Replayers wrestle with how to govern player usage during a replay.
There is no precise or totally correct answer. Your choice depends solely on how much work you want to put into the replay and how much precision or realism you want to try and generate. Any once of the choices is perfectly acceptable.
1. The first choice is to generally follow the positions listed on the cards and the positions listed on the APBA yellow lineup sheet and totally ignore the actual player usage in terms of games played
2. A second choice is to adhere to a precise measurement like plate appearances, at bats, or innings pitched. I use plate appearances and games pitched as guidelines, but, as I have gotten to the end of a replay, have exceeded these by as much as five percent.
3. The third choice is to sort of create a hybrid measurement somewhere in between the positions listed on the cards and the lineup sheet and real life.
Another factor influencing player usage is what you want from your replay.
For example, how would the 1957 Cleveland Indians performed if Herb Score had not been hit in the eye by a line drive hit by Yankee infielder Gil McDougald? What would the 1950 Red Sox have done if Ted Williams had not broken his elbow in the 1950 All-Star Game? If you want to play Score or the Splendid Splinter for the entire season and find out how their presence might have changed things, then do it. In fact, one of the most enjoyable aspects of replays is exploring “What if…” questions like Herb Score and Ted Williams.
In some of my replays, I have integrated some teams with the old Negro League players to get some idea of how their presence might have changed MLB. I took a common sense approach to using the Negro Leaguers, respecting batting splits, position assignment, and probable usage. Many of the Negro League cards are rated J4 for injuries, so the results actually turned out to be self-governing, as the Negro Leaguers were more prone to lengthy outages due to injury.
Instead of seeking to precisely duplicate a player’s number of appearances at a particular position, I have always taken a common sense approach player usage at each position. If I can come close, that’s fine with me. Anything more requires too much work and can take away from the fun of a replay.
Next: Researching player usage
Another really good article – thanks Rod!
Hello Rod,
I had been mulling this myself on my current replay. When I was younger and we never really finished seasons we kind of didn’t pay much attention to the J-ratings, but now that I am older I am more concerned about “overuse”.
When doing my deadball replays, especially before APBA began providing cards for anybody who was on the roster during the year it was pretty easy. Most of the starters were J-0, the reserves 3 and 4.
Now it is a lot harder and some of the reserves get great cards. I am at a semi comfortable compromise. I never start a J-4 player until a team is in the final months of the year and clearly out of the race.
I don’t have a problem with using J-4s as pinch hitters as it actually seems to hurt them much more than one would expect.
This replay I am working much harder to avoid over use. I have moved all the J-4 pitchers that were graded over a D to the back of the folder and don’t even look at them.
Thanks again for another thought provoking article.
Last year the Red Sox had 6,231 PAs. If the replay is even 1 percent off, you have to compensate for those 62 PAs. I use a hybrid system, setting replay PA/IP at a percentage of the team actual totals. (Bless you, Excel.)
If you set up the spreadsheet right, you can also get a running total on who is ahead/behind on their PA/IP, and build in realistic “rest” days.
This works extremely well if you like less-than-full-season projects.
I struggle most with determining 1. when to pull a starter and 2. whom to bring in relief. It’s a tough compromise to adhere to actual batters faced while also trying to act as impartial manager and yank a guy at the right time for a particular reliever in the best interests of a team.
Pull a guy as soon as he fatigues or loses a grade? Roll a die to see who to bring in? Any secrets?