March Madness B2, Rd 2 - Panzer wins 101!

[Semper Gumby]

[b:f6abcc1086]Andre Dawson[/b:f6abcc1086] and [b:f6abcc1086]Jim Rice[/b:f6abcc1086] are tales of two cards so far this season.

In Dawson's first 24 games, he found himself fired twice after delivering a sub-.350 OPS. I'm sure the previous owners felt they drew Dawson's 1984 season so keeping him around for another 5 or 6 series didn't seem prudent.

Despite his sub-optimal performance, I took a flier on Andre after reviewing the box scores and observed that his splits pointed to season other than 1984's.

In his first 21 games with Chit Happens, he is sporting a respectable .752 OPS while playing roughly half of his games outside of Jack Murphy stadium and facing a decent mix of LH/RH Ps. Of interest, he has zero HRs vs. LHPs but also has zero triples since joining my squad.

On the other hand, Jim Rice's performance has done everything possible to place himself in the Free Agent box. However, my analysis of his outcomes doesn't square up with his horrorific 1988 season despite the sub-optimal results. Of course, Rice has been hitting in spurts and I'm hoping he turns the corner to finish with 35+ HRs which would be a nice ROI.

[Rigged Splits]

The wind must be Jablowing in a Wrigley all the time this season. My team has hit ten more homers on the road than at home. Guys like Teufel, Brett, and Sheets haven't taken advantage of the park yet. All of Sheets' 6 homers, 5 of Teufels' 7, and 2 of Brett's 4 have been on the road. Teufel and Sheets have 8 BPHR and Brett either 6 or 8 vs righties. Kingman is the only one taking advantage of the park. :(

Does SOM take into account that the wind Jablows in most of the time in the spring?

[1st Command Commando]

Playing at the Launching Pad, I've got this player who sports .800+ OPS for all five mystery cards and has not missed a single game yet.

176 21 9 8 20 22 2 5 .165 .352 .266


So, he homers every 22 ABs, Strikes out exactly twice as much as he walks, hits in the middle of the line-up as befits an .800 OPS, of which about .500 comes from power. He costs north of $4 mil.

Would you,

Cut him?
Continue to wait him out?
Blame HAL?
Blame loaded dice and advise him never go to Atlantic City - wait, you can't gamble there right now anyways....

Freakin Bob Horner. And to think you launched all your homeruns at the very park I selected for this round. BUMMMM!!!!!!!

I don't know which is more unbelievable - the stat line above or the fact he hasn't been injured yet. I'll say this, first 15 gamer, or game 78, whichever happens first, Mr. 4 homeruns in one game is going to be unemployed!!!!!!

[Semper Gumby]

Of little glove and less bat?

Incredible season here with some typical blue chip hammers looking a little dull despite the small parks and favorable pitching match-ups.

Maybe pitchers finally have the book on Bob some 20 years later. :?

[Semper Gumby]

With the medical program that Jab's team is utilizing, maybe Mark might find a home with Jab's group of pill poppers.

My guys are on a slight slide over the past 10 games which coincide with [b:0d8360eb9e]Fisk[/b:0d8360eb9e]'s third injury vacation. Despite appearing in 153 games (actual card) and stepping up to the plate over 580 PAs, the TSN engine will insure that he sees no more than 148 games this sim season.

Still waiting for the real [b:0d8360eb9e]Jim Rice [/b:0d8360eb9e]card to come out but [b:0d8360eb9e]Andre Dawson's [/b:0d8360eb9e]found his power stroke!

[Rigged Splits]

It looks like this could be the end of the road for Brett. He's available for a quality starter. This is the 85 or 88 Brett (based on HBP in the second series of the year. I don't think I made a mistake) so I'm not going to give him up for another guy that will get clobbered like the rest of my staff. I might give him up for a 2B or SS that can hit.

He wants out but I don't know if I'll give him his outright release.

[BC Manager]

RS, see my message in your inbox.

[Semper Gumby]

Although not an extreme example, here is a boxscore that belies the randomness of HAL's game engine -

[b:3743bd4c10]HAL the Baseball Genuis[/b:3743bd4c10]
As long as I've played this game engine (2003), I can't recall ever seeing HAL issue an intentional walk with a RHP to a RHB to face another RHB especially when both RHBs couldn't hit the water if they fell out of the boat. Perhaps it is genuis to load the bases with less than two outs but I rarely see this tactic done by HAL with any consistency.
[code:1:3743bd4c10]*** BOTTOM OF INNING 4 ***
0 J.Rice 3 Strike Out b-0
1 K.Hrbek 4 Single b-1
1 1 D.Strawberry 5 Single & Error - SS 1-3 b-2
1 23 J.Morrison 0 Int Walk b-1
1 123 J.Newman 3 Strike Out b-0
2 123 B.Doran 3 Ground Out b-0 [/code:1:3743bd4c10]

[b:3743bd4c10]HAL Tipping the Scales[/b:3743bd4c10]
One of my favorite HAL outcomes that end up with bad luck and even worse luck. Lead off triple with speedy Gwynn only to be immediately erased at home (???) on the FC and then the semi-fleet footed Trammell getting picked off first napping on the very next play. What makes it funnier - Trammell doesn't have a green light to steal a damn base.
[code:1:3743bd4c10]*** BOTTOM OF INNING 7 ***
0 T.Gwynn 4 Triple b-3
0 3 A.Trammell 2 Fielders Choice 3-o b-1
1 1 Pickoff 1-o
2 A.Dawson 3 Fly Out b-0 [/code:1:3743bd4c10]

[b:3743bd4c10]HAL Playing Baseball Genuis and Tipping the Scales[/b:3743bd4c10]
Orel with individual settings for "slow hook" and manager strategy for "conservative relief" gets pulled by HAL (did Orel reach his POW? Oh n no - pull Orel HAL as we had TWO OUTS!) only to see reliable Jeff Parrett inserted into the game to nail down the final out of the inning. It is not that Orel is death on RHBs but less than 25% of those RHBs have reached 1B on him this year.

Of course, HAL recalls his genuis move of the inning before and inserts Dave Kingman to PH for Phillips. What happens?

[code:1:3743bd4c10]*** TOP OF INNING 8 ***
0 J.Clark 2 Fly Out b-0
1 L.Sheets 6 Single b-1
1 1 T.Teufel 3 Strike Out b-0
2 1 L.Durham 4 Walk 1-2 b-1
SUBSTITUTE P - Jeff Parrett
SUBSTITUTE PH- Dave Kingman
[b]2 12 D.Kingman 3 Double 2-H 1-H b-2 [/b]
2 2 O.Smith 2 Single 2-H b-1
2 1 L.Dykstra 3 Ground Out b-0[/code:1:3743bd4c10]

Not bad, huh? Well, Ozzie and his miracle bat drive in Kingman's (running 1-13 speed) butt in from 2B.

HAL, I love you.

[Rigged Splits]

HAL's bad baserunning decisions aren't mentioned a whole lot but I think they're worse than pitching decisions. Maybe it's because I still don't know what the settings mean as far as what chance of success aggressive means etc. but runners are constantly being thrown out in situations where not even Waving Wendell would send them. I know it means more programming but there should be settings on stealing and sending runners based on how many runs up or down you are and when, if ever you would steal third or home.

[Rigged Splits]

[quote:7362a7c4dc="Semper Gumby USMC"]Not bad, huh? Well, Ozzie and his miracle bat drive in Kingman's (running 1-13 speed) butt in from 2B.
[/quote:7362a7c4dc]

Ozzie resents that remark. He's got more RBI than Brett. :shock: