I know I SHOULD know this, but . . .

[artie4121]

. . . it doesn't appear on the "How to Read a Strat-o-matic card" from what I see.

On the pitchers cards, I see THIS type line.


e0 #1WR pitcher-3 starter(6)@


The "Starter (6)" I get. It's the other stuff. Is it: . . . ?

- e0 is the amount of errors he would get? Like the "e" rating on hitters?
- #1WR is the pitching hitting card that should be used?
- pitcher - 3 is his fielding rating?

Please just confirm. I'm sorry if this is stuff I SHOULD be able to find. I'm good at searching, but have not found a good answer to this.

I have rarely found a group of folks as willing to share their knowledge as I have here. I hope to give back some day when I am smarter.

Thanks in advance,

Artie

[tcochran]

[quote:c3177d5880="Artie412"]e0 #1WR pitcher-3 starter(6)@[/quote:c3177d5880]

Hi Artie, for info like that, click on any pitcher's card and then click on the line "How to read a Strat-O-Matic card." See "Defensive error rating" and "Hitting ability."

I believe the entry you quoted means:

e0: Expect 0 errors for 162 games
#1: Hitting ability/overall offensive rating, where 1 = lowest
W: Home run power, W = No, N = Yes (?)
R: Bats right-handed
pitcher-3: Fielding range, like 1b-3
starter(6)@: SP who gets fatigued after 6 IP

[maligned]

W= Weak (when any player with a W is hitting, all homeruns on pitchers' cards become SI**)
N = Normal (all pitchers' card homeruns are homeruns)

Hitters (or pitchers off of their pitchers' hitting cards) with a W rating can still hit homeruns, but only off of their own cards.

[TomSiebert]

Everything tcochran rings true to me, except:

>>>starter(6)@: SP who gets fatigued after 6 IP

Doesn't the (6) mean it's the first inning they can get fatigued? Not AFTER they've pitched six innings?

tws

[tcochran]

From the "how to read..." section again:

"S6" or "starter(6)" means the pitcher can start games, and in general he can go 6 innings before being susceptible to tiredness. "

[artie4121]

Thank you guys. It wasn't that clear to me. I'm glad I'm in smart company.

Now a Stealing question, and I KNOW this is not clear on that describer.

Two examples:

1. stealing-(C) *7/- (16-6)

From what I THINK this says is (after the C rating) that this runner will be held on (*) and that if a "7" is thrown by the dice, he WILL get a good lead. [i:a69682cd14]I am NOT sure what the "-" means.[/i:a69682cd14] The (16-8) means that if he does get a good lead, he is safe 1-16 on the split cards. If he does NOT get a good lead, he is safe 1-8 on the splits.

2. stealing-(E) 3/12 (13-5)

I am guessing that the "3" is the number he needs to roll for a good lead. What is the 12? (similar to the "-" coming after the /.)

IS that second number a "pick off" chance that needs another split in the case of the "-"? It isn't clear on the explanation below.


[quote:a69682cd14]Detailed steal rating (following the A-E rating) -- The first number is the dice-roll (2-12) probability that the runner will get a good lead;[i:a69682cd14] the second number is the roll he would be picked off. [/i:a69682cd14]Numbers not listed are the numbers he doesn't get a good lead. A wide range of getting a good lead usually means the player attempts many steals. A wide range of the second number means he gets picked too often. [/quote:a69682cd14]


My bet is that I am not the first newbie OR even experienced SOM fan who was confused on these points.

Maybe there should be an "SOM for Dummies." I would be the first in line.

Thoughts?

And thank you again!

Artie

[coyote303]

Taking your two examples:

> 1. stealing-(C) *7/- (16-6)

The C is his rating for the basic game and is meaningless except to give you an idea how good a stealer the player is.

Two dice are rolled. If a 7 is rolled, the runner gets a good lead and must steal (1-16 safe before adjustments). If anything else is rolled, the runner may steal using the second number (1-6 safe before adjustments).

The * means he automatically gets a good lead if not held.

> 2. stealing-(E) 3/12 (13-5)

The 3 gives the runner a good lead. The 12 means the runner is automatically out trying to steal.

By the way, to steal third, you must get a good lead to attempt the steal and then you use the second number. If you fail to get a good lead, the runner stays put.

[maligned]

[quote:b5ed10f716="tcochran"]From the "how to read..." section again:

"S6" or "starter(6)" means the pitcher can start games, and in general he can go 6 innings before being susceptible to tiredness. "[/quote:b5ed10f716]

This is a direct quote, but it's a bit misleading. In fact, susceptibility to tiredness begins in the endurance rating inning, or if a pitcher gives up a load of runs in a short amount of time. However, Artie, you should know that in general the game engine is pretty amazing at having S6 starters average around 6 innings and S7 starters average around 7 innings. It's quite reliable.

