TRTR : Day 3

[Comedian2004]

Hey Tiger.. what about Hurricane Hazle? He is the guy that had a 250 at bat season for the Braves to lead them to the World Series when Bruton was hurt. In 2006 he always bats close to .400 and becomes a superstar.

Also, what about Eckersly, how does his career turn out. Is he a very good starting pitcher and then move to the pen later in his career, as in real life. Same thing with Smoltz.

[khucke]

Tiger Fan,
I enjoyed it very much to read about your OOTP2007 league. The batting averages and HR numbers seem to be very much in line with real life. Based on the numbers below I would think that the BB numbers might not. For example Appling has 200 games played less in the sim and also only has about 200 ABs less than in real life. In real life Appling was quite a good BB guy (two or three times over 100 walks a season).
The other way around is Aparicio who`s got 246 games played more and 141 at bats less than real life. The reason has to be unrealistic walk numbers or was Aparicio a bench player or pinch hitter for for a longer stretch in his career? Or am I missing something else?

LUKE APPLING
Won 10 gold gloves
SIM REAL
GP 2237 2422
AB 8645 8856
HR 61 45
RBI 1095 1116
AVG .309 .310

LUIS APARICIO
Won 7 gold gloves

SIM REAL
GP 2847 2601
AB 10089 10230
HR 67 83
RBI 908 791
AVG .255 .262

[Curtis]

Aparicio may have been frequently pinch-hit for in close games.

[plubbr]

After reading all this great stuff, I feel like getting into historical simming more. I also want to get my hands on a copy of that Negro Leagues DB.

[Queensryche]

I never have understood the historical simming. I mean why simulate the past? I just don't get it.

[darkenigma510]

Originally Posted by Queensryche

I never have understood the historical simming. I mean why simulate the past? I just don't get it.

Why pretend we are in control of a baseball team, managing it or the GM?

[kq76]

Originally Posted by Tiger Fan

The Twins got taken, that's how. In December 1970 Carew was 24 and coming off a season where he hit .338. The Twins dealt him to the Royals for outfielder Richie Scheinblum. Scheinblum was 26 and did hit in the .290's for 3 seasons with the Twins but Carew would go on to win 5 batting titles including 1973 when he hit a career best .373. For his career, Scheinblum hit .275 in 803 games. In real life he hit .263 in 462 games.

There are two possible reasons I can think of that the Twins made this deal. The most likely one is money. I had the auto-inflation option turned on but did not allow players to become free agents. Minnesota's payroll took a big jump between 1968 and 1972 while the team's cash balance was climbing quite high in the negatives. The Twins were building a contender, and did in fact win division titles in 1971 and 1972 so it paid off at least in the short term.

Reason number two is the Twins had more depth in the infield than they did in the outfield. After the trade of Carew, Harmon Killebrew moved back to second base for a season or two (although he was anything but a gold glover) because they had no where else to play him. Don Mincher was enjoying some productive seasons at first base deserved full-time duty as did young Graig Nettles at third. Rookie Steve Braun stepped in at shortstop with Jim Holt, Danny Thompson and Zolio Versailles adding depth. The outfield had 3 decent starters in Pat Kelley, Tony Oliva and Cesar Tovar but there was a need for a spare outfielder so that may have influenced the decision to acquire Sheinblum.

I love how with OOTP you can look back over past seasons and try to figure out the possible reasons for why something happened like this. Whenever things are added to what is kept in the history, this just gets better and better.

I also like how the most likely reason was money as is probably usually the case in real life.

[Muppetus Galacticus]

Originally Posted by Tiger Fan

Houston has far and away been the best expansion team making 20 postseason appearances and winning 5 World Series. However, it took the Astros 12 years to make their first playoff appearance. In their first 4 seasons in a 10 team National League, Houston finished 8th twice and 9th the other two times.

By 1974 they had time to develop plenty of homegrown talent such as Cesar Cedeno, Bob Watson, Joe Morgan, Jimmy Wynn and Rusty Staub along with pitchers JR Richard and Ken Forsch. As a result it was the Big Rainbow Machine rather than the Big Red Machine that dominated the mid-70's. The Astros .544 franchise career winning percentage ranks 3rd behind only the Red Sox and the Cardinals.

Thanks a bunch, TF!

[Dagrims]

Originally Posted by Queensryche

I never have understood the historical simming. I mean why simulate the past? I just don't get it.

For many, it's more fun to play "what if" than with completely fictional players. Do you enjoy playing any of the sport console games that have actual players?

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by Comedian2004

Hey Tiger.. what about Hurricane Hazle? He is the guy that had a 250 at bat season for the Braves to lead them to the World Series when Bruton was hurt. In 2006 he always bats close to .400 and becomes a superstar.

Also, what about Eckersly, how does his career turn out. Is he a very good starting pitcher and then move to the pen later in his career, as in real life. Same thing with Smoltz.

