I'm the NY Yankees of my OOTP league

Falcon52 · 07-08-2004, 05:57 PM

In that, my team is leading the division, but based on my lineup, I should be dominating the league, not just staying a couple of steps ahead.

Case in point, every single time I'm against a team, when the two lineups are on the game screen showing who has the advantage at each spot in the order, 9 times out of 10, I have a clean sweep, including starting pitcher.

I know how George Steinbrenner must feel. My lineup includes hitters with: 1)6 guys with a '75' or higher in contact, 2)no batter below a '59' in contact, 3)3 guys with a '70' or higher in discipline, including one guy at '100'.

But then again, my problems start and end with my pitching staff. Like the real life Yankees, my starters are underachieving BIG time, and my bullpen is a blown save waiting to happen. Despite having above average ratings, all 5 of my starters have ERA's higher than 4.00. In contrast, the top three in the league have 2.17, 2.40, 2.68 respectively. What makes this worse is that one of my starters was a trade acquisition. Before I acquired him, over his 7 year career, he averaged an ERA of about 2.90. And as for my bullpen, they're incredibly inconsistent despite having good ratings. Even when my starters actually pitch a good game, my bullpen can't be relied on. If I don't have a 5 or more run lead, then the starter can pretty much kiss his win goodbye, since my bullpen seems to average giving up at minimum, 1 run per game, but often times 3 or 4 runs per game.

I know this is every manager's wish, but just ONCE, I'd like it where my hitting and pitching both performed as they should. As it stands, my offense has to score me 5 or more runs each game (keep in mind, EACH game, not PER game) in order for me to win. So far, they'd been able to do that 60 percent of the time. But come playoffs, when the AI usually goes with a 3 man rotation (which, IMO, is a stupid feature considering EVERY AI team does it, not just the ones with the "Randy/Schilling" combos), 5 runs a game is next to impossible.

Smaegol · 07-08-2004, 06:33 PM

Typical Yankees Fan. Always whining about something.....

Why not take a team that is actually a challenge? That may be disastrous though since you cant seem to win with the Yanks...

Falcon52 · 07-08-2004, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smaegol

Typical Yankees Fan. Always whining about something.....

Why not take a team that is actually a challenge? That may be disastrous though since you cant seem to win with the Yanks...

haha not quite. I didn't say I was PLAYING as the Yankees. I'm using a completely fictional league with only 20 teams (10 per league) and I took an average market team.

the reason for the title of my thread is because of the comparison between my team and the real life Yankees, in that they should be doing much better with the amount of talent available.

Ragnar · 07-08-2004, 11:00 PM

Don't feel so bad. My Yankees have three 5 star pitchers. Above average hitters. I don't use scouts. I am at .500 at the allstar break. IMO this is one of the best teams i'v had on paper in a long time. It's tough for me since I only allow myself 1 for 1 trades and 75 Mil cap. I was 3 games above 500 with 3 games left before the break and lost all 3. my best pitcher. 99-100-99 went 1.2 innings. Gave up 8 hits 6 runs and 5 earned. So far he has won 4 games. My other 2 "5" star pitchers aren't doing any better. I'd be happy if I were you.

Falcon52 · 07-08-2004, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ragnar

Don't feel so bad. My Yankees have three 5 star pitchers. Above average hitters. I don't use scouts. I am at .500 at the allstar break. IMO this is one of the best teams i'v had on paper in a long time. It's tough for me since I only allow myself 1 for 1 trades and 75 Mil cap. I was 3 games above 500 with 3 games left before the break and lost all 3. my best pitcher. 99-100-99 went 1.2 innings. Gave up 8 hits 6 runs and 5 earned. So far he has won 4 games. My other 2 "5" star pitchers aren't doing any better. I'd be happy if I were you.

I wouldn't exactly say "happy". My team's finished 1st overall 3 years in a row, and all three years I've done nothing in the playoffs. It seems no matter how good my team is, or how bad my opponent is, come playoff time my guys underachieve and theirs overacheive.

no2ss · 07-09-2004, 03:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falcon52

I wouldn't exactly say "happy". My team's finished 1st overall 3 years in a row, and all three years I've done nothing in the playoffs. It seems no matter how good my team is, or how bad my opponent is, come playoff time my guys underachieve and theirs overacheive.

