Baseball Newbie

Happy_Turtle · 04-19-2010, 06:58 AM

Hi all,

My friend recommended this game to me however I have little to no knowledge of the sport (I know the basics pitcher, batter, strike-miss, foul-line). However I don't know the intermediate stuff like what the different types of pitches are.

Is this a game that's going to be accessible to me or is it for pure fans. I know and love football manager 2010 but also know that people with little knowledge of the sport tend to be thrown into the deep end.

Many Thanks,

Happy_Turtle

jsweber · 04-19-2010, 10:23 AM

I don't know all the deep stats, etc. But I just jumped in. I'm sure I will fail quite a bit, but I decided to go for it...

SteveP · 04-19-2010, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy_Turtle

Hi all,

My friend recommended this game to me however I have little to no knowledge of the sport (I know the basics pitcher, batter, strike-miss, foul-line). However I don't know the intermediate stuff like what the different types of pitches are.

Is this a game that's going to be accessible to me or is it for pure fans. I know and love football manager 2010 but also know that people with little knowledge of the sport tend to be thrown into the deep end.

Many Thanks,

Happy_Turtle

Well, if you are open to a trial-and-error process, this game will teach you a lot about baseball. You may find it helpful to do a little reading (wikipedia type stuff) as well. Also these boards. But basically, just pay attention to what is going on in your game. If your team does badly, so what? It's just a game.

TGH-Adfabre · 04-19-2010, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy_Turtle

Hi all,

My friend recommended this game to me however I have little to no knowledge of the sport (I know the basics pitcher, batter, strike-miss, foul-line). However I don't know the intermediate stuff like what the different types of pitches are.

Is this a game that's going to be accessible to me or is it for pure fans. I know and love football manager 2010 but also know that people with little knowledge of the sport tend to be thrown into the deep end.

Many Thanks,

Happy_Turtle

You can definitely play. You will have to do some investigation in to the statistics, what they mean and how to weigh their importance. Other than that you can have a blast without having to know a mountain of baseball intricacies.

Kelric · 04-19-2010, 02:09 PM

You may also want to disable some of the rules that would make things a little more complicated - Rule V Draft, the waiver wire, etc., so you can focus more on the basic baseball transactions.

Syt · 04-19-2010, 02:55 PM

ESPN America has a nice PDF overview of the basics:
http://www.espnamerica.com/images/es...ball-rules.pdf

Their A-Z is less useful, though:
ESPN America - American for Sports

You might also find some points over at ArmchairGM interesting:
Baseball Strategy:Guide to Smart Baseball - ArmchairGM - Sports Wiki Database
While not every point can be applied to OOTP, many can.

I can also recommend Zack Hample's Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan's Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks, a book that expects you to know the basics (which you seem to have down), but which explains a lot around the game - what does every position do, what kind of pitches are there, how does the baseball park influence the game, and lots of little tidbits and anecdotes. On top of that it's also fun to read. It has really increased my appreciation for both OOTP and what's going on in TV broadcasts.

Bottom Of The Sixth · 04-19-2010, 02:56 PM

Another piece of helpful advice is to try to watch baseball on TV, if you can. On top of personally seeing what is going on, hopefully you will have some good TV announcers, who will not put you to sleep, who will explain some of the strategy of the current game situations and what the head coach may be thinking or trying to do.

One big plus, among many, with the OOTP game series is that you can make this game as simple or as difficult as you what to. So, as you are learning, stick with the basics!!! Just remember, Rome wasn't built in one day

Good Luck!!

MrEndshiftresign · 04-19-2010, 06:36 PM

A little off-tangent, but I got hooked on Championship Manager back in college even if I didn't know much about soccer and wasn't a fan either. I even ended up following the Premiership for a while! (though right now I'm back to my basketball and baseball roots...)

OOTP's learning curve may be a bit steep for someone who's not too familiar with the rules and terminologies, but I guarantee you'll be hooked once you get the hang of it.

kurtkeoki · 04-20-2010, 08:11 AM

Not sure if you're from the States (you mentioned football manager and not knowing much about baseball) but you'll find Americans love the stats of sports. And no sport has stats like baseball does. It has stats for everything. Really to be good at OOTP 11 you just need to know what the stats mean and how to apply them to different situations.

Happy_Turtle · 04-20-2010, 08:58 AM

Thanks for all the responses, I'm currently trying out a demo and so far am enjoying myself despite not knowing what the heck is going on. I've gone onto a few beginner websites to get the basics down pat. Although I think it's going to be a while before I fully understand all the stats, oh and someone needs to brush up wikipedias various definitions. I still don't really get tagging up.

Oh and by the way I'm from the UK, the closest I've ever got to baseball was watching one match online and playing rounders. Fun Fact apparently we invented baseball and the Americans took it to the pro level and changed a few (a hundred or so) rules

Kelric · 04-20-2010, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy_Turtle

Fun Fact apparently we invented baseball and the Americans took it to the pro level and changed a few (a hundred or so) rules

The history of baseball is debatable, but there is no denying it is related to rounders, cricket, bat and trap, etc., and came over from the UK.

medlinke · 04-20-2010, 11:11 PM

I would most definitely watch the game. There's plenty of downtime and the strategy, great players, situations, and rules are the general topics between plays. You'll also quickly get a feel for the pace of the game and the players since it's a much more intimate sport than say football where you're looking at the game from farther back with guys who are covered in pads and helmets.

Once you've watched some games take a look at some books. I highly recommend Jerry Remy's Watching Baseball. He talks about the game, it's strategy, and the players he's played with and seen run through Boston over the years. Great primer filled with funny anecdotes from one of TV baseball's best color men.