Hazle is a perfect example of how the new recalculate feature works. As you mention in many cases with 2006 or with the classic player developmenet mode in OOTP2007 Hazle will develop into a superstar. With the recalculate option that is far less likely to happen.

Here is is sim career and real life:

BOB 'HURRICANE' HAZLE
SIM
Year/Team/League	Age	G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	R	BB	K	AVG
1956 Cincinnati - ML	25	115	347	107	17	4	11	34	59	24	37	.308
1957 Cincinnati - ML	26	150	551	151	24	6	13	62	67	51	103	.274
1958 Cincinnati - ML	27	142	464	133	24	5	13	61	60	48	67	.287
1959 Cincinnati - ML	28	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.000
1960 Cincinnati - ML	29	7	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1962 Cincinnati - ML	31	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1963 Cincinnati - ML	32	9	8	3	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	.375
Total ML	7 yrs.		426	1377	395	65	15	37	158	188	123	207	.287

REAL LIFE

Year Tm  Lg		AGE	G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	R	BB	K	AVG
1955 CIN NL		24	6	13	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.231
1957 MLN NL		26	41	134	54	12	0	7	27	26	3	15	.403
1958 MIL/DET		28	63	114	24	2	0	2	10	11	0	17	.211
3 Seasons			110	261	81	14	0	9	37	37	3	35	.310

Eckersley is also good example of the things the recalculate mode will do. Just like I mentioned in the blog about Babe Ruth automatically be switched from a pitcher to an outfielder when playing in this mode, Eck made the move from the rotation to the pen. In this sim he did not perform as well as he did in real life (although spending his entire career in Cleveland might have been a factor) but he did get moved to the pen right around the time the change was made in real life...actually 1 year later in the sim.

                    DENNIS ECKERSLEY
Year/Team/League	Age	G	GS	W	L	SV	ERA
1975 Cleveland - ML	20	33	33	13	15	0	3.77
1976 Cleveland - ML	21	33	33	13	15	0	3.51
1977 Cleveland - ML	22	29	29	9	13	0	3.91
1978 Cleveland - ML	23	34	34	16	15	0	4.28
1979 Cleveland - ML	24	27	27	9	13	0	5.51
1980 Cleveland - ML	25	27	27	17	5	0	3.61
1981 Cleveland - ML	26	34	34	17	12	0	3.24
1982 Cleveland - ML	27	35	35	12	18	0	4.20
1983 Cleveland - ML	28	34	34	11	18	0	5.81
1984 Cleveland - ML	29	34	34	13	17	0	4.13
1985 Cleveland - ML	30	35	35	15	16	0	4.43
1986 Cleveland - ML	31	35	35	14	18	0	3.79
1987 Cleveland - ML	32	35	35	11	19	0	4.28
1988 Cleveland - ML	33	49	0	2	9	17	2.06
1989 Cleveland - ML	34	36	0	3	2	24	2.94
1990 Cleveland - ML	35	55	0	7	4	21	2.44
1991 Cleveland - ML	36	58	0	3	2	39	1.77
1992 Cleveland - ML	37	53	0	3	6	32	2.91
1993 Cleveland - ML	38	62	0	5	3	32	2.35
1994 Cleveland - ML	39	76	0	14	3	8	4.45
1995 Cleveland - ML	40	72	0	6	4	9	4.31
1996 Cleveland - ML	41	76	0	6	4	3	5.49

Edit - Forgot to add Smoltz sim stats

		JOHN SMOLTZ
Year/Team/League	Age	G	GS	W	L	SV	ERA
1988 Atlanta - ML	21	18	0	0	1	1	2.16
1989 Atlanta - ML	22	34	26	8	12	0	3.1
1990 Atlanta - ML	23	35	35	17	12	0	2.38
1991 Atlanta - ML	24	34	34	12	15	0	3.71
1992 Atlanta - ML	25	32	32	13	9	0	2.92
1993 Atlanta - ML	26	34	34	11	15	0	4.43
1994 Atlanta - ML	27	33	33	17	5	0	4.07
1995 Atlanta - ML	28	34	34	16	8	0	3.62
1996 Atlanta - ML	29	34	34	16	4	0	3.25
1997 Atlanta - ML	30	35	35	15	12	0	2.75
1998 Atlanta - ML	31	35	35	20	6	0	3.66
1999 Atlanta - ML	32	36	36	23	4	0	2.96
2000 Atlanta - ML	33	33	33	21	4	0	2.74
2001 Atlanta - ML	34	55	0	0	5	36	2.6
2002 Atlanta - ML	35	70	0	7	1	10	1.15
2003 Atlanta - ML	36	62	0	4	2	42	1.99
2004 Atlanta - ML	37	56	0	5	6	35	1.41
2005 Atlanta - ML	38	77	0	7	7	19	3.54
2006 Atlanta - ML	39	35	35	22	8	0	2.97
Total ML		19 yrs.	782	436	234	136	143	3.13

