I don't get it.

First league. 12 team league. 63 games have been played.

I am second in my division. 6 games under .500. But in the stats, I am +27 runs, third in ERA and fourth in OPS of the 12 teams. I am the ERA leader in my divison, and the OPS leader in my division. The first place team is minus 50 in run differential. This just seems really odd. And it doesn't seem like much fun.

Also, only 1 of the 12 teams has a losing home record. And only three of the teams have winning road records, The winning road records are only 2 or game over .500. I assume part of the reason for my losing record is that I have 9 fewer home games than away games. Compared to real life that is far too big of a factor.

patience grasshopper

It seems as though the standard card game, without the random elements like .010 home advantage is a more realistic simulation.

It seems as though the standard card game, without the random elements like .010 home advantage is a more realistic simulation.

A lot of the black box items that some of us are contending should be disclosed are the things meant to make the game more realistic.

Weather they actually do or not is difficult to say.

It seems as though the standard card game, without the random elements like .010 home advantage is a more realistic simulation.

A lot of the black box items that some of us are contending should be disclosed are the things meant to make the game more realistic.

Weather they actually do or not is difficult to say.

I think you meant "whether" not "weather", but the funny thing is that one of the biggest variables in real life baseball is wind. As far as we know this is a non-factor in this game. But I digress. Clearly things like the .010 home field advantage are more arbitrary than realistic. I am sure it is true that over time teams have higher averages at home than on the road. But a huge part of that is teams acquire players that fit their stadiums. Players do the same in this game. If you do it well, it should be reflected. But simply adding on .010 doesnt' seem logical. And this is one of the things we know. I have no reason to assume the "hidden" elements add realism. I am not even sure if being a realistic simulation is the goal.

There is always the playability vs realism dialectic inherent to a successful baseball simulation. SOM is infamous for touting how realistic their simulation is, particularly the computer simulation. However, a closer inspection of their on-line product suggests that their vaunted realism is little more than hype. Historically, they develop algorithms that they think will effectively simulate an aspect of the game. Prominent examples of this are clutch hitting introduced in the early '90's, park effects (including but not limited to the 10% home field advantage discussed in this thread), and their pathetic injury charts/rules. Invariably, they dichotomize what are inherently linear variables - this alone introduces unnecessary 'noise' into what they are trying to accomplish. Then, to add insult to injury (pun intended) they are entirely refractory to contrary feedback, i.e. concerns that the ball park effects are drastically overblown without the addition of the highly arbitrary home field advantage. Not only do they not address feedback of this nature, they studiously ignore it.

They are not a customer friendly organization, as evinced by Garcia's locked 'blog' where he talks at the community while completely eschewing any sort of dialogue with the community.

To return to your question which appears to have prompted this thread, there is a strong positive correlation between run differential and W-L record. However, the number of games played in your league is far too small to be meaningful. However, I assure you if you play 1000+ teams the strong correlation will be borne out.

BTW- Saltman is well aware of the proper use of whether vs weather. He is just a bit sloppy at times when posting. But I am sure he appreciates your cleverly calling attention to his inadvertent faux pas.

LOL- yes,

I am now trying to weather my grammatical errors--
as long as you don't mention them to a player named I.Strether I think it will hopefully be okay.