In other words, maybe you're the A's and not the Yankees...

Tycobbler · 07-09-2004, 08:29 AM

It takes a good balance to win a title. My Pirates have just that, and a ring to go with it. Up the middle my SS is an (A) in defense and so is my 2B. My SS can hit very well, my 2B cannot. At the corners my 3B hits well and has avg. D, and my 1B has power. From left to right, LF- Good bat and power, CF-Good range and speed, RF- avg. bat and power. Catcher can't hit but has an (A) arm.
Rotation, 1 ace, + 4 avg. to good pitchers, and a strong pen. Closer is very good.
On paper the team is well balanced. 2B won a gold glove, but other than that none posted top 5 in any category.
In this game you have to find that balance to win. Simply having the highest bat/ pitcher ratings without any range,arm,defense,speed, etc. etc. isn't gonna cut it.
Just my formula for winning

Cooker · 07-09-2004, 10:47 AM

I've noticed a few players significantly under-achieve (or over-achieve) compared to their ratings. I play solo with talents and ratings "on," and scouts and coaches "on." But I have a legendary scout so I suppose I'm seeing what's fairly close to the "real" ratings.

A couple seasons ago I picked up a relief pitcher in FA with outstanding ratings. His historical stats didn't match his talent/ratings, but I figured, so what? Well, he performed for me just as he had in prior seasons; he carried gasoline to the mound every time I put him in and threw it on the fire! I finally traded him away at mid-season. Very good ratings but mediocre to bad performance!

Similarly, I have a 24 year old 2B who's only 2 1/2 blue stars (he's still young). But in his 2+ years on my team he's never batted below .290 and plays stellar defense. His "contact" rating has finally crept up to match his past performance. But for a long time his "contact" rating was far less what I'd expect to generate his BA. In other words, he just wins, baby.

The moral of the story is that in OOTP players occasionally perform above or below expectations (based on star ratings and numerical ratings). In my view, this is great. You can't always look only at ratings and talent, though usually they're the best indicators of future performance. Sometimes guys play better or worse than you should expect. And that's just like real life.

Any others with similar experiences?

Khan · 07-09-2004, 10:51 AM

Well this season my Jays are walking away with the ALE so far. With high expectations coming into the season we started out a slow 8-8.....but have been on fire since and are currently 68-18.

That puts us a full 13.5 games up on the second place Yankees, who still have the 2nd best record in both leagues.

How have we done this you say?

1. Roy Halladay 15-1 , 2.53 ERA (4 straight Cy Youngs, including the non simmed one)
2. Mark Buehrle 13-0 , 2.16 ERA ( Off season Free agent signing with a chance to knock Halladay off his Cy Young roost)
3. Barry Zito 11-5 , 3.32 ( Also a free agent signing, but actually started terrrible going 0-4 with an ERA over 6 in his first 4 starts)
4. Dustin McGowan 9-3 , 2.45 ERA

These guys coupled with a very good lineup (.291 AVG #1, 507 runs #2 to the Yanks) have me foaming at the month for the Big RING.

Oh and this is with the #6 payroll at 74,000,000 and the Yanks at almost 117,000,000.

Falcon52 · 07-09-2004, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khan

Well this season my Jays are walking away with the ALE so far. With high expectations coming into the season we started out a slow 8-8.....but have been on fire since and are currently 68-18.

That puts us a full 13.5 games up on the second place Yankees, who still have the 2nd best record in both leagues.

How have we done this you say?

1. Roy Halladay 15-1 , 2.53 ERA (4 straight Cy Youngs, including the non simmed one)
2. Mark Buehrle 13-0 , 2.16 ERA ( Off season Free agent signing with a chance to knock Halladay off his Cy Young roost)
3. Barry Zito 11-5 , 3.32 ( Also a free agent signing, but actually started terrrible going 0-4 with an ERA over 6 in his first 4 starts)
4. Dustin McGowan 9-3 , 2.45 ERA

These guys coupled with a very good lineup (.291 AVG #1, 507 runs #2 to the Yanks) have me foaming at the month for the Big RING.

