Season 33 (2051) - Where All the Action Happens

[One Great Matrix]

Originally Posted by One Great Matrix

It was a dreadful Wednesday. The switch-hitting Flyers played .500 and are now 49-32 on the season...That's good for the best record in the conference. I added Chipper Jones at third base to round out a starting 8 position players plus DH who are all switch hitters. Other than that change I've stuck with the same arrangement since the beginning of the season. But they've struggled to plate much more than 4 runs against those aces. I have some golden (diamond, & perfect) reserves but I'm figuring out who to leave in & who to leave out for the end of the season for now.

What a dreadful day. I don't know if the so-so performance or the other elements of this terrible Wednesday came first. Probably was some kind of package deal, lol.

This season is turning into the most unpredictable of weeks I've had yet. I brought in four lefties to the switch-hitting arrangement and the offense went silent even though they are some of the best hitters in my system. So I'm not going to rush back to almost all switch-hitters but perhaps all those neutral or favorable match-ups make up for the raw talent gap at times. I can't tell because it's not something I saw coming...

As today's games wind down we're clinging to 1st place and anything can happen.

[waittilnextyear]

Originally Posted by OMGPuppies

Sure is!

Your Fighting Chickens are hanging tough over there in a 3-team divisional race. You've got the all-lefty, max-contact strategy going on and it seems to be working. A lot of your lefty bats (Crawford, Sisler, Seymour, Rice) are putting together nice years and SE Dykstra is just going off (.356/.404/.486). That plus him being one of the best defensive CF in the game is quite nice.

Kudos to you for actually maximizing this strategy. It's way too often that a team will have an all-lefty lineup with the matching park factors, but will have a bunch of righty starting pitchers. That doesn't make much sense.

[Westheim]

2-out walk in the ninth in a full count.

(gnaws on edge of table)

[Rfrankel84]

The Jersey Revolutionize finally completed our braves collection and added Smoltz to the pen! I'm excited

https://challenge.ootpdevelopments.c...rfrankel84.jpg

[BigRed75]

No need to update the Redlegs, as JasonC is doing that just fine with his P440 updates. You'll note that every team he posts a standings, we're at exactly .500 ball.

Remember how the DMW Beltways were stinking it up in April? I mean, really stinking it up? Like 4-19 bad? Well, it's now August, and they are...


...46-61 - so still 15 games under .500; but they've been playing .500 ball since the end of April. And they actually climbed out of the relegation zone for a little bit. They've fallen back in, but they escaped once, they can do it again. That's what I'm hoping, anyway.

Much better for the Quendas, who are leading G331 by two games. The Quendas and the Vercelli Celts are the class of the division, up by 12 games over the third place team. Luis Patino has solved my No. 3 starter crisis - the third time really was the charm after Nate Pearson and Sixto Sanchez couldn't cut it. Both have them have performed fine in the bullpen, by the way, but Patino is 8-1 in 13 starts since moving to the rotation.

The Redlegs you know about. Well, you thought you knew about them, until I tell you that they lost 15 in a row to end the month of July! So now instead of battling for a wildcard berth, we've managed to put ourselves into a relegation battle!

SMDH

Instead of the expense of flying Westheim over to open up some packs, maybe I'll get Mr. Waittill "Oh, a mini-run of 75 packs gets me a perfect Dwight Gooden and a gold George Sisler, plus some other stuff" Nextyear to do it instead

[tallywood]

58-49, 2GB, tied for the second Wild Card spot... I cannot complain about my first season in Perfect.

However, I think we know where the upgrade-worthy spots are...

[waittilnextyear]

Originally Posted by BigRed75

Instead of the expense of flying Westheim over to open up some packs, maybe I'll get Mr. Waittill "Oh, a mini-run of 75 packs gets me a perfect Dwight Gooden and a gold George Sisler, plus some other stuff" Nextyear to do it instead

You know you have the hot hand when you aren't even aware that you got the 100 Gooden until looking at the roster after the pack opening. The animation must've skipped or something so that was a nice surprise.

[Elligator]

Pulled an 85 RA Dickey and put him in my rotation behind 100 Maddux, 100 Scherzer, and 99 Vance, to give the floundering 88 Claude Passeau a break. RA fired off a complete game shutout in his first start. Claude may be spending an extended time on the taxi squad.

If the pitchers keep throwing darts, I'm looking good to move up to Gold League for the first time next season.

[CrazyWR]

you are f2p in silver with perf maddux and scherzer and 99 vance? How

[Elligator]

Originally Posted by CrazyWR

you are f2p in silver with perf maddux and scherzer and 99 vance? How

Luck, I guess. I'm in my 5th season. Those are my two perfects, I have two diamonds, and 8 golds (though 2 are on my reserves and two are catchers, so only 5 of the golds play). Hmm, I hadn't really thought about how improbable that was, but I have 496 cards, and so therefore I've probably opened around 80 packs, since I've sold duplicates, but bought a few cheapos to finish some easy collection missions.

Looking at the odds, I should have around 3 diamonds (have 2), but only one perfect at most instead of 2. Golds seem to be close with 8, expecting 9-10. This is my 3rd Silver season. Last season I won 97 games, but got in a division behind a monster team, won the wildcard game, but lost in the division series to the aforementioned beast.

Vance is pretty clearly a better pitcher than Scherzer, though he's not technically perfect. Do you often find the retros outshoot similar lever LIVE cards?

[In a related note, Maddux just coughed up 6 runs in 6.1 innings to put his ERA over 3. Grr...Nagy beats me every time. That and 81 Moustakas is total garbage, now starting a 68 Brooks Robinson over him for the defense.Though Senzel did hit for the cycle and pretty much earned me a pack all by himself.]

