Used to be my day job

[gehrig38]

I think I am now properly seasoned with OOTP to offer up some advice from 'the other side' of the game.
1) Pitching around: Pitching around a hitter, for a good pitcher, never usually resulted in an out. It almost always does in OOTP. When I pitched around a guy, which happened about 10 times I think, in my life, that guy usually walked. If I did it 10 times I may have gotten him out 1-2 times, and walked him the other 8. Pitching around a hitter means to throw either absolutely borderline to unhittable strikes, or balls beyond the zone that were ultimately non-competitive pitches.
2) Stealing bases and Sac Bunts: The computer opponent does not handle sacrificing well. In leagues with DH's it should happen about once a week league wide I kid but in all honesty even with very rarely set for bunting the computer AI will bunt a non tying runner ahead too often imo. Also, I've never in my life heard of or seen a sac bunt with 1 out, except by a pitcher. The game sac bunts with 1 out on many occasions.

I'm beyond in love with this sim, there isn't a game out there that can sniff the depth and breadth Markus and the team have created here and I feel like it's a few AI tweaks away from absolutely lapping the field. No other sim I've played is in the ballpark (awesome pun!).

I would LOVE to have organizational wide strategy pages. For example. Before every season I tweak the personal strategy of every player in my organization. If I wanted, I would love to have an organziation drop down menu. Say I wanted ALL runners that were 20+ speed 20+ steals in my organization to have their stealing and base running set to max aggressive, with a click that would happen.
For pitchers, all starters with stamina of 15 I could set to 125 pitches. Or stamina 18+ I could set to 135 or something.
I'd also LOVE to be able to STOP the computer manager from allowing an AI controlled starter to go beyond 9 IP. It doesn't happen and I'd love to stop it from doing so. Or be able to set computer AI to remove a starter at X earned runs within 5 IP, or upon reaching 10 hits given up, or 5 walks before the 6th or something.

If I could manage the AI teams with some general rules i Think league wide statistics would take an enormous leap forward.

As it is the game absolutely kicks ass.

[PSUColonel]

Thanks for the input....I agree about the one out bunts...never could figure that out. Hopefully Markus will make a few tweaks and fixes before his big September update

[chezboots]

Does it kick more ass than this game?

Just Kidding, I like the input from someone "inside". These are good suggestions especially the strategy page. I have noticed that there are too many sacrifices in weird situations also. I would like to see a "style" setting for teams, like a National League style of play. Does this make sense or am I babbling? I feel like mgom right now

[RchW]

Originally Posted by gehrig38

I would LOVE to have organizational wide strategy pages. For example. Before every season I tweak the personal strategy of every player in my organization. If I wanted, I would love to have an organziation drop down menu. Say I wanted ALL runners that were 20+ speed 20+ steals in my organization to have their stealing and base running set to max aggressive, with a click that would happen.
For pitchers, all starters with stamina of 15 I could set to 125 pitches. Or stamina 18+ I could set to 135 or something.

This is exactly what I would like to see. Right now strategy settings are a big chore. Having an organizational structure would be beneficial.

[ike121212]

Originally Posted by gehrig38

The computer opponent does not handle sacrificing well.

I wish I could just turn bunting off entirely, or at least non-pitcher bunting. One of my big pet peeves in 12 is a lead off single/walk by the 7th hitter, sac bunt by the 8th hitter, sac bunt by the pitcher. The AI cuts it's chances of scoring in half because it doesn't consider the on deck hitter.

It feels like over half the time the AI hurts itself by bunting.

[endgame]

Originally Posted by ike121212

It feels like over half the time the AI hurts itself by bunting.

I can't argue with that and as result I set my league modifiers for sac bunts set at .475 and usually, but not in all cases, dial down each of my pitcher's individual strategies to zip. Maybe I could impact it further by setting batters down further or moving the team strategy slider, but for my world and purposes, the modifier alone has helped a great deal. FWIW

[ike121212]

Originally Posted by endgame

I can't argue with that and as result I set my league modifiers for sac bunts set at .475 and usually, but not in all cases, dial down each of my pitchers individual strategies to zip. Maybe I could impact it further by setting batters down further or moving the team strategy slider, but for my world and purposes, the modifier alone has helped a great deal. FWIW

Have to admit, I tried to tone it down by setting the bunting strat to very rarely. I forgot all about the sac bunt league total. Time to turn that down too.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by gehrig38

I'd also LOVE to be able to STOP the computer manager from allowing an AI controlled starter to go beyond 9 IP. It doesn't happen and I'd love to stop it from doing so.

Well, it doesn't happen these days, but it did happen from time to time in earlier baseball periods. So there should be some baseball era recognition in such a setting.

[hfield007]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

Well, it doesn't happen these days, but it did happen from time to time in earlier baseball periods.

All hail the Juan Marichal-Warren Spahn 16 inning double shutout ended on a Willie Mays walk off homer.

[Trick McSorley]

Originally Posted by gehrig38

2) Stealing bases and Sac Bunts: The computer opponent does not handle sacrificing well.

I too love this game, but there's another thing similar to the sacrifice bunts the game does poorly: intentional walks. The logic on the intentional walk in late innings just isn't correct.

