The card doesn't quite...

There are a few players in the game here that never quite equal the image I have of them on the field. I know, I know, this is a game of statistical simulation, but for me, the cards of Pete Rose and Joe Morgan never quite reach the level of excitement that I associate with them. The frenetic energy of Rose and the left elbow twitching are missing, just like Rickey's mere presence on the basepaths upsetting pitchers. It's my problem, I understand that, the cards are formulae designed to reproduce a known number-driven goal. But, by god, I wish there was some kind of visual connection with these guys.

Anyway...am I alone in thinking this? Or do you visualize some of your team members as you might remember them? Or do you get frustrated with them when the numbers don't seem to translate into the memory you had of them?

It's okay, you can call me crazy.

Bill

You're reading my mind Bill and I agree with you 100%. None of the players you mentioned live up to their real life stats and therefore the excitement. Many players do. Babe Ruth Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Joe Jackson, Joe DiMaggio, etc....... And many players exceed their real life stats but mostly because they are used as role players, platoons, or they are overused (Dale Murray).
My latest disappointment is the new Visquel card.

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/team/1428090

Ed

I've noticed that cards with really strong defense combined with lots of walks are the ones that "seem" to underproduce. Morgan, A-Rod, Edmonds, Rolen come to mind. I also think superb defenders like Cedeno, Vizquel, Cano and Alomar aren't appreciated as much, because, although we know part of their price is great defense, we subconsciously think the 9.75 Cedeno costs as almost much as the 9.99 Cobb, and should hit in a similar manner, for example.


Bill, maybe Pete's card would be more exciting if it had him calling his bookie on 3-12, then a separate chart to see if he bet on the Reds.

I agree with Bill wholeheartedly. I've always been a big Willie Stargell fan and it still gives me goosebumps to watch him standing at the plate twirling his bat at the pitcher before hitting a long home run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulFXXfrjqfI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZGqYT_0T74

I dont know if certain players really enhanced their teams statistically as much as by force of personality. I never have Pete Rose or Ty Cobb on my teams but these were two of my favorite Ballplayers. Joe Morgan, Ricky Henderson and Frankie Frisch also come to mind-guys whos force of competition effused their teams.

I doubt if its even possible but to capture this but I would give all runners a plus 1 if these players were on a team.Adjust the prices accordingly.

My memories of Clemente being such a force of greatness for the Bucs in 60s never seem to translate on the field of dreams that is Strat-o-matic ATG . He does well but that MVP type of seasons never happen. The game especially with the ballpark factors is geared for the HR hitters . Some guys always seem to under perform Alomar, Morgan , Biggio , Ozzie , and Rose to name a few . There are a couple who always seem to give great accounts of their cards at a good price Orlando Cepeda and Ben Oglive are dependable and are almost always on my draft list [100m and under]. I guess we all have our favorites and those who disappoint. Bill

Thanks, guys, for giving me hope that my craziness is at least shared. I especially enjoyed Andy's suggestion that Rose's bookie be brought into the game (maybe under the guise of an "extraordinary play" (or whatever that once-in-a-blue-moon play is called here). And Tony's idea of a boost to the guys whose leadership or game-changing qualities is intriguing.

In the meantime, I'm reading a fascinating book -- Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning by Jonathan Mahler -- about 1977 in NYC (I just noticed there was a miniseries based on the book -- has anyone seen it?). Reggie has center stage in the book (as does Billy Martin -- some extremely poignant pages about Martin). Reggie performs well here in our game, but there is a passage that describes that visual quality that many of us have about the game (and I was just thinking that ironically that visuality may in fact be linked to the fact that baseball has been for many of us a radio game).

