Good hit-No pitch Astrodome Team: Makes Finals, Loses Finals

[Outta Leftfield]

When I was just starting my first Astrodome team I posted it here at the forum and got a lot of good advice. I thought I'd give you an end of season update, since it's turned out to be a pretty interesting--and to me surprising— team.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=76284

What's interesting about it is: good hit, no pitch. Even though it's in the Astrodome, the team is second overall in runs scored. On the other hand, for much of the season, it was worst in ERA. Though we've managed to claw our way up a few notches on the pitching list, the team ERA is still an ugly 4.89 (league average 4.62).

So, did the Astrodome make no difference? Maybe yes, maybe no, but I think that, yes, it did. The team ERA at home is an elegant 3.68 but on the road it's an ugly 6.13. By contrast, after 153 games, the hitters have scored 359 runs in the 'Dome and 523 on the road. So is this a 700 run team or a 1050 run team? I think these are really unusual park effects--the swings even in extreme parks aren't usually THAT big.

Anyway, the net effect is that the team is making the playoffs (we're currently 84-69), though there are two other teams going in with much more impressive records, so we won't be having the home field advantage. I'm hoping my pitchers decide that the 'Dome side of their personality represents their true selves, and that the hitters show that they are more truly represented by their road performance.

Has anybody ever seen a team perform as contrary to the park as this one? Or has anyone ever seen such pronounced home road splits? The team has a lot of other interesting features that might be worth a note or two. :wink:

[pyramid1]

there must have been quite a few teams in your league with hitters parks. The home-road stats lend to this theory.

[baracus68]

[quote:613aec7123]there must have been quite a few teams in your league with hitters parks[/quote:613aec7123]

I'm in this league, and I wouldn't say there are an inordinate number of hitter's parks. Outta's division has got a Fenway, but it's also got a Shea to balance that out, plus a Yankee, which seems pretty neutral, and elsewhere around the league there are a Candlestick, a Busch, and an Oakland to balance out the two Wrigleys and some fairly neutral parks.

In other words, I don's really know how to explain it except to point out that there are a lot of flatout mashers on Outta's team: Singleton, Daniels, Puckett, Ripken, etc., etc. I like to play in the Astrodome but I've always figured you had to have a team of singles hitters and speedsters there. I stand corrected.

[Outta Leftfield]

What baracus68 is too modest to say himself is that he has a much better team than mine, at 100 wins and counting with six games to go, because his team can hit AND pitch. In fact, he's tops in both categories.

But to pick up on the point about mashers, I decided to model my general approach to the Astrodome on my general approach to my Royals teams (of which I've three or four) which is to go for high OBP plus as many HR as I can get. This leads to guys like Daniels, Singleton, etc. who have both strong OBP and good power. I generally try to get Trammell at SS but missed him and instead got Ripken in a trade. He seems to be doing OK. Anyway, in Royals I try to get 160 to 200 HR and post a high OBP and if you do that you're going to score some runs. Speed is nice but I'm last in the league in steals. I think OBP is a lot more important....

Of course, a case could be made that I should have spent more money on pitching.... :wink:

[honestiago1]

I had a 'Dome team that posted over 200 HR's and made the finals (Schmidt was on that team, and WClark, Aikens, Moseby, Matthews). 'Course, Clark & Aikens actually did play in bad HR parks, so Dome wasn't all that bad to them. Schmidt's avg. sucked, but he did hit 30+ homers ('cause he's just Mike Schmidt, right?).

Conversely, I drafted a Murph team with Armas, VHayes, Luzinski, Franco, GDavis. It's hit 220m HR's with 6G to play, but is sub-.500 at home (45-30 on the road -- best in the league). The problem, as I can tell, is flyball pitchers (Higuera [who's winning, despite the HR's]; Soto; Henke; Holland [who's 18-3 in relief] and Doyle Alexander); 236 HRA, that's how bad (and Armas' card is that heavily weighted toward righties one).

[Outta Leftfield]

As a final update, my good hit-no pitch Astrodome team made the finals, but lost in four games to baracus68's outstanding Bukowski's team. Which just goes to prove it helps to have both hitting and pitching.

Here's the baracus68's Championship team, which compiled its league leading ERA in Wrigley and also placed 2nd in runs scored (by just a handful) to my 'Dome sluggers. :D

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=76402

Again, an irony is that the league leader in runs played in the 'Dome and the league leader in ERA played in Wrigley. Go figure... :wink: