Interview with Tony Chamra,
Villanova Mustangs

Biggest Daddy: Hello Tony! Thanks for taking the time to be interviewed. How are you doing today?

Tony Chamra: Not too bad, thanks.

BD: Tell us a little bit about yourself. Married? Kids? Where did you grow up, what college did you attend (if you did), and where do you see yourself in 10 years from now? And what's going on in the life of Tony Chamra these days?

TC: Well I spent the first 13 years of my life in central Jersey (East Brunswick) but after 6th grade we moved to Newtown, PA which is just across the river just north of Trenton. I'm quite thankful we moved, walking to the bus stop and smelling the local garabage dump just wasn't doin it for me.

I went to Villanova University (hence the team name) and then to Penn State University to get my Masters' degree. I'm an engineer by education but I'm currently working as an estimator and project manager in the home building industry. I'm living with my fiancee (shhh, don't tell the NC Gov't because apparantly it's illegal here...I have no idea why) in Davidson, NC which is about 20 miles north of Charlotte. We're getting married this October in Maryland. Preparation for that has been quite fun. A lot of "yes, dear" comes out of my mouth, which is certainly the way to go, as most of you guys know.

I've just become a partner in a custom home building company, but we haven't gotten off the ground yet. I need to get my General Contrators license which should happen later this year. I picture doing this for a long time. We're going to stay in this area as long as my fiancee has her job at Davidson College as a professor in the Music Department. Overall I'm pretty happy with the way things are going in my life.

BD: So, yes, you've been in the league way too long to finally get interviewed. Do you subscribe to the "saving the best for last" theory here??

TC: I've been waiting for 5 YEARS! I was considering protesting by not participating, but I just couldn't do that to you. So I guess to answer your question ... NO! ;)

BD: Since you've taken over the Villanova Mustangs franchise, there's been a few good years and a few mediocre. In fact, right now Villanova is around .500. What's the plan for Villanova both for now and long term? What will it take for the Mustangs to fight their way into the play-offs and do well? You've gotta be excited to have names like Dontrelle Willis, Danny Haren, Rich Harden, Joe Blanton in your rotation's future!

TC: I've made a considerable effort to boost the rotation. I enjoy 2-1 games and think pitching is the key to success. My ultimate goal is to have the best rotation in the history of the BDBL.... for 5 years. That pretty much leads to my very controversial long term philosophy.
I don't like turnover. I like having the same players for a couple of years. I like to build from within by getting young guys and keeping them around for a while. That is the main reason for my not using all of my money for the auction/draft this season. I'm keeping money away from bad contracts so I have it for my younger "stars" like Harden, Willis, Kotchman, Marte and others. I've had enough of having to make mediocre deals to get rid of salary.
This season has been pretty exciting as it's the first time I've really had a shot at finishing above .500 and possibly making the playoffs. I'm stuck in the middle though because I don't think I have the guns to beat Atlanta, Chicago or Akron but I also don't have the confidence to make 1 or 2 trades, knowing I'd make the playoffs if I did. So bottom line is you probably won't see me make any prospect for 2 chapter rental deals this year. The prize just isn't big enough or close enough right now.

BD: Do you have any players on the trading block currently?

TC: I wouldn't say "on the block" but there are a couple people I'm shopping, most notably Casey Kotchman and possibly David Newhan if these last 2 serieses don't go very well. I do have several deals in the works right now which, of course, we'll keep quiet about.

BD: What is the defining moment -- the top highlight -- of the Villanova franchise these past few years? And what is the absolute worst moment -- the top lowlight?

TC: Hmm... top highlight is a tough one. Haven't had too many glorfying or defining moments.... yet... hopefully the future will bring several. But so far, this season has been the best and most fun by far. I'm glad I've started playing H2H this year, it's a lot more fun than MP play. It's nice to know I have a decent chance to beat any team in the league. I haven't had that feeling in my BDBL career.

Lowlight? I really haven't had a major lowlight with my team. Frankly, my overall BDBL lowlight was the whole fight between Glander and Paul. That was really disappointing and gave me the feeling that this league might be in trouble. Luckly though, we got through it and I think the league is as strong as ever right now.

BD: If there was one trade that you could take back, which trade would that be? And what's the best trade you've made to date?

TC: Well, we all know about the Griffey deal of 2002 so we won't even go there. Glander always ripped on the deal that sent David Segui, Mike Myers and Robert Ellis to Stamford for Corky Miller, Eric Byrnes and Garrett Atkins, but I may get 2 decent seasons from Byrnes (after trading him and getting him back) and Atkins seems to be doing quite nicely so far this season (.306/.364/.448). And of course, we all remember the Jeff Kent for Josh Fogg trade, and I still maintain it was for financial reasons and Fogg has been a good innings eater for the past 2 seasons (and next season). Let's see.... then there's... well you get the point.

BD: How did you discover Diamond Mind Baseball?

TC: I didn't actually. If I remember correctly, I was looking for a league to become involved in that played a stats based computer game and found DMB first and then found the BDBL through the DMB website. When I applied for the BDBL and got accepted, I hadn't even played DMB at all or really knew much about it. Nice selection criteria, Glander! ;)

BD: Shifting to the MLB now, who's your favorite team and why?

