All right... who else is getting frustrated?

[KEVINEHLE]

[quote:76015c12b9="Sykes25"]I find that with extreme theme leagues, you have much more difficulty controlling things like this. Much of your dismay is being caused by the extra AB's given up by those "IRON GLOVES".

I'd still suggest keeping your lefties on the mound at home, unless you throw a 7L lefty against a team with 7 RHB who plays hoem games in Wrigley or MM. Then I'd take a chance with Lawrence.[/quote:76015c12b9]

Sykes, I agree about the Theme Leagues. They do what they are designed to do.....take you out of your comfort zone. I started off with a championship in my 5th league.
I joined 13 '06 theme leagues and of them I either ended up with a losing record or currently have a losing record in 11 of them!! Some of them were really bad and my winning percentage is a HUGE joke!! For years I played primarily public leagues and did well.
However, the theme leagues are a lot more fun so I'll keep doing them. Maybe one day I will learn how to win one!!

Kev

[durantjerry]

One thing I think you should do if you are struggling is analyze how you put your teams together and try a new approach. If you use low WHIP, high priced starters in Petco with cheap relievers, try cheaper starters a great closer and a good offense. If you use cheap set ups in US Cell, try a stud set up guy. Obsessed with 1's and 2's in the middle, draft Griffey and M Young. There is more than one way to skin a cat, and if the first one isn't working, try another. I know I have a tendency to fall into patterns with both team set ups and using certain players. If your comfort zone isn't working, move out.

[visick]

I usually experiment with each and every team.

For example, when I couldn't win with Everett @ SS, I decided to go with Young.

Young is a little tougher to win with. Sure he hits a ton, but I imagine he's giving up alot of hits.

I've tried Rowand, mainly for his defense. Then to Griffey, Back to Wells...etc.

There are a number of ways to win I imagine.

Luck ALWAYS helps in the end though.

[JAYDINGESS1]

Coffee,

I for one agree with you. This year is not going well for me at all. Barely over .500 and dropping everyday even tho some of my teams are fit to my parks. Getting frustrated here and may need to take a break. I feel your pain.

Jay

[geekor]

I've used more 4 * starters in this year than in any other year, in fact probably more than 02, 03 and 05 combined.

[Coffeeholic]

Went 8-13 with my '06 teams last night to fall 5 games below .500 for my teams in play (17-25 for all teams combined :cry: ).

Guess that'll teach me to complain! :roll:

Thanks for listening to my "vent"... I think I actually know why my success has fallen off of late.

The level of competiton is certainly getting better! I've only played a couple of auto-leagues, but even there the competion is very keen.

But a huge factor is my inability to stop "auto-piloting" my teams (which was sufficient in the past). I've vowed a dozen times to stop playing so many teams simultaneously and to concentrate on a few at a time so that I will concentrate on the daily adjustments for each team. Can't seem to do it though! :oops:

A .515 winning percentage (where I'm playing now) equates to about 84 wins a season. To get back to .540 % only takes an extra 4 wins a season, which is probably a realistic goal for teams which I take the time to micro-manage through a season. Because of my tendancy to "auto-pilot" however, I don't draft teams which give me many options for micro-management. I really will have to learn the skills necessary to succesfully micro-manage my teams.

I've had so little faith in certain game mechanics over the years, that I've tended to play with systems designed to minimize HAL's decision making process. So, guess I'll have to start studying box scores so that I can get more expertise in HAL's "mis-management" of game situations. :wink:

Now, the big question is: How do I stop drafting 2-3 teams a week and get down to a manageable number of teams? :oops:

[dieselpride]

Quit your job than you have to win to have teams. :twisted:

[durantjerry]

When you said ".500" winning %, I thought you meant .500. There is a big difference between .500 and .515. I would say .500 is struggling a little and would be frustrating, while .515 is not a top %, it's still pretty good or OK at worst. Your thinking you can play .540 is unrealistic, especially if you play in advanced leagues. If you look at the top 21 in manager rankings, only four guys have .540 winning %'s, and they have played the least teams(<20) of those in the top 20. There are only five .540+ winning %'s in the top 40 manager rankings and these guys are also consistently there every year and are pretty much universally recognized as some of the very best players. I don't think anyone with more than 20 teams has a .540 winning %, with me coincidentally being the closest at .539. To maintain a .540 winning % with any kind of team volume and/or league diifficulty level is very difficult, as the manager rankings seem to point out. I have played in the two tourneys and a half dozen or so theme leagues and you end up with some excellent players lined up against you in a league where you might be out of your comfort zone. You can easily have a 90 loss season. Given all the above and the fact that you don't micromanage(which is a neccessity to excel IMO), a .515 % is not that bad IMO. Welcome to SOMO 2006.

[visick]

FWIW-

Like Aray, I'm finding more luck throwing a reverse RH at a lefty dominant lineup than a LH. I've had more success with guys like Harang and Towers in Safeco for example than Mulder or Capuano etc...

But...

When playing in MM or Fenway, the reverse LH haven't been as successful for me. ie. Buerhle or Lee etc...