Oh and this is with the #6 payroll at 74,000,000 and the Yanks at almost 117,000,000.

If your team is anything like mine, you'll lose in the playoffs to a team that finishes 10 to 15 games behind you.

IMO, it's actually more frustrating being so dominant in the regular season, but always choking in the playoffs, rather than battling all season to barely make the playoffs, then lose. Atleast if you barely make it, you know which areas you need to potentially strengthen.. But with my team I'm at a loss because "on paper" they are far superior to any team they face.

I guess I know how the Atlanta Braves feel. Hopefully some day I'll get my "1995" (that's when they finally won it isnt it?)

jasonb13 · 07-09-2004, 04:54 PM

Falcon I've have the same problem constantly. Most memorable was the team that hit .308 fore the year and scored over 1000 runs, yet scored a total of 2 runs on about 15 hits while getting swept in the division series. Most maddening was the fact that my opponent's ace had been injured and the remaining starters' ERAs were all over 5.00. Playoff games should be harder to win, but sometimes the game makes it impossible - a team with that powerful of an offense could not be held down that badly even if cy young himself pitched against them.

Falcon52 · 07-09-2004, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jasonb13

Falcon I've have the same problem constantly. Most memorable was the team that hit .308 fore the year and scored over 1000 runs, yet scored a total of 2 runs on about 15 hits while getting swept in the division series. Most maddening was the fact that my opponent's ace had been injured and the remaining starters' ERAs were all over 5.00. Playoff games should be harder to win, but sometimes the game makes it impossible - a team with that powerful of an offense could not be held down that badly even if cy young himself pitched against them.

I guess you and I are the only ones on this board that have somehow mistakenly activated the "impossible to win" feature

But seriously, I know how frustrating it is. Honestly, it's to the point where I just try to finish with as good a record as possible and let that be my "championship" for the year, because I know that I'll end up losing to a vastly inferior team in the playoffs every year.

Tycobbler · 07-09-2004, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falcon52

If your team is anything like mine, you'll lose in the playoffs to a team that finishes 10 to 15 games behind you.

IMO, it's actually more frustrating being so dominant in the regular season, but always choking in the playoffs, rather than battling all season to barely make the playoffs, then lose. Atleast if you barely make it, you know which areas you need to potentially strengthen.. But with my team I'm at a loss because "on paper" they are far superior to any team they face.

I guess I know how the Atlanta Braves feel. Hopefully some day I'll get my "1995" (that's when they finally won it isnt it?)

Not necessarily. Some teams that dominate continue to do so through out. A few quick examples as to why not could easily be this. Your team may very well have dominated during the season, now you're playing only the best teams come playoff time. Your 5 star ace is on the mound, but only has a holding runners rating of C. Your 5 star catcher is behind the plate, but only has an arm rating of C. A lesser team with good speed on the base paths, and a decent pitcher, given the opportunity will put themsevles into scoring position swiping a few bases on you and leaving you scratching your head as to how it just happened that your far superior team just lost to the wild card team.
Certain keys are an A arm for your catcher, a SS and 2B rated A in range. Even if these three cannot hit there defensive purposes in my experience are a must. I try and build an offense around this defense and so far it's paying off. Like i said i have one ace and 4 avg-good starters, a good pen and a great closer.
Recipe for winning complete

jasonb13 · 07-09-2004, 05:25 PM

Ty,

Something like you're talking about is reasonable and understandable, but it just seems sometimes (like when your offensive juggernaut gets 2 runs in 3 games against subpar pitching) thatthere is no room for error - if you give a 3-run HR you lose.

jasonb13 · 07-09-2004, 05:44 PM

Adding to my previous message, it's not THAT I'm losing in the playoffs, it HOW I'm losing.

