What's your favorite period/era in baseball? - Page 2

cheo25 · 07-01-2016, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Watts

Got to attend several games at the Astrodome once I moved to Shreveport. Thought I would hate it, but ended up liking it. One thing I learned after attending my first game though, was that air conditioning could freeze you out depending where your seats were. Minute Maid on the other hand can get rather steamy when the roof is closed. Almost has an indoor swimming pool feel to it.

The Dome was an icebox. MMP is pretty hot, though when the roof is open, it's a wonderful ballpark. Problem is they don't open it much there after about mid-May (and for good reason).

I've actually been to MMP in early March for a college baseball tournament and on a chilly day it's cold even with the roof closed because the park has no heater.

dewelar · 07-01-2016, 10:37 PM

I grew up in the late '70s and early '80s, and I do enjoy that era. The first league I set up, I took over the 1978 A's and rebuilt them.

However, the era that really fascinates me is the 19th century. The game was constantly reinventing itself; leagues that were competitive with the one true major league were appearing and disappearing every few years; colorful characters were everywhere, in every facet of the game, including umpires. Everything was just so different from what I'm used to watching that it's like a whole other world. I just wish it was easier to properly reflect, but even with the limits of OOTP it's still a ton of fun.

mensch · 07-02-2016, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reed

Deadball era. This is where modern baseball started. During this time span (1902-1920) you see the progress from singles hitters to Home run hitters. Going from pitcher dominate to hitter dominate. Seeing the players perform that you only heard about.
To immerse in the game I got 2 books from SABR that has 4-5 page biography of 400 players in that era along with articles about team owners, commissioners etc.. It really is amazing the hardships most of the players went through such as leaving home at 14 or working in coal mines at that age. It is a weird feeling having Ray Chapman on your team (who was a very good player) knowing this is the month he got killed IRL. I think I would have quit OOTP if he got killed in my game. That would have been to freaky.

I could have written this. The deadball era, for its style of play, is certainly my favorite. I also have those two books, finished the one for the National League and about a fourth through the American League. Great books. I'd also recommend The Glory of Their Times.

BeanballComin · 07-02-2016, 12:27 AM

50 / 60's. Although a childhood pick following the WSox,
it influenced the type of games I like:
Good pitching / defence mix.
I'll take 1-0 games over any other kind.

Eugene Church · 07-02-2016, 01:21 PM

1950s for certain... 1920-1950 were also a lot better than post 1970 baseball.

No free agency in the Fab 50s, which ruined the game for the fans.

No Divisions... just two 8-team leagues... leagues should always be in 8-team increments... and feature 4-team playoffs (Shaughnessy Playoffs) with best-of-seven series in each round... no wild cards or single-game playoffs.

No left-handed specialists and overuse of relievers.

No pitch counts.

A minor league that featured veterans players and teams that were playing to make the playoffs, not just to develop overpaid rookies.

Back in the old "Golden Days of Baseball" the teams did not have constant change... I could always give the basic starting lineups of all 16 teams in the Major Leagues... you could really get immersed in those leagues... also knew all the lineups in the Southern Association (I lived in two cities that had teams).

And I read the Sporting News each week and was fairly familiar with the Pacific Coast League, International League, American Association and Texas League... plus I would read in a general fashion about the A, B, C and D leagues.

I also followed the Evangeline League... a Class D league set in Louisiana.

Even bought The Sporting News Annual Guides which gave the standings, team stats and player stats for all the leagues including the minors... an absolutely wonderful publication... I wish I had a complete set of them... think they started it in early 1900s.

Ah, those were the good old days... life was good for yours truly in the 50s.

nebradska · 07-02-2016, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

SNIP

Wow, the nostalgia is heavy there. I always have to laugh when these old timers complain that free agency, wildcards, changes in the pitching culture, the designated hitter, etc ruined the game.

Personally, like another poster stated, I really enjoy the birth of baseball up into the late 30s. Not only the game, but the politics around it, were constantly in flux. Teams and entire leagues arose and folded. The rules were being refined. The leagues weren't so concerned about their public image and wild, interesting characters emerged among the players (not that I think it's necessarily a bad thing now that the MLB is more restrictive about what kind of behavior it tolerates from its players, but I feel that change makes it much less likely to have larger than life personalities shine so brightly).