[Catchthedamnball]

Originally Posted by Elligator

Vance is pretty clearly a better pitcher than Scherzer, though he's not technically perfect. Do you often find the retros outshoot similar lever LIVE cards?

A sizable number of people in PT (me included) like historical pitchers more because they will have higher movement ratings than the live cards due to allowing fewer home runs. Look at perfect Scherzer; he's a very solid card but he only has 55 movement and that will drag him down at the higher levels (there's a copy in my league who recorded an ERA above 4 in Perfect a few weeks ago). Specific team strategy aside, pitchers need strong ratings in all three categories and even then they can get knocked around in Perfect leagues. Cards that come to mind that seem to have worked well in Perfect are 99 Brecheen and 99 Newhouser.

[Elligator]

Originally Posted by Catchthedamnball

A sizable number of people in PT (me included) like historical pitchers more because they will have higher movement ratings than the live cards due to allowing fewer home runs. Look at perfect Scherzer; he's a very solid card but he only has 55 movement and that will drag him down at the higher levels (there's a copy in my league who recorded an ERA above 4 in Perfect a few weeks ago). Specific team strategy aside, pitchers need strong ratings in all three categories and even then they can get knocked around in Perfect leagues. Cards that come to mind that seem to have worked well in Perfect are 99 Brecheen and 99 Newhouser.

I hope I someday pull one of those or get them on my other team. With the great starting pitching I've pulled, I was thinking I might need to adjust my park settings to make hitting harder, is that recommended? The only great hitter I have is a 93 Aaron. Will I make it impossible for my team to win if I do this?

[Dickey came back to Earth with a bad 5 ER in 4.1 innings in start two.]

[CrazyWR]

i'd recommend looking at your team and figuring out where your strengths lie. If you have such a stud pitching staff (and at silver, that staff is incredible), I'd max out park effects to help your hitters and get good defensive guys in to help counteract the park effects. But to answer your other question, yes it is common for non-live guys to be better than live players even one tier down (perf -> diamond, diamond to gold, etc)

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Catchthedamnball

A sizable number of people in PT (me included) like historical pitchers more because they will have higher movement ratings than the live cards due to allowing fewer home runs.

To make it brief, live pitchers, even perfect pitchers, are absolutely goddamn awful in Perfect League. Near-useless.

[Elligator]

Originally Posted by CrazyWR

i'd recommend looking at your team and figuring out where your strengths lie. If you have such a stud pitching staff (and at silver, that staff is incredible), I'd max out park effects to help your hitters and get good defensive guys in to help counteract the park effects. But to answer your other question, yes it is common for non-live guys to be better than live players even one tier down (perf -> diamond, diamond to gold, etc)

Ahh, so I may need to adjust the other way to boost my hitting while my pitching and defense take down the other teams' hitting. Thanks!

I've preferred the non-live, mainly because I enjoy the sense of history and nostalgia. Good to see we are rewarded for it. Explains why my third team having a harder time of it, as I've bought a ton of LIVE players, while my Astros team and the one we've been talking about are rockin' it.

[Renfro]

Wheels have come off the Xenos' season. After going 47-32 May through July, we've gone 4-10 so far this August and are now down 1.5 games out of the 2nd WC.

What's the quote? "A man standing still goes nowhere"?

Uncharacteristically, I've made many changes. Primarily, I've benched Peak Mark McGwire - not enough steroids in this card! I could deal with his 30% strikeout percentage but not when his ISO is below .200. In goes the more reliable SE Carlos Delgado. Too bad the stadium was built for McGwire's right-handed power.

What's been most surprising is 96 Mort Cooper (88 / 73 / 74). He went 17-6 last season but has now gone 5-12, warranting a move to the pen, where his movement went up to 97. The problem is I don't really have a replacement SP. So in goes 95 David Cone who last went 0-12 for me in Perfect two seasons ago. I really want to sell him but I'm waiting for those Mets missions to come out to further increase his market value.

[tallywood]

Originally Posted by Westheim

To make it brief, live pitchers, even perfect pitchers, are absolutely goddamn awful in Perfect League. Near-useless.

I am learning this 100%

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by tallywood

I am learning this 100%

I've been having deGrom forever; if he puts up a sub-5 ERA, it was a good year.

[waittilnextyear]

Have this question I need to ask...am I a whale now? Here is some evidence to consider.

101-28 so far this season, btw.

[One Great Matrix]

Originally Posted by One Great Matrix

This season is turning into the most unpredictable of weeks I've had yet. I brought in four lefties to the switch-hitting arrangement and the offense went silent even though they are some of the best hitters in my system. So I'm not going to rush back to almost all switch-hitters but perhaps all those neutral or favorable match-ups make up for the raw talent gap at times. I can't tell because it's not something I saw coming...

As today's games wind down we're clinging to 1st place and anything can happen.

OOOOOKay...75-55 & still 2.5 games ahead in the division...hanging on even though I've only played slightly better than .500 ball since the 21-5 April. ...(54-50?), The tournaments are coming, the tournaments are coming. Don't be overwhelmed, it's just another thin layer of fun for you to have with OOTP if you so desire. Plus who knows when they'll ACTUALLY get here...when they do. My brain is kind of "soft" this evening from Valium so I've not much to say, really. I noticed waittilnextyear's question about him being a whale, though...for now I'll have to answer: mmm, just a really big frog.

I brought some more switch-hitters back into the mix with mixed results.

Good night, everyone.