Dangerous Cookie

[beavis]

I love having Cookie Rojas on my roster -- at 1.29 million he can backup every position but 1b. His defense is rocky, but he's got a decent stick and can cover for a 15 gamer anywhere but 1b if necessary. But, as with most cookies, there's a downside -- old Cookie is also a backup catcher -- 4(+5)e18. So, I always carry a backup catcher in the hopes Cookie never has to pop a squat -- he's deep, deep third string catcher.

Well, last night, down goes Sanguillen for 7 games. In the final game of the series, down goes Moe Berg for 4 games. So that means -- wait for it -- Cookie and his 4(+5)e18 will be behind the plate for the entire series tonight. God help me!

Actually, it shouldn't make much difference, as my team stinks to begin with.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/stratomatic/team/team_other.html?user_id=365063

[Blutarsky]

I guess there goes the theory of the bulletproof catcher when you're carrying three on your roster. Good to know, but sorry I had to learn it at your expense.

The other side of the spectrum would be me, in that I've had Mickey O'Neil or Buck Martinez play up to 30 games in a season for me and bat somewhere around the .150 mark. Talk about a dead spot in the lineup...

[PotKettleBlack]

[quote:2a1442b390="budo73"]I guess there goes the theory of the bulletproof catcher when you're carrying three on your roster. Good to know, but sorry I had to learn it at your expense.

The other side of the spectrum would be me, in that I've had Mickey O'Neil or Buck Martinez play up to 30 games in a season for me and bat somewhere around the .150 mark. Talk about a dead spot in the lineup...[/quote:2a1442b390]

The theory of the bullet proof catcher only applies to the last catcher on the roster. If you have a third catcher, or even someone else with a C rating that you use elsewhere or sits on your bench (looking at you Lou Boudreau), only the last guy healthy is bulletproof until one of the injured guys comes back.

I'm not sure why people are unclear about this. It is not that the backup is bulletproof, never has been.

Let's draw this out with three examples:
1- standard team:
Starter - INJ 1 - 15 game
Nickel - INJ 2 - 15 game

Starter goes down for 7 games. Nickel is bulletproof for 7 games. Starter returns. Happy.

2- Cheater team live draft:
Josh Gibson - Starter
Frank Chance - switched to the one without a C rating.
Gibson is bulletproof. He is the last catcher standing. Obviously, this is against the "You must carry 2 C at all times" rule.

3- Unintended consequences:
Starter - INJ 1 - 15 G
Nickel - INJ 3 - 15 G
Cookie Rojas
Starter goes down for 15 games. Nickle is in. He is NOT bulletproof, because Rojas can back him up.
He goes down, Rojas is now bulletproof until Starter returns.

Clear?

[Proverbial Psalms]

Bulletproof is not HAL Proof...

Beware... I have had HAL inadvertently (presumably!) remove both rated catchers from a game... with a combination of injury, pinch hitting and pinch running...

Result: No formally-rated catcher available to go behind the plate for the remainder of the game... thus a 5(+5) or whatever the terrible default rating ends up catching for the rest of the game.

If I recall, the injury occured in the same inning where the first catcher was removed for either a PH or PR... perhaps the "bulletproof check" upon injury only consults the injury list, not whether the other catcher is available. Wish I could recall which of the 200 teams that was on :roll:

[dukie98]

I've also seen it where the backup catcher is DH'ing, and the starter is injured -- instead of switching the DH (which, technically, would result in the loss of the DH for the game), I once had HAL plug in George Brett behind the plate. Predictable results ensued...

[Blutarsky]

I've never seen it as a definitive rule. If I recall, the whole "bulletproof catcher" rule isn't even something that we'll find in writing, so forgive me if I haven't gone through all the different scenarios. I usually just carry two catchers, and that's it.

[apolivka]

I never really got a chance to see Manny Sanguillen play. He must have had some epic at bats. I can imagine pitches being thrown in front of plate and over his head, yet he _must_ have been able to foul them off. 19 walks in 533 ABs on that card, and yet, he had two other seasons where he walked fewer times per PA!

[danielz]

If it was a strike, he swung.
If he swung, he hit it.
Very few strikeouts.

[PotKettleBlack]

[quote:2f2b80765d="wjanssen"]Bulletproof is not HAL Proof...

Beware... I have had HAL inadvertently (presumably!) remove both rated catchers from a game... with a combination of injury, pinch hitting and pinch running...

Result: No formally-rated catcher available to go behind the plate for the remainder of the game... thus a 5(+5) or whatever the terrible default rating ends up catching for the rest of the game.

If I recall, the injury occured in the same inning where the first catcher was removed for either a PH or PR... perhaps the "bulletproof check" upon injury only consults the injury list, not whether the other catcher is available. Wish I could recall which of the 200 teams that was on :roll:[/quote:2f2b80765d]

Just had this last night. Starter is down long term. Backup is the starter, and bulletproof. But, not HAL proof, as he is removed for a pinch hitter. Wade Boggs is entrusted with catching duties.

In HAL's defense. Top of the 9th, we were down 7-3 with a man on first and one out, and my backup C cannot hit. So, the odds of any non-C playing C were slimmer than Kate Moss minus Keira Knightly. PH makes an out, but we do go on to score the winning runs.

In the prosecution of HAL: Bottom 9. The pinch hitter was Rafael Ramirez, rated 2e34 at SS, and nowhere else. For some reason, HAL wants to keep him in the game, I suppose to keep remaining 2 bench players available. Instead of replacing the starting short stop, HAL moves Ramirez to 3rd, Boggs to C. Since Boggs is undoubtedly a better 3B than Ramirez, and they are both really rotten catchers, why did HAL not put the tools of ignorance on Ramirez?

[mrharryc]

RE: Sanguillen... I had the opportunity to watch him quite a bit. He came up to the bigs and mimicked his hero - Roberto - who was himself a bad-ball hitter; Manny then took that to an extreme! I think he felt that watching a ball get thrown by him was an insult. Working a pitcher deep into the count was just not in his DNA.

Had a chance to meet him once and he was just a joy to behold; very popular and a guy that truly enjoyed playing big league baseball and everything that came with it. Wish we had more like him.