Post by Captain America on Sept 7, 2013 16:57:02 GMT -5
Could this be Dave at work?
Since the beginning, Dave aka d2acollectables has been through a lot with his team, his relationships with other GM's here and some of the penalties this league features. Here he is airing out his side of things.
1. Please describe yourself and what you do. What is your life story?
I have been in the sports memorabilia business for 23 years and have been involved in countless autograph signings with top players in the Baltimore region. I am married with children and I love playing basketball, baseball and also coaching those 2 sports, as well as my son is very much into playing those sports.
That's actually really cool. I bet you've met and seen all the famous Orioles and Ravens players for years. Definitely sounds like a fun job and I'm glad to hear that you get to find time to play baseball and basketball, plus coach your son as well. Good stuff!
2. How did you get involved with OOTP in the first place? Any other leagues you have been in besides GABL and BBSBL?
I have been in GABL for awhile and I can even remember the other sim I was in as it didn't last more than 2 sim years.
Yeah it can be tough to get sim leagues to last a long time. The people in charge need to be dedicated and devoted like Erbes is here. GABL is nice and I'm glad I'm in it, but it's just a little different.
3. Your Tigers team has been slumping lately, but has definitely been one of the bigger surprises this season. What has been the big difference? Is this just the start of what you hope will be many successful seasons for the Tigers going forward?
The big difference is the division as there were a lot more talented teams I had to deal with in the American league East, but with that being said, I do have a very young core of players and J.D. Drew was the biggest piece of the puzzle to get and with Brian Roberts, Nick Johnson, Joe Crede, Tim Hudson, Scott Strickland and my future players like Joe Mauer and JJ Hardy, I don't see why in 2 years I wont be on top of this division.
That's a bold statement there, but your team does have the pieces to compete in the near future and this season looks like a transition year for the better. I know I've been high on the Indians before, but I really don't understand why they are not playing as well as I thought they would by now. Twins have a lot of work to do and are nowhere close to competing, while Pete is trying to keep the Royals together, who could be a sleeper team next season. Definitely gonna be fascinating to see how it all plays out. The White Sox might even have a few years left in them.
JD Drew hopes to lead the Tigers to a championship in the near future.
4. Other than the Royals' AL Central title in 1997, the White Sox have dominated the division since the beginning and they are on pace to win their fifth consecutive division title. How have they been able to sustain success for so long? What specifically separates them compared to the rest of the division?
There have not been enough teams competing in the central division. Sure the Royals had some decent years, but there have been some very dark days in Cleveland and the Twins are about to have their 5th straight losing season, as compared to my previous division with the Yankees, Orioles, Red Sox and Blue Jays all trying to win and hell one year I finished .500 I was trying to win as well.
Yeah aside from the Royals for a few seasons, the competition in the AL Central has not been strong at all. The Twins' long rebuild seems to only get longer and longer. The Indians tanked for a few seasons and have been having trouble living up to all the hype ever since. When they were in the AL, the Brewers were a consistent .500 team before Steve began his rebuild. Meanwhile, Waldo and his White Sox have been in cruise control for the most part, but the addition of the Tigers could possibly put a dent into Waldo's plans in the future.
Frank Thomas and the White Sox have been very difficult for the rest of the AL Central to contain for many seasons.
5. How much longer do you think the White Sox will be able to continue their reign in the division? Which other AL Central team will be the first to overtake them? Please give us a few reasons why you believe the Tigers will be the team to beat in the future.
I would say the White Sox have this year and next before the tigers or even the Indians take over with the younger talent.
Yeah I agree. The Tigers and Indians look good for the future, but the Royals shouldn't be counted out either. They have some young pieces and an amazing center fielder named Carlos Beltran. I really like their minor league system as well. The AL Central has the potential to become one of the more competitive divisions in the future.
6. As many people here know, your Tigers have a lot of hitting talent and prospects in particular, which are now difficult for most other teams to come by. Do you feel you hold an advantage over other teams when it comes to trades and leverage because your hitting talent is greater than most, if not all other teams?
Yes having hitting prospects is a huge plus over pitching and that's why I was able to land a 26 year old stud in JD Drew for a Bautista and Kubel. And with my middle infield already having Roberts, Giles, Keppinger, JJ Hardy, and Khalil Greene, I'm going to have to move them for some other pieces.
Not only is have good hitting prospects a plus, but good offensive middle infield prospects are even better because they are definitely hard to come by. I really liked the Drew trade. Got an identity for your lineup there and someone to build around. Drew is a star. You are gonna have quite a lineup for a long time.
7. What are the missing pieces of your future? Which particular positions are you currently lacking talent in? How do you plan to fill those holes?
I should have my catcher position filled soon with Joe Mauer, but I would say I need another OF to go with JD drew in the near future.
Yeah I see what you mean there. Belle is getting old and you probably won't wanna re-sign him. Ben Cordova could be major league ready by 2004. You know what you could do though with all your middle infield talent? Teach some of them outfield positions! You may not need to trade some of them after all. So many people overlook teaching positions to hitting spects and they really should take full advantage of it.
Love Mauer. He's gonna be awesome, but I'm definitely happy to have Wright, plus John Buck as my catcher of the future.
8. How much of a disappointment has the AL West been? The division-leading A's are 10 games under .500 after making the World Series in both of the last 2 seasons. Are the A's by far the biggest disappointment this season?
