Biofile Travis Hafner

A get 2 know interview with the Cleveland Indians slugger... The Biofiles: Travis Hafner By Scoop Malinowski mrbiofile@aol.com Status: Cleveland Indians first baseman/designated hitter Height: 6-3 Weight: 240 DOB: June 3, 1977 In: Sykeston, N.D. Hobbies/Interests: "Play a lot of video games, play pool, watch TV, movies." (Getty Images) Baseball Inspirations: "I was really into the Orioles, I liked Cal Ripken and Eddie Murray." Nicknames: "Dakota, Hugh, Haf, Pronk (combination of two 2003 spring training nicknames -- Project and Donkey)." Hobbies/Interests: "Play a lot of video games, play pool, watch TV, movies." Early Baseball Memory: "Just remember playing this Little League tournament at this place, if you hit a home run you got like this big, inflatable baseball bat. I thought that was pretty cool (age 8)." Favorite Movies: "Old School and Anchor Man." Favorite TV Shows: "Seinfeld and wrestling." Musical Tastes: "Linkin Park, Rammstein, Metallica." First Job: "I never really had a job, just worked on the family farm (in North Dakota)." First Car: "Chevy Celebrity. (Color?) Gray." Favorite Meal: "Probably steak." Favorite Breakfast Cereal: "Lucky Charms." Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: "Chocolate chip cookie dough." Pregame Feeling: "Just make sure that I'm prepared. Know what the pitcher features for pitches and how he'll probably try to get me out. And just make sure I'm prepared to go play." Greatest Sports Moment: "My career? (Yes.) [Pause] ... I don't know. I guess winning the college championship." Most Painful Moment: "Probably any time at the end of the season where you're not in -- or if you are in the playoffs, losing out. It's usually like the last game of the season, if you don't win." Favorite Uniforms: "[Pause] ... Growing up and being an Orioles fan, I like the Orioles uniforms. And I think ours are pretty good too." Favorite Ballpark(s): "Seattle and Baltimore." Closest Baseball Friends: "I don't know, there's quite a few." Funniest Players Encountered: "Same thing, there's a lot of those. A lot of funny people out there and a lot of funny people you like to hang out with." Toughest Competitors: "I don't know on that one." Embarrassing Baseball Memory: "I think there was one time against Toronto a few years ago where there was a play at the plate and I went to hit the catcher and he just moved out of the way and I just missed him and fell down and missed home plate. Got (me) out." Favorite Athletes To Watch: "Probably Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James. Two of my favorite basketball players. (Baseball?) There's a lot of baseball players that I enjoy watching. Manny Ramirez. Jim Thome. Albert Pujols. Barry Bonds. Todd Helton. There's quite a few of them I enjoy to watch. (NFL?) I usually watch players that I have on my Fantasy team. (Who?) Edgerrin James, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss. Barry Sanders was fun to watch. Peyton Manning is fun to watch quarterback. (Tennis?) I enjoy watching Roddick play. The Federer guy, he's pretty good, too. (Boxing?) I always enjoyed watching Tyson, especially back in his heyday. (Golf?) I usually just watch golf on the final day of the tournament, it's usually pretty fun to watch. (Wrestling?) Probably Stone Cold, Goldberg and Brock Lesnar were always my favorites. Also Triple H and Ric Flair [smiles]." Favorite Vacation Spot: "Hawaii." Interesting Fact: Travis tied Don Mattingly's major league record last year by hitting six grand slams. People Qualities Most Admired: "That they treat people good and they have a sense of humor." Biofiles Coming Soon: Oscar De La Hoya, Bob Baffert, Elliott Sadler, Gail Devers.