For instance, one thing you never see in real life is a team with a lead deliberately bringing the tying run to the plate or putting the tying or winning/go-ahead run on base toward the end of the game. In OOTP it happens frequently in close games. So if I'm behind 3-0 in the ninth inning and my first hitter doubles, my second hitter often gets an intentional walk. In reality this would never happen - real life managers know that even if batter #2 hits a home run it's still a 3-2 game, and they would never deliberately let the tying run come up in that situation, even if batter #2 were Babe Ruth or Barry Bonds.

On the other hand, if it's a 3-3 tie in the ninth inning and my hitter gets a two-out triple, a real life manager could walk as many guys as necessary - zero, one or two - to get the best possible matchup. OOTP doesn't reliably do this either.

My suggestion on the sacrifice bunt is to turn it down drastically with modern playing - I know there were sometimes 1-out sacrifices in the earlier days of baseball, but as gehrig says, almost no one (other than pitchers) does so nowadays. On the intentional walk issue, I think the game logic needs to better understand the "tying run" and "winning run" in late innings, and avoid letting them come up or get on base if at all possible.

Anyway, I generally love the game, but it does seem like there are a few little things that could use some fixing. Thanks!

[dancariaz]

Originally Posted by gehrig38

In leagues with DH's it should happen about once a week league wide I kid but in all honesty even with very rarely set for bunting the computer AI will bunt a non tying runner ahead too often imo. Also, I've never in my life heard of or seen a sac bunt with 1 out, except by a pitcher. The game sac bunts with 1 out on many occasions.

have u seen any Yankees games this season? They're bunting like crazy in situations that sometimes don't make any sense (Gardner or Jeter once tried to bunt with 2 strikes and 2 out and then bunted foul )

thanks for your opinion, it's very interesting to read what former big leaguers think about the game and what could be changed to make this fantastic game even better

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by gehrig38

I'd also LOVE to be able to STOP the computer manager from allowing an AI controlled starter to go beyond 9 IP. It doesn't happen and I'd love to stop it from doing so.

There is no reason to ban this, as it still happens from time to time. Nowadays, it's all about the pitch count, not the innings. I remember Aaron Harang for the Reds went 10 innings a couple of years ago.

Are you telling me that if you've got Roy Halladay on the hill in a scoreless tie after 9 innings and he has thrown 94 pitches, you are not going to let him pitch the 10th?

[rocknfire7]

Originally Posted by gehrig38

1) Pitching around: Pitching around a hitter, for a good pitcher, never usually resulted in an out. It almost always does in OOTP. When I pitched around a guy, which happened about 10 times I think, in my life, that guy usually walked. If I did it 10 times I may have gotten him out 1-2 times, and walked him the other 8. Pitching around a hitter means to throw either absolutely borderline to unhittable strikes, or balls beyond the zone that were ultimately non-competitive pitches.

As it is the game absolutely kicks ass.

Exactly! My experience is from the college level but the results were exactly the same.

[Overkill]

Originally Posted by gehrig38

I'd also LOVE to be able to STOP the computer manager from allowing an AI controlled starter to go beyond 9 IP. It doesn't happen and I'd love to stop it from doing so. Or be able to set computer AI to remove a starter at X earned runs within 5 IP, or upon reaching 10 hits given up, or 5 walks before the 6th or something.

Roy Halladay - April 13, 2007 - Won 2-1 vs Detroit
Mark Mulder - April 23, 2005 - Won 1-0 vs Houston

Two guys that had 10-inning complete games within the last few years. Although, Halladay threw 107 pitches and Mulder threw 101, which I guess are relatively low pitch counts for that number of innings. Another interesting part is that neither pitcher walked a batter in those 1-run games. I often wonder if we would see more guys going 10-innings in close games if they have thrown say 80-90 pitches through 9 innings without allowing a run. I'm sure there are a number of instances where a pitcher has dominated the opposition with a low pitch count through 9, but his team has supported him with 5-6 runs, thus negating the need to send him out for a 10th inning of work.

I do, however, agree that it would be nice to have an innings limit as well as a pitch count limit. I don't think I would ever use it, but I'm sure some would.

[cody8200]

I agree wholeheartedly on pitching around. Hope this gets changed/tweaked a bit in the future.

[kingcharlesxii]

Originally Posted by cody8200

I agree wholeheartedly on pitching around. Hope this gets changed/tweaked a bit in the future.

Yeah, I never use it precisely because it doesn't seem to be working right.

[moore4807]

Originally Posted by gehrig38

I would LOVE to have organizational wide strategy pages. For example. Before every season I tweak the personal strategy of every player in my organization. If I wanted, I would love to have an organziation drop down menu. Say I wanted ALL runners that were 20+ speed 20+ steals in my organization to have their stealing and base running set to max aggressive, with a click that would happen.

Agreed - I tweak my 40 man roster each spring training and to have this "on the menu" would save me around two hours per season.

[phenom]

Hello. My name is Curt Schilling, and I'm an OOTPaholic.

[moore4807]

LOL... Welcome Curt! I've been here since V.4...cant seem to shake the habit

Now back to the topic...

[Dave178]

[QUOTE=gehrig38;3184721Also, I've never in my life heard of or seen a sac bunt with 1 out, except by a pitcher. The game sac bunts with 1 out on many occasions.[/QUOTE]

Clint Hurdle