by Scott Fennessy
I am still in the process of my second full season replay, and unlike in my 1901 replay I had a little “history” on replays so I had some dilemmas for the first time ever. I wanted to start right away with another season and although the 1903 season was not available I chose 1905 as it was closest to 01 and most of the names would be fresh.
That is when the dilemma came up. How do I set this one up? Would I set up any other restrictions? I have never limited games played and how would I handle my next monster card if it came up? In 01 the only monster card was for a Napoleon Lajoie who was an everyday player.
In 1905 there is in fact a “monster”. John McGraw was a J-4 and while it would only affect stolen bases but thankfully after reviewing the team McGraw was my number 1 bench guy instead. So I chose not to limit players; partially because there are a high number of J-3 and J-4 players making it almost impossible to limit games, especially with the small rosters they had in those days.
Again my next and most crucial issue for my new replay was how many games to play? Do I play all 155 games or go for something else. I remember Tom saying “whatever makes you happy, it’s your replay” so I decided that the 140 game total from 01 will be my standard. It took a while to whittle the schedule to 140 each.
Due to some teams playing different game counts I had the problem where the Pirates actually have 1 game more than everyone else, so I decided there was not much I could do, so I will play their games and just not count the stats or have any injuries count for them that extra game.
Is this the best solution? Possibly not, but this is what will work for me. I wondered how the others in the APBA community decide on stuff like this, especially “solo” managers like myself. For league players what type of rules do you have and how much arguing did you have to endure to get them in place? On an unrelated note I have had a few posts from fellow Chicago Cub fans interested in my replay so should my schedule allow for this I will try to provide a game by game update (with Tom’s permission) in addition to my season updates.
Let me know how you feel, and keep rolling the 66’s (except if you ever play me)
Scott
Good article, Scott. I’ve asked myself these same questions. :)
As to limits, there are a couple ways you could go about it.
– limit each player by actual stats (games played, AB or PA etc). I know some people who might add 10% or so just to give a little leeway.
– limit players by J-number. J-0 can play all the time, J-1 can play no more than say, 140 games etc.
– another option is to not have a hard limit for each player but implement a seriously tough injury card that plays rough for j-3 and j-4 players. That can be a lot of fun.
It really depends on what you want to achieve in the replay. Option 1 will be more accurate as far as stats are concerned but the others might be more realistic (and more fun).
Tom
As I have previously commented I complted a 1969-1983 reply this year (took me about 10 years) using BBW. While I started out with the goal of being strictly realistic in player use I moved off this over the years. My primary reason for changing my philosophy was simply to have fun. There were some players that I liked to see playing even if in real life they had been injured or underused (best example for me would be Larry Hisle.) Eventually I settled on a unscientific formula that required any player with over 100 abs to achieve 60% of actual plate appearances; starters with more than 10 starts had to start at least 80% of actual games and relievers also had to meet the 80% requirement.
The result was often high ab and start totals for the stars but, so what, that is who I wanted to see play.
Bottom line, its a game, no one is judging us.
That’s an interesting idea. Ironically because in the only league I ever played in the comish. was a huge fan of Hisle and Carew and I was becoming a big fan of Bob “DL” Horner. I only stayed in this league for a couple of seasons as there were too many guys that took it way too serious.
I kind of have the though like you do that I always wanted to see what would happen if someone would have performed better if given more playing time (i.e. WHY did Sveum continue to put Valbuena in the lineup almost every day in late September. Could Vitters really be that much worse?)
As several people in the community that I am fairly new to have said what makes me happy with my replay is what I should do.
Scott,
Baseball Reference has the actual lineups of the games played so that could be used for authenticity…but it is time consuming to get the line ups sorted out for each game unless you are using BallStats or some other stat sheet that will load them for you.
It sounds like you are pretty diligent in getting the games played and that is awesome. Most important thing is to have fun and do it the way that makes most sense to you. Good luck with the new season and continue to roll the 66’s.
Jeff
Jeff,
Thanks for the info. I don’t think I would be that dedicated to checking lineups on a daily basis, and honestly when you see my stats after I post my May wrapup you will probably scratch your head a bit, espically when you may not have the card numbers, but I have a specific way I like to set a lineup.
Lately I have been playing more on my lunch at work than at home. We have a little used conference room that I can shut the door sit at the head of the long table full of empty chairs and the multi line phone blinking silently. Kind of makes me feel like a GM or the commissioner in his office reviewing the games.
FYI I am really enjoying this season and although primarily a cub fan there is something on most teams to make them interesting to play.
66’s to you as well.