Quote:
	
	
		
			
				
					Originally Posted by  Pelican
					 
				 
				Possibly the ‘76 Phillies were simply a better team than the Big Red Machine?  Certainly the Phils were on their way to dominance, and the Reds were fading. 
			
		 | 
	
	
 The Reds & Phillies were actually both outstanding teams in 1976 and pretty even in both actual wins and expected wins. (Philly took the season series, 7 games to 5.)
	Quote:
	
	
		
			
				
					Originally Posted by  Jesus Tralfaz
					 
				 
				I'm lucky to get 2-3 weeks into the season before I delete the season due to frustration. Recently I played the 1976 Reds and quit when the AI was getting the breaks in a Reds-Phillies series. Thinking about looking into Strat-o-matic baseball. 
I'm sorry I should have said the AI cheats, not getting the breaks 
			
		 | 
	
	
 In a short series, it would not be surprising to see any team - even a very weak one - get "the breaks" and win a series. In your particular example, it would not be at all unexpected to see the Phillies outplay the Reds and win a series, perhaps even sweep it. Just as it would not be surprising to see it go the other way around. In fact, those World-Champions-to-be '76 Reds lost three separate series' to the lowly SF Giants, and lost series' to bad Cards & Padres teams. They also lost two series to the so-so Mets, dropped a 4-game set (3-1) to the Dodgers, and lost 4-out-of-5 to Philly in mid-June. Season-long dominance is not absolute. Even the best teams lose - on average - one out of three games and sometimes those come in streaks, right along with "the breaks."
Fast-sim a whole season a few times, and then you'll likely see that the results are closer to your expectations.