I try to do fictional histories and play through this era and it's quite exciting, if difficult, with managing all the rapid turnover and OOTP doesn't yet lend itself to this era of play.

Spritze · 07-02-2016, 02:23 PM

1951-1970 before free agency, wildcards, changes in the pitching culture, the designated hitter, etc. ruined the game.

rjl518 · 07-02-2016, 04:37 PM

I loved the 80s.
Especially my 1986 new york mets!!!

Jman0329 · 07-02-2016, 05:20 PM

I grew up in the 90's, so that always has a connection with me. But as I've learned the game over the years, the 50's seems like an amazing era. For me some reason I don't know much about the 70's era, only weakness for me

slic1149 · 07-02-2016, 06:36 PM

I grew up in the fifties, and changed from a fan to a fanatic at age eleven in 1961. It seems likely, to me, that most fans love the decade when baseball became a part of their life. I doubt I will ever feel the overwhelming joy, I felt as a kid when my favorite player, Roger Maris hit 61 in 61. Though in my case, I have to admit, I do not find the baseball of my youth quite as compelling as the game being played in the seventies and eighties.

The era of speed, strikeouts, and extra base hits that exploded from the early seventies to the late eighties added an athleticism to baseball, that had only been seen in football and basketball previously. It seem to me those twenty years changed baseball in the best of possible ways. The days of "I'm not an athlete, I'm a baseball player" had pretty much ended by the late eighties. I do not miss it.

VARoadstter · 07-05-2016, 09:33 AM

80s baseball for me. Mets fan and the 86 team is my favorite of all time. The teams and managers then, too. Herzog and the Cards, Larussa and the A's, Davey and the Mets, Lasorda and the Dodgers, Cal Sr. And the O's.

thehef · 07-05-2016, 08:01 PM

Although free agency and the DH both began in the 70's, that's my favorite era for many of the same reasons that Eugene Church and Spritze noted of the 50's & 60's (and that's probably why I like the 50's & 60's almost as much as the 70's)... Much-higher frequency of set lineups. Starting pitchers who routinely go deep into the game and can pitch on three days rest without pitch counts. Nine-man (ten-man, tops) bullpens. And (while I do appreciate some of the newer stats), the most-meaningful/common stats were Avg/HR/RBI/SB for batters, and W-L, ERA, BB/K for pitchers.

And although those Garvey-Lopes-Russell-Cey Dodgers were my team, all it took to get hooked was watching the 1975 World Series.

Now, GET OFF MY LAWN!

Kent814 · 07-05-2016, 08:49 PM

I like modern day because its what I grew up with. But if I had to choose something else Id say the 70s and 80s would be my second favorite

NoOne · 07-06-2016, 01:06 PM

as long as it isn't human error cuasing a bad product on the field (aggression / bad teaching / poor evaluation methods / cheating etc) i think it's a great era to play.

I'm fairly impartial. I just don't like all the strikeouts nowadays. i used to blame over-aggressive hitters, but i've moved away from cheerleading any specific cuasality, lately.

there are significantly more people involved now and the game/teams continue to evolve... i used to blame over-aggressive-hitters, but it may simply be how things work under the current dynamic. it's impossible to know with the naked eye from watching games on tv what the actual cuase is.

The bottom line is that more people participate in baseball at young ages then ever before (ignoring short-term ebb/flow), therefore we are likely seeing more high-end talent than ever before. That's a quality argument for modern day baeball.

hillm2ca · 07-06-2016, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Watts

Still think it's neat that the Rangers incorporated a Tiger Stadium like look to their right field including the poles. Of course, that stadium is already on the way out, so who knows what their new one will be like. Did read that they wanted to maintain the old park style.

My favorite era of baseball was between the years of 1986 and 1990 which were quite memorable for me as a kid.

As for the new ballpark in Arlington, what a shame. They must be having a hard time selling luxury boxes in their current ballpark, because for the wealthy and the corporate elite they are built for, the "novelty" of a stadium wears off quickly. That, of course, is fine but taxpayers should not be burdened with the cost of financing most of the cost to appease the wants of millionaires and billionaires who treat stadiums as disposable.

