Intentional walk - why bother?

[texasmame]

I had to put Griffey on the other day. I was losing, so I said "F him" and I hit him instead of issuing the intentional BB. He had to leave the game and now he's out for the season due to my plunking.

Okay, so I didn't intend on hurting him but it worked out fine since he's on the team I'm chasing. And, since you can plunk with impunity, why the hell would you even use the IBB option when you can get, how should I say, "potential added benefits" from plunking the guy instead?

Marcus and Co. certainly need to address this issue with no ejections/suspensions EVER for intentionally hitting batters.

[Zitofan75]

Originally Posted by texasmame

I had to put Griffey on the other day. I was losing, so I said "F him" and I hit him instead of issuing the intentional BB. He had to leave the game and now he's out for the season due to my plunking.

Okay, so I didn't intend on hurting him but it worked out fine since he's on the team I'm chasing. And, since you can plunk with impunity, why the hell would you even use the IBB option when you can get, how should I say, "potential added benefits" from plunking the guy instead?

Marcus and Co. certainly need to address this issue with no ejections/suspensions EVER for intentionally hitting batters.

One day it would be cool if certain pitchers were more likely to hit batters, particularly if it was revenge for one of their guys getting hit, they're pissed that they just gave up a HR, or the like. Call it the Drysdale-Gibson code.

[Mr. Capo]

My best player, Eddie Mathews, went free agent. This guy was such a hitting god in this league that I eventually named the outstanding batter award after him. When he left the team, I vowed that every time he played against us, I'd plunk the ungrateful S.O.B. ...every at bat.

So the first time he came to town I plunked him in his first two ABs. Serves him right. Third AB, I plunked him again, and this time he suffered a fractured skull! Career ending.

I was suddenly overcome with remorse. Eddie, wake up. It's your old pal, Eddie, speak to me! I felt so wretched that I copied the saved game folder and reloaded, effectively turning back time a few days, something I've never done before or since. Next time around I pitched to the big lug: he was never the wiser, and I felt much better.

[darkenigma510]

Originally Posted by Mr. Capo

My best player, Eddie Mathews, went free agent. This guy was such a hitting god in this league that I eventually named the outstanding batter award after him. When he left the team, I vowed that every time he played against us, I'd plunk the ungrateful S.O.B. ...every at bat.

So the first time he came to town I plunked him in his first two ABs. Serves him right. Third AB, I plunked him again, and this time he suffered a fractured skull! Career ending.

I was suddenly overcome with remorse. Eddie, wake up. It's your old pal, Eddie, speak to me! I felt so wretched that I copied the saved game folder and reloaded, effectively turning back time a few days, something I've never done before or since. Next time around I pitched to the big lug: he was never the wiser, and I felt much better.

This is why OOTP is so great.

[dankrzyz]

After reading these comments, I'm curious... how often does hitting a player result in an injury?

[Tony M]

Not to do with plunking the batter, but the use of intentional walks.

I was simming out a game, and we were 2-0 down in the bottom of the 9th, runner on first, two outs.

My batter takes two strikes, then fouls off three balls, then the PBP came up and said "They don't want to take a chance, they're going to walk him" or words to that effect and off he trotted to first. I don't think I've ever seen an IBB on an 0-2 count before.

Still, the next guy up hit a homer to end the game.

[injury log]

Originally Posted by dankrzyz

After reading these comments, I'm curious... how often does hitting a player result in an injury?

I've never injured someone when I hit them intentionally, and I do it a lot. Obviously it can happen, from the reports above, but either I'm unlucky (if that's the right word!) or it's very rare. I just did a test of injury frequency which only included serious injuries- 5 months or longer- and HBP injuries made up only 3% of the total number of injuries. You'll see serious pitching/throwing injuries about 16 or 17 times for every 1 serious HBP injury.

[texasmame]

Originally Posted by injury log

I've never injured someone when I hit them intentionally, and I do it a lot. Obviously it can happen, from the reports above, but either I'm unlucky (if that's the right word!) or it's very rare. I just did a test of injury frequency which only included serious injuries- 5 months or longer- and HBP injuries made up only 3% of the total number of injuries. You'll see serious pitching/throwing injuries about 16 or 17 times for every 1 serious HBP injury.

I'm sure Mr. Griffey being brittle had something to do with it.

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by texasmame

I had to put Griffey on the other day. I was losing, so I said "F him" and I hit him instead of issuing the intentional BB. He had to leave the game and now he's out for the season due to my plunking.

Okay, so I didn't intend on hurting him but it worked out fine since he's on the team I'm chasing. And, since you can plunk with impunity, why the hell would you even use the IBB option when you can get, how should I say, "potential added benefits" from plunking the guy instead?

Marcus and Co. certainly need to address this issue with no ejections/suspensions EVER for intentionally hitting batters.

