JD: Tell us about how you found out about BAB, and why you decided to join.

KH: I'm sure I heard about BAB from Simas first.  I think he's the longest tenured BFF member in BAB.  Stoph joined the league and soon Pyle and Johnny Five were going out on Sundays.  From what I gathered from them BAB was a league of players that took the game pretty seriously.  I was sold after Ed showed me the website.  I think the opportunity to play competitively in an organized league was too great to pass up.

JD: Did it hurt you at all when you came down on Tim's lip that time?

KH: Tim has a hard head and/or face.  We collided at nearly full speed knocking us both silly.  The force of the impact shook me up and I really don't remember much.  I think I took second on the play.

JD: What, if any, skillz did you work on in the offseason (or wish you had?)

KH: I played a bit of MLB: The Show on my roomates PS3 in the offseason.  I mostly picked the Giants because I'm a homer when it comes to sports teams, plus they had the player that was supposed to be Barry Bonds but couldn't be due to the players association.  My roomate almost always crushed me when we played VS, but he spent hours on that game.  I usually walked away thinking I should get some real BP in before the BAB '08 season started.  Maybe next offseason I can pull that off.  

JD:You are always smiling, always upbeat, so either you are extremely positive or closet insane. Shed some light, so we can be prepared if you ARE insane.

KH: There are a lot of characters in BAB and a lot of wise cracking that goes on.  Someone's usually saying or doing something and it's generally funny.  I have a good time when there's some competive banter going on between teams with the occasional off color joke made at some passerby's expense.  But I really enjoy playing ball.  There are a lot of good guys in the league and we have a lot of fun with it.

JD: Some of the league may not know you had NO competitive experience playing baseball before BAB came along. Were you disinterested, or were there other sports that captured your interest?

KH: I think they have an idea after some of the decisions I make on defense.  Until high school football, the only organized sports I played were soccer and basketball.  But I lived on a street with about a dozen other miscreants my age and we played sports continuously.  In league play I worked kids in soccer and played for eight years.  I was more of a role player when it came to hoops.  Most of my friends played baseball and I wish I had done the same.  I wasn't that exposed to baseball.  I started watching in eight grade/freshmen year with Pyle and Stoph.  Go Giants. 

JD: You may be selected as a series captain this year. Do you have any idea how you'll handle this role? How do YOU think a captain can affect a game/series (except for drafting all the top guys)?

KH: So I'll be captaining the next series agains Ruben.  We're both second year players, but he won the rookie of the year award last year.  Thats a big deal and guys will follow his lead.  I've got to find a team that will work well together on the field and one with great chemistry in the dugout.  When a dugout shows its support I think the batter feeds off it.  I want guys that talk jive and high five.

JD: What is your connection to the #56, which is in your e-mail addy as well as your choice for you BAB bio?

KH: I wore #56 in football.  I picked it because it was Lawrence Taylor's number and I wanted to make people crumble like Joe Theisman.  Though I never dominated the line of scrimmage the way LT did, I made it out of high school football without a coke problem. 

JD: You are a standing member of BFF, which means you've likely been witness to some pretty crazy/funny stuff. Does anything stand out?

KH: Camping at the Klamath stands out.  We've gone every summer since '96 and there's plenty of foolish moxy in those stories.  A gem from the distant past would be riding around town in Johnny Five's '83 Dodge Aries.  Johnny drove the Aries like it was a wrecking ball.  Aside from the occasional mailbox we'd go plowing over garbage cans and most other things near curbside.  Five's favorite was grass or leaf piles.  There's something to be said for driving past some guy as he's wrapping up his yardwork, then doubling back and blowing through his leaf pyle at 45 miles per hour.  This shit went on for about three months, then certain neigbors got wise.  They started hiding cinder blocks and tree stumps inside their yard piles.  Talk about a surprise.  At first we'd drive through it anyway as a show of defiance.  After a few flat tires we changed our tune.

JD: You hit your first BAB home run this year. Did you know off the bat it was gone?

KH: I thought I did.  But a few times in '07 I was sure a ball was gone only to have it reeled in a the warning track.  Luckily I didn't have some sort of homerun celebration because I would have whipped it out and looked foolish. 

JD: Especially with a new series starting, let us know how your foot injury is progressing, and if you aggravated anything playing these last two weekends.

KH: The foot's good.  It' the belly that needs some work.  I believe I was just out of shape and wasn't used to rounding bags at full speed.  I started the season at 230.  I used to be 180 not so long ago.  Getting in playing shape is really important because there's no excuse for looking like Kirk Gibson when you're rounding second.

JD: I often work in your hometown Redwood City. How did you end up leaving the 650 for the 408? Is it because there's only two exits off the 101, or because the library smells like pee?

KH: So I've just decided I won't ever check a book out of said library.  I may have been born in Redwood City, but I always lived in San Jose.  As a kid I had no say, but since I've been on my own I have stayed within the 408. 

JD: You've just been named BAB commissioner. What is your first act at the helm?

KH: Cheerleaders are a possibility.  Not the wholesome type; I'd prefer girls who are on the trashy side.  Lots of dark makeup with a look of desperation in their faces.  That would get me hyped to play.  Maybe a hotdog stand.  Dogs would be nice between games. 

JD: In the season finale last year, you told Skillz (me) a very interesting---as well as frightening---story in which you VERY nearly lost your life underwater a few months back.

KH: I did have a close call on the Klamath tube trip of '07.  Just after the Bluff Creek confluence the river takes on a nasty demeanor which makes fore some of the more the most intense rapids.  Stoph and I shot them twice, but on our third run I lost it going over the last big rock.  The river tore me from my tube and deposited me on the bottom of the riverbed, pinned underneath heavy current.  I moved until I got my feet under me and pushed off.  After I surfaced I grabbed my tube and high fived Stoph.  We took a shot of Crown Royal each and continued down the river.

JD: That same day, after Skillz killed the dragonfly (or at least knocked it out), you actually examined it and then shared some tales about creatures you dealt with (and possibly eaten, I think you may have said).

KH: I've been known to eat an insect here and there if I think I can get a rise out of people.  Some people can't eat a large moth or termite on a dare, especially when the thing is kicking and screaming.  Seeing their shock when I do it is satisfying.  Though now that Fear Factor has been canceled I can't really pull off that "I'm in training" routine to try and impress chicks.  Now it's just creepy.

JD: Besides a MAJOR injury, is there anything that would make you quit BAB anytime soon?

KH: If I lose another bet with Rob that requires me to wear the "frilly shorts", I'll do everyone a favor not show up.