Posted by Brian Joseph on Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 5:27 am

Doug Thorburn does the impossible in our latest 20 questions series… he mentions Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire BUT doesn’t once mention steroids or HGH. He couldn’t get through the GM portion without mentioning Billy Beane but he did avoid the use of the phrase “Moneyball” so let’s give Mr. Thorburn a round of applause as you read his responses to 20 questions:

How did you begin writing for Baseball Daily Digest?

The story began when I entered BP Idol last spring, and my submission was forwarded to BDD as an honorable mention. Bossman Joe Hamrahi informed me that I had earned an opportunity to contribute to the team at BDD, and I wasted no time before signing on the dotted line. So far, the rookie hazing has been surprisingly gentle.

What is your favorite team?

Oakland Athletics. I grew up in an area dominated by Giants fans, but my allegiance was always with the green n’ gold. I even spent half of my Little League career playing for the A’s.

What other teams do you follow/root for?

I tend to play the geography card, and follow the western teams a bit closer than the rest, if only because they are on my schedule.  I am also a diehard fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, so I’ve become a bit calloused due to repeated disappointments in the postseason.

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

As a kid, I worshipped at the altars of Mark McGwire and Rickey Henderson, and modeled after Rickey as a player. I didn’t have much choice, as a left-hander that hit from the right side. In today’s game, I follow players like Tim Lincecum, Cole Hamels, Miguel Cabrera, David Wright, Brett Anderson, and Justin Upton.

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

Joe Sheehan is at the top of the list, and I miss the passionate and insightful rants of Prospectus Today. I will read anything that is written by Peter Gammons, Rob Neyer, Kevin Goldstein, Jim Callis, or The Sports Guy Bill Simmons. My all-time favorite is Gary Huckabay; “he could write about lint, and I would find it interesting” (that’s Gary’s line, not mine, and he was talking about Sheehan at the time).

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

I collected baseball cards as a kid, and still cherish my Rickey rookie cards and McGwire Olympic card. I have some autographed stuff, my favorite of which is an A’s helmet that is signed by everyone from the 2000 roster.  I have a relative who is way more interesting, though. He likes to personally procure various memorabilia from ballparks across the country, whether it’s a piece of concrete from the demolished Kingdome, an armrest from old Tiger Stadium, or dirt from Coors Field. It makes for an awesome trophy wall.

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

I have been very lucky, having attended some momentous games during my 10 years in San Diego. There are three that stand out:

In 2001, I attended the final game of Tony Gwynn’s career, on the last day of the 2001 season. Leading off the first inning, my man Rickey slapped a flare to the right side that stopped, dropped, and rolled like it was on fire. He ended up on second base with a double, followed by a standing ovation for the 3000th hit of his amazing career. As it turned out, this was the only game in Major League history that featured a pair of teammates with 3,000 hits, and I left the stadium feeling satisfied that I had just seen the single greatest moment that I would ever witness on a baseball field.

In 2006, a good friend hooked me up with a ticket to the final game of the inaugural World Baseball Classic. We were sitting down the third-base line, and I had a great view of Daisuke Matsuzaka’s unique delivery as he led Japan to a historic victory over Cuba. It was an incredible match-up between two countries with a deep tradition of baseball, each with a unique style of play that was easily distinguishable from the American game. The win set off a huge celebration, highlighted by the players from Team Japan throwing manager and national legend Sadaharu Oh into the air like they were auditioning for the closing credits to RBI Baseball.

In 2007, a friend and I got tickets for a mid-summer Giants-Padres series as Barry Bonds chased Hank Aaron for the homerun record. We were sitting right behind the sandbox in right-center field at Petco on the night of August fourth, in a great position to not only witness history, but to potentially become a part of it. Barry wasted no time, leading off the second inning with record-tying homer #755 in his first at-bat, though he went opp-o to deliver the winning lottery ticket into the left field stands. Bud Selig may have been subdued at that moment, but my friend – a Giants fan in a Bonds jersey – and I were going nuts.

What is your favorite ballpark?

AT&T Park is amazing, and is probably responsible for 10-20% of the A’s attendance decrease all by itself. That, and where else can you get clam chowder with a sourdough bread bowl on the concourse?

2nd place: I’ve never had more fun than at Rosenblatt stadium in Omaha, where the bleachers have a life of their own during the College World Series.

What is your favorite baseball movie?

It’s close, but I give the nod to Bull Durham. I started to overanalyze this question, but then I remembered Crash’s lesson #1: “Don’t think; it can only hurt the ballclub.” So I went with my gut. Major League is “juuuuuuust a bit outside,” and a close second to BD.