Falcon52 · 07-09-2004, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tycobbler

Not necessarily. Some teams that dominate continue to do so through out. A few quick examples as to why not could easily be this. Your team may very well have dominated during the season, now you're playing only the best teams come playoff time. Your 5 star ace is on the mound, but only has a holding runners rating of C. Your 5 star catcher is behind the plate, but only has an arm rating of C. A lesser team with good speed on the base paths, and a decent pitcher, given the opportunity will put themsevles into scoring position swiping a few bases on you and leaving you scratching your head as to how it just happened that your far superior team just lost to the wild card team.
Certain keys are an A arm for your catcher, a SS and 2B rated A in range. Even if these three cannot hit there defensive purposes in my experience are a must. I try and build an offense around this defense and so far it's paying off. Like i said i have one ace and 4 avg-good starters, a good pen and a great closer.
Recipe for winning complete

Your point would be valid if one assumes that the AI team that beats mine had the ingredients you mentioned. In my case, they don't. They have just as many (or more often, MORE) holes than I do.

Using your example, I'll illustrate using last year's team that beat mine. They had one ace (which you mentioned is needed), but then 4 BELOW average pitchers, in that apart from their ace, none of their starters had an ERA under 5.11, and none won more than 11 games. Also, their catcher had a '6' for an arm (out of 10). My catcher has a '10' arm. They stole bases on me constantly, while I kept getting that stupid 'runner doesn't get a good jump' message. Additionally, my infield was rated '6' across the board (out of 10). Not outstanding, but also above average.

Meanwhile, their infield had a '8' at SS, but only a '2' at 2B (or it might have been 2 at SS and 8 at SS), plus their corner infielders were both '4'. In the OF, I had LF '7', CF '2' (yeah, that's low), and RF '9'. They had LF '4', CF '6' and RF '7'. I don't buy the theory that my CF's low range rating cost me the series, especially considering that I play out all the games and NEVER did any of the scoring plays happen based on shots to CF where he didn't have the range to get to them.

Couple that with the fact that his hitters were in the '50 to 60' range for contact, mine were in the '75 to 85' range. his discipline/eye ratings were pretty average at best, with only one of his batters having higher than '75', meanwhile I had 4 or 5 guys who walked more than they struck out.

Yes, it's been said it's not the case, but I swear if you went by my three past seasons, I'd be convinced there's some kind of 'boost' to the computer teams in the playoffs, and my team takes a 'hit' in performance. Because for the life of me, without resorting to changing my entire team to '10' rated defensively, I don't have a clue how I continually lose.

btw, it's not even a case of me being a 'bad manager'. I sim the first 5 innings and play out the rest. In about 50% of the loses, I was losing badly before I 'took over'. And in about the other 50%, I had a tie or a lead, and my starter/bullpen self-destructed for no reason.

Khan · 07-09-2004, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falcon52

If your team is anything like mine, you'll lose in the playoffs to a team that finishes 10 to 15 games behind you.

Well, barring injury if I lose with that rotation I'll join you in a bar so we can drown our sorrows

Actually , last season I did lose Halladay for the playoffs in the 2nd inning of the first game of the Division series. Managed to win that series but went down in five in the next round because the rest of my staff wasn't strong enuff. Thus the signings of Zito and Buerhle in the offseason.

Oh and I forgot to mention I've got Chacon in the bullpen along with some guy named Gagne.

Dargone · 07-09-2004, 06:46 PM

I've said it before and I'll say it again-the playoffs are a big crapshoot. Having a couple of great starters is one of the ways to swing the pendulum in your favor. That and a lot of luck is nice too

GoffmanMD · 07-09-2004, 09:02 PM

I've had the same problems. When I played my first couple seasons in the game I had it set to easy just to get a hang of things. My team was #1 in homeruns, #1 in average, #1 in stolen bases. #1 in ERA, #1 in least walks allowed, and #1 in strikeouts. Had a staggering .756 win percentage at the end of the season or something like that. Get to the playoffs and my three starters, who all won 20+ games with an ERA below 2.5 and were all PERFECT at holding runners couldnt last more than 3 innings a piece, they all gave up at least 5 runs. I place a premium on defense and all that.

