Help Solve the Minnie Minoso Mystery

Charlie Hough · 04-09-2010, 10:44 PM

Okay, I may test this on my own, but I was reading today about Bill Veck bringing back Minnie Minoso a couple of times to allow him to become only the second five-decade player in MLB history. In the Lahman database, he debuts in 1949 and has his last game in 1980, which was when Veck brought him back for the second time.

Obviously, he effectively retired after 1964, but does he ever continue to have an amazingly long career in OOTP? Maybe he retires by 1964 or shortly thereafter in most games, but I wonder if there is an odd chance that anything different could happen if development is turned off and his ratings are recalculated instead.

I think I will run a couple of test games to see what happens. I expect that nothing unusual will happen, but has anyone else already seen Minoso play out differently due to the fact that he has future stats in 1976 and 1980?

SteveP · 04-10-2010, 05:51 PM

If you use Neut stats, you will get stats for him all the way thru 1980. Something similar happens with Satchel Paige. So your game would recalc his ratings every year until he decides to retire. In the case of Paige, he ends up being a very highly rated 50+ year old pitcher, using the Neut stats, which indicates how things can get a bit screwed up for those situations. Also, I'm not sure it's reasonable for the game to stretch a guy out that long, simply because he was brought back for essentially an exhibition late in life. I retire Paige, if I am playing with Neut stats.

Of course, you always have the option to unretire Minoso, just as Veeck did.

Charlie Hough · 04-10-2010, 07:54 PM

I didn't even think about the unretire option. But it wouldn't be of much use anyway. Granted, I wasn't using neutralized stats, but his ratings dropped pretty dramatically in my first test of this. He was also lost on a reserve list for most of his final three seasons, but at least he hung around a couple of years longer than in real life. However, after getting no at bats during his final year, that was probably the signal to hang it up.

Spritze · 04-16-2010, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveP

If you use Neut stats, you will get stats for him all the way thru 1980. Something similar happens with Satchel Paige. So your game would recalc his ratings every year until he decides to retire. In the case of Paige, he ends up being a very highly rated 50+ year old pitcher, using the Neut stats, which indicates how things can get a bit screwed up for those situations. Also, I'm not sure it's reasonable for the game to stretch a guy out that long, simply because he was brought back for essentially an exhibition late in life. I retire Paige, if I am playing with Neut stats.

Of course, you always have the option to unretire Minoso, just as Veeck did.

1969 Paige played exhibition baseball with the Indianapolis Clowns who toured with The King and His Court - Eddie Feigner.

Paige 2 IP 6 K's against my team, we were State High School champs and 2 of us went on to the pros, one was even drafted in Round 1.

I gotta say he was very impressive even at that age. Eddie was even more amazin'.

04-09-2010, 10:44 PM	#1
Charlie Hough Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 3,640	Help Solve the Minnie Minoso Mystery Okay, I may test this on my own, but I was reading today about Bill Veck bringing back Minnie Minoso a couple of times to allow him to become only the second five-decade player in MLB history. In the Lahman database, he debuts in 1949 and has his last game in 1980, which was when Veck brought him back for the second time. Obviously, he effectively retired after 1964, but does he ever continue to have an amazingly long career in OOTP? Maybe he retires by 1964 or shortly thereafter in most games, but I wonder if there is an odd chance that anything different could happen if development is turned off and his ratings are recalculated instead. I think I will run a couple of test games to see what happens. I expect that nothing unusual will happen, but has anyone else already seen Minoso play out differently due to the fact that he has future stats in 1976 and 1980? Last edited by Charlie Hough; 04-09-2010 at 10:45 PM.

04-10-2010, 05:51 PM	#2
SteveP Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3,109	If you use Neut stats, you will get stats for him all the way thru 1980. Something similar happens with Satchel Paige. So your game would recalc his ratings every year until he decides to retire. In the case of Paige, he ends up being a very highly rated 50+ year old pitcher, using the Neut stats, which indicates how things can get a bit screwed up for those situations. Also, I'm not sure it's reasonable for the game to stretch a guy out that long, simply because he was brought back for essentially an exhibition late in life. I retire Paige, if I am playing with Neut stats. Of course, you always have the option to unretire Minoso, just as Veeck did.

04-10-2010, 07:54 PM	#3
Charlie Hough Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 3,640	I didn't even think about the unretire option. But it wouldn't be of much use anyway. Granted, I wasn't using neutralized stats, but his ratings dropped pretty dramatically in my first test of this. He was also lost on a reserve list for most of his final three seasons, but at least he hung around a couple of years longer than in real life. However, after getting no at bats during his final year, that was probably the signal to hang it up.