Archive of SportingNews.com's old SOM Baseball forum

I've been toying with the idea of playing Hack Wilson in LF.

I know, I know, LF is not listed on his card as a position he can play. I'm sure I'm not the first manager who wished Hack had a corner OF position on his card, as he is a tremendous offensive force and a good bargain as a hitter, but a defensive liability in CF.

Here's what I'm considering: Putting Hack on the roster and having no players on the roster who can play LF. When I make my lineups, I would leave LF blank and bat LF cleanup (or wherever Hack fit best in the lineup).

Here's my questions:

1. Since Hack would obviously be the best hitter of the players not in the starting lineup, would HAL automatically play him in LF?

2. Assuming that Hack plays LF, would his defensive range rating be 5 (since it's not listed on his card), 4 (after all, he is an OFer) or 3 (his CF rating. For players who have both CF and corner OF positions on their cards, it's rare for a player to be rated lower in a corner OF position than in CF)?

3. Am I correct in assuming that no matter what his defensive range rating is, that his arm rating (0) and error rating (e12) would remain the same?

4. Has anyone ever tried this? If so, what were the results?

Hack's 1930 card has more than 680 ABs, so his longest possible injury is for the remainder of the game, meaning that even if he gets injured, his replacement (another non LFer, as there would be no other LFers on the roster) would be in LF for at most a few innings.

Your input on this would be greatly appreciated. - Bernie W

People have tried it, seems like someone wanted to have an OF of Mays, Mantle, and Duke Snider way back in the day..........my one suggestion is carry only [b:7bdc5decda]3 OFers[/b:7bdc5decda](not just LF), your starting CF, a starting RF who DOES NOT PLAY LF, and Hack

Diabolical :twisted:

but in the case of m,m,& snider, wouldn't they be a 2/3 in lf/rf?

From the rules:
25.2 Sometimes injuries will force a manager to use a substitute at an unfamiliar position. If there are no remaining players rated for a position, try to use a similar player there - an infielder in the infield, an outfielder in the outfield.

In most cases, the substitute at the unfamiliar position plays with the worst possible defensive ratings: A 5 range rating, the highest "e" rating for the position, a +5 throwing arm, and/or catcher "T" and "pb" ratings of 1-20.

25.21 The exception is a rated outfielder playing another outfield position that is not listed on his card. In such cases, the outfielder's "e" rating and arm rating remain unchanged. And he does not automatically become a "5". Use the OUTFIELD FIELDING ADJUSTMENT chart on Page 15 to adjust his range rating.

When assigning a player who is rated at two outfield positions to play the third (for which he is not rated), base the new rating on the first outfield position listed on his card. For example, a player is LF-1, CF-3. If you needed to move him to RF, use LF as the basis, which would make him a RF-2.
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So, tough to know how its coded in SOMO

[quote:bdbb916ca6]someone wanted to have an OF of Mays, Mantle, and Duke Snider[/quote:bdbb916ca6]
Any idea how that turned out? Is the person who did that still around?

Dont know, but I remember a discussion on the boards........maybe as far back as ATG2 or 3................I personally dont see it as near the strategy that it might have been in ATG2 or ATG3 with smaller player pools. Why play Hack as a 5 in LF when you can play Kiner as a 4 out there, you know?

[quote:34f8176ad6="andycummings65"]Dont know, but I remember a discussion on the boards........maybe as far back as ATG2 or 3................I personally dont see it as near the strategy that it might have been in ATG2 or ATG3 with smaller player pools. Why play Hack as a 5 in LF when you can play Kiner as a 4 out there, you know?[/quote:34f8176ad6]

Thank you everyone for your contributions so far. Keep the comments coming!

Andy, that's the point. Would he be a 5? According to the rules cited by macnole, he may be a 4 or even a 3 in LF. It sure would be nice to get some clarification from Bernie on this. Even if he's a 4 in LF, at more than a mil+ cheaper than Kiner, he's got to be considered.

In the absence of an official response, maybe I should just start a team and track the defensive results for a full season. But I find it hard to believe that someone out there hasn't already tested this with other players.

Someone out there has got to know the answer. Help us out here. Thanks. - Bernie W

See this link and look for Table 8. It shows that a CF moving to a corner OF spot has the same range as in CF.

http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/btf/pages/basesim/somrules.htm

Or, you could just play by the rules in force at TSN. I'd lodge an official protest if a team tried this in a league I was in and demand that the situation be rectified immediately to comply with the rules used by TSN. If the situation were not rectified, I would request that TSN take over the team. And I am quite confident that TSN would do exactly that.