Simon_Nesbit · 07-09-2004, 09:44 PM

I think I may have found the opposite.

I started a 1901 dynasty, and (being an Aussie) decided that the team with the worst player/finance/etc combo would be replaced by a 'new' Australian team (bye-bye Senators).

I know next-to-nothing about baseball, but was shown the game by a friend, and purchased 5 and 6, which I play religiously now. I'm slowly getting better I think, but still don't understand some of the finance things.

We started with a fantasy draft, and Australia had the last pick. I went almost exclusively for batters, as almost all the pitchers seemed crap. 1901 we went 40-122, despite being the #2 offence. (We gave up over 1500 runs that season! We picked up some decent pitchers in 1902, making it passed .500, going 82-80. 1903 we got three great pitchers (talent-wise) and went to the World Series. We were up against the Orphans, who had 7 of the top 20 hitters in the league, and 3 of the top 10 pitchers. We had 2 hitters, and no pitching.

We went to Game 7, and despite losing our two best hitters (Lajoie and Freeman), we won in 14 innings, 1-0, with Ginger Clark (who?!?) pitching a NO-HITTER! He won just 4 games for the year at an ERA of about 4.00, but came good in this game.

For the next seven seasons we won World Championships, despite never re-signing a FA. We finished top every season, but only in 1906 (122-40) did we have the best overall record.

Our last season was 1913, and after twelve seasons, we have 8 titles, and 4 non-playoff finishes. We made the final with an 86-76 record (Giants had a huge 112-50 record, ranked #1 in every category), despite not having a single top-5 ranking.

The Giants were hitting .312, we were hitting .286. Their ERA was 2.32, ours was 3.86.

We won, 4-0.

I've found that I can play an entire season as a mid-to-top table side, go 20-6 in September (when everyone else plays kids) to scrape into finals, then for some reason dominate.

I've always thought that it is because my senior guys are facing sub-standard (September Call-up) calibre pitching/hitting, so are in good form, but some years I have had 5-6 guys in cold form leading into the World Series.

Still, it's a good problem to have, (and the $50 Million annual profit would be nice if it was real life).

07-09-2004, 06:46 PM	#18
Dargone Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Interwebs Posts: 2,862	I've said it before and I'll say it again-the playoffs are a big crapshoot. Having a couple of great starters is one of the ways to swing the pendulum in your favor. That and a lot of luck is nice too __________________ I was never one to patiently pick up broken fragments and glue them together again and tell myself that the mended whole was as good as new. What is broken is broken -- and I'd rather remember it as it was at its best than mend it and see the broken places as long as I lived.-Margaret Mitchell

07-08-2004, 05:57 PM	#1
Falcon52 All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 615	I'm the NY Yankees of my OOTP league In that, my team is leading the division, but based on my lineup, I should be dominating the league, not just staying a couple of steps ahead. Case in point, every single time I'm against a team, when the two lineups are on the game screen showing who has the advantage at each spot in the order, 9 times out of 10, I have a clean sweep, including starting pitcher. I know how George Steinbrenner must feel. My lineup includes hitters with: 1)6 guys with a '75' or higher in contact, 2)no batter below a '59' in contact, 3)3 guys with a '70' or higher in discipline, including one guy at '100'. But then again, my problems start and end with my pitching staff. Like the real life Yankees, my starters are underachieving BIG time, and my bullpen is a blown save waiting to happen. Despite having above average ratings, all 5 of my starters have ERA's higher than 4.00. In contrast, the top three in the league have 2.17, 2.40, 2.68 respectively. What makes this worse is that one of my starters was a trade acquisition. Before I acquired him, over his 7 year career, he averaged an ERA of about 2.90. And as for my bullpen, they're incredibly inconsistent despite having good ratings. Even when my starters actually pitch a good game, my bullpen can't be relied on. If I don't have a 5 or more run lead, then the starter can pretty much kiss his win goodbye, since my bullpen seems to average giving up at minimum, 1 run per game, but often times 3 or 4 runs per game. I know this is every manager's wish, but just ONCE, I'd like it where my hitting and pitching both performed as they should. As it stands, my offense has to score me 5 or more runs each game (keep in mind, EACH game, not PER game) in order for me to win. So far, they'd been able to do that 60 percent of the time. But come playoffs, when the AI usually goes with a 3 man rotation (which, IMO, is a stupid feature considering EVERY AI team does it, not just the ones with the "Randy/Schilling" combos), 5 runs a game is next to impossible. __________________ "D-FENCE! D-FENCE!"

