Ladies & Gentlemen'

I'm still trying to get a grip on this game. 23 teams .. No playoffs .. only one team played .500. I like $255 mill leagues.

My topic is about pitch counts & IP ...

With $255 mill you can get quality players and I usually get 10, and lately 11 pitchers. I've been slowly lowering the pitch counts and IP .. in hopes of getting strong performances with 3-5 pitchers per game. I've switched my thinking so much I think I'm confusing the issue. ( Nothing is really working ) I am finally getting some 15-20 game winning starters. But my relief situation is a mess.

Also, I put my Starters @ ANY, on Inn Avail. Long Releivers also @ ANY. Setup at 7,8, with my closer @ 9. Always set Closer @ closing situations only.

Help !

Well, 255mil is everything about picking the "correct" players, and nearly nothing about managing. If you want more success you ought to play some open leagues.
The name of the game is learning how to score runs efficiently. What kind of players to draft in what lineup spots in what parks. THats basically what separates the men from the boys. Anybody can draft pitching, and set appropriate pitch counts, and they will perform the same for a rookie as they will a HOF owner (with, I guess, a little difference if you pick a park that doesn't suit them). Win/loss records generally speak more about your offense than your pitching. Its not the pitcher's fault that the owner bought all the wrong hitters. I can almost guaruntee you that 90% of your problem to date is scoring runs inefficiently. The higher the cap, the more exposed inefficient offenses become.

E.Collins ... .969 / .976

D.Jeter ..... .974 / .978

E.Howard .. .977 / .993

R.Hornsby .. .935 / .965

G.Brett ...... .974 / .967

T.Cobb ...... .970 / .957

B.Rurh ...... .981 / .966

Who are those first three players?

Why is Ty Cobb stealing bases?

I can slo tell you at that cap, if you're approaching the cap with your roster, you're likely being highly inefficient. I've played in 1 $255m league in each of the last major updates totaling 7 teams. All 7 have made the playoffs, and only one of them had a salary over $230m and two of them had a team salary under $200m. Like boogerlips said, it's all about choosing the right players at that cap. Take the best players available to you regardless of their cost and draft approx 1700-1800 IP and 6000 PA.

There are very, very few lineups and pitching staffs that can be successful at that cap. Either you draft them or you don't.

blips ... Eddie Collins, Derek Jeter & Elston Howard. ( fielding averages )

Why shouldn't Ty Cobb steal bases ? 1911 = 83 SB, 40 CS.

So what is the best salary cap to play ?

I pick my leagues out of the Theme Leagues. What do you mean when you say "open" league ?

Quote: Originally posted by rmarshall on 11/10/2009So what is the best salary cap to play ?

That depends on what your goals are. There is no right or wrong answer here. I play mostly low cap leagues between $40-$80m. $60-$70m leagues most resemble real life. $80-$120m leagues allow you to use many of your favorite players best seasons and still be competitive. $60-$120m has the widest range of players and strategies available to you. Every player in the sim is usable in that cap range. Below $60m and some players are just too expensive to ever use, and above $120m some players just aren't good enough to ever use.

If all you've ever played is $255m, I definitely recommend joining an open league (the default option when you create a team) and also highly recommend trying a low cap team. There are two $60m leagues and a $40m league filling in the theme classifieds right now and you'll find me in all three.

As for Cobb stealing bases, his success rate isn't good enough, especially if there are A+ armed catchers about. I generally don't let anyone with a success rate below 75% steal at all unless the theme rules lend it to not having any (or maybe just a few) A+ armed catchers. He's going to be thrown out more times than will allow his success to be beneficial to your teams run scoring and W/L record.

Quote: Originally posted by rmarshall on 11/10/2009blips ... Eddie Collins, Derek Jeter and Elston Howard. ( fielding averages )Why shouldn't Ty Cobb steal bases ? 1911 = 83 SB, 40 CS.

Because he only steals bases at a .650 clip... which will be further lessened by any catcher with an A+ arm.

That means (best case scenario), one third the time Cobb is on base and attempts a steal, he's going to get caught and create an out. Conventional wisdom, these days, dictates that anything less than a .75 SBA is actually costing your team runs. In WIS (depending upon the league) I shut my guys down completely unless that have an over .8 SBA

reposted because of bad math in the original post... hopefully I got it right this time.

Thanks for advice on base stealing.

But, I still don't get the difference between an "open league" and selecting a "theme league .. MLB?????" out of the classified sectioncalled Theme Leagues.

Also, what is TOC ?

This post could not be converted. To view the original post's thread, click here.

Open Leagues are the default option when you create your team... and are also the one with the red "Beginners should start here" following the option.

The difference is, with an open league, you just hit go, with a theme, you have to put a league number in to get started...

TOC is tournament of champions. it's a round of 32 tourney bracket (like ncaa basketball) . If you make your league world series you get placed in a TOC.