2008 Ultimate Baseball Manager Grand Prize Winners Prizes
  Every year the top managerial minds in fantasy baseball convene on the Baseball Manager web site to compete for the elite title that is the BBM Grand Prize championships.
Thousands start the season with one noble quest: to capture the toughest championship in fantasy baseball, but only three managerial masterminds actually attain that spectacular summit that is the BBM Grand Prize:

NL WINNER
Kent Hertel
TPE - Chrysalis League
Team: Meerkats
Manager: Shorty
Record: 111-51
Finals: 4-0 		AL WINNER
David Ojeda
Blue Chip League
Team: Da Kine
Manager: Bassman
Record: 109-53
Finals: 4-3 		UL WINNER
Matt Priess
Weatherford League
Team: Flaxseed
Manager: Sweetness
Record: 100-62
Finals: 4-2

All Grand Prize winners receive a 42" Plasma HDTV!

Champions Spotlight
All Universe League Grand Prize champion Matt Priess planted the seeds of team Flaxseed's success from team headquarters on Daffodil Avenue. You'd have to go back to the days Jack tossed the team sunflower seeds on the warning track only to wake up to see a beanstalk bigger than the Green Monster (prompting Yankee ownership to climb the Beanstalk and make a multi-million offer to the Giant to DH instead of Giambi), to find anyone who planted spring seeds and reaped greater results than Matt.
"I am pumped about the win," Matt said at the team's victory parade. "The league strength is the key to win the title. You have to have managers that compete all year - no lineup holes - and definitely NO ROBOS. I didn't think I had a shot until the last couple of weeks. That is when it got fun. It came down to the wire and each day I got into it more and more. The second to the last day I was tied in wins, but down in league strength by .0015. I went to go check, but the game wouldn't let me login all day long. I was flustered. I had to wait until the last day of the year to find out what happened for games 161 and 162. But it worked out well for me."
It was Matt's fifth BBM league title in his eighth season as a BBM manager. Interestingly, Matt went head to head with fellow Grand Prize winner Dave Ojeda in an NL league in a duel of two managerial masterminds that culminated on the final day of play.
"I edged out the AL overall champion Dave Ojeda on the last day in our NL league. That made up for the beating I took in AL. Sorry Dave :)," Matt said. "It is by far the best league that I have played in. If you have not experienced one of these leagues, then I suggest that you do. It is worth it."
League strength and the all important PP effect - power and pitching - were the key components to Flaxseed's title triumph.
"I drafted great. I got what I needed: power and pitching," Matt said. "Of course that works well for the long haul and I almost lost in the playoffs. You would think that A-Rod should be able to hit in the playoffs for BBM, but he can't. He hit .167 with 2 bombs. Both bombs were meaningless...probably solo shots in the 3rd :)"

Congratulations Matt!


Hailing from Hawaii where he carved his first fantasy field from a field of sugar cane, AL Grand Prize winner David Ojeda trained his team, Da Kine, for the rigors of a 162-game season by leading a team hiking expedition up Maui's famed Haleakala Crater while requiring his players to listen to Don Ho's rendition of the Rocky theme "Eye Of The Tiger."
The unconventional approach paid off: players were driven to such an Aloha state of mind they vowed to say good-bye to losing before the season even began. Da Kine won 109 games in sweeping the Blue Chip League and Playoff Championships.
"Of course it's a huge honor to win the Grand Prize; I know there are a lot of great BBMers out there, so to finish on top of the rankings is something I feel very proud of," David said. "Going into the season I would never have thought I would even be in the running; I've been playing this game for a LONG time and never even been close! I also of course feel very lucky, as there is an element of that - but as a wise man once said: 'You have to work hard to be lucky.' I definitely put in a lot of time managing my teams, so it's great to see all the work pay off!"
David has been playing BBM since the cyber skies saw the launch of the BBM Blimp back in the days when the game was launched on the Prodigy network. He has won about 10 league championships in that span and completed one of the greatest single seasons of any manager in BBM history this season: in addition to winning the AL Grand Prize, David captured an astounding total of four titles in five different leagues!
Constructing his squad on a strong cast of returning starters, he made a timely pre-draft trade and completely rebuilt his pitching staff to form the foundation of the championship team.
"Prior to the draft, I was in need of an upgrade at catcher and third base, so I traded Josh Beckett and Alex Rios for Joe Mauer and Mike Lowell. Those acquisitions were huge for me; especially Mauer, since catchers that hit .326 with a .413 OBP don't grow on trees!" David said. "Also, I was able to add two big players to my roster in the draft: Kevin Youkilis and Carlos Quentin. My biggest FA move: picking up Aubrey Huff. My offense lead the league in batting average (.296), Home runs (226), and walks (712). I rolled the dice and elected not to keep any of my starting pitchers from the previous year, and ended up with a rotation of Dice-K, Ervin Santana, Greinke, Baker, and Slowey; contributing to a league-leading 3.17 team ERA. It all added up to 109 wins and the BBM Grand Prize!"

Congratulations David!!


NL Grand Slam champion Kent wasn't exactly measuring his players' fingers for championship rings before the season started. Though Kent had made the playoffs in each of his first four seasons playing BBM, he had never won a league championship prior to this season.
Playing in a highly-competitive league where a manager's margin for error is as wide as a snail's smile, Kent drafted wisely and managed the Meerkats shrewdly in a near wire-to-wire win.
"I never really thought about winning the grand prize, because I didn't think it was a realistic goal," said Kent. "I understand that the prize was won with a mix of skill and good fortune, and I'm elated. I've played BBM for five years and this is my first title. However, I've never failed to reach the playoffs. I'd say the league championship was won on draft day. The boost to get the grand prize was provided through free agency. Players like Volstad, Sandoval, Hoffpauir and Dickerson were picked up in the second half and helped get my team to the top spot in the grand prize rankings. Other than losing Gallardo for most of the year, the team had very few injuries."

Congratulations Kent!


Please join the BBM staff in congratulating our 2008 Grand Prize Champions for their outstanding achievements!

BBM Commissioner Rich