Yes, the cookie-cutter ballparks that dominated the 1970s and 1980s were a bland abomination, but at least they had cheap ticket prices

. Today's ballparks, however, are kind of cookie-cutter as well, seemingly all inspired by Disney and its theme parks with expensive tickets.

Rizon · 07-06-2016, 04:14 PM

80s, before I became jaded. My baseball experience revolved around going to games, watching it on TV, and boxes and boxes of baseball cards. Much simpler times.

Giants44 · 07-06-2016, 04:48 PM

Like most people especially us a little older it is the days of my youth 70s-80s. I think we all suffer from the cognitive bias of remembering things being better then they were. But Brett, Boggs, Gwynn, bench, Ryan, JR Richard. Fun times for a baseball sim addict.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

OmahaBaseball · 07-06-2016, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giants44

Like most people especially us a little older it is the days of my youth 70s-80s. I think we all suffer from the cognitive bias of remembering things being better then they were. But Brett, Boggs, Gwynn, bench, Ryan, JR Richard. Fun times for a baseball sim addict.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yes, I am with you on this! This is the time period I most enjoyed.

ihatenames · 07-06-2016, 06:52 PM

Late 80s and early 90s will always hold spot in my heart. That was the period I grew up with and transformed me into a baseball fan.

thehef · 07-07-2016, 03:27 AM

Tonight's Dodgers-Orioles game is a perfect example of why - IMO - earlier eras are better than the current game.

The Dodgers of course have an 8-man bullpen (I suppose this is pretty standard, yet I think it's ridiculous) and therefore have only 4 position players on the bench... Starting pitcher, Bud Norris, is lifted after a solid-if-unspectacular 5 innings & 91 pitches, they end up running out of bench players by the 10th inning - not hard to do when you have just 4 chumps on the bench - and go through all 8 relievers, with six relievers tossing just 1 inning, and the other two pitching 1 1/3 and 1 2/3 innings.

By the top of the 14th inning the Dodgers are already down to their last & worst reliever, Chris Hatcher, who - predictably - gives up 3 hits & 2 runs. So for the last-gasp rally in the bottom of the 14th, who comes up to bat with two outs and the tying runs on base? Why, Hatcher, or course, because there's simply nobody else to bat. White flag, game over.

Now, if this were 1974, Doug Rau goes 7 innings and - after a mere 115 pitches - could've gone more if not pinch-hit for. Mike Marshall then goes 4 scoreless innings before handing it over to Charlie Hough for two innings, and then Jim Brewer for one. In the bottom of the 14th, Lee Lacy is available to pinch-run for Steve Yeager, and Manny Mota - batting for Brewer - drives in Lacy with the winning run on a single to left. (Meanwhile, Tom Paciorek was in the on-deck circle, and Rick Auerbach was getting ready to run for Mota if he had walked.)

Summation: Current MLB babies starting pitchers and over-manages (which leads to poorly configured rosters).

Side note: You give Tommy Lasorda an 8-man bullpen and the game would need to go a helluva lot longer than 14 innings before he'd get to the last reliever...

Now, again: GET OFF MY LAWN!

07-02-2016, 01:21 PM	#25
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 35,983	1950s for certain... 1920-1950 were also a lot better than post 1970 baseball. No free agency in the Fab 50s, which ruined the game for the fans. No Divisions... just two 8-team leagues... leagues should always be in 8-team increments... and feature 4-team playoffs (Shaughnessy Playoffs) with best-of-seven series in each round... no wild cards or single-game playoffs. No left-handed specialists and overuse of relievers. No pitch counts. A minor league that featured veterans players and teams that were playing to make the playoffs, not just to develop overpaid rookies. Back in the old "Golden Days of Baseball" the teams did not have constant change... I could always give the basic starting lineups of all 16 teams in the Major Leagues... you could really get immersed in those leagues... also knew all the lineups in the Southern Association (I lived in two cities that had teams). And I read the Sporting News each week and was fairly familiar with the Pacific Coast League, International League, American Association and Texas League... plus I would read in a general fashion about the A, B, C and D leagues. I also followed the Evangeline League... a Class D league set in Louisiana. Even bought The Sporting News Annual Guides which gave the standings, team stats and player stats for all the leagues including the minors... an absolutely wonderful publication... I wish I had a complete set of them... think they started it in early 1900s. Ah, those were the good old days... life was good for yours truly in the 50s. Last edited by Eugene Church; 07-02-2016 at 03:19 PM.

