Initial Observations

[MtheB]

1) In 1969, no more complaints about no RH hitters parks.

2) Speed runs wild, very few killer catcher arms or pitcher hold arms, Bench is over-priced but worth it because of it (hope that made sense). Have noticed so far however, that despite the abundant stolen bases, doesn't seem to be a prominent factor in the W-L column. More about that later.

3) Very few LH power hitters available, particularly at 3B,2B,SS,CF,C.
Quite a few available at 1B, a couple in LF and RF. This makes it tough to build an effective LH power team in a Lefty power park such as Yankee Stadium, particularly if someone else has hankerings for Yaz, Reggie, Stargell, McCovey. Have seen some Yankee stadium team whose only LH power hitters were Bobby Mercer and Joe Pepitone.

4) Left Handed Starters, although there are a good number of decent ones (McDowell, Koosman, Cuellar, etc.), they do not seem to fare as well as in ATG2. Certainly the RH power ballparks are a factor, and the predominant RH power hitters also make a big difference (Howard, Killebrew, Bando, etc.).

5) Seeing alot of platoons both for LH/RH and for defense, much more than ATG2--the lack of superb defense, and the smaller pool of players is a factor. Am seeing lots of platoons at 3B, C, LF and 1B. 3B is tough in 69, not many effective hitters or defensive players available.

6) The draft is totally other. In ATG2, the key was to get the high value/low dollar players high. In 1969, if you don't draft expensive players high, you won't get them and will end up with 10-12 mill going into waivers and little to choose from. I have so far seen quite a few teams after waivers with 5-7 mill to spend and no real impact player available.

7) Very difficult to draft a theme team in 69. The player pool is small, the options are limited. One of the fun aspects of ATG2 was the many options that were available to draft a team to set records--such as in SBs, or Triples, or Doubles, or Strikeouts etc.--very hard to get the players you need in 69 to pull that off. But the limited player pool does create a whole new set of strategies that certainly are fun.

8. Trading is way down from ATG2. Certainly the limited player pool, and shortage of impact offensive and defensive players makes it tough. Have seen very few trades, in most leagues, none. This is something that made ATG2 fun.

9) Reverse hitters and pitchers. Not alot of reverse left pitchers that are effective, quite a few strong reverse righties---but as there is a predominance of RH hitting teams, have to watch out for that.
Very few reverse lefty hitters (Jim Spencer? "-)), a few reverse righy hitters but nothing earth shattering. If only Dick Allen could hit righties like he could hit lefties......

10) So far, the successful teams I have seen have very strong hitting (high OBP hitters 1&2, lots of power at 3,4,5) and have the right cheaper pitchers for their ballparks. Though it is easy to steal against most teams, it is not equating to alot of runs, with the dominant pitching, power seems to be more of a factor. There are a few strong OF arms, nothing like ATG2, and very hard to accumulate 3 killer arms such as Yaz, Reggie Jackson, Reggie Smith all on one team as those OF arms tend to go high. Alot of teams can be run on, will be interesting to see how much a factor that is.

10) Overall? Love the game, the new strategies, the new players. Am off to buy more teams.

MtheB

[SEANCALHOON]

good points mtheb

I like the lesser player pool. I am a traditionalist and hated seeing stacked teams that had a very good player at each spot. Now, there are more platoons, use of one dimensional players. More realistic IMO.

I am doing a 24 team league, and there are going to be some real holes in the lineups. Should be interesting.

[ADRIANGABRIEL]

[quote:39783ed45b]Very few LH power hitters available, particularly at 3B,2B,[b:39783ed45b]SS[/b:39783ed45b],CF,C.[/quote:39783ed45b]

There is little of anything at SS which is why Rico Petrocelli is the guaranteed #1 draft pick in 69 from here to the end of time.

[vince0501]

SS is a big weak spot. I listed Aparicio fifth on my first draft card, and did not get him. Moved him up to third with my second team, still no luck. Can't even get Campaneris as a respectable backup. Looks like I am stuck with Kubiak on both my teams. (oh well, at least a step up from Maxvilll.) :)

[The Biomechanical Man]

mtheb,

I love this game too. To me, it's not comparable to ATG/ATG2 and it's not comparable to 2003/4/5 games either. I think it's something totally different, which makes it fun.

[RiggoDrill]

[quote:6bd87a4bd3]There is little of anything at SS ...[/quote:6bd87a4bd3]
I've been drafting guys like Kessinger & Aparicio around #2 just to make sure I don't get totally screwed at SS. :lol:

[DOUGGRAY]

[quote:8a7e931dc1]There is little of anything at SS which is why Rico Petrocelli is the guaranteed #1 draft pick in 69 from here to the end of time[/quote:8a7e931dc1]

are the teams with Petrocelli winning all the time? I can see this as a HUGE imbalance in the game.

This reminds of drafting Jordan or Gretzsky in fantasy leagues back in the day. Teams that drafted them had an HUGE advantage and therefore NO FUN. We stopped allowing them to be drafted.

I suspect we might see more theme drafts that might now allow Petrocelli since he definitely gives any team a huge advantage.

1969 as purely a numbers game sucks so far. Imbalances like the SS issue really screw up the game and just creates too many unbalanced leagues which isnt good for great competition. Autodraft LUCK should equate to winning period!!!

[DOUGGRAY]

btw, this was another bad decision by TSN in my opinion. They could have worked on other things to generate more revenue :roll:

[abnerdoubleday]

I am in four separate leagues that have each played 30 games so far. The combined record of the Rico Petrocelli teams in those leagues is 62-58 for a .517 winning percentage.

So he is generally on solid teams (3 of the 4 teams have winning records), but does not seem to be the magic formula by himself so far.

[Coffeeholic]

Rico's ceratinly not setting the world on fire for my first team:

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/1969/team/team_other.html?user_id=405

Through 30 games at Shibe: .189 BA; .338 OBP; .378 SLG; 5 HR's.

While he certainly will be the #1 pick in all live drafts, I think that in $80 mil leagues, there are enough other ways to build a team that you can win with a cheap SS. Of course, if you end up with scrappings at C and 2B also... well then... you better have one hell of a pitching staff. :lol: