2007? Do you see yourself ever being in a position to draft any of them?

Well a player like Andrew McCutchen, or Troy Tulowitzki would be fun. Troy plays a position that is a huge need to most teams and McCutchen is an all around great player. Of course I would then like to get one of my current O’s : Adam Jones, Chris Davis, Matt Wieters, Nick Markakis, etc.. There is a chance I could be in a spot to draft one of them (Markakis most likely) but I don’t really see it unless I trade up to select one of them. Judging by this past draft though each of those players will be a poor or fair in walks and start as a 1 or 2.

Haha no hitter is gonna start with a 3 in walks unless they are Brilliant in the category. And with a career average of 111 or more walks in a season needed for a player to start with Brilliant in walks, we won't see too many of those unfortunately.

That being said, Adam Jones will be fun to rate for the next draft. I see him definitely going top 2 or 3, along with Matt Kemp. Jones will be a beast and I could see Wieters being one of the best catchers around in the future. Davis could also be legit, but will probably be fair or worse in walks and strikeouts.





12. Which GM's posts do you enjoy reading the most on this forum, generally speaking? Which GM's do you find the most annoying?

You used to be the most annoying. You have seemed to tone it down a little though and haven’t really bugged me in a while. Break is always trying to justify stuff instead of owning it. He’ll make an obvious friend move and then will swear it is not true. Like really who are you trying to convince? It’s your lie, tell it how you want. Spencer never annoyed me in the past but recently he seems to like to have conversations with himself in certain threads. For the most part though I just read with an open mind. I don’t look forward to any one person’s posts and I don’t loath reading anyone’s posts.

LOL'd @ Spencer talking to himself. That has become so true. But hey, whatever it takes to get that post count up and earn more board cash, right? Sorry if I ever annoyed you in the past, but I'm happy to hear that you think more highly of me now.

13. Has Mike Mussina been the best pitcher in BBSBL history thus far? Will he get an automatic induction into the BBSBL Hall of Fame once he retires?

Well lets see. He is 129-57 since we opened up shop. I’m fairly certain that he has the most wins and it isn’t all that close. Was he the best last season? No…Was he the best the last 3 seasons? No….Was he best the last 6? I think the answer is yes. The only one that can be in the same convo is Maddux. And yes I think Mussina is a no brainer first ballot HOFer.

Mussina is without question a 1st ballot Hall of Famer here. Over the 6 years of BBSBL so far, I would put Maddux above Mussina and then Pedro at #3. Mussina has won more games since 1996 (129 wins, compared to 118 for Maddux), but Maddux's ERA since the league began has been at 2.58, while Mussina's is at 2.85. Thus, I'd give the nod to Maddux. In the last 4 seasons though, I'd have to say Pedro has been the best pitcher in the game. Maddux and Mussina though were much more successful than Pedro in 1996 and 1997.





14. Do you think Jack Cust could win an MVP in the next few seasons? Are you going to franchise him? If not, how come?

Of course he can. He could very well end up 8 5 0 11 7 7 and be a .330 /45/ 140 guy if everything pans out. I already did franchise him at the end of last year. So that question has already been answered. He is Brilliant in the 3 most important categories. So why not franchise him.

Yeah I didn't notice that Cust was already franchised. Very good move on your part though! Cust is gonna be a monster and I was honestly surprised more GM's voted for Pujols over him in the 2001 AL Rookie of the Year voting. Cust had the better season for sure. But yeah B/B/B makes it an easy choice to franchise Cust. I forget what your park ratings are, but Camden Yards is more of a hitter's park I'm pretty sure, so that definitely won't hurt Cust's chances of winning an MVP. Best of luck to him!





15. Last but not least, what are your preseason 2002 World Series picks?

Hell if I know. Lets just go Baltimore vs CHN . I want to continue the curse and would love to talk more shit to Play.

Haha I should've seen this coming. I don't know exactly where this friendly rivalry with you and Play originated, but it's amusing to say the least. The AL East is such a crap chute that your O's could finish anywhere between 1st and 4th this season. I honestly predict another Bay Area World Series this year between the A's and Giants. And then Play can live up to his word and pay the rest of us $500k board cash each, or whatever amount he stated. Good luck though, Jah and thanks for finally being a part of my interviews!