Information for new Mystery Set players

Hi all,

I've had a few questions about how to read the boxscores and determine what card you have for players from some of you that are new to the Mystery Set game. Let me try to help you out with some info.

The Mystery part of this is that you get one (and only one) of the five years listed on the card. The year for that player stays the same all season long - dropping and re-adding a player does NOT refresh which year it is. Also, the game boxscore/play-by-play does NOT reveal the dice rolls for each at bat. Some of the numbers that you see that are between 1 and 12 are indicating where the runners are (1,2,3) or what the pitch count of the at bat was. Whether the roll was on the hitter or pitchers card is a mystery, but where the real game starts is when you use clues and probabilities to determine what the roll was, and potentially which of the 5 years that it is. For example, injuries, ballpark HRs, HBP and other results can give you clues or full reveals of what year for a player you have. If it reveals that it is his worst card, more than likely you are going to want to drop that player for another player. Check the following thread for previously posted information on how to read cards:

http://forum.365.strat-o-matic.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=634688&sid=a41213bd3889c6ab0504db6ae968d4a8

Also, your roster page has pitcher/hitter card split information and left/right split information, etc that can all be clues as to what card you have. Make sure you read the Mystery Set rules on the 365 site so that you understand what information is available to you.

Perhaps some of the veteran players can also reply to this thread to help out some of the newbies.

To echo the items listed on the link from JC, there are ways to help get a hint to your card year. The link he included is a must read. Here's some more information.

Injury- That's the easiest way.

HBP that DON'T result in injury- Many cards will have HBP that don't result in injury. More often than not,the same player will have a year where there is no HBP on the card. 80's Dickie Thon is a great example. HBP with no injury is 1983!

Game logs for "clutch" situations. Two outs runner in scoring position, does your guy pop up? This could likely mean a negative clutch year. Singles advancing all runners could be a positive clutch season.

TRIPLES- Know your card and know your opponent. Review every triple you hit for both your card and the pitcher you hit it off. If you give up one, do the same. Check to see if it "could" have come from your card.

Intentional Walks- If you have a hitter that HAL likes to walk with 2 outs and runners on, he probably has a plus clutch. Your next batter likely also has negative clutch. I've seen Don Mattingly get walked by a lefty RP to bring up Joe Carter with 2 outs to load the bases. Talk about a free reveal...

Lastly, you might consider NOT listing subs in your lineup. Generally speaking, HAL brings in the best hitter with that available position off your bench. SS gets hurt? Have Jose Uribe and Jim Pressley on your bench? HAL brings in Jim and subsJose on his own later in the game. You might consider giving Jim some time at 3rd or DH.

Good stuff guys. Question, we know a player who did not hit a HR in real life will not be able to hit a HR in a game. But what about a player who did not hit a triple all year in real life, can he hit a triple off of the pitchers' card?

In the mystery game, if a batter who did not hit a HR on a card and was a "W" could he hit a HR in a game. Question - Could he not stretch a triple into a HR?
I've had games where a player who could not hit a HR (on a known season) and yet still hit a HR. Plus, I've had batters who were thrown out trying to stretch a triple into a HR (based on the play by play, they hit a triple yet were out).
I kind of think HR's are possible on all seasons...

Good stuff guys. Question, we know a player who did not hit a HR in real life will not be able to hit a HR in a game. But what about a player who did not hit a triple all year in real life, can he hit a triple off of the pitchers' card?

Absolutely. Not all pitcher cards have triples on their 5 years but many do. No DH league, pitchers can smack a triple off a pitcher card that has one. Few and far between are doubles turned into triples with super advanced fielding rules.

Pay close attention to who HAL is pinch hitting for. If you have a high dollar player getting pinch hit for by a random guy off your bench, more than likely it's time to get rid of the guy HAL is taking out of the game. I had this happen with Jimmy Wynn on my current 60's team and I canned him immediately.

If you have starter/relievers on your pitching staff, if HAL brings them into a game over your "pure" relievers that are rested, it's usually a good sign the starter is on a good year. I had this happen with Moeller and Haddix on my current 60's team and they are both pitching great so far.

I also generally don't fill out my bullpen roles at the beginning of the season. HAL will usually let you know who you can trust and who you can't.

I have a few comments on the discussion above. If a player gets hbp and does not get injured and there is a hbp(inj) on his card, there is a small chance (10%?) that he rolled a hbp(inj) that resulted in an injury that did not force him to leave the game. I'm pretty sure that Triples can occasionally occur due to a fielder(x) result (in other words, not as a triple on a pitcher or hitter card), but it doesn't happen often. Fast runners can stretch triples into homers, so homers are not completely reliable indicators, unless they are ballpark effect homers (HR#) which are completely reliable.
I completely agree with everything mburatti wrote; however, I think HAL can be pretty devious in its use of pinch hitters and pitcher selection. This year, I am letting HAL control my bullpen and HAL thinks Klippstein is my best reliever and gives him every save opportunity. Sure enough, he is 0-1 with 9 saves and zero blown saves, but I think its just luck. His numbers are the worst on my staff with a 5.93 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP indicative of one of his really bad years. Based on his numbers, I would cut Klippstein, but because of HAL's use I'm keeping him for now. If I had to bet, I'd say Klippstein is 1962, which has good numbers except for a high number of walks (in '62 his WHIP was 1.63), and HAL just doesn't factor in walks or thinks that closers can walk a lot.

I completely agree with everything mburatti wrote; however, I think HAL can be pretty devious in its use of pinch hitters and pitcher selection. This year, I am letting HAL control my bullpen and HAL thinks Klippstein is my best reliever and gives him every save opportunity. Sure enough, he is 0-1 with 9 saves and zero blown saves, but I think its just luck. His numbers are the worst on my staff with a 5.93 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP indicative of one of his really bad years. Based on his numbers, I would cut Klippstein, but because of HAL's use I'm keeping him for now. If I had to bet, I'd say Klippstein is 1962, which has good numbers except for a high number of walks (in '62 his WHIP was 1.63), and HAL just doesn't factor in walks or thinks that closers can walk a lot.

You are correct Franky. There are times that HAL will love a card that is absolutely awful. For some reason, HAL absolutely loves Marcelino Lopez '71. I'm guessing because it has very few hits, but it has a TON of walks and the card is not functional. The first few games of this season, HAL was going to him regularly and I had to put the breaks on it. I do find that generally HAL will give you some pretty good clues on your bullpen guys though.