TC: I used to be a Mets fan. That ended in the mid 90s. Since then I don't really have a favorite team. I was also slightly disturbed by the strike in the late 90s and I really only follow baseball right now to monitor individual players (mine and those I want to acquire). I hardly ever look at the MLB standings and I really have no idea who's in the wildcard running most of the time. So ultimately, no favorite team, no favorite players, just guys on the Villanova Mustangs.

BD: Which baseball stadiums have you visited and which is your favorite?

TC: I've been in Veterans Stadium, Shea Stadium, Fenway Park, PNC Park, Camden Yards, Jacobs Field, Turner Field... and I think that's it. My favorite out of those was probably PNC Park. I love the yellow bridges and view across the river of the city. Jacobs Field was cool also.

(Side story) I've never been to Yankee Stadium (and have no interest in going there) and have only been the Shea twice despite growning up in central Jersey. My dad didn't want to fight NYC traffic so we always went to Veterans Stadium instead. I've probably been to about 40 games there and about 10 combined in all the others I listed.

BD: How do you feel about the league that wins the All-Star game getting home field advantage in the World Series? Should all MLB teams have a representative in the All-Star Game?

TC: I think it's a stupid way to solve a stupid problem. The All-Star game has become pretty useless and the only thing it accomplishes is making me bored out of my mind for 3 days in July. The players don't care who wins, the fans don't care who wins, there really isn't any purpose and making random players fight for home field for an undecided team is pretty idiotic. I do think all teams should have a representative. Fans of a certain team pretty much just want to see a player from their team in the game.

BD: Is BDBL weekend all its hyped up to be? What have those experiences been like? Which was the best one?

TC: BDBL weekend is awesome. I'm so glad I started going and I encourage anyone who can to go. I've only been to 2 so far, Baltimore and Cleveland. The game in Baltimore was better than in Cleveland but everything else in Cleveland was better than Baltimore. The rain and everything closing at midnight didn't help much in Baltimore.

Otherwise, it's been fun to meet everyone and talk about everyone's family, jobs, betting philosophy (if you're talking to Johnny Bo) and their teams. I've watched Johnny Bo sit on the bed and practice counting cards for an hour and I've seen Brian pass out after drinking for most of the evening. Did I say it's awesome?

BD: War of the Worlds or Wedding Crashers?

TC: Wedding Crashers. I'm very much into comedies and very much NOT into Sci-Fi or futuristic stuff except Star Wars and Harry Potter (if that's Sci-Fi).

BD: Black Eyed Peas or the Rolling Stones?

TC: Frankly music is another thing I haven't really been into lately. My fiancee is an orchestra conductor so I listen to classical music occassionally but otherwise I listen to ESPN Radio most the day. If I had to pick though, I'd probably take the Rolling Stones.

BD: NHL season or no-NHL season?

TC: NHL Season. I like watching hockey every once in a while and I love their playoffs. I don't really understand how people complain about watching hockey on TV. It's not really that hard to follow in my mind, although FOX's stupid glowing puck was counter productive in so many ways (another brilliant idea by FOX). I'm glad they'll be back next year, though it'll be interesting to see how the fans react and how the financials work out.

BD: Trivial Pursuit or Halo?

TC: I have no idea what Halo is, but after extensive internet research (30 seconds) it seems like it's a computer game. So to answer the overall question, I loved playing the Age of Empires games on the computer. I like war games like that that involve older combat techniques. Give me knights on horses instead of Mig-19s and nuclear weapons. But I also like the classic board games like Monopoly and Risk. I love playing chess as well.

BD: Guinness or Jack & Coke?

TC: Definitely Guinness. I enjoy beer and wine much more than hard alcohol drinks. I can't hold hard alcohol at all but I enjoy having a couple Guinnesses or a bottle of Riesling.

BD: Ford Mustang or Lexus GS?

TC: Well of course Ford Mustang. That's what my team is named after. (another side story) My two best friends and I all have Mustangs. I now have a pickup truck to help with hauling stuff for work, but I drove a Mustang for 3 years in college. Mostly I like SUVs over cars, though.

BD: Tell us something about yourself that may surprise us.

TC: I love to cook. I love to watch the TV Food Network. Iron Chef rules! I pretty much can look through a refrigerator and put together a pretty cool meal from whatever is around. My fiancee hardly cooks, mostly because she burns stuff, but also because she knows that I'll make something different almost every night. It's fun. Some people are creative and artistic with drawing or crafts or other stuff but I'm creative with food.

BD: Who will play in the 2005 BDBL World Series?

TC: Depends on how many players I give Tom this season. HA HA! Seriously, in the Eck League, I think Allentown is winning with smoke and mirrors this year and although Wapakoneta has an awesome lineup, the starting staff is a bit weak after Schmidt. I think those are the two major players in the EL, even though Atlanta has a nice team this season also. The starting pitching may be the deciding factor in this whole thing and not many come close to Johnson, Oswalt and Peavy so I'm gonna have to take Allentown.

In the Ozzie League, Salem is running away with everything but we all know about the Glander playoff history. I like the teams in the Griffin division but beating each other up may eliminate one from the wildcard. I think if New Hope is near the playoffs at the end of Chapter 4, Badger will smell fresh meat and make some nice deals before the deadline. If that happens I'm gonna pick New Hope to win the Ozzie League.


BD: Thanks again for the visit and good luck!!