If you want to play in a tried-and-true format and create your team right now, standard leagues (Classic and SSG) are open to the public 24/7. But if you want to try something different, Custom Leagues – created by customers – are there in abundance.

There are franchise leagues, progression leagues, captains leagues, high and low salary cap leagues, “rags to riches” leagues, alphabet leagues, place of birth leagues … the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

Diamond Mind Online would not be the same if the Community did not include some of the most clever and prolific creators of Custom Leagues. We’ll be featuring one of these in this space each month.

This month we’re visiting with David (bluechinmusic) Bluefield, creator of the Whim of the Sim leagues.

Tell us something about yourself: age, occupation, marital status, where you live, and interests (apart from DMO, of course).
Myself I am nearly 76 years old! a retired rock star (former touring keyboardist with Three Dog Night), married and now stuck in Los Angeles (Redondo Beach) to be near Dad (who is 102-1/2!) – interests are sports and music because they both involve tremendous teamwork to succeed.

When did you start playing DMO and how did it first come to your attention?
Been playing since 2006 and I somehow found about our simulated game and it reminded me as a kid I was so fond of All-Star Baseball, and this game and that game both (kind of) transported me back to Junior High when a friend and I played an entire season of All-Star Baseball matching the new Los Angeles-based Dodgers.

You have run the longstanding Whim of the Sim series of leagues.  Tell us something about these leagues and what it is about the format you find appealing.

Well the fact that all we are dealing with is “outcome possibilities” I wanted to have the highest salaried players compete – best against best with no injuries and hope that enough innings had accrued to be several lifetimes in the “game” and would better reflect more consistent (less likely to be clunker season) player pool averages … and, perform on the higher side more often than not … which is where the “whim” comes from.

On those (hopefully) rare occasions that a HoFamer performs under his norm, I made the trade in value at 98% or even 99% so that the owners can fix the mistakes with plenty of $$$ dough to try another player and still remain competitive. That led to my slogan “May The Sim favor yee”. The leagues fill up almost immediately but we still get newbies and one guy (I forget who) suggested the “Sim Reaper” which really cracks me up – cause we all know that the next flip of the coin favors no one and all the work of the GREAT data base is still just a massive game of chance.

Can you offer a few tips for success for those who might want to participate in leagues with similar formats?

The MAIN reason for my continued participation – beyond the $9.99 free game if you win the WS! (joke) -is that the “game” and the massive use of the DataBase is my crossword puzzle entertainment cause it uses the “mental muscle” that is found in music production and song writing where the first idea is rarely the “one” and the “Devil is in the Details” cause it IS in there – and the fact that you guys change the salaries also keeps things very interesting – one note that is very peculiar is that in every single random draft there are usually 3-5 $20+ mil salaried players left and are available at one second after the doors open in the draft room. One guy (who will remain nameless) has never been beaten into the room by me or anyone else – he is the “fastest draw in the Sim” but even he loses more that he wins.

Is there any advice you would give to people who haven’t created a Custom League before, but would like to give it a try?

One thing I keep goofing on is the 3x weekly upgrade dough – lots of zeros to count with my failing eyesight … but you guys always come to my rescue before the leagues actually get underway … that “commish” thing is thankless to be sure but it requires nothing after the games begin … I never know if there will be trades -always blockbusters – but for sure – every league has HoFame players dropped onto the waiver wire – to be scooped up by the next owner ready and willing to be at the Whim of the Sim …