Archive of SportingNews.com's old SOM Baseball forum

THE ONLY MAJOR THING I WOULD CHANGE ON THE GAME IS THE PITCHING ON THREE DAYS OPTION. I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING AGAINST THIS OPTION OTHER THAN IT SHOULD ONLY BE AVAILABLE IN THE POSTSEASON OR AFTER GAME 120 (OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT). IT'S JUST NOT REALISTIC A GUY THROWING 295 INNINGS...

You'd have to take that up with Hal Richman, the creator of the Strat-O-Matic Board game. It's not something TSN can change as it exists in the board game and has since it's inception. I do agree with you however.

BTW, do you know where the caps lock key is on your keyboard? :wink:

People used to pitch 300 innings ALL THE TIME. Just because they do not do it in MLB anymore does NOT mean they could not do it if they wanted to! How do you explain Steve Carlton and every other starting pitcher prior to 1990?

In 2008 there was exactly one pitcher with over 250 innings pitched--C.C. Sabathia with 253. Then, when he didn't start out 5-0 or whatever for the Yankees, people were accusing the Brewers of overusing him in their playoff run in 2008.

When every starting pitcher is making millions of dollars in guaranteed contracts, nobody is going to pitch on 3 days rest anymore. The mere appearance of even potential "overuse" won't happen.

I think it's time for the real HAL to change that rule. Contending teams in a playoff run are more likely to put a September call-up in the rotation rather than have someone pitch on three days rest. For 2009 and up, we would probably have better simulations with no * pitchers.

I think SOM is really missing an opportunity to add realism and strategy to the game by combining how much a pitcher pitches and their fatigue system.

For example, if you want to start a * pitcher on 3-day rest, he starts at F6. Maybe it's worth it anyway, but it would sure give a manager a reason to go with a more realistic 5-man rotation. The computer could even factor in multiple starts with 3-day rest and reduce his fatigue rating even further.

Also have fatigue a factor for relievers based on innings pitched and days pitched in a row. Such a system would be too cumbersome for the board game, but it would be a natural for the computer version. You would get a fatigue rating of each of your pitchers before each game based on their recent usage. (I'm talking about face-to-face, not TSN.)

You super pitchers might need to have some extra @ chances added to really make the system work since some are still so good even fatigued.