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by khucke

Tiger Fan,
I enjoyed it very much to read about your OOTP2007 league. The batting averages and HR numbers seem to be very much in line with real life. Based on the numbers below I would think that the BB numbers might not. For example Appling has 200 games played less in the sim and also only has about 200 ABs less than in real life. In real life Appling was quite a good BB guy (two or three times over 100 walks a season).
The other way around is Aparicio who`s got 246 games played more and 141 at bats less than real life. The reason has to be unrealistic walk numbers or was Aparicio a bench player or pinch hitter for for a longer stretch in his career? Or am I missing something else?

In the sim Appling's obp was .396 compared with .399 in real life so I would think his walks/plate appearance were pretty close to real life. Could another factor in the at bats/game discrepancy be where the player batted in the order? Remember indivudual teams can be quite different from real life because of trades and rookies being assigned to the club they first appeared in the majors.

As I mentioned earlier, we are still fine tuning things but overall for the 106 year sim my walks totals for the entire league were pretty accurate....The sim had just over 2% more walks than were issued in real life.

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by Queensryche

I never have understood the historical simming. I mean why simulate the past? I just don't get it.

Why do we sing "Take me out to the ball game," when we are already there?

Why do stadiums have "stands" when they're made for sitting?

Why do baseball players wear their caps indoors in domed stadiums?

Why do the manager and coaches wear the same uniforms as the players?

If it's a round ball and a round bat, why do they tell you to hit it squarely?

Why is it called baseball season when you can't shoot at them?

[Exodor]

Originally Posted by Tiger Fan

No, in fact they failed to win a World Series in my sim. The only Fall Classic appearance for the Royals came in 2006 when they lost to Atlanta in 6 games. I will have a little more on the Royals when I discuss all of the expansion teams later tonight.

Thanks for the recap.

At least they had a nice run of playoff appearances in the 90's/00's.

[Raidergoo]

Originally Posted by The Wolf

Why is it called baseball season when you can't shoot at them?

This can be modded.

[dankrzyz]

Originally Posted by Raidergoo

This can be modded.

Don't forget to make the appropriate changes to the injuries.txt file, and don't be surprised to see:

J. Montemayor out for 11 months (crippling gunshot wound to the neck)
F. Williams out for 6 months (lost finger in weekend gunfight)
C. Carlton out for CAREER ENDING INJURY (used as target practice during recent roadtrip to Boston)

[Raidergoo]

Originally Posted by dankrzyz

Don't forget to make the appropriate changes to the injuries.txt file, and don't be surprised to see:

Carlton sounds a lot like this guy:

http://www.emlb-baseball.com/clubhou...ayer_2246.html

[rogmax11]

TF, thanks for your usual superlative write-up. The question I have concerns the AI usage of pitchers: how does the game handle starters versus real-life usage? Ditto for relievers. How about staff make-up: how are the starts spread out among the pitchers available, and does fatigue impact the number of innings pitched?

Looking at your Seattle report it appears the starts and relief appearances are pretty well done. In the more difficult years ( say, 1901-1930 ) does the staff model more closely match reality? This is an AI issue, I know, but since the AI runs the teams in these solo efforts ( and that is how I play as well ), the impact on stats can be enormous.

Lastly, how DID Ruths career end up, and how did Lou Gehrig fare without the Bambino?

As usual, one question begat many. Sorry!

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by Raidergoo

This can be modded.

ROFL!

[Mikekem]

Could you touch on how the Orioles did overall? I think this has been a great read so far.

Mike

[Curtis]

Originally Posted by Queensryche

I never have understood the historical simming. I mean why simulate the past? I just don't get it.

I want to see if I can trade them around to build up a better team, get them more stolen bases or sacrifices than they did historically. Can my lineups generate more runs? Can I more effectively utilize my relief staff? Can I form an 'ironclad' rotation? To me historical gaming isn't about recreating history, it's about doing better.

Originally Posted by Dagrims

Do you enjoy playing any of the sport console games that have actual players?

No.

Originally Posted by The Wolf

A) Why do baseball players wear their caps indoors in domed stadiums?

B) Why do the manager and coaches wear the same uniforms as the players?

A) To cut the glare from the sun and the overhead lights. Also, sometimes baseball gets strict about what constitutes a 'uniform'. If some players on a team wear caps and others don't, the ones who don't could theoretically be warned and/or fined for being non-uniform.

B) Because the original managers and coaches were also players, and therefore needed uniforms. Although they rarely are today, why make a change just for the sake of change? That way lies the DH. It doesn't hurt anyone for them to wear uniforms, so why not.

Ask a rhetorical question…