Too many R/L players?

stannis · 02-28-2013, 03:50 PM

(Disclaimer: This is one of those annoying "hunch" posts, where I make some sweeping claim about OOTP, but really don't have the stats to back it up at all. Feel free to completely dismiss it as a result.)

One thing I am finding when playing fictional leagues (not using RL players) is that there seem to be too many players who Bat Right, Throw Left. I was recently reading an article about right-handed hitters and it made the point that Rickey Henderson was extremely unusual in doing so, because the platoon advantage means anyone who can bat left-handed usually does so, or switch-hits, including many right-handed throwers. This THT article states that only 57 players in MLB history have batted right, thrown left, and although it is a few years old, I'm not aware of any particular explosion of such players since its publication.

In the few fictional leagues I've run, though, each one contains, when searching "Retired & Active Players", significantly more such players, despite all such leagues containing fewer subleagues, and lasting fewer years, and consequently having many fewer overall players.

As a result, I'm going to contend that too high a proportion of the fictional players are created to bat right and throw left. Is this something anyone else have noticed, or is my small sample size throwing me off, and overall OOTP handles it correctly?

02-28-2013, 03:50 PM	#1
stannis Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: UK Posts: 35	Too many R/L players? (Disclaimer: This is one of those annoying "hunch" posts, where I make some sweeping claim about OOTP, but really don't have the stats to back it up at all. Feel free to completely dismiss it as a result.) One thing I am finding when playing fictional leagues (not using RL players) is that there seem to be too many players who Bat Right, Throw Left. I was recently reading an article about right-handed hitters and it made the point that Rickey Henderson was extremely unusual in doing so, because the platoon advantage means anyone who can bat left-handed usually does so, or switch-hits, including many right-handed throwers. This THT article states that only 57 players in MLB history have batted right, thrown left, and although it is a few years old, I'm not aware of any particular explosion of such players since its publication. In the few fictional leagues I've run, though, each one contains, when searching "Retired & Active Players", significantly more such players, despite all such leagues containing fewer subleagues, and lasting fewer years, and consequently having many fewer overall players. As a result, I'm going to contend that too high a proportion of the fictional players are created to bat right and throw left. Is this something anyone else have noticed, or is my small sample size throwing me off, and overall OOTP handles it correctly?