Reggie love the whole ritual of hitting. He'd mash his helmet over his Afro, adjust his glasses, and shift around his upper body to make sure that his shirt wasn't pulling too tight. He'd dig his feet into the dirt calmly but purposefully -- first the back, then the front -- making sure there were no stones beneath his spikes. Then he'd take a slow-motion practice swing, stretching his arms out as he eased the barrel through the strike zone, lingering for an extra second at the end, the tip of his bat pointing menacingly at the opposing pitcher. Most hitters free their mind of all distractions when they step up to the dish; Reggie became hypersensitized. He was acutely aware of the bias of the crowd, of the way his uniform clung to his body, of the feel of the lumber in his hands.

Bill

I think I watched that, Bill. It had the "do not seek the treasure" guy from O Brother Where Art Thou as Billy Martin. What's his name, John Turturro or something like that. Seems like it interspersed the Yankees soap opera with subplots about the Son of Sam killer...........

Please define what you mean by "not performing up to expectations."

Does Morgan not walk 100 times, steal a lot of bases with a high success rate if asked, play great defense, and hit double digit HR's for you?

Do you think that defense is overrated? Don't pay for it. I'm sorry that some of your favorite players have great defensive ratings in Strat.

This is not a fan site. This is a competitive game where the idea is to assemble the best possible collection of gae numbers for your team within the parameter defined by the league settings and the strategic decisions made by your competitors in the league.

Personally, I detested Pedro Martinez as a player. He was a pu$$y who headhunted on the mound without fear of retaliation because he seldom had to bat. But I use him a lot because his cards are good values and I win with them.

Please define what you mean by "not performing up to expectations."

Does Morgan not walk 100 times, steal a lot of bases with a high success rate if asked, play great defense, and hit double digit HR's for you?

Do you think that defense is overrated? Don't pay for it. I'm sorry that some of your favorite players have great defensive ratings in Strat.

This is not a fan site. This is a competitive game where the idea is to assemble the best possible collection of gae numbers for your team within the parameter defined by the league settings and the strategic decisions made by your competitors in the league.

Personally, I detested Pedro Martinez as a player. He was a pu$$y who headhunted on the mound without fear of retaliation because he seldom had to bat. But I use him a lot because his cards are good values and I win with them.

Craig, I'm more than a little bummed by your response. I would have "expected" a bit better from you, from what I have seen in leagues I've been in with you.

We all get it, this is a numbers-crunching game, and the best here are probably those that replace "Joe Morgan" with "xxx". Believe it or not, I play the game by reading the cards (though you might not be able to tell by the results I get). Am I in your league when it comes to reading the cards? Not by a long shot. And I bow to your abilities to find the right combinations that allow you to be on top much more often than not. And I mean that sincerely; I take no small pleasure in finishing above you in a league (which I believe might have happened once, maybe twice).

But this thread was just a way of saying that baseball is a sensorial game. Sounds, smells, sights. We all are intimately linked to the game by those. Yes, if any game is number-centric it is baseball, even more so today. But for me (and this is the historian and the little boy speaking), the player represented on the card is missing an element less of fantasy than of a contextual reality. I'll continue to play Morgan's card (though maybe not Rose's, because I can't seem to get it to perform even to its numerical expectations) because it's good. But forgive me when I see in a corner of my mind that left elbow flapping while you see a series of numbers. It also makes me wonder what other small tics earlier ballplayers might have had that established them in a visual reality of their time that is lost forever (the visual historian speaking now). I would have loved to have seen some of those slick fielding firstbasemen of the thirties (if the cards are to be believed), Kuhel, Judge, Suhr, Sheely, these are just names and numbers for us today, the ultimate "xxx"s. But what might we be missing? Did you know that Lu Blue was a chinchilla farmer after baseball or that he started one of the first baseball schools? https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4923319/lu_blue_tiger_star_of_20s_dies/

All that to say, Craig, that again I admire your abilities here, especially that dispassionate way you have of severing yourself from the "reality" that led to the card. I understand this is not a fan site, otherwise I would have Hal Lanier on every one of my teams. All of us approach this game differently with varying degrees of success. You let me dream, I'll let you crunch.

All good wishes,

Bill