October Monthly Challenge

This month's Challenge is GIDP Induced! Every Baseball 365 team that starts play in October is automatically entered, and the teams with the top 3 regular season GIDP Induced totals (Misc. stats tab, pitchers) (.500 record required) win team credits!

This is the first monthly challenge where the four teams getting credits will be almost random, I can't imagine how you could game the system and try to design a roster that will increase your likelihood of having the most GIDP.

Groundball pitchers instead of strikeout pitchers, high WHIP instead of low WHIP, and infielders with great range ???

I'm waiting for the SOM bots to replace managers trying to win the monthly challenge...... "Dear Sir, My excuse why I dropped all my good pitchers is I wanted a mediocre pitching staff that would give up lots of runs and hits and walks so there would be more double play inducements."

If the team is built around pitchers with more gbA on their cards and sharp defensive infielders, those teams should have the potential to increase their GIDP.

A ballpark with high singles rating, low HR rating, Pitchers with GBA on their cards where most of the OBP is walks and not extra base hits or pitchers that only give up singles and walks and not extra base hits, combined with the very highest defensive level in the infield to maximise double plays from x-outs.

A ballpark with high singles rating, low HR rating, Pitchers with GBA on their cards where most of the OBP is walks and not extra base hits or pitchers that only give up singles and walks and not extra base hits, combined with the very highest defensive level in the infield to maximize double plays from x-outs.

While I totally agree with you Charlie, here's a team in a league that I'm in that proves that the most important thing is probably who your opponents are ...

https://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/1522536

Because this team has no gbA's on their pitcher's cards and a 2 at SS yet leads the league in Double Plays turned.

I never paid attention to the contest up to this post, and since I only play 2 teams at a time. I can go back to ignoring the contest

Some of the contests "make sense" because you in large part have control over them. Others don't like this current one and the Walks yielded one a month or two back.

In the walks yielded one, my entire pitching staff had a couple of walks in total allowed on their cards. All my starters and my top 2-3 relievers had ZERO WALKS on their cards. The only pitcher with a walk on his card was my least used reliever. Yet my team didn't even finish in the top 20 in the contest. And that's not a complaint, it's an observation. You have no control over your opponents cards so if you're in a division with a team or two built around OBP, then your done which was what happened to me in that one.

Same is true for this current contest, it's too dependent upon your opponents to truly control your destiny. That's why I won't even bother building a team for this one.

Some things you have more control over such as: Team Fielding, Hitters Walks, Doubles, Triples, HR's, Average, OBP, Stolen Bases. Others not so much.

OK, we've had several of the leaders play 150 games, so what type of teams are leading in inducing GIDP?

here's one: https://365.strat-o-matic.com/team/1526622

This team has given up A LOT of home runs. In a "pitchers park".
It has bulletproof 1 range fielders at 2B, 3B and SS, and a 2 range at 1B.
Whitey Ford vs. LHB is the the only SP that I can see has "a lot" of GbA.
Clemens doesn't seem to be much of a groundball pitcher.

here's another: https://365.strat-o-matic.com/team/1524644

Again, lots of home runs. Good, but not stellar IF defense.

So back to my original post, is it random?

OK, we've had several of the leaders play 150 games, so what type of teams are leading in inducing GIDP?

here's one: https://365.strat-o-matic.com/team/1526622

This team has given up A LOT of home runs. In a "pitchers park".
It has bulletproof 1 range fielders at 2B, 3B and SS, and a 2 range at 1B.
Whitey Ford vs. LHB is the the only SP that I can see has "a lot" of GbA.
Clemens doesn't seem to be much of a groundball pitcher.

here's another: https://365.strat-o-matic.com/team/1524644

Again, lots of home runs. Good, but not stellar IF defense.

So back to my original post, is it random?

No, it's not totally random, BUT ... As I mentioned earlier in the thread, it is very dependent upon who else is in your league and especially in your division in a 12 team league. If you get stuck in the wrong division a perfectly constructed team will still fail in these contests, plus you have to manage a .500 record too.

And looking at Clemens' card, actually he's got something like 12 gbA's against righties on his card. So he is a high gbA card for this purpose.

Is it random?

Well, I just checked the standings to have a look at those teams myself, and imagine my surprise when I saw MYSELF in 3rd place! This team was built without even the most remote thought about the October challenge.