For fun, take a look at the pitchers when sorting them by SPD (Speed).

The top pitchers in this baserunning stat will surprise you. Tons of them in the middle and high 90s. A good mix of pitchers from all the eras, but most of these seasons are from fairly modern years.

For some reason, big lugs like Les Lancaster & Mike DeJean have multiple seasons at speeds of 98, 97, & 96. DeJean has only ever been on base once. Lancaster about 18 times. Neither ever stole a base. The list of weird pitcher speeds goes on and on.

So what gives? Where is WIS pulling these wacky speed numbers out of for these pitchers that have no right at being speedier than Lou Brock, Maury Wills, Jose Reyes, etc.?

This dude right here? ... Totally speedier than Rickey Henderson in 1984. By one point.

with those 4 eyes, he had to run pretty fast in school to keep from gettin beat up

Maybe it's the top speed of their fastballs ;)

lots o' bunts I guess

i am surprised by this thread, because this general subject has always been on of my pet peeves in simulation games. Pitchers are, in most cases, pretty decent runners. My issue is with the opposite end of this thread, so many of them rated as slow as they are. Your point is valid as well. Much is made by sports media of pitchers who are used as pinch hitters, or bat well enough that mangers don't automatically put them in the 9 hole, but many pitchers were called on as pinch runners in the old days.

I would like to see admin weigh in on this thread...

Quote: Originally Posted By pfattkatt on 5/20/2010i am surprised by this thread, because this general subject has always been on of my pet peeves in simulation games. Pitchers are, in most cases, pretty decent runners. My issue is with the opposite end of this thread, so many of them rated as slow as they are. Your point is valid as well. Much is made by sports media of pitchers who are used as pinch hitters, or bat well enough that mangers don't automatically put them in the 9 hole, but many pitchers were called on as pinch runners in the old days.

Yep. Tony LaRussa recently used Jaime Garcia as a pinch-runner.

Still, these high-end speeds (94 and above) indicate world-class baserunners who can beat out infield hits, outrun double-plays by the defense, and take extra-bases with ease. Of course, in the game context, it has either no or little impact on stolen bases attempts.

*ALL* these pitchers with mid-to-high 90 SPD's do not warrant those #'s once you investigate their real-life stats once they put balls in play or are on-base.

Finally, I'd be curious to see if WIS' pricing valuations are factoring in Pitcher SPD (since Pitcher batting stats *ARE* factored in). If so, high-SPD pitchers are then very over-priced and not indicative of their true value.

The only thing I care about is SB success?

Is a guy with 97 speed and no SB attempts a good chance to succeed or is it likelihood to score from 1st on a double.

My pet peeve about all the SB especially in LIVE is if Ricky Henderson has a 80%+ chance of stealing a base based on his stats, if he isnt held on, it should be nearly automatic success because most of his stats are based on held on....

I dont see a material difference in success results in this game. Have often seen the IRods and Benchs throw out Coleman and other speedy guys who werent held on.....I dont feel the SIM properly adjusts for this but as usual, I am sure someone with data will tell me I am crazy.

I thought speed had to do with runs scored in relation to times on base or something like that. And it looks like Hume and Lancaster scored a few runs with very few times on base....but DeJean never scored a run in his career, so that might be some kind of mistake.

Quote: Originally posted by The_Creeper on 5/22/2010The only thing I care about is SB success?Is a guy with 97 speed and no SB attempts a good chance to succeed or is it likelihood to score from 1st on a double.My pet peeve about all the SB especially in LIVE is if Ricky Henderson has a 80%+ chance of stealing a base based on his stats, if he isnt held on, it should be nearly automatic success because most of his stats are based on held on....  I dont see a material difference in success results in this game. Have often seen the IRods and Benchs throw out Coleman and other speedy guys who werent held on.....I dont feel the SIM properly adjusts for this but as usual, I am sure someone with data will tell me I am crazy.

I hope someday the P CSA% comes into play when determining caught stealing %

You missed the point radioshack tandi.

I have seen dozens of times Ricky henderson get caught stealing by a B arm or worse catcher when NOT held on. Find me tape of ricky henderson getting caught stealing when not held on and i'll believe it. Should be about automatic.

Playing live there used to be a bunch of P's with a "5" steal rating.

I could pinch steal bases all the time with the cookie George McQuillan, Bill Henry to name the most famous.

I think those guys may still have the "5" rating, but that practice doesn't work anymore, even with the "5" recommendation.

Oh yeah, I stole like 40+ bases one season with Jae Wong Seo..or whatever that guys name was...

As an aside, that used to REALLY**** my opponents off...