Iron Range League

[john duff]

[quote:0e02b2e20e="cwolfson"]But it's an element of strategy that involves manipulating the game simulation that's divorced from "real baseball". So, for example, I'm resisting using guys in this league who did well in very limited AB or IP, even though they're priced accordingly, because I don't like the idea of my "ace" starter being, say, Madritsch or D Bush (no criticism intended of the owners who picked these guys). It just isn't realistic, and I want to pick my team based on some version of "reality" that I can relate to. I'm just not into computer game "cheats" (not "cheating", but the term used for little tricks and loopholes that help players beat game programming).[/quote:0e02b2e20e]

I tend to view the game as almost entirely fictional. There is a card, and it is perhaps called "Curt Schilling", but that card doesn't truly represent either Schilling's true abilities or even performance. The SP*, $ hitting, and even defense are often just pure fiction. Nonetheless, because I can see them on the cards, they become just more pieces in a rather intricate puzzle. A puzzle which, on the whole, does a pretty good job of simulating a baseball season. The largest gripe I have, is the way in which good pitchers who give up a lot of solo HR constantly underperform. Guys who, with a lead, throw strikes (and thus give up HR), are unduly penalized because HAL doesn't understand that they pitch differently with runners on base. Robin Roberts, Fergie Jenkins, Catfish Hunter, Schilling - all these guys have lousy STRAT cards. Guys who never walk anybody are also penalized.

Anyway, I would love to do a strict usage league sometime. If a guy had 397 AB+BB, then when he hit 397 you'd have to drop him. 46 IP? That's all you get. Too bad if he cost 6mil. Thing is, you'd need 12 managers really paying attention to detail, and a commissioner with time and the ability to quash any and all complaints about HAL etc. and enforce the rules. We could call it the Iron Fist League!

[SGTD]

Pope, I played that way when I was a kid and we used the board game. You really had to pay attention to your team. We did it with games played as well (You played 159 Games, you had to miss 3 games at some point, if an injury happened then that would cure that but if you got to game 159 you needed to sit out the last 3 games. It was fun, we did that for Hockey as well. SGT D

[moneymaze]

I don't mind the stats being off of real life, as long as they're occasionally in my favor (I've had a couple of league where virtually my entire starting lineup was between 50 and 150 points lower than their real-life OPS).

Here's an example in the other direction: Barry Bonds for the Great Sand Dune Scorpions: 85 HR, 214 RBI, .434 BA. Wouldn't that be nice to have?

[TomSiebert]

I don't think we have to hew THAT close to realism....part of the fun of the game is the luck of the dice...to follow that road, we'd have to push for making sure the players hit their exact average, pitchers pitch exactly their ERA, etc. The whole goal (for me) is to MANAGE a team to victory, using the information given about the players to maximize their performance. Obviously it can be overdone (RPs hurling 200 innings) and there should be governers for that, when possible. But the new salary structure for RPs makes that increasingly difficult.

tws

[kramed77429]

Guys,

I am back. I just got out of a meeting and will go and get my guys in a jiffy.

[SGTD]

Meat, I took your favorite SP (Moose) and not Haas either :D , that should cheer you up 8) . SGT D

[moneymaze]

I actually was hoping Mussina would still be around... of course, when I had him in the Iron Skillet, his ERA was well over 5.

I'll pick very soon.

[SGTD]

Money, he sucked for Meat and I as well :o . SGT D

[moneymaze]

I try to take the guys who've performed well for me in the past and avoid the ones who haven't. I know one season does not tell all, but it helps. Example: Tomo Okha, who I had in the last two leagues:

2004, Real Life: 3-7, 3.40 ERA, 1.39 Ratio
Iron Skillet: 11-4, 5.67 ERA, 1.45 Ratio
Iron Range: 10-9, 3.29 ERA, 1.29 Ratio

Sorry, he's not eligible for this league (if he were, I would already have him).

[bkoron]

Two years ago, I was interested in having restricted usage. But now I'm less than interested, because the player pricing is not based on what the players did in real life; it is based on what they can do in TSN/SOM.

Now where's the beef? C'mon meat!

8)