I just had a game sim in a theme league, the first game of the season. In the 9th inning of a tie game my opponent's starter was pulled, and two 200K scrubs coughed up a run and cost him the game.

Right away I suspected what had happened: my opponent was caught off guard by the start of the league (this one had taken a while to fill) and for some reason his 200K pitchers, which I'm sure he'd intended to use as mops (if at all -- this theme has AAA), were put in roles they shouldn't have been put in.

I clicked on the Propose Trade link so I could see what roles his pitchers were in:



It was the two Setup A's who lost the game for him. You'll notice his Long A, Long B, and one of his Setup B's all have much better numbers than the 2 Setup A's.

It's not a big deal, I suppose, since every owner should examine these things himself and set things up the way he wants. But if there are going to be default settings at all, why do they have to be so random? I remember I had a team in a theme league that was made up almost entirely of 1967 White Sox (there were a few twists). Guess who was put in the role of mop? Cisco Carlos, one of the best pitchers in the SIM.

There are a lot of little things like this that ought to be corrected. I also would like to have more check boxes to control things in various game situations. For example, stolen base decisions are different when you are down a run in the top of the ninth that what you may wish to attempt in the top of the 1st. Or defensive substitutions may alter your strategy. I know its a simulation, but the situations we are describing could be dealt with.

"If there are going to be default settings at all"....

There has to be a default setting. SOMETHING has to happen with the roster.

This is better than the catcher batting leadoff default that happened before, but there is definitely room to improve.

However, Sparky doesn't read minds. He doesn't know that you intended to move crappy $200k pitchers to AAA. He'll look at the whole roster, as it sits, and set up the guys according to a model he has... The guy with the most saves is the closer, a SP (even a short IP one like 1924 Babe Adams) is a LONG A or LONG B, etc.

It's something. It's far from perfect, but it's something.

Yup, no sympathy from me on this one. Of all the things WIS could invest time and money in improving, making default settings better would be near the absolute bottom of my priority list.

"This is better than the catcher batting leadoff default that happened before"

I don't see how this is better, particularly since a lot of owners don't think batting order matters much. Whereas I think nearly everyone would agree you don't bring your worst pitchers into the game when it's tied in the 9th.

"Of all the things WIS could invest time and money in improving, making default settings better would be near the absolute bottom of my priority list."

Well, I already said it was no big deal in my first post (this is something that has zero effect on me, since I'm very anal about getting my settings done as soon as I enter a team). But I find it bizarre that it's done so badly, to the point where your best pitcher could be made a mop and your worst pitcher a setup A.

What's more, I imagine a lot of rookie owners look to the default settings/recommendations for guidance -- not only for pitcher roles, but for pitch counts, which are also badly done. I know it's a learning process, but why steer people in the wrong direction right off the bat?

Again, this doesn't even affect me, so it's not something I'd even send a ticket over to waste WIS's precious time and money on. So don't worry about that, ha ha.

This seems pretty standard to me. WIS put the best reliever at closer and the guy with the next most innings as Long A.

Yes, Hughes or Doyle may have been better options, but it's not like Sparky brought in a 200K guy while a $4mil reliever sat on the bench. All his relievers outside of Quinn and Newton are under $1mil.

When it comes to default settings, I'm more confused about the pitch counts they give certain guys right off the bat, but it's not something I'm up in arms about. We all get caught off guard and it's our own fault for not doing our settings in time.

meh...

I have a couple of teams that have both 75 Carter and 80 Dilone, when you use the default setting Carter goes to field and Dilone goes to catcher. so whats with that. If you are going to have default settings I think that they need to be a little more realistic.

it is odd nonetheless

A big part of this game is setting the lineups, batting orders, and pitching roles. I learned the hard way to pay attention to pitch counts, but I'm not sure why an owner would buy a team, draft a roster, and join a league, and then play by the default settings-- especially if they are obviously bizarre.

Quote: Originally Posted By GregNLFan on 5/26/2010A big part of this game is setting the lineups, batting orders, and pitching roles. I learned the hard way to pay attention to pitch counts, but I'm not sure why an owner would buy a team, draft a roster, and join a league, and then play by the default settings-- especially if they are obviously bizarre

Life intervenes, this has happened to me on some occasions.

Some of Sparky's lineups are completely incomprehensible.

I have Jeff Bagwell and Mark Grace in a progressive league with a DH. One would think it would be fairly simple to put the better fielder at 1B and the other guy at DH. Well, the default decided that the C/C- Bagwell would be a better 1B than the A/A Grace.

Well, at least Sparky made Grace the DH...

If you, have lets say a defensive replacement, set up to come in the beginning the 7th ing if your Team is winnining by 1 or more runs, and the Starter is due up in the 7th, I would always prefer to hold of on that defensive replacement till the 8th, if I'm still winning. But of course you can't do that.