Interview with Ed McGowan,
Corona Confederates

BIGGEST DADDY: Thank you for sitting down with us for another installment of "BDBL: A retrospective". Generally speaking, how do you feel about the BDBL?

ED MCGOWAN: Would not trade it for any other league out there. Period.

BD: How have you felt about the overall success of your franchise at this point?

EM: I have been pretty much going on the every other year philosophy of contending, and apart from not winning it all in my good years I have been satisfied with how things have gone. Next year will be a real test for me though as it is scheduled to be my up year. This new loss of bonus being permanent is going to make it harder with my struggling this year (did I vote for that rule?). The part I am not as happy about is the farm club. I let that slip for a few years and still have work to do there.

BD: What is your favorite aspect of the BDBL?

EM: Honestly I like playing the game against real managers the most. I also really do enjoy the forum as well, even though I have fallen off a bit on participating of late.

BD: Tell us the absolute low point of your franchise, whether it was a particular game lost, or a particular trade ripped to shreds, or a particular fellow GM that ticked you off.

EM: No manager has pissed me off so far. Game losses don't stick with me for very long even though at the time of the loss it is a very good thing the other manager is miles and miles away. So in a nutshell it would have to be the one trade which continues to cause me pain on a daily basis every time I see him in a boxscore. <Continued on question about what my worst trade ever was>

BD: Over the course of your time in the BDBL, who is the one GM that you consider your largest rival or target?

EM: M I K E G L A N D E R. The guy just competes every year.

BD: Name a GM that you absolutely love to talk trade with.

EM: I don't really like to talk trade that much to be honest. I will throw trade ideas in the wind occasionally or answer one, but outside of a couple of people I had on the trading block like Scherzer and Fielder my trade negotiations have alway been pretty quick ones. People that like to negotiate a lot back an forth rarely contact me and vice versa.

BD: How did you first hear of the BDBL?

EM: Jeff of the Undertakers first told John Duel and I about it when we were all playing in another Diamond-Mind league about 8 years ago or so. He kept saying how AMAZING it was and how it was the BEST league in the world. Frankly it nauseated me to some extent with the way he went on and on about it. But John Duel soon joined when there was an opening and we abandoned the little league we were all in. Then a few years after that, John came into town for the weekend and told me there was an emergency opening in the league. Being as how I had not played for a few years, I was excited and wary at the same time so I told him I would thing about it. But in continuing to talk about it that day, John convinced me to go online and apply to the league and give Mike what changes I would make if I was awarded the team. Mike replied back by saying he had several candidates and would get back to me. Oh, and he also asked me why in the hell I would even think of realeasing uberstar Austin Kearns. I responded that in thinking about it, Austin Kearns was indeed a baseball god and what the hell was I thinking. I got the team the next day.

BD: What would it take for you to exit the league?

EM: I have seen nothing so far from the great owners of this league that would even hint at a reason for me to leave. I guess the only way I would leave is if I were tossed out kicking and screaming or some personal tragedy befell me and I lost my taste for it.

BD: What is your favorite BDBL memory?

EM: Sweeping Sylmar 4 straight in my first playoff run. <Sorry John :)>

BD: What is your best trade ever?

EM: I honestly don't think I have had a best trade ever. I have had several that I thought I did a little better on than the other guy but nothing that stands out as the best ever.

BD: And your worst?

EM: No question my worst trade ever far and away was giving Ryan Braun to this little old man in a hooded robe who came by the office one day. I remember it like it was yesterday. The draft was in the 3mil rounds and I found myself short of cash and short a shortstop. I saw Tom had extra picks upcoming for the 3 mil rounds and so I shot him an email asking what he wanted for his next 3 mil pick. He shot back.....Ryan Braun. What is amazing to me to this day is that I did not laugh out loud. I actually sat back and thought about it. I thought about all the things I had just been reading about him in Baseball America. He can't field his position and will always be a huge defensive liability. He strikes out too much. He has too many holes in his swing. I actually convinced myself that Ryan Braun would not amount to much and was expendible. I told Tom I would do it if he THREW IN Rob Quinlan, who had a nice vs lefty splits that year. I still wonder how long it took Tom to confirm that trade. I bet it could have measured in milliseconds. I then picked up David Eckstein with the pick and Mike was so perplexed that he kiddingly offered to let me give the mighty Eck at liffetime contract. I don't think I will ever get over that one.