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

I’m a big fan of fantasy baseball, and I am really attached to a few leagues with my college buds that have been going on for almost a decade. I am always down for some video game baseball, and nothing beats the original NES games like RBI or Baseball Stars.

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

I was a 1B/CF/P for about 12 years, but a blown shoulder ended the pipedream at 18. It’s too bad, because I had wheels and a mean splitter, and I could have been a dangerous pinch runner/ groundball-inducing LOOGY… for the UCSD club baseball team.

What is your “dream job”?

My goal is to help a team with talent evaluation and player development, especially a club that emphasizes pitching mechanics and utilizes motion analysis. I would like to get involved with R&D, and help to build an organizational model for developing talent. In the meantime, I’ll be living the dream by writing for BDD, and will sleep easy as long I can forge a career writing about this spectacular sport.

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

I would give Rob Neyer a regular column again. The blogs are great, but I miss the in-depth analysis of his feature articles.

I would change the poker coverage, hiring Bob Uecker to take over for Norman Chad in the announcer’s booth.

I would sign BDD to a ridiculously lucrative contract as a strategic partner. I’m fired the next day anyway, so I might as well take care of the family.

How do you feel about the Baseball Hall of Fame?

It’s an honor for the players, and the museum is a monument to the greats of the game, commemorating its unique history. I’ve never been to Cooperstown, but it is near the top of the To Do list. There is a bit too much drama over selection for my tastes, though I do have my own opinions about what deserves enshrinement.

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

I think that Tim Raines should be in, and he deserves to be getting way more support than he has received. I’d say Blyleven, but he’s a virtual lock to get in next year. I’m not going to throw any one player under the bus, but the Veteran’s Committee has voted in a number of questionable candidates.

Who is the best GM in baseball and why?

A lot of folks have jumped off the Billy Beane bandwagon, but I’m still riding shotgun. One of his key skills is a willingness to adapt his strategy, and Beane’s current challenge is to address the team’s recent catastrophe in the training room. Injuries have crushed the team in recent years, and the A’s needs to restore the level of health and performance that was a trademark of the last contending squad. There are a lot of great GM’s out there, and Billy’s extensive track record on a perennially limited budget puts him among the upper tier. Or maybe I’m just a homer.

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

I would need a 5-year plan for contention, and it starts with identifying the keepers and the dumpers. We are gunning for 2015, so only the young foundation players have a secure spot on the roster, and there will be some tough decisions down the road.

1) Dump any short-term asset that starts the season strong. This includes salary dumps like Guillen and Kendall, as well as players that could bring back a prospect or two. Wait until summer, and see if there is a market for Meche, Ankiel, or veteran relievers Farnsworth and Cruz.

2) Gauge the market on Soria, and make the move for a legit package of prospects from a team desperate for bullpen help at the deadline (there’s always a few, and his contract is team-friendly). Decide the future roles for Gordon and Ka’aihue, providing them with the opportunity to prove themselves worthy of keepers beyond 2010.

3) Invest in a motion analysis system to study both hitting and pitching mechanics, and to develop an organizational model for evaluation. Use this approach to create an atmosphere of baseball education for the young players in the organization, from Butler to Moustakas, Hosmer, Crow, Montgomery, and Melville.

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

I think that stats are absolutely necessary for objective evaluation of performance, and the more advanced metrics are extremely useful tools. Stats also have their limitations, and there are a lot more tools in the shed. Subjective assessment has more than its share of merits, and all good objective analysis begins with the eyes. Before someone could invent a stat, they had to watch games and decide that it was worth measuring. There are also many ways to objectively analyze performance that go beyond the box score, such as hi-speed motion analysis. When running motion analysis at the NPA, we guided our theories, our experiments, and our measurements based on the subjective experience of professional players and coaches. I think the next generation of sabermetricians will successfully integrate the benefits that are derived from scouting, coaching, and statistical analysis.

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

I am all about functional stats, and want to further study actual game measurements. I want to know how fast Franklin Gutierrez ran to track down that ball in the gap, where he positioned himself before the pitch, and how quickly he reacted after contact. I want to know the velocity of a Rafael Furcal throw from short, and how quickly he transfers from glove to release point. And I want to know the distance from release point to the plate on every pitch that Tim Lincecum throws. Technology has brought pitch f/x and motion analysis, and we aren’t far from having this data at our disposal.

What can BDD readers expect from you this year?

They can expect to read a lot more about pitching mechanics, including breakdowns of prime pitching duels throughout the season. I also like to sound off on trades, signings, the draft, fantasy baseball, and any other rants that come to me.