Tips for the Newbies: Back to the 80's Edition

[djtrickster]

The basics of the game are covered on the game's menu under INFO - rules/FAQ. On that page you can read the related FAQs on how to read a player's card.

To learn a bit on how to calculate the probabilities, this website covers the topic very well:

[url=http://strato.berce.us/dice.htm]Dice Probability on Strat Cards[/url]

How do you apply the dice probability to reading your player cards? Looking at the above dice probability chart you can see that 2's and 12's are a LOT harder to get than a 7. The stuff that happens in the middle of the card is way more important because it is more likely to happen. If you don't want to think too hard about this, let me put it this way: if there is a lot of bold black ink in the middle on a hitter's card, it's a good card. The opposite is true of a pitcher's card: the less bold black ink in the middle means a good pitcher's card.

Another helpful resource for looking up the important stats that aren't found on this site (like BA/OBP/SLG split out against Lefties and Righties) try this site:

[url]http://www.retrosheet.org[/url]


[b:27c47211c8]Tips for figuring out which card you have[/b:27c47211c8]

1. Injury
2. Rare events (HBP, triples)
3. Splits and Ratios

Injury - this is probably the best indicator. If your batter is injured, look at the play by play of that game. Note what happened when he was injured and the handedness of pitcher.

Most injuries are "Lineout max plus injury" on the batter's card but not always. Let's say the play by play of your game said he was HBP and then injured and that happen while he was facing a LHP. Go through each season of your batter and if there is only 1 season where there is a HBP plus injury against LHP... Bingo. You now know exactly what season you have.

Pitchers can get injured only when they are facing the opposing DH and the roll is 6-12 ("the devil's roll" for the three 6's). So, when your pitcher is injured, check out what hand the DH was batting with. If your pitcher was injured when the DH was struckout, look at the handedness of the DH and look for the strikeout at 6-12 on your pitcher's card.

Sometimes you can narrow it down to a couple of seasons. That's also helpful.

"Rare" Events - We're not talking about the rare plays, we're talking about HBP and triples for the most part. There are some seasons where a batter doesn't get HBP and others where he does. This can help narrow down the possibilities. Same with triples - just keep in mind that a batter can still hit a triple even if there isn't a triple on his card (it may be on the pitcher's card or the other team's outfield can give up triples) so it is not as conclusive as a HBP. Popouts are similar to triples.

Intentional Walks - I don't know how many of us buy this theory but I would guess "most" vets think the following is true: HAL knows what season your players are so if you are in a clutch situation and your batter is a positive clutch hitter, he will be intentionally walked more often. Taking this further, consider what the clutch is for the batter behind the positive clutch hitter. Maybe the guy who is constantly getting intentional walked isn't a great positive clutch hitter maybe it's because the guy behind him is a big negative in the clutch.

Lefty/Righty SPLITS - This is the mainstay for most successful vets. This is what separates the guys who can only identify by injuries and the managers who are consistent winners. Basically everything is about ratios...

Doubles to HRs per AB... Strikeouts to Walks per PA (or IP for pitchers)... the list goes on and on but those are good ones to start with.


[b:27c47211c8]How long should you wait until you make a change?[/b:27c47211c8]

The general consensus is 100 AB's for hitters, 60 IP's for Starting Pitchers, and 20-30 IP's for Relief Pitchers. Another suggestion is that enough data is accumulated roughly a few games before the salary hits come into effect at 42 and 142 games.

Managers who consistently make rosters moves before their players accumulate less than the above benchmarks are RARELY successful in the long run.


[b:27c47211c8]How can I get advice on my team?[/b:27c47211c8]

Once your team is drafted, come back to the Back to the 80's board and start your own thread (click on New, then Discussion).

Post a link to your team in your post (in your league, click on Statistics, then click on your team name, then copy and paste the address in your post).

It should look something like this:

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=35876

[honestiago1]

I found this post very helpful. I was already checking the R/L splits and such, but the injury info, plus 6-12 info helped, as well.

This seems to me, by far, the best incarnation of online strat. The element of the mystery card adds the right touch of uncertainty. I also like the fact that, even when you do get the occasional low-performer who's a good player, you still have to balance all the player can do before making a move (as I had to do when dumping Evans for Strawberry).

It goes without saying, of course, but examining the number of good years versus bad years when drafting is a must. I thought Dayley was WAY underrated. None of his years are awful. I think Jacoby is underprice for what he can do (but he needs to be in a hitt'er park to really shine).

