Most replayers adhere to maintaining realistic use of how players were used at particular positions during a replay.
How you use your players is solely up to you, but some of the realism of the game is lost if you overuse players at a position to the exemption of other players. In the illustration below, for example, Larry Gardner (3b-5, 2b-7) was used extensively at 2b and 3b by the 1911 Boston Red Sox, probably owing to an injury to regular 2b Heinie Wagner (2b-6) or some other circumstance. One could conceivably ignore the split position and play Gardner only at 3b or, to reflect the reality of that season, divide his playing time between 2b and 3b.
The table below provides an example of one way to create a reference to help with monitoring or visualizing how player are used in a replay. It provides a quick-glance reference source and answers the question “How did the manager of that team use his particular players?”
Boston Red Sox 1911
| Name | C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | LF | CF | RF | OF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Carrigan | 62 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Clyde Engle | 0 | 65 | 13 | 51 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| Larry Gardner | 0 | 0 | 62 | 72 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Olaf Henriksen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 20 | 25 |
| Harry Hooper HOF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 130 | 130 |
| Red Kleinow | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Duffy Lewis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 0 | 0 | 125 |
| Jack Lewis | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bunny Madden | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Les Nunamaker | 59 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Purtell | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Riggert | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 39 |
| Tris Speaker HOF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 138 | 0 | 138 |
| Heinie Wagner | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rip Williams | 38 | 57 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Les Wilson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Steve Yerkes | 0 | 0 | 14 | 11 | 116 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Name | C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | LF | CF | RF | OF |
Next: Regulating pitcher usage during a replay
I get it, wanting to do this, and the chart is awesome. But the box says “YOU are the manager!” I don’t think any real manager would sit a productive player because “you wouldn’t really play this much.” On the other hand, my 1961 replay was rife with players like John Orsino, Chuck Essegian et al, who were burning up the league and not getting injured often, if at all, on the regular boards. So what i did was create my own odd play board which approximately triples injuries, as well as some other stuff. That way, the J-factor will hold down players who didn’t play that much, and if one slips through unscathed once in a while, as my 1967 Jim Hardin (J-4 Byz) did, well that’s just part of the replay. I see a season as a framework, not a straightjacket. I want my results to be “in the ball park” if you will, but to me it takes the fun out of it to worry overly much about usage. I will add that the newer sets, with cards for players who barely appeared, are a different matter. I think I would designate any of these as “minor leaguers” who could be called up only when the other options are not available due to injuries or trades or some other cause. I make a distinction between a player who played in, say 75 games, and one who played in 5.
As always, enjoyed the article.