Historical Season Question

BUTCH19735 · 04-13-2021, 04:39 PM

Hi all,

This is my first post here, and my first time playing this game. I absolutely love the concept of the game, and have been looking for something like this for years. I always played MVP 2004/05 and the 2K games on PS2 but got an XBOX 360 and 1 the next few systems so I had no baseball games to play. However, when I played I would use the "manage game function" and play multiple seasons for a franchise. A buddy and I play an online franchise for Madden every year and we love doing that but always wish they were able to do more for the franchise play. In fact, Madden has kinda regressed over time with the franchise capabilities compared to their mid to lates 00's franchise modes.

But I digress, to my actual question haha. I have started a historical season starting from 2005 and I have the Yankees (my favorite team). I am about 3 weeks into spring training and I'm trying to love this game but its been very frustrating. I understand the 2005 Yankees wasn't their best version, but I have literally lost 10 games in a row and I don't understand how. My pitchers get shelled, often for 8+ runs a game and give up multiple homers a game. Meanwhile, I have players hitting .300 but many times I get a hit an inning and thats it; and from one of the greatest power hitting teams, I have 5 home runs total in maybe 16 games while the computer has hit that many in 1 game against me. So I guess my question is, bad luck? What can I do to improve? Is their an advantage to pressing "enter" as opposed to choosing "pitch to," pitch around," or "pitch to contact," or to "swing away," or "take pitch?"

I am very cognizant of energy, especially from the starting lineup and pitchers. I have a full spring training roster and have rotated players in for experience for young players and rarely have to pitch a player with less than 100% energy. In the 10 games in a row I lost, the highest runs I have scored is 3 and have allowed 62 runs while only scoring 21. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Questions that you could maybe answer other than the ones above:

- Should I allow the computer to pick my lineup order? In the same breath, should I let the computer make the lineup daily based on my strategy? One of their lineups they suggest has Jeter batting 7th, Sheffield leading off, and Cano in the 4 spot and I just can't wrap my mind around that, but I also know MVP baseball used to make crazy lineups like this all the time.

-Is it beneficial to just simulate the game and not even manage? I enjoy the manage part but wouldn't mind creating another historical season where I just simulate.

-Should I make some moves already? I know its Spring Training so maybe things will change in the regular season.

-The first game I played when I couldn't figure out why I was the Giants every year (lol at the button being over the pick a team), I scored 26 runs with a **** Giants team lol and I can't even score that many with the Yankees over 10 games. Is this just extremely bad luck, or bad play on my part?

Any help is appreciated. Thank you for reading!

-Signed,

A struggling Yankee owner, trying not to lose 10 in a row again

Syd Thrift · 04-13-2021, 06:21 PM

To your first question, there is very little actual difference in terms of overall scoring when it comes to lineup selection, with the caveat that you generally want your best players to get the most plate appearances. Otherwise, as long as you don’t, like, run your lineup in order of reverse OPS, the difference between an optimal lineup and one that makes baseball sense is maybe 5 runs a year.

Otherwise, you can tailor what exactly you manage and what you don’t. I don’t really like to bother with individual pitch related stuff like stealing or the hit and run (in large part because the game doesnt actually simulate one pitch at a time) so I leave base running decisions up to the coaching staff and generally concentrate on substitutions and the like. If I feel like a guy is running too much I’ll turn down his slider on his strategy page but that’s usually about as far as I go.

Otherwise, baseball is a game that’s heavily contingent on luck. That’s kind of its charm. Sometimes you’ll get results from an entire season that were just plain unlucky (especially with an individual player - generally, one standard deviation’s worth of batting average is around 25 points for a full season, which means that 2/3rds of your team will hit within 25 points of the average they’re supposed to hit at, but every year you can more or less expect one guy in your lineup to hit 50 points higher or lower than what he “should” hit), but for sure, absolutely you will see a good hitting team struggle to hit over any given 15 game period. Billy Beane talked about how he used to work out during games so that he wouldn’t make rash decisions based on a single at bat or even five straight Ks or something.

BUTCH19735 · 04-13-2021, 08:39 PM

Thanks for your help. It is probably just extremely frustrating bad luck haha. The way I got notified of this game was through a baseball app on my phone. That game is extremely finicky and requires you to pay a little more attention to lineup placement so I am probably used to that.

Brad K · 04-14-2021, 05:52 AM

Not the actual question, but spring training isn't for winning games. Its to get everyone enough playing time to knock of the rust, teach players new positions, get scouting up to date, and decide who is going to make the 25 man roster.

I feel better when I'm above 500 in spring training but if not I console myself with the thought I had minor leaguers and bench players starting a lot of games and my regulars playing out of position. I've had teams with terrible spring training records end the season in first place.

Ratbelly · 04-16-2021, 02:29 PM

Yeah, don't worry too much about spring training. Spring training should be playing your young guys to see who might make the roster and training up other guys at positions to increase flexibility. Start worrying when you get into the regular season. I just recently had a season where I went to the ALCS and lost 4 games to 2. The next season I made a few moves to strengthen my team and thought they were ready to take the next step. Boy I was wrong, lost 99 games the next season and started selling off my veterans to rebuild. Came back this year and I am 18-12 in first place so far.

Brad K · 04-16-2021, 04:57 PM

Yea, the owner says finish first, you think you have a middle of the pack team, and preseason predictions says the team sucks. Opinions EVERYWHERE!!!

