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baseball simulation

Tips for determining a winning team in ATG4

August 11, 2009

Earlier, I wrote about using the Strat-O-Matic Baseball Online: All-Time Records to help with player selection.  Studying the team records section (Team 80) can help in determining what makes a successful team.

First, take a look at the Most Wins section.  Looks like you might need to go extreme when deciding on a park to play.  Two teams chose hitter parks and three teams went for pitcher parks.

You probably can’t really determine what makes a winning team by going through these other categories.  The leaders under Team Errors – Fewest, however, showed quite a bit of success.  These teams averaged 88 wins.

Defense

Looking back in the Most Wins section, it looks like you must have at least 3 or 4 starting 1′s in your lineups.  These record holding teams averaged 4.5 starting ’1′ position players.  A team called The Wrong Stuff 441 had 8 1′s in their starting lineup!

All teams have a ’1′ at second base.  This is no surprise as there appears to be plenty ’1′s in the player set.  At short stop, however, there’s only 10 players with a ’1′ range so you will see more 2′s being used at shortstop.  The bottom line is that you need good defense up the middle.  No 3′s or 4′s.

Hitting

In outfield, you will see that Frank Robinson was used a couple times.  It’s quite a solid card.  He hits for power, has good OBP, has speed.

Tony Gwynn, Tris Speaker, and Bobby Bonds also appear on at least 2 teams.

Pitching

These top $80 million dollar salary teams averaged about 24M for their pitching staffs.

Of the 6 teams, there were only 5 pitchers over $5M.  3 out of the 6 teams didn’t have a pitcher over 5M.  Using a staff with pitchers who can pitch on 3 days rest is the way to go.  John Clarkson was picked up twice as well as Fred Norman.

It looks like the key to winning is to not spend much on relief pitching.  Of the 6 teams, there’s not one relief pitcher over 4M.  I see Ron Perranoski appearing a couple times.  Firpo Marberry had success a couple times.

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Top 9 starters for pitchers parks in ATG4

August 3, 2009

Griffith Stadium

Griffith Stadium

I was browsing the ballparks for the ATG4 player set and Griffith Stadium ’41 caught my eye.  The is the only ballpark with zero ballpark home runs from both sides.  I decided to browse the pitchers from this set and came up with 9 pitchers that may fit well in a ballpark such as Griffth Stadium:

1. John Cerutti $1.23M (BP – 5 vs L, 6 vs R)
I couldn’t find any pitcher under 1M worth considering.  John Cerutti at $1.54 was the first bargain found.

2. Floyd Bannister $1.54M (BP – 6 vs L, 5 vs R)
Cerutti’s card may be a little better than Bannister but Bannister only needs 3 days rest between starts.

3. Fred Norman $1.76M (BP – 7 vs L, 4 vs R)
This reverse lefty may be worth considering but he does allow quite a bit of triples against left-handed batters.

4. Jim Merritt $2.27M (BP – 0 vs L, 8 vs R)
I’m wondering how often this pitcher is chosen.  Looks like a good card.  He has 91% out chances against left-handed batters.   8 ballpark diamonds from the right side ideal for a pitcher’s park.

5. Pedro Ramos $2.33M (BP – 7 vs L, 3 vs R)
He was 11-20 in 1961 with Minnesota.  I wonder how he would fare in Griffith Stadium.

6. Bruce Hurst $2.41M (BP – 8 vs L, 1 vs R)
Here’s another reverse lefty.  His low double and triple chances are excellent.

7. Ed Whitson $2.89M (BP – 3 vs L, 8 vs R)
He can work on only 3 days rest.  Doesn’t give up and singles against- right handed batters but all other chances are extra base hits.

8. Mike Scott $3.2M (BP – 0 vs L, 8 vs R)
This reverse righty must be hard to get.  81% out chances against left-handed batters.  Most of his safe chances are walks which is something to look for in a starting pitcher.

9. Tom Browning $3.39M (BP – 4 vs L, 3 vs R)
Looks like a decent card.  He has low bk and wp numbers and a -2 hold.

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Watch games unfold with a “GameChannel” type baseball simulation

March 20, 2009

I would like to help you experience a way to ‘watch’ Stratomatic Online games unfold in a “GameChannel” type baseball simulation. Now you can sit on the edge of your seat to see what happens to your pitcher with the bases are loaded and two outs. Now you can watch games that feel a little more like Stratomatic face-to-face games.

Before

After

Download:
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/37182

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10 useful MLB 09 The Show hitting tips

March 10, 2009

If you have played the new MLB 09 The Show baseball simulation on Legend mode you probably already know how difficult it is to hit. Looking on some popular forums I have found some hitting tips that may be helpful:

1. Move stick up in the zone - Before the pitch, move the left stick directly up in the zone. If the pitch is up, you only need to make slight modifications. If the pitch is out of your zone, bring the left stick down quickly into the zone.

When the left stick is in the neutral position there’s a tendency to chase pitches. But, when you keep the stick up in the zone (before the pitch) you should be able to adjust to all areas.

Try this in batting practice. Look for pitches up in the zone and move the left stick down when the pitches are below your zone. Keep practicing until you master it!

2. Ahead in the count - When ahead in the count, never swing if you are required to move the left stick. Look for middle-in pitches when you are ahead in the count. If you don’t get your pitch, don’t swing.

3. Scheduled starting pitchers – Look at the scheduled starting pitchers that you will be facing in the next game and take some batting practice against that pitcher. This may help you get a better read on the starting pitcher before heading into the real game. In batting practice mode, MLB 09 allows you to face pitchers from all levels including AAA and AA .

4. Have a plan at the plate - Focus in on one part of the zone and recognize the pitch. Learning which pitches NOT to swing at is just as important.

If the pitch is low and away, don’t swing at it. Wait for a better pitch. Read and react to pitches.

5. Don’t be predictable – The CPU seems to learn your tendencies. If you guess low all of the time, you’ll likely end up seeing more stuff high in the zone. The pitcher may start aiming at the sides of the strike zone. If you see a pattern with this, start guessing the sides as well.

6. Wiggle the stick - One suggestion is wiggling the left stick around before the pitch. Move the stick in a clockwise motion or just randomly move the cursor around the screen. This can act as sort of a trigger to help with timing and location.

Most players may agree that it’s difficult to use the left stick if you just leave it in the neutral position and then try to yank it, at the last moment, in the right zone.

7. Be patient – Remember, the pitcher needs three strikes to get you out. Don’t panic when there’s two strikes in the count. In legend mode, you need to be discipline, otherwise the CPU will take advantage of you.

8. Strike to pitch ratio – Take a look at the pitcher’s strike to pitch ratio. If you find that you are facing a pitcher that hardly gives up walks, be a little more aggressive and look for strikes.

9. Know your hot zone - Take note of your hot zones and the pitchers best pitches. Look for pitches in your cold zone and avoid chasing pitches near your hot zone because the pitcher might be nibbling hoping that you chase out of the strike zone. Make the pitcher throw strikes to you.

10. Read strategy guide – Be sure to read the in-game strategy guide. This guide states that the CPU will usually throws a mistake pitch at least once every at bat. There are about 3 to 4 pitches during an average at bat so you might get lucky if you are looking in the right place looking for the right pitch.

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