[tcochran]

Thanks to coyote303 for trying to explain base stealing. It even looks like the words are in English -- although I agree with Artie412 that this is a confusing area.


Perhaps if a couple more players could be compared? For example, here are a couple of guys from the current card set:

Jose Reyes: stealing-(AA) *2-5,11,12/- (19-15)

Jorge Cantu: stealing-(C) 5/- (15-6)


So, taking these step by step, let's see if I've got it:

(AA) vs. (C): These letters have no impact on the online game, but if the other entries follow the same comparison, then Reyes is a MUCH better base stealer than Cantu.

* : Reyes will automatically get a good lead, unless the pitcher holds him on; Cantu will not -- BTW, how is the hold determined?

"2-5,11,12" vs. 5: Reyes has 6 numbers before the slash mark, so this means he will get a good lead on any of those numbers (even if the pitcher holds him on, right?); Cantu will only get a good lead on a 5.

- : Any numbers after the slash indicate when the runner will get picked off. In this case, neither Reyes nor Cantu will ever get picked off?

(19 vs. (15 : If the runners have good leads, then Reyes will be safe on 1-19 rolls and Cantu will be safe on 1-15 rolls.

-15) vs. -6): Even if the runners do not have good leads, they could still be safe, Reyes on 1-15 rolls and Cantu on 1-6 rolls.


coyote303, you also mention "before adjustments." I imagine this means taking into account the pitcher's hold rating and the catcher's arm, right? How do those numbers work?

And then finally, as a practical matter, how do we use all of this information? Yes, the detail is interesting, but aside from trying to draft Reyes instead of J.J. Hardy, how do we use it? For the online game, what do the dice roll numbers tell us that the basic "A" vs. "E" info does not?

For example, we would set Reyes to "Steal more" and Hardy to "Don't steal." What else would we do?

And when would we set the team's base stealing tendencies to "Very Aggressive" vs. "Normal?"

Aaaagggghhhh! I think I need another cup of coffee...

[Mean Dean]

It might help to think in terms of percentages. Let's take just the first part of the reading, when we're dealing with the two six-sided dice. [url=http://boardgames.about.com/od/dicegames/a/probabilities.htm]Here[/url] is a page that shows you the relevant probabilities. Again:

Reyes *2-5,11,12/-
Cantu 5/-

This means Reyes gets a lead on a roll of 2, 3, 4, 5, 11 or 12. That adds up to a 36% chance of a lead.

Cantu gets a lead on a 5. That's an 11% chance.

Since neither has a number after the slash, neither of them has a roll on which they're automatically caught stealing. That is different than a pickoff (see below.)

Okay, now the second part of the reading, which deals with the 20-sided dice. You convert these into percentages by simply multiplying by 5. 6 = 30% chance, 19 = 95% chance, etc.

Reyes (19-15)
Cantu (15-6)

So, if Reyes has the lead, he begins with a (19 * 5%) = 95% chance to steal 2nd. The pitcher's hold and catcher's arm are then added into this. For instance, if the pitcher has a -1 hold and the catcher has a -2 arm, then you'd subtract their combined total, 15%, from the chance. The combined pitcher's hold and catcher's arm can't add up to more than +25% or -25%. Then 10% is subtracted if the runner is held on base (which, being Jose Reyes, he pretty much always will be). The final percentage can't be lower than 5%. If the runner is being held on, it also can't be higher than 95%.

If Reyes doesn't have the lead, he begins with a (15 * 5%) = 75% chance to steal 2nd. Again, add in pitcher's hold/catcher's arm with a limit of +/- 25%. This time, if he's held on, subtract 20%.

Stealing 3rd works the same way as stealing 2nd without the lead. If you [i:2115740444]don't[/i:2115740444] have the lead, you can't steal 3rd at all.

Stealing home is a straight 45% off the second steal number. If the runner is being held (this is rare, even for Jose Reyes), take off the additional 20%. Again, you must get the lead in order to attempt it.

Same calculation for Cantu ;) The only difference is, because Reyes has a *, if he is not held on base, he will always get the lead. Cantu, lacking the *, needs to roll for the lead even if he is not held on.

Finally, I said I'd also explain pickoffs. Every time you go for the lead, there is a 5% chance of a potential pickoff. Whether the pickoff occurs depends on the runner's second steal number. So, Reyes has a 75% chance to be safe on the potential pickoff. Cantu only has a 30% chance.