Week 1 Hot Seat: Kunal Sra

1. We know you’re a gym rat and ultimate bachelor, but tell us a bit about yourself off the field. 

I'm definitely a gym rat and fitness enthusiast but I'm not the ultimate bachelor lol. I'm divorced and it's definitely a different scene in your latter years lol What else would anyone wanna know about me? Most of you know me pretty well. Who wrote this question? Must be the same guy involved in ratings. 

2. You started playing softball a bit later when you were 32. How’d you end up being such a premier player and develop your signature oppo swing? 

It's weird. I've watched baseball and I played a couple softball games in High School gym class but never really played. As a kid we'd play baseball with a tennis ball. Pretty lame. I don’t know, I always had good hand eye coordination.  When I first played I pulled the ball a lot. Then one season I bought these batting gloves that forced you to roll your fingers into the bat. It completely changed my grip. It made pulling much harder. Now I'm just more comfortable going oppo but I'm learning to pull again. Ramy and Billal bitch when I do it in a game though. 

3. You've been in the league for a long time. Which was your favorite team to play on and why? You could only pick one team.

Damn...I barely remember what month it is now I gotta lie so my current teammates  don't get salty. Yall set me up all over the questions. Aight...it's my coed team on Tuesday night ?
I don’t know. Probably when I won the chip for the first time I got my name on the cup. It might of been 2009. That's the most memorable at least.  Plus Solyman made a whole recording of the journey so I can watch it whenever. 

4. Tell us about why Heavy Hittaz didn’t end up coming back and how you guys ended up in Dynasty?

It's no secret why we didn't come back. 90% of my players where increased in rating after a fall season in which stats weren't even taken. I wasn't even planning on playing with Dynasty. I was with Adeel but for the sake of the league and Ramy crying again...we all joined up. Now we cant even get an appeal of 1 point going while other teams are getting bday gifts all over. There are players who hit the ball with miles further than me, just as consistent,  ranked 2 points lower than me. And I'm old AF while hes in his young 30s. Come now

5. There’s always talk about ratings and cap. Considering you play in so many leagues, tell us what you think works and what doesn’t. 

Yeah the leagues with no cap sometimes teams bring a different team for playoffs, they rotate players all season based on availability, and yeah some have the same teams dominating. While the rating system is a decent idea, it's not implemented in the best way. You still have the same teams winning only it's with lower quality players.  I'm sorry if that sounds offensive but all the really really good players were forced out the league. Same can be said for the really good teams. This league was first built with a community vibe. If you are playing softball with your boys every Sunday, win or lose you will have a good time. I'd lose with Halimi Billal Ali G Ramy, and the other HH guys every week if we could play together.  Shit, I joined mostly shitty teams this season to help the league have more teams so clearly I don't HAVE to win all the time. 

One last point. If players are gonna rate other players, it should be the highest rated or best players rating everyone.  Not 3s and 4s
I'm not having the kid last picked in Dodge ball set my lineup. Nah mean?

6. Give us one word for each: 

Commissioners: ?
Best hitter: Nick
MVP prediction: Nick
Kunal Sra:  5
Best teammate: me 
Worst teammate: billal
Game changer: what?
Favorite gym song: I don't listen to music 
Elbow-gate: over it
Underrated: hard boiled eggs for breakfast 
Worst rated player: Matty G

7. How have you been able to transition to more of a utility role? In your younger days you were a left center fielder, now you can just play all over.

I used to be a really good outfielder. One year I let myself go and didn't take care of myself and really shat the bed. Sometimes your last impression is the one that sticks. So it wasn't about wanting or needing to transition. I was moved to rf and then catcher. But since HH usually played short players I got to move around. After playing well at 2b I got it full time but any time someone with a stronger arm was on the team I was back to catcher. I think after dominating 3b in some games my teammates realized I'm a decent infielder. Also I can't see at night so I'm forced to play infield Friday nights. If I had to choose. I like 3b best but anywhere in the infield is fine. 

8. What is one change you would make to the league?

Only 1 huh? I'd probably drop all the rules. At least for a season. Let people bring who they want. Except Rishi. He'd bring an entire ringer team and proxy that shit from another state. 

9. You were once on the committee. Without getting yourself in trouble with Ammad, tell us some of the talks that took place.

Nothing exciting. We rated players and did some boring shit. Honestly, I was the best at the ratings. I even gave spartan players fair numbers. Some teams for the last few years get favorable ratings (semi pro) while others get shitted on (Dynasty HH). Maybe every team should have a voice so these on sided appeals don't have to drag on. 

10. Shout out to new dad Ahmad Halimi. Love you bro