Fair Play Committee Members

Bulls7210, Jweatherman, Rds_lsu, Ttnorm and Quebec.

Commissioner: Harkov

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Owner Interview- Jsreilly

Today’s interview is with another of the original owners of the Summer Of ’49 as I sit down with the Charleston Of Bricks owner JSReilly. While the team has always been located in Charleston they did change their name before season 10. This storied franchise has not been able to take home the World Series trophy yet but has finished above .500 in all but 2 seasons. So let’s get started.


JS, what area of the country do you live in?

I live in Chicago

What type of work do you do to finance the Charleston operation?

I run a market-neutral small-cap value investment strategy for a couple of clients

What is your favorite ML team?

I was a HUGE Mets fan growing up in NY but the Steve Phillips era sucked all of the life out my devotion. The last straw was the Mets signing of Tom Glavine, which made it easy to switch to the Chicago White Sox. I started going to Sox games in college because the stadium was close by, we could buy cheap upper deck seats and by the 5th inning could move down to sit 10 rows behind the dugout never getting carded for beer added to the attraction. I still have fond memories of summer nights at Shea as a kid but they lost me as a fan and I can't see myself ever switching back.

Do you prefer AL or NL style baseball?

I can't really say I have a true preference it just depends on the day you ask the question.


Who is your favorite ML player dead or alive? Why?

This is another question where my answer has changed over time. When I was a Met fan I would have told you Doc Gooden and Gary Carter were my favorite players. Now I would say that Ken Griffey Jr. and Joe Crede are the players I cheer for the loudest.


What got you to start playing HBD?

Like a lot of people in HBD I was originally an HD guy. When HBD was added I figured I would give it a try.

How long did it take before you felt confident in you knowledge to build a team?

With the complexity of this game the first couple of seasons were a learning experience but by season 3 I felt that I had a good grasp of the ratings system and what was needed to build a good team.

How did you decide on the location and name for your team?

I chose Charleston because my parents live there now. The name Charleston Of Bricks was an attempt (albeit poor) of being clever.


How much importance do you put on the draft & IFA’s?

I've always felt the draft was very important however it has gotten much tougher to find future Major Leaguers in the 2nd/3rd/4th rounds since they adjusted the way they calculate Overall Ratings and have changed the talent pool. Signing IFA's in this world has become very competitive so I started to shy away when the bidding wars escalated. The cost vs. reward just didn't seem to be that great a value a lot of the time.

Do you have a favorite HBD player and how did you acquire him?

I love all my fake players so it’s much easier to tell you my least favorite player all-time and in this world it would be Torri Redman.

Do you have a most memorable trade? Why?

It would probably be the Calvin Bruske/Matty Campos for Jose Montanez/Brady Simpson trade that I made with schuyler. It was after he had re-joined the league if memory serves me, we negotiated that one for around two weeks.

If you could change one thing about HBD what would it be?

Given the chance to change anything I believe minor league success should also be rewarded so I would put a system in place to do just that.

Thank you for taking the time away from your team to sit down for this interview, I appreciate it. Good luck this season.

No comments: