I’ve been pleased to correspond lately with Robert S who just got back into APBA. He’s a reporter from the Denver area and is enjoying playing the basic game with his 8-year old daughter (seems to me there are two trends lately, more NEW APBA players and more YOUNG players of APBA. I’m happy to see both).
Robert did ask about one thing. He asked if there was a pitchers’ fatigue rating in the basic game. When informed that there wasn’t, he asked if there was any fan modifications out there he could implement.
I seem to remember hearing of one for the basic game but a quick search didn’t find anything. Do any of you have some ideas for modifying pitchers’ grades for fatigue? Let us know by posting in the comments section.
Also, a quick apology for the missing Monster Card Monday. I was sick all day yesterday and didn’t have one lined up. I figured the world wouldn’t end if I missed one and surely, it didn’t.
I’ve always thought pitchers grades should drop as innings go by, i.e., IP/G for starters or relievers, grade reduction should occur for each inning over the pitcher’s average IP per game. There should be no reward for consecutive shutout innings pitched, no grade advancement.
So Teddy, do I hear you right? You fundamentally disagree with the APBA rule on pitcher’s advancement?
I can see your point but there’s something to be said for starting pitchers gaining momentum or finding their stride or whatever when they’re on their game, no?
Just my opinion but I never felt a fatigue system was needed for the basic or master game. Its been my experience that results vary from game to game no matter what grade pitcher is pitching. If a pitcher starts to get hammered I just take him out. Don’t need some system to tell me when to do so.
That makes no sense. If a pitcher is getting hammered, it’s because of some bad dice rolls. It’s not as the dice rolls get progressively worse the more innings a pitcher goes and they suddenly are fresh again when you bring in a new pitcher.
One thing I’ve done, and this takes a page from the old Statis Pro game, is to randomize a pitcher’s grade for that start. Roll 1 die: Roll a 1 and he’s up a grade for the game (“He really looks like he has his good stuff tonight.”). Roll a 6 he drops down (“Left it in the bullpen that day”).
I find needing formal pitcher-fatigue mods to be more important in DH leagues than in pitchers-bat leagues, where the realities of living with a .140 hitter every ninth batting-order spot pretty much take care of pitcher fatigue more often than not.
How about Taylor Teagarden (Rangers) in 2008?
One simple solution; For starting pitchers,prior to 1975, every inning from inning seven on, roll one six sided dice. On a roll of 1, the pitchers grade drops one grade. In the Modern Age start rolling the die after six innings and if the die roll is 3,4,5 or 6 drop the grade by one grade. A roll is made every inning after the sixth (or seventh) inning and the grades are adjusted accordingly.
We take the total innings pitched divided by the number of starts plus 1. that gives you the amount of innings he can pitch. Every inning he pitches above that he decreases a grade. If he is throwing a shutout he doesn’t go up a grade, but he stays the same until he gives up a run. After he has given up a run he would then drop a grade assuming he is past the amount of innings he can pitch to the grade on his card. Works very well for our league. We also do the same for relievers.
Kevin, In your formula do you divide IP by GS and add 1 to the result, or do you divide IP by (GS+1)?
Divide (IP/GS)+1 = IP per game at grade on card.
Hope that helps.
Kevin
We used that same rule for a league that I was in for 20+ years. Although, we didn’t come up with the rule at the beginning, just somewhere along the way. Worked really well for us.
Why not just use the Master Game Q factor? Its very easy to use…..yes, you’d have to get the pitchers MG Q Factor but I think it does the trick and would be an easy hybrid to the Basic Game.
DOM IN NY
We play in a modified basic league with the rules for P advancement/reduction here:
http://ablonline.org/rules/pitch.html
One change unreflected in the online rule book: 402.2 When a relief pitcher enters a game in the middle of an inning, his grade is raised one (1) letter against the first and only the first batter he faces, resetting to his normal grade for each batter he faces thereafter. This does not apply to relievers who start the beginning of an inning or to relievers who have the letter grades A, A&C, or A&B.
We don’t allow the one-batter advancement now unless they a same-sided, e.g. a LHP wouldn’t advance against a LH batter.
sry, correction: a LHP wouldn’t advance against a RH batter (an opposite-sided hitter.)
I’ve been playing with the same group of guys since 1970 and we have never allowed a grade advancement, we play grade reduction and we play an upgrade on every substitution any time there is a righty lefty advantage. We have never played with a DH ever…We have always loved it this way for playability….its our version of a good poker game.
Kevin –
how do you factor relievers?
These are the relief rules that our league agreed upon.
II. RELIEF PITCHING
A. A reliever must reduce 1 grade and rest 1 game after every 2 innings pitched in 1 game.
B. A reliever may appear in up to 6 consecutive games, then rest 1 game, if no appearance is for more than 2 innings.
1. If he goes over the 6 innings, he will rest 1 game for every inning or fraction of an inning over 6 (maximum of 3 games).
C. Any regular player may be used in relief, grade (D)(1)(W), limited to a 2 inning maximum. D. A reliever will not be affected by grade increases.
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