HAS SOMETHING NEW (Pitching Etiquette) BEEN DISCOVERED???

If a league has rules it is your responsibility to understand and abide by them. This is not something that I have ever worried about. I think this is much ado about nothing

Next time , take the time to read the league discription and stop trying to change the league rules after you join. This is a dead horse - stop beating it.

- The Sheik

I think there is no need for strato to make any kind of rule. It is impossible to take advantage of this loophole via repeated trades without getting caught and strato nailing you for collusion. In other words there is already a rule, namely that 2 owners cannot collude to gain an advantage for one or the other.

Having said that I can understand why the members of that league are upset. Apparently they created a league with clear description of a specific rule. You joined and in doing so agreed to the rule. Now apparently complaining about it and even coming on boards trying to get people to agree with you. Even if we all agreed it would be irrelevant because they stated the rule in the description for the league. So no matter how unreasonable it might have been you should abide or not join. It is that simple. Probably not what you are wanting to hear but it is what it is.

I think you summed it up nicely Valen.

- The Sheik

Don't believe the rule was clear at all, still don't. Regardless, I never tried to change the rule. I was the one who lost because of the Pitch Etiquette violation and said it didn't matter to me. However, I wanted to understand the concept I had never heard of. Perhaps, I or others want to include this in a league of our own? Maybe not?

Not only do I think the rule was unclear, I still don't understand it. And, I don't think any one else understands it well enough to specify it for a league and expect everyone to understand all the implications or how to enforce it. Before I joined and read it, I thought "Hal takes care of that doesn't he?"

The Commish and others got progressively more angry & insulting at simple questions or point/counter points. Just like the last couple of comments, guys in the league didn't have the patience to try to understand, they just wanted a quick superficial answer. It has nothing to do with joining or not joining a league or the Commish is the Commish concept (we aren't even in a league here).

If you look closely, here, I have not only posted some of the Commish's comments, but I have actually written on both sides of the issue myself. That's critical thinking. That's trying to understand.

I may go back and pull out the pith from the comments, rearrange them and make the issue clearer. I would leave out the insults and irrelevant comments. I would leave out my comment asking what if someone traded on the last day of the season because apparently, that's not possible after game 142. I almost never trade and don't know trading well or much at all. The idea that the rule was clearly explained is obviously false to me.

Another guy in the league sent me a private message, said he had been in league with this rule and this Commish before and the same thing happened, misunderstanding, controversy, and people being told to shut up.

Maybe it's much ado about nothing, but then if that's ones position, there is no need to comment at all. Different points of view, insights, on how Pitching Etiquette really works or doesn't work are most welcome : )

I am a member of the league where this pitching etiquette rule controversy arose. I suppose the best place to start is to examine the rule as it appeared in the league description. The rule reads as follows:

"Pitching Etiquette request, if a Starting Pitcher is traded or picked up from the free agents please adhere to that SP's (3) game rest period for *(SP's) & (4) games for all other (SP's) for debut starts unless rotation or injury dictates . . .."

To me, the rule starts off pretty clearly. It's merely restating the standard SOM rule regarding the required rest period for starting pitchers before they can make their next start: Starting pitchers that are designated as SP*need at least 3 games of rest between starts, all other starters need at least 4 games of rest between starts. This is the same rule that we're all familiar with from our days of playing the SOM board game. And the rule indicates that it applies to pitchers acquired from a trade or the free agent group. This all seems relatively straight forward, and the description in the league rules should have stopped there. Unfortunately, it didn't.

The ambiguity arises from the phrase "unless rotation or injury dictates . . .." I believe what the commissioner was trying to say with respect to injuries was that it wasn't a violation of the the pitching etiquette rule if HAL improperly started a newly acquired pitcher (with insufficient rest between starts) because another pitcher was injured. But the real ambiguity arises from the phrase "unless rotation . . . dictates." Does this mean you get to start a pitcher with insufficient rest if you don't have another pitcher with sufficient rest to start? That's certainly a fair reading of the rule. As you can see, it's not completely clear.

I think the pitching etiquette rule should exist if we're shooting for realism. You don't see starters throwing on short rest at the beginning of the season. The trade in question was executed on April 10, 2017, which was only about a quarter of the way through the season. The two pitchers acquired in the trade, Porcello and Tanaka, each threw with only one day of rest after their last start. Aside from the fact that it was early in the season, you wouldn't see two pitchers on the same staff start with only one game of rest between starts.

I was surprised when I learned that HAL didn't take into account time between starts for pitchers once they've been discarded or traded. After all, HAL does keep track of injuries whether a player is traded or released to the free agent group. I don't know much about computer programming, but it seems to me that if HAL has the ability to track injuries the mechanism is already in place to track the number of games before a pitcher is eligible to start.

The most troubling thing about this whole controversy is the lack of civility between league participants. Obviously, we all like SOM, baseball, and are competitive by nature. Otherwise, we wouldn't be playing this game. For me, SOM is an escape from a high stress work environment and chaotic world. I truly enjoy constructing teams and lineups. The last thing I want to see when I come into the world of SOM is sarcasm and personal attacks between the participants. Hopefully, everyone involved in this league can bury the hatchet and be civil towards one another for the remainder of the season.

NOTE: The reason there are two different League Descriptions quoted (mine & Jimbo123's) is because there were two different "Pitching Etiquette" leagues going on at the same time:

1) "Pitching Etiquette request if a SP is traded or picked up from the free agents please adhere to that SP's 4 day rest period between starts unless rotation or injury dictates."

2) "Pitching Etiquette request, if a Starting Pitcher is traded or picked up from the free agents please adhere to that SP's (3) game rest period for *(SP's) & (4) games for all other (SP's) for debut starts unless rotation or injury dictates . . .."

NOTE 2: Sarcasm can be truly funny or mean, depending on the intent and tone ? And, can contribute to a good discussion or escalate anger?

Nice job Jimbo123