I haven't edited Pat's ratings at any point so far. Honestly, if it had looked like he might fizzle out as a minor leaguer, I confess I probably would have stepped in and made him more talented, so he would have a shot at the Show. As any fan of the dynasty knows, I didn't need to give Pat any help at all; he became an all-time great on his own.
I thought very seriously about manipulating his Eye rating, too. Most veteran players improve their ability to control the strike zone, and Pat did this through most of his 30s without me playing Great OOTP Deity and invoking any "divine" intervention. His Eye rating rose as high as 106 in the late 1910s and early 1920s.
When Pat's Eye rating went down the tubes, I chalked it up to the fact that a pitcher no longer had to work carefully to him. Pat's ability to get around on a good fastball isn't what it used to be, so a pitcher facing him can usually throw him hard stuff in the strike zone and let him hit it, the way he might work to a pitcher. Unlike a truly lousy hitter, however, Pat won't chase a cheesy breaking pitch out of the strike zone, so the pitcher can't get him out that way. Consequently, Pat doesn't draw many walks. He mentioned this in his letter to his wife.
As far as continuing the dynasty goes, I'm going to keep playing it out, season by season. There are still some stories that interest me--players whose careers I want to follow in their entirety; a Hall of Fame that will continue to induct retired stars; the rise and fall of great teams like Pat's Red Sox and the Cincinnati Reds of the 1910s. Besides, I've NEVER had an OOTP dynasty reach 20 years and develop meaningful career totals, so I think it's cool to have a league with a "real" history.
I have a few ideas about Pat's future, and those of his sons and daughters. And, even if I set up a particular kind of storyline, the OOTP engine might have "ideas" of its own. That's what happened with Pat, who began his career as a 3.5 star talent.
If you stay with the story, you'll see what I have in mind, and we'll all see how it plays out.