Finally, this has nothing to do with "tips," per se, but I'd like to see more pitcher batting leagues. Seems to me you have to make REAL choices about your bench and RP (of course), and you have to balance defense more carefully. Case in point: I have Hal McRae, '83, a very good hitting card (not his best, but very good). I have him at DH right now. If it was a pitcher's league, I'd have to strongly consider how much I'd want to use him, with that horrid +3 arm and 4e16 fielding rating. I'd REALLY have to think about it if I got his 133 RBI year. Seems like that would be so much more fun than the DH league, where you can carry 13 players and hardly use the end of your bench.

[Outta Leftfield]

Bumped for the benifit of newbies. I'm adding a useful comment from the original "Help for the Newbies" thread on the old board.

[quote:676166cd71]
I have found that one of the keys to all of the TSN/Strat games is ones ability to maximize performance for the dollars being spent. Managers who burn through players, whether at 95% or 80% simply compound the challenge of maximizing value/perfomance. The beauty of the mystery card game is that a manager who takes chances and makes mistakes, can still rebound and make a run for the play-offs through savvy late season moves.
Beyond this key factor, knowing how to best use the talent on your roster is critical. It is sometimes funny to see how a .75M infielder is left in a back-up role all season long despite hitting over .300 while a 5.0M player languishes under .250. Some of my best starters have cost less then 2M. But just because Mike Caldwell goes 22-6 one season,doesn't mean he is going to repeat the feat every year. Once again, this is what makes Back to the 80's so much more enjoyable and challenging than the simpler 200X/ATG Strat games.

IM Bacchus

[/quote:676166cd71]

[ROBERTVOZZA]

That, along with some other posts has been a tremendous help for me to understand how this game works.

Unfortunately for me, my time availability is so slim, that knowing what I now know helps me realize exactly how much work I am looking at just to not lose 120 games. :wink: SWP

[ROBERTVOZZA]

I will know why. :lol:

[bjs73]

Bumped for the sake of the masses. This thread needs to be a sticky. It has too much good stuff in it.

[Outta Leftfield]

This seemed like a useful summary, so I thought I'd paste it in from another thread.

[quote:9416e0be63="AdamKatz"] If card has more than 600 plate appearances (ABs + BBs) a player can't get injured more than some number of games less than 10. ( I forgot).
[/quote:9416e0be63]

The number is three games--so if somebody is injured for more than 3 games, it means that the had less than 600 PA (plate appearances.) This helps alot when there are several years that have the same injury event (lo max--lineout in to the maximum possible number of outs--is the most common). Sometime four of the five cards will have "lo max." If you can rule out the years with more than 600 PA because of a long injury, that can really narrow down the years.

Beyond injuries, there are a lot of other indicators that can be extremely helpful. One is rare events, like HBP, triples and such. Another is platoon data--is the player hitting righties or lefties better? Often that varies from year to year and can really narrow things down. Combining platoon data with triples (or HR or doubles) can often help a lot. Lets say a player has a year when he has a lot of triples against LHP (but no other year is like that.) If he's hitting a lot of triples for you against LHP, you've got a strong indicator that that is your year. These kind of indicators can help a lot by preventing you from dropping a player who is in a good year, but has had some bad rolls early on.

One excellent source of platoon specific statistics is "retrosheet"
http://www.retrosheet.org/

This site is kind of a bible for the 80's game because it gives platoon data for every player year.

[The Last Druid]

Outta LF: Thanks for your advice and this post. You're awesome!!

[Outta Leftfield]

[quote:0248c94bec="Petrosian"]Outta LF: Thanks for your advice and this post. You're awesome!![/quote:0248c94bec]

Hey--you helped me a lot with my first ATGII team (in Yankee'27), so I'm just returning the favor! :D :wink:

[ddeakin]

Posting some info from YountFan that I did not know....

[quote:17d5f4c6e4="YountFan"]BP HR run from 0 to 8 chances. 0 is better than 8, but BP HR is only one factor when considering a pitcher.

Each card has 108 chance vs LHP and 108 chances vs RHP. It is based in the number of different way two die can be rolled. A two can only be rolled one way whereas 7 can be rolled 7 different ways (ie 7 chances).

A BP chance is dependent where on the card it fall, If it falls on 2 or 12 it is one change, falls on 7 it is 7 chances. Each player can have a max of 8 chances per side on their card. So a player with 8 BP chances could have them on 1 and 7, or 3 and 5 etc. And they can have a different number per side. The link above explains this very well.

If your park has a 10 BP HR rating and your 'roll' on a BP chance you have and 50% chance if it being a homer. in an 15 park 75%, in a 5 park 25%.[/quote:17d5f4c6e4]