07-08-2004, 06:33 PM	#2
Smaegol Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Milwaukee Posts: 111	Typical Yankees Fan. Always whining about something..... Why not take a team that is actually a challenge? That may be disastrous though since you cant seem to win with the Yanks...

07-08-2004, 11:00 PM	#4
Ragnar Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 3,521	Don't feel so bad. My Yankees have three 5 star pitchers. Above average hitters. I don't use scouts. I am at .500 at the allstar break. IMO this is one of the best teams i'v had on paper in a long time. It's tough for me since I only allow myself 1 for 1 trades and 75 Mil cap. I was 3 games above 500 with 3 games left before the break and lost all 3. my best pitcher. 99-100-99 went 1.2 innings. Gave up 8 hits 6 runs and 5 earned. So far he has won 4 games. My other 2 "5" star pitchers aren't doing any better. I'd be happy if I were you.

07-09-2004, 08:29 AM	#7
Tycobbler All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: 20 minutes from Comerica Park Posts: 1,955	It takes a good balance to win a title. My Pirates have just that, and a ring to go with it. Up the middle my SS is an (A) in defense and so is my 2B. My SS can hit very well, my 2B cannot. At the corners my 3B hits well and has avg. D, and my 1B has power. From left to right, LF- Good bat and power, CF-Good range and speed, RF- avg. bat and power. Catcher can't hit but has an (A) arm. Rotation, 1 ace, + 4 avg. to good pitchers, and a strong pen. Closer is very good. On paper the team is well balanced. 2B won a gold glove, but other than that none posted top 5 in any category. In this game you have to find that balance to win. Simply having the highest bat/ pitcher ratings without any range,arm,defense,speed, etc. etc. isn't gonna cut it. Just my formula for winning

07-09-2004, 10:47 AM	#8
Cooker All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 592	I've noticed a few players significantly under-achieve (or over-achieve) compared to their ratings. I play solo with talents and ratings "on," and scouts and coaches "on." But I have a legendary scout so I suppose I'm seeing what's fairly close to the "real" ratings. A couple seasons ago I picked up a relief pitcher in FA with outstanding ratings. His historical stats didn't match his talent/ratings, but I figured, so what? Well, he performed for me just as he had in prior seasons; he carried gasoline to the mound every time I put him in and threw it on the fire! I finally traded him away at mid-season. Very good ratings but mediocre to bad performance! Similarly, I have a 24 year old 2B who's only 2 1/2 blue stars (he's still young). But in his 2+ years on my team he's never batted below .290 and plays stellar defense. His "contact" rating has finally crept up to match his past performance. But for a long time his "contact" rating was far less what I'd expect to generate his BA. In other words, he just wins, baby. The moral of the story is that in OOTP players occasionally perform above or below expectations (based on star ratings and numerical ratings). In my view, this is great. You can't always look only at ratings and talent, though usually they're the best indicators of future performance. Sometimes guys play better or worse than you should expect. And that's just like real life. Any others with similar experiences?

07-09-2004, 10:51 AM	#9
Khan All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Toronto Posts: 827	Well this season my Jays are walking away with the ALE so far. With high expectations coming into the season we started out a slow 8-8.....but have been on fire since and are currently 68-18. That puts us a full 13.5 games up on the second place Yankees, who still have the 2nd best record in both leagues. How have we done this you say? 1. Roy Halladay 15-1 , 2.53 ERA (4 straight Cy Youngs, including the non simmed one) 2. Mark Buehrle 13-0 , 2.16 ERA ( Off season Free agent signing with a chance to knock Halladay off his Cy Young roost) 3. Barry Zito 11-5 , 3.32 ( Also a free agent signing, but actually started terrrible going 0-4 with an ERA over 6 in his first 4 starts) 4. Dustin McGowan 9-3 , 2.45 ERA These guys coupled with a very good lineup (.291 AVG #1, 507 runs #2 to the Yanks) have me foaming at the month for the Big RING. Oh and this is with the #6 payroll at 74,000,000 and the Yanks at almost 117,000,000.