07-02-2016, 02:23 PM	#27
Spritze OOTP Historical Czar Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Bothell Wa Posts: 7,253	1951-1970 before free agency, wildcards, changes in the pitching culture, the designated hitter, etc. ruined the game. __________________ It's madness, madness, I tell you! For the love of God, don't do it!

07-02-2016, 04:37 PM	#28
rjl518 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Born in Shea Stadium, lives in LoanDepot Park. Posts: 6,242	I loved the 80s. Especially my 1986 new york mets!!! __________________ My Threads: MLB Project 32 by SFGiants58 "Colon looking for his 1st hit of the year and he DRIVES ONE! Deep left field! Back goes Upton! Back near the wall! ITS OUTTA HERE!!! Bartolo has done it!!! THE IMPOSSIBLE HAS HAPPENED!!! This is one of the great moments in the history of baseball! Bartolo Colon has gone deep!" ---Gary Cohen. (May 7, 2016) (Petco Park) NYM 6 @ SD 3

07-02-2016, 06:36 PM	#30
slic1149 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Fort Worth, TX Posts: 348	I grew up in the fifties, and changed from a fan to a fanatic at age eleven in 1961. It seems likely, to me, that most fans love the decade when baseball became a part of their life. I doubt I will ever feel the overwhelming joy, I felt as a kid when my favorite player, Roger Maris hit 61 in 61. Though in my case, I have to admit, I do not find the baseball of my youth quite as compelling as the game being played in the seventies and eighties. The era of speed, strikeouts, and extra base hits that exploded from the early seventies to the late eighties added an athleticism to baseball, that had only been seen in football and basketball previously. It seem to me those twenty years changed baseball in the best of possible ways. The days of "I'm not an athlete, I'm a baseball player" had pretty much ended by the late eighties. I do not miss it. __________________ To laugh often and love much, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to give one's self, this is to have succeeded. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

07-06-2016, 04:14 PM	#36
Rizon Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: SF Area, California Total Posts: 531,691 Posts: 2,369	80s, before I became jaded. My baseball experience revolved around going to games, watching it on TV, and boxes and boxes of baseball cards. Much simpler times. __________________ JML MILKSHAKES

07-01-2016, 10:37 PM	#22
dewelar Major Leagues Join Date: May 2013 Posts: 371	I grew up in the late '70s and early '80s, and I do enjoy that era. The first league I set up, I took over the 1978 A's and rebuilt them. However, the era that really fascinates me is the 19th century. The game was constantly reinventing itself; leagues that were competitive with the one true major league were appearing and disappearing every few years; colorful characters were everywhere, in every facet of the game, including umpires. Everything was just so different from what I'm used to watching that it's like a whole other world. I just wish it was easier to properly reflect, but even with the limits of OOTP it's still a ton of fun.

07-02-2016, 12:27 AM	#24
BeanballComin Minors (Double A) Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 162	50 / 60's. Although a childhood pick following the WSox, it influenced the type of games I like: Good pitching / defence mix. I'll take 1-0 games over any other kind.

07-02-2016, 05:20 PM	#29
Jman0329 Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 49	I grew up in the 90's, so that always has a connection with me. But as I've learned the game over the years, the 50's seems like an amazing era. For me some reason I don't know much about the 70's era, only weakness for me

07-05-2016, 09:33 AM	#31
VARoadstter Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 211	80s baseball for me. Mets fan and the 86 team is my favorite of all time. The teams and managers then, too. Herzog and the Cards, Larussa and the A's, Davey and the Mets, Lasorda and the Dodgers, Cal Sr. And the O's.

