Who needs fielding?

[AdamKatz]

Just when you think youve figured this game out...

Just completed a season with a 107 win team and lost in game 7 of the finals.

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=73294

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=73146

The team that beat me was starting Madlock at 2B, Smalley at SS and platooning MHall and GBraggs in CF.

No, there were no injuries, thats the team.

Maybe its a Jack Murphy thing.

Im not bitter (OK, maybe a little) but I just wanted to share this. So the next time someone tells you that you need a 1 or 2 in 2B, SS or CF, send them a copy of this message.

[bjs73]

Defense is the icing on the cake but it isn't the cake. I've played an entire season with Jim Morrison as my 2B before in the Kingdome. I was playoff bound with that team too.

Defense is important and I like to have it but it doesn't make or break any of my teams. Like YountFan says, defense is a team concept.

[Hakmusic]

They also had Schmidt, Carter, J Clark, K Mitchel on a good card, and Mel Hall hitting like God. That can make up for a few singles and some errors.

I am a proponant of Defense, and one of my best teams had Franco at SS, but I also had Schmidt set a HR mark, and a bunch of other hitters on their best cards. A great Offense can overcome shoddy D, but if you are not getting that kind of production, the D can kill an otherwise good squad.

[honestiago1]

If you go with the Moneyball theory, defense is of little importance, compared to production. That's not strat, of course, but I do wonder if a team of poor ranges, but low e's would perform decently enough to win. If you have really good WHIPs among starters, then you naturally don't need as tight a defense (fewer baserunners=less need of DP's to get out of jams). We know that middle IF 4's, generally speaking, are freakin' poison, however, over the course of 162 games. That said, I am certain a team of all 3's in the IF, all of whom produce, will do rather well. A 3 is, after all, average D.

[bjs73]

[url=http://forums-beta.sportingnews.com/viewtopic.php?t=70332&highlight=defense+defence+wins+championships]Defense Wins Championships (in Strat-O-Matic)[/url]

This was a good topic on Strat-O defense and what you can expect to give up with poor D (by range) over the course of a season.

Even though top rate defense is desireable, Hak and honestiago are right, if your production can compensate for what you will have to give up - statistically speaking - over the long haul - then you can expect to have a winning ball club with par and sub-par fielding.

Cheers.

P.S. Sometimes s*** happens, especially in the playoffs, Adam. You're in good company. :wink:

[honestiago1]

Damn right, sh*t happens. I got an 84-win team into the finals, and it had very little going for it. That 3-of-5 hurts the better team, as they can't cash in on their depth and/or talent advantage (over 7 games, you'd expect the superior team to win out). I'm convinced a team of great defenders with 2-3 decent SP's, a good closer will get you at least a .500 record. A deep pen will get you a very good record. I just played a season using the historical disks, won over 100 games with the following players making major contributions:

Player (range rating)
C-Carter (2)
1B-Hernandez (1)
2B-Sandberg (2)
SS-Smith (1)
3B-Reitz(1)/Gruber(2)/Rose(3)
LF-Cruz(2)/Miller(1)
CF-Pucket(1)
RF-Miller(2)/Rose(1)

I hardly ever had a 4 in the field (NEVER in CF all season long). Got a 22 in season out of Morris and 20 out of Tanana. Very low ERAs from Goose (37 saves) and Eichorn (he was almost unhittable). Rest of pen featured Holland, Howe, Harris. Rest of staff (mix and match rotation): Guzman, C. Young, Boyd, Camp (who gave up 3 runs in 7 starts somehow). Oh, and we played in Wrigley all year in an all-DH league.

Granted this was computer sim , and it's pretty easy to win close games with good managing. But bullpen+Def usally equals a good record. Most of my simulations prove this. It doesn't always work out that way in Strat, but I've gotten some consistent 80-win seasons out of defense and pitching (I play almost exclusively ni the Astrodome). Make of this what you will.