Brad K · 04-16-2021, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

Billy Beane talked about how he used to work out during games so that he wouldn’t make rash decisions based on a single at bat or even five straight Ks or something.

Beane: Text me the play by play.

Brand: What?

Beane: I don't watch the game.

Pelican · 04-24-2021, 04:38 PM

This may indicate latent ADD but I love managing a Spring Training game, with a large roster and substitutions almost every inning. Just look at that box score with twenty-five players and nearly running out of alphabet for the changes. [a - pinch hit for pitcher in the top of the second inning....z - defensive replacement at SS in the bottom of the ninth]. As in real life, fun to see the lower-level players get an at-bat against a real MLB pitcher, or even just play the field, or maybe my young phenom pitching against MLB stars rounding into shape.

04-13-2021, 04:39 PM	#1
BUTCH19735 Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2021 Posts: 3	Historical Season Question Hi all, This is my first post here, and my first time playing this game. I absolutely love the concept of the game, and have been looking for something like this for years. I always played MVP 2004/05 and the 2K games on PS2 but got an XBOX 360 and 1 the next few systems so I had no baseball games to play. However, when I played I would use the "manage game function" and play multiple seasons for a franchise. A buddy and I play an online franchise for Madden every year and we love doing that but always wish they were able to do more for the franchise play. In fact, Madden has kinda regressed over time with the franchise capabilities compared to their mid to lates 00's franchise modes. But I digress, to my actual question haha. I have started a historical season starting from 2005 and I have the Yankees (my favorite team). I am about 3 weeks into spring training and I'm trying to love this game but its been very frustrating. I understand the 2005 Yankees wasn't their best version, but I have literally lost 10 games in a row and I don't understand how. My pitchers get shelled, often for 8+ runs a game and give up multiple homers a game. Meanwhile, I have players hitting .300 but many times I get a hit an inning and thats it; and from one of the greatest power hitting teams, I have 5 home runs total in maybe 16 games while the computer has hit that many in 1 game against me. So I guess my question is, bad luck? What can I do to improve? Is their an advantage to pressing "enter" as opposed to choosing "pitch to," pitch around," or "pitch to contact," or to "swing away," or "take pitch?" I am very cognizant of energy, especially from the starting lineup and pitchers. I have a full spring training roster and have rotated players in for experience for young players and rarely have to pitch a player with less than 100% energy. In the 10 games in a row I lost, the highest runs I have scored is 3 and have allowed 62 runs while only scoring 21. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Questions that you could maybe answer other than the ones above: - Should I allow the computer to pick my lineup order? In the same breath, should I let the computer make the lineup daily based on my strategy? One of their lineups they suggest has Jeter batting 7th, Sheffield leading off, and Cano in the 4 spot and I just can't wrap my mind around that, but I also know MVP baseball used to make crazy lineups like this all the time. -Is it beneficial to just simulate the game and not even manage? I enjoy the manage part but wouldn't mind creating another historical season where I just simulate. -Should I make some moves already? I know its Spring Training so maybe things will change in the regular season. -The first game I played when I couldn't figure out why I was the Giants every year (lol at the button being over the pick a team), I scored 26 runs with a **** Giants team lol and I can't even score that many with the Yankees over 10 games. Is this just extremely bad luck, or bad play on my part? Any help is appreciated. Thank you for reading! -Signed, A struggling Yankee owner, trying not to lose 10 in a row again

04-16-2021, 02:29 PM	#5
Ratbelly Minors (Double A) Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 131	Yeah, don't worry too much about spring training. Spring training should be playing your young guys to see who might make the roster and training up other guys at positions to increase flexibility. Start worrying when you get into the regular season. I just recently had a season where I went to the ALCS and lost 4 games to 2. The next season I made a few moves to strengthen my team and thought they were ready to take the next step. Boy I was wrong, lost 99 games the next season and started selling off my veterans to rebuild. Came back this year and I am 18-12 in first place so far. __________________

04-13-2021, 08:39 PM	#3
BUTCH19735 Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2021 Posts: 3	Thanks for your help. It is probably just extremely frustrating bad luck haha. The way I got notified of this game was through a baseball app on my phone. That game is extremely finicky and requires you to pay a little more attention to lineup placement so I am probably used to that.

04-14-2021, 05:52 AM	#4
Brad K Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2016 Location: St Petersburg Florida USA Posts: 6,486 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	Not the actual question, but spring training isn't for winning games. Its to get everyone enough playing time to knock of the rust, teach players new positions, get scouting up to date, and decide who is going to make the 25 man roster. I feel better when I'm above 500 in spring training but if not I console myself with the thought I had minor leaguers and bench players starting a lot of games and my regulars playing out of position. I've had teams with terrible spring training records end the season in first place.

04-16-2021, 04:57 PM	#6
Brad K Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2016 Location: St Petersburg Florida USA Posts: 6,486 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	Yea, the owner says finish first, you think you have a middle of the pack team, and preseason predictions says the team sucks. Opinions EVERYWHERE!!!

04-24-2021, 04:38 PM	#8
Pelican Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2021 Location: Wilmington, Delaware Posts: 2,844	This may indicate latent ADD but I love managing a Spring Training game, with a large roster and substitutions almost every inning. Just look at that box score with twenty-five players and nearly running out of alphabet for the changes. [a - pinch hit for pitcher in the top of the second inning....z - defensive replacement at SS in the bottom of the ninth]. As in real life, fun to see the lower-level players get an at-bat against a real MLB pitcher, or even just play the field, or maybe my young phenom pitching against MLB stars rounding into shape.