June 25, 2014
by "Biggest Daddy" Interview with Anthony
Peburn,
New Milford Blazers
BIGGEST DADDY: Thanks for sitting
down with us, Mr. Peburn. Pleasure to have you! Let's jump right in with
some tough questions! Despite all the banter and jawing on the board, do
you really believe that your park is as big a deal as they are making
it?
ANTHONY PEBURN: Hola, Biggest Daddy. The last time I did one of
these, I went to the World Series. Hopefully, this is a good omen.
As stated before, this is an illusion of the Propaglanda Brigade. Over
the last three years, the Blazers have AVERAGED 50 wins a year ON THE
ROAD. We have been tied for second in the league in road wins twice and
was third once.
The reason my road record is so poor this year is twofold:
1) I have faced great teams on the road,
leading to more losses, and cupcakes at home, leading to more home wins.
It will average out as I face tough teams at home and split and cupcakes
on the road and sweep. 2) There
is a lot of parity in the OL this year. Tougher teams lead to more road
losses. The easy teams are really bad, leading to sweeps or series wins,
but the good teams are a plenty, leading to some splits and losses.
BD: Realistically, and away from the board, how do you explain the home
winning percentage?
AP: I designed my park, within the rules, to fit my team. People
think I hired some mathematician to figure this stuff out. I just threw
some random numbers together and it worked. When we decided to make
custom parks, the league mantra wasn't "Let's make the most realistic
parks we can think of". TO be honest, though, I didn't think of how
parks are and what would be realistic and what would not.
BD: You basically are the league villain. Is this justified? Are you ok
with this?
AP: If I were in this league to find a BFF, I'd be disappointed. As
far as what members of the league think of me, they can take their
opinions, shine them up really nice, turn them sideways, and shove them
up their candy asses. I'm in this hobby to have fun, and to me , winning
is fun. I highly doubt real life GM's are buddy-buddy.
BD: What is Anthony Peburn like outside of the BDBL?
AP: Recently I've been a workaholic, trying to make some extra money
to get some nice things for the family. Living in CT is crazy expensive.
I take pride in everything I do or it's not worth doing. I'm very
involved in my family life and it takes up a good portion of my time. I
wouldn't have it any other way.
BD: Getting back to the Blazers, if you could point to one thing that
has made the Blazers franchise so dominant over these past five and a
half years, what would it be? Your trading ability, managerial prowess,
DMB flaw exploitation, dumb luck, something else??
AP: I think my trading ability downright sucks and look to improve
on that. I think I draft well. Getting a guy like Butler in the 9th
round last year is a tribute to spending time researching prospects.
We've developed, and traded, some really good pitching. I wish I had as
much luck with the hitting prospects.
What I think I do well, which I learned the year I sucked after I tried
to get Billy a championship, is draft FA's. Paying attention to box
scores and taking fliers on guys is an art. Especially when you draft
last every chapter. If you can get 5 of the 25 guys for your team next
year at 500K a pop, that's huge.
BD: What motivates you more: winning the title or preventing Glander
from getting it?
AP: Winning. I don't give a shit what Glander does unless he makes
the WS. Then I become a fan of the EL. Every move I make is to make my
team better, against ALL teams, not just Salem.
BD: If you could change one thing about the league right now, what would
it be?
AP: Still not sure how I feel about the VORP rule.
I think we need to shuffle the deck a bit and realign some of the
divisions. I want to stay in Salem's division, though.
BD: We all would like to have a reliable ace to build around and Clayton
Asswipe Kershaw is 105-36 in his BDBL career all with the Blazers.
What's it like owning him?
AP: Having a guy who wins 105 games of the 186 he has started is a
HUGE advantage. Who does that? Total stud. If you look at this year,
though, he has given up a TON of HR's and is only top 3-5 in the league.
And this is after his most dominant RL season ever. I expect a bog
second half, although I'd take more of the same from the first half if I
could trade it for a championship.
BD: What are you most concerned about in 2014 as potentially preventing
your team from winning it all?? Would we expect any noteworthy
transactions?
AP: I have this BIG monkey on my back called the OLCS, which has
bitten me in the ass 4 times now. This after breezing through to the WS
in my first attempt. It really doesn't seem to matter who it is against,
but some chud butt like Starlin Castro seems to have a big series
against us. Totally unrealistic.
As for transactions, I'd like one more starter. A Right Handed Starter.
BD: What's going on with your family these days? Your kids into BDBL
yet?
AP: I have three boys, 10-8-6 who are all heavy into tae kwon do.
That takes up most of my time. I have a wife who gets hotter by the year
and also puts up with me. My life is good.
NONE of my kids like baseball. NONE.
BD: It's summertime! Where is your favorite vacation spot?
AP: Went down to Disney last year with my brothers and mother and
famlies and LOVED it. Will do it again soon. Every year we go to Myrtle
Beach to visit my dad and his girlfriend. The kids love it down there. I
also like Maine, where we have a family reunion on my mom's side every
summer.
BD: You are out for brunch on a Sunday morning. What are you ordering?
AP: Western or Country omlette. The more pork product in an omelet,
the better.
BD: What other hobbies do you have other than BDBL?
AP: I like to exercise. Lift weights and cardio. I'm also passionate
about my career and take a ton of continuing ed to get better, as I
enjoy it.
BD: How do you want the league to see you as?
AP: How they see me now is fine. I don't need any credit for
anything. I see a lot of wins, and I'm fine with that.
BD: Will you make it to the 20 year anniversary of the league?
AP: Depends where it is. I really would like to go one year.
BD: Good luck for the remainder of the season!!
AP: Thanks, to you as well. |