Owner Interview - prahasmc

 

Owner Interview with prahasmc

 

As we sit down for another interview, today we will be speaking with prahasmc, owner of the Santa Cruz Control.  Prahasmc has been playing HBD for 72 seasons, having reached the playoffs 43 times with 20 division championships culminating in 6 WS championships.  Let’s see what we can learn from this successful HBD owner:

 

“Thank you for allowing us to get a peek under the hood of your HBD experience.  What part of the country do you live in?”

“I live in Connecticut but commute to New York City.”

“My dad commuted from Suffolk County on the Island into Manhattan so I can only imagine how many hours you spend going back and forth.  What is your favorite team and when did you start following baseball?”

“I grew up in New Hampshire in the ’90s, watching bad Red Sox teams.  But both of my parents were huge fans, and the town was a big baseball town.  There was something about the rhythm of following the team day in and day out during the summer—it added structure and excitement to small-town life.  And the star power of Clemens, and later Garciaparra and Pedro Martínez, didn’t hurt.”

“Did you have a favorite player growing up?”

“Roger Clemens. The 20-strikeout games were mesmerizing.”

“And what is your favorite baseball memory?”

“The 2004 World Series was special.  But honestly, I think 2013 meant more.  I was living in Boston at the time and had friends running the marathon the year of the bombing.  That team really galvanized the city in a way that transcended the sport.

If I had to pin it down to one memory, it would be Shane Victorino’s grand slam that broke Game 6 of the 2013 ALCS open.  You can find the replay on YouTube—everything from the crowd finishing the chorus of Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds during his walk-up to the emotion on his face as the ball clears the fence still gives me goosebumps.”

“How did you find HBD?”

“I was a bored grad student in 2008. Time flies!”

“How many teams are you comfortable running at one time?”

“I have run as many as three at one time, but with current responsibilities, one is enough.  So, this world is it for me.”

“In that case I’m glad we were able to bring you in before someone else was able to.  How do you like to build your teams?”

“There are a lot of ways to approach team building, and I spend a fair amount of time reviewing team stats at the end of each season.  I’ve found that defense is often undervalued, so I’m less inclined than most managers to push players up the defensive spectrum.

I also think managers overlook how many runs they give away on the basepaths—high caught stealing and GIDP rates can really hurt run expectancy.  That said, variance is hard to control for—and ironically, my team gave away more runs on the basepaths than anyone this year!”

“Do you have a favorite HBD team (past or present)?”

“Maybe it’s recency bias, but last year’s World Series winner has to be up there. I thought it was a sneaky good team, but we started terribly and had a huge hole to climb out of.  Then, with about 30 games left in the regular season, something clicked—and we improbably ran the table as a wild card, including knocking off a dominant Montreal team.”

“What is your favorite aspect of HBD?”

“I think the game offers an incredible opportunity for different approaches, strategies, and customizations. “I don’t play video games, so maybe that experience exists elsewhere—but this lets me fully immerse myself in the gameplay and stay engaged without committing an outsized amount of time.”

“What would be the one thing you’d change about the HBD?”

“Prospect trajectories are too linear and predictable.  While it’s better than it used to be, top draft picks still pan out too often, and true diamonds in the rough emerge too rarely.  It incentivizes tanking, and I’d like to see that addressed.”

 

“Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, and good luck in the coming season.”