Real name: Fred Deblanc
IP: 196.54.41.11
Email: fdeb35@gmail.com
Applying for: New Applicant
Reason for applying:
First/Last Name: Fred/DeblancHey, that's for you to decide, but I'll do my best to give you a sense of myself so that you can determine if I'm a fit . The first thing is that I prioritize being as respectful and courteous as I can be towards the folks in the community; I have immense respect for what you've built over the years, and would see it as a responsibility to integrate myself into the wonderful league you've developed. I came of age in baseball as a Mariner fan in the year 2001, and have watched the team suffer mercilessly since then; I think analytics were uniquely built into my understanding of the game, even when I didn't realize it, because what else does a bad team have but stats to play with and arguments to make about how to improve? I'm a writer by trade, and the heavy narrative element of BBA has enormous appeal to me; part of the fun of OOTP is developing narratives to surround the action, and I'd want to contribute and volunteer to that aspect of the league however I could. I'd certainly take any available team at any time to be in a league such as this one, but specific to Montreal-- I've actually lived in Quebec for a time and whenever possible relocate my OOTP teams to the area, so this would be a thrill for me. I'm also a Portland Blazers fan, so I find this to be a fated city and name for breaking into the league
City/State/Country: Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
Email Address: fdeb35@gmail.com
Desired Forum Username: Frank_Deblanc
Date of Birth (MM/DD/YY) for in-game purposes: 07/28/88
Occupation: Researcher, academic, writer.
Other OOTP Leagues (with links): Currently just 2, but have been in many others over the course of my roughly 10 years with the game. Those 2 are: Extra Innings Baseball (http://www.bemont.net/extrainnings/forum/index.php#c2); Liberty League (https://slack-redir.net/link?url=https% ... liberty%2F). The former is a wonderful, long running fictional league with an all-star commish, the later is a modern league with good activity and some serious players.
Have you read the BBA Constitution and agree to abide by its rules?: Yes, and I very much appreciate the thoroughness and rigor that went into it. Kudos to your work, sincerely.
Do you own the current version of OOTP, and plan to buy all future versions?: Yes.
Do you understand the Participation Point System, and agree to be a regular contributor to our community?: Check
What interests you about the BBA?: Not to be hyperbolic, but the BBA seems like the kind of league I've looked for throughout my OOTP career (even going back to a thing called baseball mogul as a kid!). I've always loved
Describe your GM style: The handicap I give myself is to always try to build a competitive team, whilst steadily developing the farm. I'm not going to blow anything up and trust the process; I think that would be unfair to a team's fanbase, and thus I avoid it as much as possible (especially for poor Montreal!). I'm heavily skewed towards market valuations, thus depending on the league situation; I try to strip away preconceived notions about value and think outside the box as much as possible. To give a contemporary example at the ML level, obviously pitch counts/bullpen strategy is fluctuating enormously; I prefer Dipoto's strategy of prioritizing the Pen through long-term development to Beane's recent impressive deadline acquisitions. My approach is heavily analytic (we're playing OOTP after all), but on the other hand, I think something like contact has become significantly underrated under the guise of obp. This is all hypothetical, because again, my strategy will be heavily tailored to the situation of the Blazers, or any other team I acquire!
Have you ever answered to the alias "Al Hoot"? (a little BBA inside joke!): No, but as an Arabic speaker, I can tell you that "al-hoot" could roughly translate to "The Whale", so that's kinda cool.
Tell us more about yourself: I'd be very happy to get to know you all a bit better individually; I'd say most relevantly that as a big traveller, OOTP is something that helps me stay grounded to my roots in a real tangible way-- in that sense to me OOTP is, like baseball itself, more than just game but something where real community can occur. I've recently moved to the Netherlands from my native Seattle, and am enjoying learning Dutch, which to me sounds like German with a Minnesotan accent. I'm a big biker, love to cook... I'm starting to feel like I'm making a dating profile, so I'll stop myself here.