This game can be very frustrating...

[AZTarHeel]

I have better pitchers. Better defensive players. Better hitters. Better coaches. And yet my team can't hit, can't play defense, can't win games against sub-par teams.

At this point I am not even sure what I am doing wrong. It just seems like a roll of the dice no matter how I set strategies, etc.

The latest kick in the stomach: I trade away a 2-star pitcher to upgrade at catcher. My new 4-star catcher stinks (can't hit, boots the ball all over the place), and the pitcher I traded away is an all-star who just threw a 3-hit shutout in his latest outing against the No. 1 team in the league...

I don't get it...

[Brad K]

Is your catcher still rated 4 stars? How did you ever get by trading a 2 star pitcher for a 4 star catcher? (Assuming the ratings are accurate.)

[Battman]

I feel the pain. Started a decade play with the Pirates, beginning in 1970. Had a fantastic pre-season. Clemente was fantastic, hitting 7 HRs in preseason. Had a couple of rookies showing outstanding play, making the ML roster. Made a few roster moves that I thought would really boost my team. Picked up Catfish Hunter, Joe Morgan, Glen Beckert, Rollie Fingers, and Steve Garvey. Trading away some good players, but still thought I strengthened my team. Clemente is now hitting about .250. Morgan is below .200 The hot shot rookies from spring training are hitting near .100. The only one doing any good is Hunter at 4-0. I also lost Dock Ellis to a season ending injury. Oh, and the fans hate me because I let Mazeroski go on waivers. The only good thing is the Reds are in last place, along with me.

[AZTarHeel]

Mostly I am just a sore loser But it is frustrating for things not to go well and not to know why.

Sometimes I think the game just works again a human player. A few weeks into the season, I played a three-game series vs. the worst team in the league. My guys were superior at every position (at least according to what may be very fallible scouting/ratings -- maybe that is the problem).

We tied one game (yes I have ties after 10 innings) and lost the next two. We couldn't hit anything! Against 1- and 0.5-star pitchers who suddenly became Randy Johnson. I never could string anything together. If I got a guy on, he would get thrown out trying to steal (even though he had 60-70 speed/steal ratings and the catcher ratings were in the 30s) or I would bunt him over and then we'd leave him stranded.

The next series I go 1-2 against the second worst team. I got so frustrated (the sore loser in me) I quit the job right there during the first month of the season -- And the franchise went on a tear from there, finished second in the standings and made the playoffs before losing to the defending champs (who had the best team by far and lived up to it).

Moral of the story: Maybe it was just me all along!! Maybe I need some remedial OOTP manager training

[Humboldt KA]

I have the opposite problem. My 1922 New York Giants had the about best hitting in the NL (I'd say a tie with STL), a bit above average pitching, and by far the worst defense in the majors. Pre-season prediction had us finishing 1 game ahead of STL; they did finish 2nd, but our margin was 22 (!) games. And it was incredibly streaky--we had 4 winning streaks of 10 or more games and 3 losing streaks of 6 or more. So maybe nothing is wrong at all.

Also, if you have switched back and forth between your own scout and the "common" scout that could account for a lot. I'd go out of my mind if I did that.

[AZTarHeel]

A funny update: I mentioned above that I got so frustrated with my underperforming team that I had my manager character quit right in the middle of the season. I was aggravated! (Sore loser).

Immediately, the worst team in the league reached out with a job offer. I said no. Then rethought things after the regular season ended and took over what was a horrible expansion franchise (two years of play, winning percentage of .288). Why not? It couldn't get any worse and there would be no expectations.

I buckled down for what appeared to be a long rebuilding project. I went through and purged the team of some players with bad attitudes and work ethics (and remaining players emailed to thank me for that - a cool feature of this game).

I picked No. 1 in the draft and got a solid pitcher. I did a little wheeling and dealing the best I could with remaining assets and picked up some free agents with leadership qualities, good in the clubhouse, etc. I managed to lure the best scout in the league to join my franchise and got some decent hitting and pitching coaches. I turned my closer (with great stuff, movement) into my No. 1 starter.

The owner's goal: Just don't suck. My goal: can we get to .500 in year one, steal a few games we shouldn't win?

Well, I just finished my first season with this team and we won the freaking championship!! Went 22-8 (six-team league, 30-game schedule, 3-game series every weekend). Beat the defending champs 3-1 in the playoff series.

It was like magic dust was over my team the whole season. I let my coaches set everything up at the beginning and just sat back and hit "sim" each day.

I was afraid to touch anything, move any players off or onto the active roster. I have no idea how we won. I guess the stars aligned, we had great chemistry, good cohesion, etc.

This crazy game. You hate it. You love it. You can't get enough of it!

Next year we'll probably finish last and the owner will fire me...

[Humboldt KA]

Wouldn't it be more fun if you again finished first and the owner fired you?

IDK if that can happen in OOTP, but I'm enjoying the fact that although my 1920, 1921, and 1922 Giants all won the pennants, at the start of each following year the owner complained that I was not stealing enough bases (I was last in the NL every year, probably in the majors). The 2nd and 3rd times he threatened to fire me over it. He didn't last year, we'll see what happens in 1923.

[AZTarHeel]

Originally Posted by Humboldt KA

I'm enjoying the fact that although my 1920, 1921, and 1922 Giants all won the pennants, at the start of each following year the owner complained that I was not stealing enough bases

This cracks me up...

OOTP is an amazing game and does out-of-this-world things, but this part still leaves a lot to be desired. The engine just doesn't recognize the macro environment some of the times...

I started one league "from scratch" in 1880. I began with two teams, playing one game. The next year, the teams played a few more games, then by the end of the decade I had a six-team league playing a 30-60 game schedule.

In year one, my team won the only game of the season at home. My owner fussed that I hadn't won enough road games! Fun fun

[JimmyZ]

Originally Posted by AZTarHeel

Mostly I am just a sore loser But it is frustrating for things not to go well and not to know why.

Sometimes I think the game just works again a human player. A few weeks into the season, I played a three-game series vs. the worst team in the league. My guys were superior at every position (at least according to what may be very fallible scouting/ratings -- maybe that is the problem).

We tied one game (yes I have ties after 10 innings) and lost the next two. We couldn't hit anything! Against 1- and 0.5-star pitchers who suddenly became Randy Johnson. I never could string anything together. If I got a guy on, he would get thrown out trying to steal (even though he had 60-70 speed/steal ratings and the catcher ratings were in the 30s) or I would bunt him over and then we'd leave him stranded.

The next series I go 1-2 against the second worst team. I got so frustrated (the sore loser in me) I quit the job right there during the first month of the season -- And the franchise went on a tear from there, finished second in the standings and made the playoffs before losing to the defending champs (who had the best team by far and lived up to it).

Moral of the story: Maybe it was just me all along!! Maybe I need some remedial OOTP manager training

Maybe turn your coaching off, or run leagues without coaching and scouting until you get the hang of the miracles and the nonsense the game tortures us with...