Ratings Guide Curse

Is there a difference between an "outside ratings guide" and the Strat-O-Matic Baseball Ratings Book that I have used for the 2013 season(with less than stellar results in the current Championship)? Although I spent many joyous hours last year counting cards for the 60's mystery game with my first online season, I greatly appreciate the SOM ratings book to save time and plan to use future editions.

Is there a difference between an "outside ratings guide" and the Strat-O-Matic Baseball Ratings Book that I have used for the 2013 season(with less than stellar results in the current Championship)? Although I spent many joyous hours last year counting cards for the 60's mystery game with my first online season, I greatly appreciate the SOM ratings book to save time and plan to use future editions.

There is a difference between those who use outside ratings guides and the SOM ratings book, but it's only a difference of degree.

SOM is as much, if not more, a game of statistical/probability analysis as it is a game about baseball. This is most prevalent in the statistical/probability analysis of player cards to determine the best cards. So, as I mentioned in my last post, statistical/probability analysis of a player card is a significant--if not most--significant part of player evaluation. Therefore, those who use the SOM ratings book are using outside help for their player evaluation and are not complete players.

However, they are more complete than those who use more comprehensive ratings guides such as JoetheJet's. By his own postings, and by apparent customer satisfaction, he does an excellent job giving added information to his raw statistical analysis and will even evaluate players' teams for them. Therefore, players using ratings guides such as his are doing even less of their own player evaluation than those using the SOM book...and are thus even less complete players.

sebastian,

The ratings guide you are referring to...is it the Stratomatic Ratings book?

The book gives you valuable info on the # of hit/OB/TB chances for each player as well as the # of gBA's, and more...

I started playing the board game back in the 70's and we counted the cards to get the same info. I didn't buy the book this season, since I've just been using the Excel spreadsheet.

I always recommend counting the cards to the new players. However, if you are in a number of leagues, especially theme leagues, the book CAN save you time building your teams.

visick

While I don't use a guide book, I don't see anything wrong with using one. They are simply a tool that is available. If you were expecting them to magically produce championships, you're going to be disappointed. However, I don't think using one makes anyone "less" of a manager any more than I'm "less" of a driver because I have automatic transmission instead of manual.

visick, yes it is the Strat ratings book. I admit there is a ton of info in there and would probably buy the guide just to see the broken down stats for the players even if I didnt play the game but using it to build my teams has not worked at all. I have had a brutal time with this years card set since I used the guide. I will try my next few leagues using my old tried and true way of building a team and if my teams still suck then I will know I am just not getting this set but if my teams return to where they used to be I will know maybe I am overthinking my teams using the guide.

While I don't use a guide book, I don't see anything wrong with using one. They are simply a tool that is available. If you were expecting them to magically produce championships, you're going to be disappointed. However, I don't think using one makes anyone "less" of a manager any more than I'm "less" of a driver because I have automatic transmission instead of manual.

I never said there was anything "wrong" with using one. They are legal. As, I said earlier, Ortiz is a great partial player in a league allowing partial players. He is not, however, a complete player. Like a talented partial manager who doesn't evaluate players on his own, he is a talented partial player who doesn't field...neither is complete.

Also, the automatic/manual analogy is a poor and insufficient one. Most drivers are not competing against other drivers on the road, so how they shift is irrelevant. However, if two racers were racing against each other, and the automatic function made it easier for a driver because he didn't use his shifting skill himself, then the racer using automatic would be less of a racer than the one using manual. In that case, your analogy actually proves my point.

It's very simple. As I said earlier, but you didn't address:

1. Evaluating the statistical/probability aspects of a player card is an important--if not the most important part--of being a complete strat player.

2. Players letting an outside ratings guide do this part of the game for them are no longer complete players because they do not evaluate players for themselves.

3. While using a ratings guide does give these players an advantage over most all players doing their own player evaluations and should help them win more, they cannot say they won their championships on their own.


P.s. I never said ratings guides "magically produce championships." That was irrelevant to my point. I accurately and correctly said that they help managers win their championships, and they do.

I always recommend counting the cards to the new players. However, if you are in a number of leagues, especially theme leagues, the book CAN save you time building your teams.

Visick is right about the book/ratings guide saving you time; it will do so. If saving time is of prime importance to you, you may want to go that route.

However, it's not just a choice between counting cards/rolls or using an outside ratings guide. You can also read the cards to evaluate them and develop your reading/evaluating skills as you do. The more you play and read/evaluate cards on your own, the more you can just see the 6's, 7's, 8's, the absences of those numbers, and more. It's like that scene in The Matrix where the guys are looking at the screens with green numbers and words, but they actually see the world of the matrix. Because they are so experienced in reading those numbers and words, they truly see what they "say." It's the same with visually reading playing cards and the experience you gain doing so.

So, in the end, you should pick whatever strategy makes you happy. But it's not just a choice between counting cards/rolls and using an outside ratings guide. There are many more ways of evaluating player cards.

Do card patterns matter?

If by "card patterns," you mean the statistics/probabilities on the card columns, then of course they do. They mean almost everything.

If I understand you correctly, I'm surprised you had to ask that.

If by "card patterns," you mean the statistics/probabilities on the card columns, then of course they do. They mean almost everything.

If I understand you correctly, I'm surprised you had to ask that.

That's not what I mean. I know some guys like their hits bunched in the 1 column, others like the 2 column, etc. Played many tournaments and a lot of guys swear by this