07-09-2004, 04:54 PM	#11
jasonb13 Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: NY Posts: 32	Falcon I've have the same problem constantly. Most memorable was the team that hit .308 fore the year and scored over 1000 runs, yet scored a total of 2 runs on about 15 hits while getting swept in the division series. Most maddening was the fact that my opponent's ace had been injured and the remaining starters' ERAs were all over 5.00. Playoff games should be harder to win, but sometimes the game makes it impossible - a team with that powerful of an offense could not be held down that badly even if cy young himself pitched against them.

07-09-2004, 05:25 PM	#14
jasonb13 Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: NY Posts: 32	Ty, Something like you're talking about is reasonable and understandable, but it just seems sometimes (like when your offensive juggernaut gets 2 runs in 3 games against subpar pitching) thatthere is no room for error - if you give a 3-run HR you lose.

07-09-2004, 05:44 PM	#15
jasonb13 Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: NY Posts: 32	Adding to my previous message, it's not THAT I'm losing in the playoffs, it HOW I'm losing.

07-09-2004, 09:02 PM	#19
GoffmanMD Bat Boy Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 16	I've had the same problems. When I played my first couple seasons in the game I had it set to easy just to get a hang of things. My team was #1 in homeruns, #1 in average, #1 in stolen bases. #1 in ERA, #1 in least walks allowed, and #1 in strikeouts. Had a staggering .756 win percentage at the end of the season or something like that. Get to the playoffs and my three starters, who all won 20+ games with an ERA below 2.5 and were all PERFECT at holding runners couldnt last more than 3 innings a piece, they all gave up at least 5 runs. I place a premium on defense and all that.

07-09-2004, 09:44 PM	#20
Simon_Nesbit Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 260	I think I may have found the opposite. I started a 1901 dynasty, and (being an Aussie) decided that the team with the worst player/finance/etc combo would be replaced by a 'new' Australian team (bye-bye Senators). I know next-to-nothing about baseball, but was shown the game by a friend, and purchased 5 and 6, which I play religiously now. I'm slowly getting better I think, but still don't understand some of the finance things. We started with a fantasy draft, and Australia had the last pick. I went almost exclusively for batters, as almost all the pitchers seemed crap. 1901 we went 40-122, despite being the #2 offence. (We gave up over 1500 runs that season! We picked up some decent pitchers in 1902, making it passed .500, going 82-80. 1903 we got three great pitchers (talent-wise) and went to the World Series. We were up against the Orphans, who had 7 of the top 20 hitters in the league, and 3 of the top 10 pitchers. We had 2 hitters, and no pitching. We went to Game 7, and despite losing our two best hitters (Lajoie and Freeman), we won in 14 innings, 1-0, with Ginger Clark (who?!?) pitching a NO-HITTER! He won just 4 games for the year at an ERA of about 4.00, but came good in this game. For the next seven seasons we won World Championships, despite never re-signing a FA. We finished top every season, but only in 1906 (122-40) did we have the best overall record. Our last season was 1913, and after twelve seasons, we have 8 titles, and 4 non-playoff finishes. We made the final with an 86-76 record (Giants had a huge 112-50 record, ranked #1 in every category), despite not having a single top-5 ranking. The Giants were hitting .312, we were hitting .286. Their ERA was 2.32, ours was 3.86. We won, 4-0. I've found that I can play an entire season as a mid-to-top table side, go 20-6 in September (when everyone else plays kids) to scrape into finals, then for some reason dominate. I've always thought that it is because my senior guys are facing sub-standard (September Call-up) calibre pitching/hitting, so are in good form, but some years I have had 5-6 guys in cold form leading into the World Series. Still, it's a good problem to have, (and the $50 Million annual profit would be nice if it was real life).