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Old 08-05-2006, 01:49 AM   #14 (permalink)
Charlie Hough
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Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 675
Suggestion: Eliminate the save rule for all historical play before 1969 and/or allow two options for league settings: (A) eliminate the closer role or possibly all relief roles from the game; and (B) keep the closer role but force the AI to use the designated closer in other roles as well.

Reason: The problem with closers and saves goes back to the very first version of OOTP. The AI will almost never use its designated closer in any situation other than to close out a game. The closer usage settings were added to try and address the problem with saves and the lack of the closer role before the late 1960s. But it fails to solve the problem while creating another. For example, if a league is set for very rare closer usage, the pitcher assigned to the closer role will appear in only 25 to 35 games per season! This might artificially keep save totals down for certain eras, but it means that certain pitchers will appear in far fewer games than they should, thus skewing their career totals dramatically. To accurately model historical play before 1969, the save role should be eliminated, and if that is not possible before OOTP2007, then the options above should be available. This way, we can force the AI use the pitcher for 25 to 35 games as a "closer" and pitch in another 25 to 50 games as an all-purpose reliever. Or, we can force the AI to use all of its relievers in a variety of roles.

Priority: High
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