Welcome to the newbies!!! Some advice, please add comments.

[Munich_Man]

With the closing of the ESPN site, there has been an influx of new players into the ATG game. I just wanted to extend a hearty welcome and treat everyone to a round of liquid libations direct from the Holy Land of the Golden Nectar. Some fine Bavarian brew for all the new players--

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Prost!

For any newcomers to the game, you're in for a great experience. There are only two kinds of SOM online players-- those who are addicted and those who are addicted and don't know it yet. If any of you are in the second category, then I'm sure you will join the ranks of the junkies by the end of your first few seasons.

Some general things to keep in mind--

1. Be patient! Just because someone is severely underperforming doesn't mean he won't come around eventually. If you really want to get rid of a player, try the trade route first. I know they are just cards, but sometimes a change of scenery does wonders for a player. Remeber, there is a [b:bb4e7e908b]20% salary hit[/b:bb4e7e908b] every time you drop a player after the season has begun. I'm sure most, if not all of you are aware of this, but I just like to mention it in case there are any owners who aren't.

2. Ballparks matter. You could put together a great team, but if you play them in the wrong park, they will most likely underperform. Match your players' strengths to your home park first.

3. Others may disagree, but this is just my approach. Build YOUR team. Do not build a team to try to match your opponents'. This is not to say that should you end up in a league with 9 Dunn parks, or in a division with 12 LH starters, you should ignore that, but how often does that happen? I generally ignore the other teams when putting my own together, and try to build a team that I think is inherently solid and can play anyone.

4. Defense matters, especially up the middle. If I do not have 1s at ss, 2B, CF and C, with at least 2s in RF/LF and all OF with - arms and low errors , I get nervous. I generally ignore 3B and 1B defense, but only if I have a big bat there, and then only one of the two positions. A solid defense will help your pitching immensely.

5. Speaking of pitching, IMO you can not spend enough for pitching. Some prefer the banger approach, I think pitching is sexy. Let me clarify, starting pitching. IMO the best player in the game is Pete Alexander. I prefer a four man rotation, but you can certainly have success with a five man as well. I don't usually spend much on RP, but I try to have at least 4 guys that can do a decent job, with 2 "non-pitching" pitchers and a It is very rare for me to have a reliever that costs 3 mil, but will rarely have a less than 1Mil RP on the staff (Worrell & Mcenaney and sometimes Drabowsky being exceptions) either.

6. Speed kills. Overall team speed, that is. I don't pay much attention to stolen bases, but baserunning speed is one of my priorities (though most of the fast guys will also steal bases). I try not to have anyone on my team under 14 speed, and then only one or two, including the catcher.

7. Have fun!!

This is a great game with a great bunch of people playing. Don't be
afraid to ask advice, everyone is more than willing to help out if you ask.
Of course, this doesn't mean all the advice will be good, that's up to you
to decide! There are many ways to win at this game. I have just given some of my thoughts, and I'm sure others will add to them and disagree as well, but IMO, the most important thing to remember and the one thing that we ALL can agree on is my point #7 :D

Once again, good luck and enjoy yourselves!

(_)ß

[smitty13]

Thanks for the hospitality! ESPNers are already addicted! We're looking for a new "drug" of choice! There are 5 of us looking to match wits with some SOM vets. How about bringing your bavarian brew to mix with my napa whine and join us at:

ESPN Renegades
PW: whine

Smitty
aka whine man

[ADRIANGABRIEL]

There's actually kool-aid in those mugs and MM wants everyone to believe that pitching and defense wins games. Hogwash ;)

MM, you should post that stuff on your b-b-blog.

[rjohaire]

Most of MM's advise is good - it works for him.
I've seen teams win with all sub-million pitchers and sluggers.

I've found that a balanced approach works best.
Spend equally on pitching and hitting. Lean it one way or the other depending on the park.

Watch BP HR's in HR parks - it's uncanny how often the pitcher will fail in a HR park yet be a stud in a pitchers park.

3's in LF and RF are just fine.
4's anywhere are problematic, be sure his hitting will make up for the lack of D.

Watch the errors - Honus Wagner is a 1 at SS but makes a lot of errors which offsets his great coverage. Donnie Bush is another good example.

Read the past posts, especially on the old site. There is a ton of good advise.

Have fun and try different types of teams.

Oh yeah, HAL is on of the worst pitching managers on earth. Expect him to pinch hit for your pitcher at a most inopportune time. The only good thing is that he's doing the same thing to your opponents.

[sschu]

The most important thing in this game is patience. So many times you see guys dropping players with great value and good fit because they start slow or go through a bad streak. Remember that every team has deep talent.

I recommend not even looking at stats till game 24 and making no roster moves till game 80. If at game 120 you are close, but need to tweak (5-7 games out), make changes based upon beating the key oppoonent in your division.

Rarely are team made better by drops/adds.

FWIIW, sschu