OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post

voxpoptart · 12-22-2002, 03:11 AM

The way i've enjoyed winning so far is to focus on

(1) Having good fielders at EVERY position (lots of A's, no lower than B's or a C outfielder with an A arm), with the possible exceptions of first base and catcher.
(2) Then filling my staff with good pitchers, not aces, who score well in preventing homers and walks, get a lot of ground balls, and hold runners well, even if their hits-prevention score is mediocre. As in real life (and this is one thing i like about this simulation), having experts at every position will save a lot of hits, and the groundballs will result in lots of double plays when a hitter does get on -- thus, pitchers come to my teams and drop their ERA's substantially.
(3) Getting excellent, durable relievers who can keep games close when my groundballing starters don't have what it takes and need to be yanked.
(4) Paying a lot of attention, offensively, to walks, doubles, batting average, platooning opportunities, and A or at least B stealing ability. This often leads to my teams finishing 13th out of 14 in homers, but 1st in runs -- we have long-chain offenses (in hitters' parks) or at least strong one-run offenses (in pitchers' parks), and ground into very few DP's because of the high-percentage base-stealing.

Does it work? I think so. In my fictional league, my large-market team wins 108 games a year and my small-market team wins 97 even though, as a deliberate handicap, i hire mid-level coaches and scouts and refuse to sign superstar free agents (except bullpen superstars). I play against the computer, true, but i intervene now and then to create mutually-smart trades among the computer teams or to cancel any of their trades that are clearly utterly stupid -- which, in the real world of Kevin Millwood, my human oppenents would be allowed to commit.

The reason my strategies work, i suspect, is the same reason they worked for Whitey Herzog in real life: because fielding, drawing walks, and hitting doubles are low-glamour abilities, and hitting homers or pitching strikeouts are high-glamour abilities, so i'm getting good players who are undervalued, and whom i can dispose of if necessary to find players with similar skills.

The reason my strategies are fun is that clicking "Double Steal" or "Squeeze Play" or "Hit & Run" is more suspenseful than clicking "Swing Away". For me, anyway. Cheers!

12-22-2002, 03:11 AM	#12
voxpoptart Major Leagues Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 387	The way i've enjoyed winning so far is to focus on (1) Having good fielders at EVERY position (lots of A's, no lower than B's or a C outfielder with an A arm), with the possible exceptions of first base and catcher. (2) Then filling my staff with good pitchers, not aces, who score well in preventing homers and walks, get a lot of ground balls, and hold runners well, even if their hits-prevention score is mediocre. As in real life (and this is one thing i like about this simulation), having experts at every position will save a lot of hits, and the groundballs will result in lots of double plays when a hitter does get on -- thus, pitchers come to my teams and drop their ERA's substantially. (3) Getting excellent, durable relievers who can keep games close when my groundballing starters don't have what it takes and need to be yanked. (4) Paying a lot of attention, offensively, to walks, doubles, batting average, platooning opportunities, and A or at least B stealing ability. This often leads to my teams finishing 13th out of 14 in homers, but 1st in runs -- we have long-chain offenses (in hitters' parks) or at least strong one-run offenses (in pitchers' parks), and ground into very few DP's because of the high-percentage base-stealing. Does it work? I think so. In my fictional league, my large-market team wins 108 games a year and my small-market team wins 97 even though, as a deliberate handicap, i hire mid-level coaches and scouts and refuse to sign superstar free agents (except bullpen superstars). I play against the computer, true, but i intervene now and then to create mutually-smart trades among the computer teams or to cancel any of their trades that are clearly utterly stupid -- which, in the real world of Kevin Millwood, my human oppenents would be allowed to commit. The reason my strategies work, i suspect, is the same reason they worked for Whitey Herzog in real life: because fielding, drawing walks, and hitting doubles are low-glamour abilities, and hitting homers or pitching strikeouts are high-glamour abilities, so i'm getting good players who are undervalued, and whom i can dispose of if necessary to find players with similar skills. The reason my strategies are fun is that clicking "Double Steal" or "Squeeze Play" or "Hit & Run" is more suspenseful than clicking "Swing Away". For me, anyway. Cheers!