New to OOTP, a list of things that confuse me

[Technetium]

I started a game in 1871, got hired as a A league manager. In two years I had little problem working my way up to AAA (the GM expected only a .500 average for the year both times, and I the won the pennant for both). However, I seem to be getting stuck in AAA. I'm pretty sure this is because I'm completely winging it and trying to figure out what various ratings do. Also probably because I'm coming from having played Baseball Mogul and certain strategies I commonly used in that game are not working as well here. Anyway, here's various problems I'm having.

1. Tons of errors. It seems like I get 6-10 errors per game. Is this normal (for AAA/1870s)? I try to make sure players in each position are rated as highly as possible for those positions (like making sure the guy at SS has it listed in his positions that his SS rating is at least 15). However, it seems like the AI teams often have players on the field rated at only 5-7 for the position they are at, and they don't seem to get any more errors than I do. I'd like to figure this out because it seems like the majority of runs scored by both my team and my opponents are unearned, so better fielding should help score more wins than better hitting.

2. There are other ratings besides the position rating. For example, a player might have a position rating for 2nd base of 18, but then it also lists Infield Arm, Infield Error, Infield Range, and Turn DP... If those are all separate ratings from the position rating, what does the position rating affect? I've been only paying attention to the position rating because otherwise it's too many numbers to try and figure out who is best to put in the field. Should I be paying attention to the other numbers instead?

3. Why do many players have their default position something other than the position they are rated highest at? It seems like half of them come up this way. For example, a player might be listed as a left-fielder, but his position ratings might be something like Left Field: 12, Center Field: 20, Right Field: 18. The computer seems to recognize this as well; when I use the option to ask the bench coach to construct a lineup, it often puts about half of the lineup in positions different from their listed default positions.

4. Doesn't stamina determine how many pitches a pitcher can throw before getting tired? If so, then why does it sometimes list pitchers with stamina of 9 or so as starters, and a pitcher with stamina of 16 as bullpen? And what's the general conversion rate between the stamina rating and how many pitches I should be able to expect out of the pitcher?

And I guess I just need general advice for when to do certain plays like sacrifice bunting, hit and run, etc. It seems like most of times when I try to suicide squeeze (which is very reliable in BBM) the batter misses the ball completely and the runner from 3rd gets out, even if the batter has a high sacrifice bunt rating and the runner on 3rd has a high speed rating. And when I try to use my common strategy from BBM of avoiding double-plays, by using hit-and-run or run-and-hit (depending on the speed rating of the guy at 1st), the same result happens with the batter missing the ball completely. It seemed like I had a pretty good handle on this in BBM, not because I'm good at baseball but because I played BBM for 5 years. I'm not a baseball expert by any means. I watched a couple seasons of it around 2002-2004 or so. Never played it. I like the game because I like numbers and stats.

[soadeathdealer]

Im at movies so ill anwser a few now and ill reply later with more.

U neex to look at players rating for the positions and the ratings for arm, error, etc. As a good level of those is good. Also ZR (zone ratings ) are important u can see players zr and team zr on the reports page under infeild zri believe ill have to double chk. But zr needs to be positive for the playerthat for best results for fielding. As i had playets with great ratings and poor zr and they had error. Zone rating i believe is how the player plays his area y can chk the manual for more info on that.
If a player isnt playing is top position then he may ne blocked by a better player ir that that player playing that positiin may not play another position


Pitchers with high stamina that play mr or cl most likely have less than 3 pitches or have one or two good and the rest bad. The game is realistic in that pitchers can loose or gain a pitch and can go from sp to mr or vise versa like real life depending on ratings and pitching and other factors.



Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

[Déjà Bru]

1. Tons of errors normal for 1870's? Yes. If you look into a file in the database folder called era_fielding.txt (importing it into a spreadsheet program as a comma-delimited file may help), you will see that the defensive fielding ratings (FLD, which I think relates directly to fielding percentage and therefore the rate of errors) was way down in every position back then. For example, 3B 1870 = 0.70091; 3B 2012 = 0.95693. That's a huge difference. The ratings are relative to some extent; the game will approximately produce the amount of errors appropriate for the era but maybe your players will make less of them.

2. The position rating takes those basic defensive ratings and factors in experience. So, yes, it's OK to just focus on the position rating unless there is a need to take a look at certain defensive ratings. I'll give you a few examples. Catcher: Is he a brain behind the plate but has a weak arm? He may be rated good overall, but I don't want a wet noodle letting baserunners run rampant. Outfielder: He may be rated good at both LF and RF but, if he's got a cannon for an arm, I want him in RF. Centerfielder: He may be error infrequent and have a decent arm, but if he lacks range, he's going to LF or RF. Youngster / Position Switcher: Does this guy have the basics to develop into / switch to another position that I have in mind for him and will he be rated higher at that position with more playing experience?

3. The computer uses all sorts of criteria in making its judgments as to who plays where, including the lineup. Not always will the computer play the best fielder at any given position.

4. Yes, stamina is as you say (remember, by the way, that they had a lot of stamina back in the 1870s). However, as of a version or two ago of this game, an SP needed more than stamina; he needs at least three effective pitches. So occasionally you may see a SP with a relatively low stamina rating (but not very low) and a MR with a high stamina but only two good pitches. I like those guys as long relievers.

All due respect to BBM, but suicide squeeze should never be "very reliable." Everything has to go right on a play like that and you may be overlooking things. For example, I think the key rating for the batter on that play is Bunt for Hit, not Sacrifice Bunt. I've seen quite a few players with a high rating in one and low in the other. The whole point of this game is to replicate baseball reality and therefore there are few "reliable" cheats (the only one that I think is a bit easy is the double steal play; that one usually works IMO).

Regarding Hit and Run / Run and Hit, make sure you are using each play appropriately. Here is a writeup that I keep handy to remind myself (and don't forget the historical era tendency; according to era_stats.txt, it was harder to steal bases in the 1870s).

HIT AND RUN

-The runner is sent when the pitch is delivered (just like a straight steal).
-The batter is told to try and make contact with the pitch no matter what.

Pros:
-Harder for infield to turn double play.
-Opens up hole in infield with shortstop/2B covering second for the steal.
-Increasing chances of a runner going from 1st to 3rd on a base hit.

Cons:
-If batter misses the ball, high chance of runner being thrown out.
-A line drive or fly ball can result in a double play.
-Batter may have to swing at a bad pitch.

When to use:
-Good contact hitter, fast runner, count where the pitcher will most likely throw a strike (i.e. ahead in the count, 1-0, 2-1, etc.).

RUN AND HIT

-The runner is sent when the pitch is delivered (just like a straight steal).
-The batter has the option to swing or not depending on if it is a pitch he wants to hit.
-Differs from a straight steal because with a run and hit play, a batter may not swing if the runner already has the base stolen but might do so if the runner isn't close enough to the bag and will get thrown out.

Pros:
-Same as hit & run, plus less risk of forcing the batter to swing at a bad pitch.

Cons:
-Increased chance of throwing the runner out at second since sometimes the batter will take the pitch.

When to use:
-Same as hit & run.
-Full count, because a ball means the runner is automatically safe so the risk of being thrown out is lower.

One other thing that you are going to notice that you haven't asked about: Even pitchers who had excellent stuff didn't strike out many batters back in those days. Take a look at era_modifiers.txt for that one.