Finally, once you're starting to get the hang of it check out some baseball books about statistics since this game is very stat driven. Something like "Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong" is a good choice. If you want a gentler introduction then check out Michael Lewis' Moneyball which is a now standard read for all baseball fans.

After that everything is wide open for ya.

Look at The Glory of the Times for some great primary source documentation about the early days of baseball. You might read anything about baseball by Halberstram like Summer of '49. Really every era of baseball has its great books and great authors. Rarely has a sport been so well written about over such a long period of time.

Welcome to the obsession!

04-19-2010, 06:58 AM	#1
Happy_Turtle Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 2	Baseball Newbie Hi all, My friend recommended this game to me however I have little to no knowledge of the sport (I know the basics pitcher, batter, strike-miss, foul-line). However I don't know the intermediate stuff like what the different types of pitches are. Is this a game that's going to be accessible to me or is it for pure fans. I know and love football manager 2010 but also know that people with little knowledge of the sport tend to be thrown into the deep end. Many Thanks, Happy_Turtle

04-19-2010, 02:55 PM	#6
Syt Minors (Double A) Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Vienna, Austria Posts: 123	ESPN America has a nice PDF overview of the basics: http://www.espnamerica.com/images/es...ball-rules.pdf Their A-Z is less useful, though: ESPN America - American for Sports You might also find some points over at ArmchairGM interesting: Baseball Strategy:Guide to Smart Baseball - ArmchairGM - Sports Wiki Database While not every point can be applied to OOTP, many can. I can also recommend Zack Hample's Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan's Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks, a book that expects you to know the basics (which you seem to have down), but which explains a lot around the game - what does every position do, what kind of pitches are there, how does the baseball park influence the game, and lots of little tidbits and anecdotes. On top of that it's also fun to read. It has really increased my appreciation for both OOTP and what's going on in TV broadcasts. __________________ *One strikeout is a tragedy, a million strikeouts are statistic.* - "Stallin' Joe" Dshugashvili, Manager of the Moscow Red Stars 1922-53

04-19-2010, 10:23 AM	#2
jsweber Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Arlington, TX Posts: 10	I don't know all the deep stats, etc. But I just jumped in. I'm sure I will fail quite a bit, but I decided to go for it...

04-19-2010, 02:09 PM	#5
Kelric Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Greater Boston Area Posts: 3,992	You may also want to disable some of the rules that would make things a little more complicated - Rule V Draft, the waiver wire, etc., so you can focus more on the basic baseball transactions.

04-19-2010, 02:56 PM	#7
Bottom Of The Sixth All Star Starter Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Land of Lincoln Posts: 1,255	Another piece of helpful advice is to try to watch baseball on TV, if you can. On top of personally seeing what is going on, hopefully you will have some good TV announcers, who will not put you to sleep, who will explain some of the strategy of the current game situations and what the head coach may be thinking or trying to do. One big plus, among many, with the OOTP game series is that you can make this game as simple or as difficult as you what to. So, as you are learning, stick with the basics!!! Just remember, Rome wasn't built in one day Good Luck!!

04-19-2010, 06:36 PM	#8
MrEndshiftresign Minors (Double A) Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Cavite, Philippines Posts: 173	A little off-tangent, but I got hooked on Championship Manager back in college even if I didn't know much about soccer and wasn't a fan either. I even ended up following the Premiership for a while! (though right now I'm back to my basketball and baseball roots...) OOTP's learning curve may be a bit steep for someone who's not too familiar with the rules and terminologies, but I guarantee you'll be hooked once you get the hang of it.

04-20-2010, 08:11 AM	#9
kurtkeoki Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 22	Not sure if you're from the States (you mentioned football manager and not knowing much about baseball) but you'll find Americans love the stats of sports. And no sport has stats like baseball does. It has stats for everything. Really to be good at OOTP 11 you just need to know what the stats mean and how to apply them to different situations.

04-20-2010, 08:58 AM	#10
Happy_Turtle Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 2	Thanks for all the responses, I'm currently trying out a demo and so far am enjoying myself despite not knowing what the heck is going on. I've gone onto a few beginner websites to get the basics down pat. Although I think it's going to be a while before I fully understand all the stats, oh and someone needs to brush up wikipedias various definitions. I still don't really get tagging up. Oh and by the way I'm from the UK, the closest I've ever got to baseball was watching one match online and playing rounders. Fun Fact apparently we invented baseball and the Americans took it to the pro level and changed a few (a hundred or so) rules

04-20-2010, 11:11 PM	#12
medlinke Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: USA Posts: 40	I would most definitely watch the game. There's plenty of downtime and the strategy, great players, situations, and rules are the general topics between plays. You'll also quickly get a feel for the pace of the game and the players since it's a much more intimate sport than say football where you're looking at the game from farther back with guys who are covered in pads and helmets. Once you've watched some games take a look at some books. I highly recommend Jerry Remy's Watching Baseball. He talks about the game, it's strategy, and the players he's played with and seen run through Boston over the years. Great primer filled with funny anecdotes from one of TV baseball's best color men. Finally, once you're starting to get the hang of it check out some baseball books about statistics since this game is very stat driven. Something like "Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong" is a good choice. If you want a gentler introduction then check out Michael Lewis' Moneyball which is a now standard read for all baseball fans. After that everything is wide open for ya. Look at The Glory of the Times for some great primary source documentation about the early days of baseball. You might read anything about baseball by Halberstram like Summer of '49. Really every era of baseball has its great books and great authors. Rarely has a sport been so well written about over such a long period of time. Welcome to the obsession!