CBL TIPS
The Commissioner 1278 12-14-2002 02:04 PM ET (US)
Today's tip on basestealing: "The tendency that can be is the minimum percentage
to steal a base. This setting simply says the baserunner will never attempt a steal
unless his safe percentage is at least a given number" [which can vary depending on
how well the pitcher holds him on base and how good the catcher's throwing ability is].
"So you could set it to 70% and no attempts would ever be made unless the baserunner
had at least a 70% chance of being safe. For historical replays we recommend you set
this at 0% so that you'll get an accurate number of attempts from all baserunners,
not just the ones who are good at stealing bases." [I wouldn't follow this last bit
of advice in our leagues unless you want a lot of caught stealings.]
The Commissioner 1260 12-12-2002 08:30 PM ET (US)
Today's tip: "There are 11 substitutes you can define--pinchhitter vs. left and right,
pinch runner, 4 defensive replacements, setup (or middle) man vs. left and right and
closer v. left and right. The computer manager will be strongly influenced by your
selections of substitutes. However there will be times where the computer manager
does not use the substitute of your choice. An example is if you are losing a game
10 to 4 with nobody on base and two out in the fifth inning with the pitcher due up.
The computer manager may not use the designated pinchhitter in this case because he
may want to save that pinchhitter for a key at bat if you get back in the game.
The Commissioner 1254 12-11-2002 03:44 PM ET (US)
Today's tip from Strat manual: "For defensive replacements you can specify a dual-switch
to occur if you wish a starter to move to another position and a bench player to come in
to play his position. For example, if you wanted your starting centerfielder to move to
right and a bench player to come in and play centerfield you would specify this by naming
the bench player as the first defensive sub (centerfield), and the starter as the second
defensive sub (right field). Do not reverse the order of these because the computer manager
wil not make the dual-switch if you lis the player who is in the game first."
Commissioner 1249 12-10-2002 02:13 PM ET (US)
Today's Strat tip: Starting rotation: "The starting rotation has room for 7 pitchers.
If you are going to use a 4-man rotation then you should leave starter #5 blank (however,
at least 2 of the 4 starters should have a '*' rating that indicates they can pitch on
3 days rest). Starter #6 and starter #7 are where you define your spot starters.
Note that the computer manager does not choose starters in strict order of appearance"
[new feature, of course, allows you to do this] "in the rotation. Factors such as rest
requirements and the actual innings pitched affect which starter will be chosen. To set
the relief switch for starters use the following chart:" [which explains why "relieve
never" doesn't actually mean "never" to the computer]:
"Relief appearances, 0-4, suggested setting, Relief: No.
Relief appearances, 5-9, suggested setting, Relief: Sometimes.
Relief appearances, 10+, suggested setting, Relief: Yes"
Commissioner 1247 12-09-2002 09:45 PM ET (US)
Edited by author 12-09-2002 09:47 PM
Tonight's Strat tip from the software manual: On your team's respective fielding reports,
some pitchers have two numbers out to the right side, like 0/1. This is useful information
but not defined on the report: "The first number indicates the number of consecutive games
this pitcher has appeared in. The second number indicates the number of day's rest this
pitcher needs before he is eligible to start a game."
Commissioner 1233 12-08-2002 07:47 PM ET (US) + Commissioner 1234 12-08-2002 08:09 PM ET (US)
In going through a lot of files this weekend, I came across my manual for Strat-O-Matic.
There are some notes included in it about how the game works, particularly as to pitching,
that may be of interest to you for the end of this season and for future seasons.
Please note that they have not upgraded the manual for recent upgrades that allow you, for
instance, to set a starting rotation game by game, or allow you to set specific player
attributes.
Where the context makes it clear, the language below between quotation marks is taken
verbatim from the manual:
1. The clutch rating "is the batter's average in clutch situations. Clutch situations
occur with runner(s) in scoring position and two men out."
2. "Ignoring overusage" [which we use in CBL] "will force the use of an alternate fatigue
system which will always pick the first available pitcher in the rotation who is not
fatigued" [presumably this is overridden by the later adopted feature that lets you pick
your starting pitchers by game, but does explain why if you just set a general rotation
it doesn't select the fifth starter, like D'Amico of the SPD, if one of the other pitchers
in the rotation is not fatigued.} "In addition, during game play computer manager decisions
will not be affected by overusage of players. Therefore, using this system will lead to a
more competitive computer manager at the expense of accurate player usage. Note that this
system does not affect the starting lineup during Autoplay."
3. "The HIT and RUN% only refers to the batter's ability--it does not include the pitcher's
ability on the hit and run play." [makes sense, what would the pitcher have to do on such a
play.]
4. BAL "tells you the lefty/righty balance of the current pitcher and batter. The batter's
balance will show something like 'iR.' The 'R' indicates that he is better against right
handed pitchers. The number shown is on a 1 to 9 scale with a 1 being just a little bit
better, and a 9 being tremendously better. An 'E' indicates this player has evenly balanced
ability v. left and right handed pitchers." The manual indicates the game matches the
batter's BAL rating v. the pitcher, "the larger number indicating the greater impact the
lefty-righty matchup will have on the outcome of the play." For example, a righthanded
batter who is a 5L against a lefthanded pitcher who is a 3L would rate an "8," which is
a fairly large BAL discrepancy. "When making line-up and substitute decisions, remember
that the BAL rating is not as important as the player's primary statistic. It should be
used as ONE of the factors in making decisions--NOT as the only factor." I read this
sentence to mean that when facing a tough lefty, say, you should consider leaving a good
lefty hitter up there even if you have a mediocre righthanded hitter on the bench
available as a PH even if he has a good BAL rating.
Going to go work on manager changes for a while. More tips from the Strat-O-Matic manual
later including the book's discussion of how a starting rotation should be set....