So the dark side of OOTP finally emerges, thanks to you. Headhunter! Barbarian! I call upon the moderators to change your identity to "texasMAIM"!

[texasmame]

Alberta Clippers

Player Injury Out for... Disabled List Status
CF Ken Griffey fractured cheekbone 7 months 47 day(s) left (60-day DL)


Oops.

[ctorg]

Has anyone ever tried drilling a whole bunch of players in a row? Does the game care? Does anyone get ejected?

They should.

[1998 Yankees]

I foresee a job action by team doctors. All of a sudden, nagging DTD injuries stretch out in duration and players are strangely fatigued all the time. Team doctor morale indicator:

[plannine]

Originally Posted by ctorg

Has anyone ever tried drilling a whole bunch of players in a row? Does the game care? Does anyone get ejected?

They should.

I just had a knuckleballer hit 10 ,61' Yankees, in 5 innings (8 intentional - 2 back to back). No ejection, No injuries. (and he still got the win - i wouldnt of tried it if he didnt have a 12-0 lead after half a inning. Final score 21-12). Even Mantle survived 2 HBP's.

Maybe the type of pitch + player injury data has some effect?

[injury log]

Originally Posted by ctorg

Has anyone ever tried drilling a whole bunch of players in a row? Does the game care? Does anyone get ejected?

They should.

That sounded like fun, so I tried it. I first maxed out all of my opponent batters' injury proneness ratings, to make injury more likely. I hit the first 30 batters of the game, with only one injury (and no ejections- they don't exist in OOTP '07), a 4-week wrist fracture to the opposing catcher. I then quick played the rest of the game- only one run scored from that point on, so the final was 33-0. No retaliation HBPs either. My starter's line:

IP/H/R/ER/BB/K
W Towne 0.1 1 32 32 1 0

HB- Towne 30

I've sort of messed up his ERA for this year...

[Gastric ReFlux]

There really ought to be the chance of an ejection if a batter gets hit by a pitch.

[injury log]

Originally Posted by plannine

Maybe the type of pitch + player injury data has some effect?

I decided to test this, so same scenario as before (max proneness for the opponent), I changed my pitcher to a 101+ mph fastball-only pitcher. I hit 60 batters, with 2 injuries, both day-to-day (concussion, 1 week, and bruised cheekbone, 2 weeks). This time, my pitcher went on to throw 3 perfect innings, so his line was 3 0 58 58 0 1. He is no longer happy with his Player Performance.

The game dialog doesn't seem to display last pitch velocity for HBPs. In any case, while I don't feel confident making a definitive conclusion from such a small sample, it doesn't appear that velocity has a major influence on injury frequency (my last pitcher was at 89-90 with a 5-pitch repertoire). I'd guess that injury proneness does have an effect, however; perhaps I'll test this.

[1998 Yankees]

You fellows are turning Markus' wonderful creation into a baseball version of Grand Theft Auto.

[msmmx5]

Originally Posted by Mr. Capo

My best player, Eddie Mathews, went free agent. This guy was such a hitting god in this league that I eventually named the outstanding batter award after him. When he left the team, I vowed that every time he played against us, I'd plunk the ungrateful S.O.B. ...every at bat.

So the first time he came to town I plunked him in his first two ABs. Serves him right. Third AB, I plunked him again, and this time he suffered a fractured skull! Career ending.

I was suddenly overcome with remorse. Eddie, wake up. It's your old pal, Eddie, speak to me! I felt so wretched that I copied the saved game folder and reloaded, effectively turning back time a few days, something I've never done before or since. Next time around I pitched to the big lug: he was never the wiser, and I felt much better.

That has to be one of the funniest things I've read in some time. Thanks!

[injury log]

Originally Posted by 1998 Yankees

You fellows are turning Markus' wonderful creation into a baseball version of Grand Theft Auto.

A creation all the more wonderful because you can turn it into Grand Theft Auto if you like, I might say half-seriously. I was actually only interested in injury frequency on HBPs; since an HBP is more efficient than an intentional walk, there should be some adverse consequences (ejections) for doing it intentionally, since you might secure an advantage by injuring your opponent that way. Mind, injuries appear to happen on roughly 1 in 30 HBPs with max proneness, so they seem to be uncommon at least.

There was a Baseball Prospectus article recently with the Don Drysdale quote: "Why waste four pitches if I can put him on with one?" which reminded me of this thread.

[CBL-Commish]

Originally Posted by injury log

There was a Baseball Prospectus article recently with the Don Drysdale quote: "Why waste four pitches if I can put him on with one?" which reminded me of this thread.

A. Legend has it that Drysdale pitched when men were men and pitch counts were for little girls. Why did he care about an extra four pitches?

B. Don Drysdale issued 123 intentional walks in his career.