07-05-2016, 08:01 PM	#32
thehef Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,345	Although free agency and the DH both began in the 70's, that's my favorite era for many of the same reasons that Eugene Church and Spritze noted of the 50's & 60's (and that's probably why I like the 50's & 60's almost as much as the 70's)... Much-higher frequency of set lineups. Starting pitchers who routinely go deep into the game and can pitch on three days rest without pitch counts. Nine-man (ten-man, tops) bullpens. And (while I do appreciate some of the newer stats), the most-meaningful/common stats were Avg/HR/RBI/SB for batters, and W-L, ERA, BB/K for pitchers. And although those Garvey-Lopes-Russell-Cey Dodgers were my team, all it took to get hooked was watching the 1975 World Series. Now, GET OFF MY LAWN!

07-05-2016, 08:49 PM	#33
Kent814 All Star Reserve Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: San Diego Posts: 650	I like modern day because its what I grew up with. But if I had to choose something else Id say the 70s and 80s would be my second favorite

07-06-2016, 01:06 PM	#34
NoOne Banned Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 7,273 Infractions: 0/1 (3)	as long as it isn't human error cuasing a bad product on the field (aggression / bad teaching / poor evaluation methods / cheating etc) i think it's a great era to play. I'm fairly impartial. I just don't like all the strikeouts nowadays. i used to blame over-aggressive hitters, but i've moved away from cheerleading any specific cuasality, lately. there are significantly more people involved now and the game/teams continue to evolve... i used to blame over-aggressive-hitters, but it may simply be how things work under the current dynamic. it's impossible to know with the naked eye from watching games on tv what the actual cuase is. The bottom line is that more people participate in baseball at young ages then ever before (ignoring short-term ebb/flow), therefore we are likely seeing more high-end talent than ever before. That's a quality argument for modern day baeball.

07-06-2016, 04:48 PM	#37
Giants44 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: San Francisco Bay Area Posts: 2,408	Like most people especially us a little older it is the days of my youth 70s-80s. I think we all suffer from the cognitive bias of remembering things being better then they were. But Brett, Boggs, Gwynn, bench, Ryan, JR Richard. Fun times for a baseball sim addict. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk __________________ "In a text sim - Immersion is everything" -Me "Judge a man not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character" -Martin Luther King "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." -Einstein "The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life." -Muhammad Ali "Baseball statistics are like a girl in a bikini. They show a lot, but not everything." -Toby Harrah

07-06-2016, 06:52 PM	#39
ihatenames Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Rockford Posts: 2,534	Late 80s and early 90s will always hold spot in my heart. That was the period I grew up with and transformed me into a baseball fan. __________________ New Album coming soon!

07-07-2016, 03:27 AM	#40
thehef Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,345	Tonight's Dodgers-Orioles game is a perfect example of why - IMO - earlier eras are better than the current game. The Dodgers of course have an 8-man bullpen (I suppose this is pretty standard, yet I think it's ridiculous) and therefore have only 4 position players on the bench... Starting pitcher, Bud Norris, is lifted after a solid-if-unspectacular 5 innings & 91 pitches, they end up running out of bench players by the 10th inning - not hard to do when you have just 4 chumps on the bench - and go through all 8 relievers, with six relievers tossing just 1 inning, and the other two pitching 1 1/3 and 1 2/3 innings. By the top of the 14th inning the Dodgers are already down to their last & worst reliever, Chris Hatcher, who - predictably - gives up 3 hits & 2 runs. So for the last-gasp rally in the bottom of the 14th, who comes up to bat with two outs and the tying runs on base? Why, Hatcher, or course, because there's simply nobody else to bat. White flag, game over. Now, if this were 1974, Doug Rau goes 7 innings and - after a mere 115 pitches - could've gone more if not pinch-hit for. Mike Marshall then goes 4 scoreless innings before handing it over to Charlie Hough for two innings, and then Jim Brewer for one. In the bottom of the 14th, Lee Lacy is available to pinch-run for Steve Yeager, and Manny Mota - batting for Brewer - drives in Lacy with the winning run on a single to left. (Meanwhile, Tom Paciorek was in the on-deck circle, and Rick Auerbach was getting ready to run for Mota if he had walked.) Summation: Current MLB babies starting pitchers and over-manages (which leads to poorly configured rosters). Side note: You give Tommy Lasorda an 8-man bullpen and the game would need to go a helluva lot longer than 14 innings before he'd get to the last reliever... Now, again: GET OFF MY LAWN!