Posted by Brian Joseph on Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 5:47 am

During his life, Jeff Lubbers admits that he’s developed allegiances toward the Nationals, Giants and Athletics. Add that in to the fact that he’s a lifelong Tiger fan and ‘09 was a rough rooting year for Jeff. The only way things could have been rougher is if that was Tiger Woods instead of the Detroit Tigers. Jeff’s year at BDD, on the other hand, was a very good one as he had a number of interesting and thought provoking articles throughout the ‘09 season and there’s no reason to expect any less from him during this season. Here’s Jeff’s answers to our 20 questions…

How did you begin writing for Baseball Daily Digest?

My father is a SABR member and passed along a posting on the SABR listserv from Joe Hamrahi who was looking for more writers.  A couple of months later I joined BDD.

What is your favorite team?

Lifelong Detroit Tigers fan.

What other teams do you follow/root for?

My travels across the country have led me to develop partial allegiances to the Washington Nationals, San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics.

Who was your favorite player growing up and who is your current favorite player?

Jack Morris and Alan Trammell were the favorites growing up.  Curtis Granderson was atop my current list but is no more (through no fault of his own).  I also have a fondness for the Adam Dunns and other Three True Outcomes leaders of the baseball world.

What baseball writer do you consider “can’t miss” material?

I do not have any specific can’t-miss writers but generally read Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus on a daily basis (in addition to BDD, of course) along with the online editions of the Detroit newspapers (yes, they still exist).  Also, from time to time, I longingly peruse the archives of firejoemorgan.com which probably was most influential in developing my interest in advanced statistics.

Do you own any baseball memorabilia? Tell us about it.

This may not technically be memorabilia but at the last game at Tiger Stadium (see next question) I took a picture of the last pitch that turned out beautifully.  The photo made its way to the archives of the Hall of Fame and I now own a lifetime pass to the Hall.

What’s your favorite baseball memory (from an event you attended)?

Attending the last game at Tiger Stadium in 1999, particularly when Robert Fick (who?) hit a grand slam in the eighth inning to seal the game.  Having a lack of meaningful games in Detroit for nearly my entire childhood unfortunately makes this game/moment the most memorable.

What is your favorite ballpark?

Tiger Stadium – the upper deck seats in the outfield that hung over the playing field will likely never be replicated in a ballpark.  Among current parks I found Citizens Bank Park to be the most appealing on many levels.

What is your favorite baseball movie?

Field of Dreams and 61*.

Do you play fantasy/roto/Strat-O-Matic/Scoresheet/video game baseball?

I play head to head fantasy, though I’m concerned that my interest in fantasy might one day trump my interest in following baseball in general.  If that ever happens then fantasy baseball will be no more.  My only non-objective rule in fantasy is to not draft Derek Jeter.  Otherwise I think I can balance my fantasy and personal interests fairly well.

Did you play baseball as a kid/for how long?

I played organized baseball from age 7 to 16.  When I reached the point that I didn’t have the bat speed to get around on a good fastball in high school I knew my childhood dreams to reach The Show were toast.

What is your “dream job”?

Hall of Fame tour guide.

If you were allowed to run ESPN for a day, what would you change?

I would put much less of an emphasis on former athletes in both the studio and the booth at games.  This can be applied to a variety of sports but particularly for baseball.  They may very well have the skills to succeed in broadcasting once their playing careers are done but their knowledge and experiences should only be a part of following and discussing a baseball game and not as much as they are now.

How do you feel about the Baseball Hall of Fame?

More than anything else it gives fans something to talk about in December and January and then becomes largely forgotten for the next ten months.  I am encouraged about its long-term prospects of the BBWAA voting in deserving players with the recent admittance of Internet writers to their membership ranks a little over a year ago.  Hopefully adding more of these types of writers will allow the BBWAA as a whole to take a more nuanced approach in deciding on borderline candidates.

As for the Hall itself it is a place that even the most casual baseball fan should at least once.  And the fact that I (and likely other writers) first responded to Hall of Fame voting rather than the actual Hall of Fame says a little something about how much Hall of Fame voting has taken on a life of its own, perhaps more than it should.

Tell me one player who should and one player who shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame?

(Not a player, but…) The fact that former labor chief Marvin Miller is not in the Hall (especially given that former commissioner and Miller nemesis Bowie Kuhn was voted in) is perhaps the most significant omission (and the most overlooked) from the Hall.  Baseball as we know it would not exist without the efforts of Miller.

I also am not going to declare any single Hall of Famer as undeserving of the honor, though I become suspicious of a player’s true merits when arguments such as “his statistics don’t tell the whole story” are used.  If his statistics aren’t on par with other members of the Hall then his candidacy likely has some serious flaws that can not simply be explained away.

Who is the best GM in baseball and why?

Brian Cashman is rarely in this discussion because of all of the money at his disposal, but in recent years he has shown both an ability to wisely spend large amounts of money while also snatching up bargains.  The days of throwing money at Raul Mondesi and Carl Pavano are clearly in the past.

How long would it take you to get the Kansas City Royals to the playoffs and what would your first three moves be?

Questioning the Royals’ seemingly infinite number of questionable moves in recent years is completely fair game.  However it should also be mentioned that 99.9999% of baseball bloggers, fans and analysts, no matter how many Bill James books they read or how many years they play Roto, would fare no better than the absolute worst GM.  That being said:

1) Vow to not sign any free agents over the age of 30 until the team posts of winning percentage of at least .500.
2) Lobby MLB to allow teams to trade draft picks (future picks included).
3) (If #2 is accomplished) Trade Zack Greinke for the Yankees’ next eight first round picks.

Do you consider yourself a Sabermetrician and how can Sabermetricians and “traditional” baseball followers better communicate?

I do, though I do not like to cite any statistics without having a true understanding of how they are computed, as in I could calculate it myself.  As a result I do not cite very many.  I think the need to bring these groups together is a bit overstated – people enjoy baseball for a wide variety of reasons and if some have no interest in advanced statistics they should not have statistics with funny acronyms forced upon them.  If the GM for my favorite team is shunning these numbers, however, then there is a problem.

What aspects of baseball analysis do you find interesting and want to study further?

I find the business side of baseball an underexplored topic, though of course many of these secrets are closely guarded and not nearly as accessible to the public as the infinite number of statistics.

What can BDD readers expect from you this year?

Honestly, I can not give any kind of reasonable prediction.  Most of what I write comes to me that day, while topics that have been brewing in my head for months (or years) remain unwritten.