Pitching a Perfect Game (Part Two)

[Dennis Taylor]

A few more thoughts and ramblings...

· How about giving us a “knockdown pitch” option, which could result in bad blood, and draw a retaliation, which could lead to an injury, or a brawl, or intimidation of the hitter, or intensifying of the hitter, or the galvanization of one team or both, and could have a lasting effect throughout the series, or the season, or the rivalry. How freakin’ cool would that be?
· How about taking all of the player profiles and putting them into a press guide for each team, accessible during games
· Catchers fail to get the throw off entirely too often.
· Catchers should have a rating for “working with the pitcher” that affects his CERA.
· Sometimes runners on first or second stay put on a suicide squeeze play. Wouldn’t happen unless they missed a sign.
· Starting pitchers should wear down more quickly on hot days, and also should come up tired once in a while on the day of their scheduled start.
· Some players, especially older or oft-injured players, should need a lot of rest during the season.
· Love to see a few guys and managers ejected for arguing a called strike three.
· Deliberately hitting an opposing hitter with a pitch should have consequences – retaliation, fights, ejections, momentum changes …
· Too many 4-unassisted and 6-unassisted grounders, not enough 4-6 and 6-4s.
· I wanna know if “pitching around” is functional. Give me a hint in the play-by-play. In fact, it would be great if the game would react subtly in the play-by-play to everything a manager does that requires a decision. Not necessary to do it every time … just once in a while, to let us know we’r e making a difference – positive or negative – by (for example) shifting our infield.
· Pitchers don’t catch pop flies. They gtf out of the way.
· Some pitchers can run. Finding a pitcher with a normal to good speed rating is rare.
· Not enough decent bunters. Yeah, it’s a lost art, but … and, by the way, crappy bunters are successful way too often with the sac bunt … and, by the way (Part II), does it matter at all that I brought my corner infielders in? No way to know. (I know, I keep beating this one, but it’s important.)
· More unusual plays and quirky things (…a lady down the right field line is being escorted out right now for something we can’t mention on this broadcast. Maybe it’ll be in the paper tomorrow … Looks like Zuniga and Mann trying to corral a cat down there in the bullpen; good luck with that …)
· How about getting creative with injuries once in a while? A player could hurt his wrist falling into the visitor’s dugout chasing a pop foul, for example. A player could separate a shoulder diving for a ball, or in a brawl … that type of thing.
· It would be pretty cool if, once in a while, you run across a couple of players who, according to their profiles, are related. Or maybe one guy is the son, or nephew, or cousin of a former player.
· What if you could accelerate a promising rookie’s progress, or affect a troubled player’s mood, by making him a “road roommate” of a team leader?
· How about compiling a list for of all-star appearances, so we can see who’s been selected to the most games.
· Where’s the MVP award?
· My AAA, AA, and two A minor league teams are in first place. My minor-league system ranks 26th. Time for a new ratings formula?
· When I shop a player, I’d like the option of shopping him for “prospects only.”
· It would be really fun to know how players rank in stuff like, “youngest MLB debut,” “oldest MLB debut” … “fewest” and “most” days played in the minor leagues before Major League debut (if any) …
· It would be fun to see all-time minor league leaders, season and career
· It would be cool to get a ranking of how opposing players have hit and pitched against my team.
· Let us know a little more often when a player’s rating might have affected a play.
· Rain us out once in a while, at any point in the game. It would be cool to be forced into a doubleheader.
· A catcher should automatically be fatigued if he played a night game in front of a day game.
· It would be cool if travel affected fatigue, and longer trips (both days and miles) had a greater effect than shorter trips.
· Give us umpires with different strike-zone tendencies
· It would be pretty awesome to have the option to position the outfield “normal,” “deeper than normal,” “shallower than normal,” “extra deep,” “extra shallow,” and have those options affect certain plays. (Let us know in the play-by-play if we made a difference.)
· I want the computer manager to shift left and shift right.
· Give us spray charts on the hitters.

[HerbertMcHoover]

All great as usual, but this one is my favorite.

• How about getting creative with injuries once in a while? A player could hurt his wrist falling into the visitor’s dugout chasing a pop foul, for example. A player could separate a shoulder diving for a ball, or in a brawl … that type of thing.

They asked for odd plays? Odd injuries would be awesome. How about a guy sneezing? Or having bad dreams about spiders?

[rpriske]

Originally Posted by Dennis Taylor

· How about giving us a “knockdown pitch” option, which could result in bad blood, and draw a retaliation, which could lead to an injury, or a brawl, or intimidation of the hitter, or intensifying of the hitter, or the galvanization of one team or both, and could have a lasting effect throughout the series, or the season, or the rivalry. How freakin’ cool would that be?

Before you get to that, intentional hit by pitches need to be intentional hit by pitches.

Now when you throw at a batter you it is treated no different than an accidental brushing of the uniform.