Boy the AL West looks bad this year and yes the A's are not with a winning record, but they still look like they will win the division and make the playoffs and they could upset a team so it's not a disappointment until they see where they finish.
That's a great point there. Even with a losing record, the A's could be a legit underdog team if they make it. The same could be said about the Rangers. In the postseason, you just never know what could happen. But for now, I'm really surprised the A's have been as bad as they are. Even with all the salary shedding Broph did, I definitely didn't expect things to go as bad as they have for him. Meanwhile, Dan and his Rangers are still trying to stay in the race and if Matt Holliday keeps hitting as well as he has, they could upset the A's.
9. Among all the GM's here, you seem to be one of the more quiet, but angry GM's. Quite a few of the posts you make have to do with complaining about something or getting into flame wars with Erbes or Play, among others. Are you usually an angry and short-tempered person in reality? Or is what everyone else sees here rather misleading?
I have a very short fuse and when the bullshit piles up, I tend to lose my cool. I have ignored Play at times and others let him get under my skin, but Erbes I have been in some other leagues with and didn't expect him to act like this at all and the fact that I still have no compensation is still bullshit.
Yeah I feel you there. I really don't understand why some of the trolling goes as far as it does, not just here, but in general. The trolls all say they're simply cracking jokes, but there is a fine line between a joke and bullying and some people just don't see it unfortunately. Anyway, some of the stuff Erbes has said and done has surprised me. Being the commish, I assumed that he would try to act mature 100% of the time and be nice, kind and courteous to us all no matter what. Instead, he's like that maybe 50-60% of the time, which sounds more accurate. The compensation stuff is crazy. Gotta move on at some point though. Play loves to get under people's skins to see how mentally tough everyone is and how they will react. It's crazy how far he and Styro can go sometimes with their nonsense, but whatever floats their boat, right? Some people are just cold hearted like that. Makes me feel more grateful to have a kind heart towards others.
10. Please describe everything that occurred on the night you called Erbes' cell phone. What made you decide to actually call him? What did you say to him? Did he even say anything to you? If not, how long was the awkward pause before he hung up? Would you consider Erbes the biggest bitch you've ever known?
The night of the call was while I was with JAH and we just finished winning our men's basketball championship and I decided to call him and he didn't answer and I left a message. If he were to have answered, I would have just talked to him and asked for him to explain his actions. If he acted like a mother fucker, then I would have treated his as such but I would have been civilized to start. As far as him being the biggest bitch I have ever known, I'm not sure about that, but he's right up there with the scared little bitches that hide behind a cpu screen.
Haha sounds like fun! Congratz on the championship. Takes balls and guts to live up to your word like that. Erbes apparently showed his true colors that night by backing out on some coward shit. It's like why ask or dare him to call you when you won't even respond? What's the point? To show that Dave is more of a grown man than him? It doesn't make sense. Hopefully there is a part 2 to this at some point down the road.
11. If you had to choose between fighting Erbes and fighting Play, what would your choice be and why? Who do you hate more?
A fight between Erbes and Play? Hmm well since Play is a big dude and I don't know what Erbes' size is, I will take the devil I know in Play over Erbes as I am always up to the challenge. lol
Good answer there. Always good to see people accepting the tougher physical challenges and show that they aren't scared of anyone. You don't need to start a stupid fight for no reason to prove anything, but if someone starts something and push comes to shove, you gotta protect and stand up for yourself and fight back and win.
A BBSBL fight club would be fun. AMIRITE? I'd win just about all the time for real.
12. In my interview with Jah, he said "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." It seems like he owns you in 1 v 1 basketball games. Any response you want to make about this?
Me and Jon one on one was no challenge for me when we were in high school, but then he grew a bit fatter and has one of the most unusual inside games I have ever seen for a guard against a PF. It's not really equal when he just fouls me every time I beat him off the dribble and we just check the ball to start over, so for me its tough to have him post up on me as I don't have the weight to push back.
Looks like Jah doesn't show any mercy haha. Seems like a size mismatch as well, with Jah being the bigger and stronger guy and it could probably be tough for you to get past him. But if you have the agility compared to him, that could work to your advantage. Nonetheless, it sounds like you two really enjoy balling with each other and that's what's up. I bet you two could beat Play and Erbes 2 on 2. That would definitely make you happy. AMIRITE?
13. What exactly is the meaning behind your name? What in particular do you enjoying collecting, if anything? Or does "collectables" have to do with something else?
D is for David, A is for April and collectables I spelled wrong many of years ago and just went with it.
Well now that we know that you work in the sports memorabilia business, the "collectables" term makes a lot more sense and I can see where it came from.
This represents Dave's real collectables. Probably a lot of Cal Ripken cards in his personal stash in particular.
14. Which GM's posts in particular do you enjoy reading on this forum? Who would you say are the funniest GM's here and why?
I'm always looking to see who Play blasts next as I'm ready to jump into the topic.
So basically anyone that calls out Play or Erbes is someone whose comments you will enjoy? Sounds about right.
15. Last but not least, let's get your 2002 World Series predictions.
Yankees vs Cubs with the Yankees winning.
Not a bad prediction there. Both teams are rolling, but both have choked in the postseason in the past. We'll see if they can get further this time.
Thanks for the interview, Dave! Until next time...