BD: Other than Glander, what GM would you absolutely hate to see leave the BDBL?

EM: No question I would not like to see anyone leave (well maybe Tom, but I digress). Seriously though, I do think John Duel leaving would affect me the most. He has long been my best friend and I can't see the league being the same for me without him.

BD: Who is the craziest character in the BDBL?

EM: Well the obvious answer would be Skizm, but I think Brian is a pretty good guy and I like his ravings. So I would have to say it is Mike's wife. Any woman who lets their husband spend the amount of time that guy does on this league has to have a crazy wife. (Nothing but love for ya Mikey).

BD: If your franchise had a Team Hall of Fame, which players would be members?

EM: Only counting my run as skipper:

C Mauer
1B Fielder
2B Kendrick
3B Lowell
SS Eckstein (I gotta put him in there after what he cost me man)
LF Manny
CF Taveras
RF VLAD
RP Qualls
RP Wagner
RP Lyon
SP Smoltz
SP Cook
SP Lowery
SP Lots of others...god my starters have sucked

BD: Tell us which MLB team that you feel like your BDBL franchise is the most like.

EM: Before this year, it would be the Yankees or Rangers - great offense and crappy pitching. But this year it would be the Angels, ranked 27th in ERA and 2nd in runs scored. We are top 5 in runs scored this year and dead last in team ERA in the BDBL.

BD: Do you feel any pressure whatsoever to keep the spirit of the Stamford Zoots BDBL dominance alive?

EM: I really did my first year in the league, but not after that. I really changed the team quite a bit during that first year and never really looked back on the Mighty Zoots again.

BD: How has your overall team-building philosophy changed over the years?

EM: It is still the same. Mostly ignore the minors, load up on a ton of cheap MLB ready pitchers (hoping to hit the lottery on a couple) and keep the offense ramped up to as high a rev as possible.

BD: What has been the most significant change in the BDBL?

EM: I think this ongoing bonus structure based on wins is really going to start creating some haves and have nots. I guess it will make things more like real baseball in that regard, but it sure keeps the pressure on to win every year. That philosophy is different that what I usually do so I am starting to thing every year now vs. every other year.

BD: Name your favorite "off-the-field" moment from BDBL Weekend or the league forum.

EM: My favorite moment was probably my most embarrassing moment. At BDBL weekend 2008 in San Diego I got absolutley plastered playing pool. Without going into the graphic details (of which there were many), the BDBL crew got me back to my hotel room and into bed with nary a mishap. I don't remember any of it but I did wake up warm and cozy in my bed. Thanks again gentlemen.

BD: How's the health these days what with your back and all?

EM: That back really put me down for almost 2 weeks. I originally got the injury back in 1991 lifting a heavy flat artwork file cabinet. John Duel was standing right there and he can verify it was not pretty. I have had the back go out a couple of time since then, but this one was the worst yet. I had just got over healing from 3 broken ribs several months ago and then the back happened. Right now I feel great though. I am starting my treadmill and Boxflex routine back up and am in high gear normal health again. <knock on wood....loudly>

BD: Are your boys keeping you busy these days?

EM: The kids just left after spending 6 weeks with me for the summer. I did not tell too many people about my divorce a few years back where my wife got the kids and moved to Oregon, but I am past it now. We had a great time this summer. I got them new catching gear and we went out to the local baseball diamond and played all the time. Ian and Aidan and Travis rotated in the gear while Rand and I and those not catching pitched or shagged. It was a blast. Travis, my oldest is now 15 and a real scholar athlete. He is fast as hell, plays football, wrestling, track and baseball. The triplets are now 12 and in middle school. Aidan is a real stud and throws the football better than any kid I have seen his age. He is going out for football for the first time this season. I think he will do great. Ian is the actor in the family. That guy has a flair for the dramatic, but unfortunately the humor is lost on dear old day sometimes when his patience runs thin, but I love him anyway. Rand is the brain in the family. He thinks EVERYTHING though and gets great grades in school. Kids really fill your tank back up that's for sure.

BD: Thanks, Ed!