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BLB News will be interviewing several GM's in our upcoming "Legend Series" that will be published periodically. This series will showcase some of the longer tenured GM's in the league as they talk about subjects ranging from their team philosophy to staying competitive on a regular basis to who their favorite player is or was.
To start off the series we interviewed Delandis from the Baltimore Bulldogs. With a lifetime record of 2718-2290, a Brewmaster's Cup in 2001 and eleven playoff appearances he has been a great competitor and asset to the league.
What is your team philosophy?
-I always design my teams to win in Baltimore first. I'd like to maximize my wins at home and then look for additions to my team to get more wins away from home after analyzing our deficiency over the first couple of months of the season.
Pitchers or hitters?
-The casual baseball fan in me loves to get heavy hitters. However, the scientist in me recognizes patterns and I know you need pitching to make it to the top of the mountain. My biggest advice to new players is build from the bullpen. Everyone wants to have that great starting five in their rotation but most likely, that isn't going to happen simply because of talent supply, injuries, etc. However, you can almost always build a strong bullpen. Focus on that to start building a solid team and to maximize wins.
Who is/was your favorite player?
-My favorite player of all-time is Loren Wallace. He was a five-tool player and the cornerstone of our early 90's success. We drafted him in 1987 and he took the league by storm with great seasons in 90-92 until his untimely demise.
What was your favorite team?
-Our 2006 team. We sent out future HOF'ers in Erik Keifer (SP) and Al Hamilton (OF) as well as current Batavia star, Diego Flores and I fully expected us to be a .500 team. We played well, won 93 games, even upset the 108 win Playboy's squad. It was a piecemeal team that just fought and scrapped to the IL championship game.
What was the key to your championship?
-To be totally honest a combination of prepared depth and luck. We got lucky with a few outstanding performances from guys like Angelo Barrios (OF) and Hector Castre (SP) in the playoffs. We also benefited from the fact that Virginia didn't make the playoffs that year so there was a clean feeling (minus the questionable loss of bullpen depth RIGHT BEFORE THE PLAYOFFS.
You are one of the biggest traders...what are you looking for in a trade?
-I'm always looking to move players from struggling teams that want to move to a winning organization. I've rarely had success of moving winners to our team.
How do you compete year after year?
1. I always look to build a winning organization (LOL, yes I said it), even if I know you aren't going to win it all that year.
2. Don't be afraid to make moves. If that means trading your 1st round picks or best players, you gotta take those risks. However, when you do pick in the first round, don't miss. :)
3. Don't check out on the late rounds of the draft. Sure, you are going to miss more than you hit but that's baseball. However, random picks from the utility are not the way to go. You need those serviceable dirtdogs that will give you a stopgap until the next stars are obtained. Use the draft to its full potential.
4. I think the biggest contribution to our success is moral maintenance. There are some who call it window dressing, but I think moral is the single biggest factor to success in OOTP.
Thank you Delandis for your time. Keep tuning in as the Legend Series looks to track down and interview our next GM.
To start off the series we interviewed Delandis from the Baltimore Bulldogs. With a lifetime record of 2718-2290, a Brewmaster's Cup in 2001 and eleven playoff appearances he has been a great competitor and asset to the league.
-I always design my teams to win in Baltimore first. I'd like to maximize my wins at home and then look for additions to my team to get more wins away from home after analyzing our deficiency over the first couple of months of the season.
Pitchers or hitters?
-The casual baseball fan in me loves to get heavy hitters. However, the scientist in me recognizes patterns and I know you need pitching to make it to the top of the mountain. My biggest advice to new players is build from the bullpen. Everyone wants to have that great starting five in their rotation but most likely, that isn't going to happen simply because of talent supply, injuries, etc. However, you can almost always build a strong bullpen. Focus on that to start building a solid team and to maximize wins.
Who is/was your favorite player?
-My favorite player of all-time is Loren Wallace. He was a five-tool player and the cornerstone of our early 90's success. We drafted him in 1987 and he took the league by storm with great seasons in 90-92 until his untimely demise.
What was your favorite team?
-Our 2006 team. We sent out future HOF'ers in Erik Keifer (SP) and Al Hamilton (OF) as well as current Batavia star, Diego Flores and I fully expected us to be a .500 team. We played well, won 93 games, even upset the 108 win Playboy's squad. It was a piecemeal team that just fought and scrapped to the IL championship game.
What was the key to your championship?
-To be totally honest a combination of prepared depth and luck. We got lucky with a few outstanding performances from guys like Angelo Barrios (OF) and Hector Castre (SP) in the playoffs. We also benefited from the fact that Virginia didn't make the playoffs that year so there was a clean feeling (minus the questionable loss of bullpen depth RIGHT BEFORE THE PLAYOFFS.
You are one of the biggest traders...what are you looking for in a trade?
-I'm always looking to move players from struggling teams that want to move to a winning organization. I've rarely had success of moving winners to our team.
How do you compete year after year?
1. I always look to build a winning organization (LOL, yes I said it), even if I know you aren't going to win it all that year.
2. Don't be afraid to make moves. If that means trading your 1st round picks or best players, you gotta take those risks. However, when you do pick in the first round, don't miss. :)
3. Don't check out on the late rounds of the draft. Sure, you are going to miss more than you hit but that's baseball. However, random picks from the utility are not the way to go. You need those serviceable dirtdogs that will give you a stopgap until the next stars are obtained. Use the draft to its full potential.
4. I think the biggest contribution to our success is moral maintenance. There are some who call it window dressing, but I think moral is the single biggest factor to success in OOTP.
Thank you Delandis for your time. Keep tuning in as the Legend Series looks to track down and interview our next GM.
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