With the holidays finished, I’m now beginning to think of my 1966 replay. Rather than rushing in and rolling the dice, I’m thinking this through. In order to have a successful replay, what does an APBA fan need to think about before “opening day”?
Well, there are plenty of logistical things to be concerned about… schedules, stat keeping methods etc. Before I even attempt to address those, though, I might want to think about what kind of replay I want to have.
A replay is a replay. right? Well, it depends. There are a few questions I’ll need to ask myself that will most likely influence how I prepare for and do the replay. Call it a “constitution” for the replay.
Accuracy vs. Realism
One of the first questions I’ll need to address when preparing for a replay is ‘am I shooting for accuracy or realism?’. It’s a fine line but the distinction is there. Do I want to see how close I get to the real life stats and standings results from 1966?? Or do I want to replay the season and find out “what could have happened” given the same situation? The answer to that question will affect things like pitching rotations, lineups, player usage, how I handle injuries, and a host of other issues.
There’s no right answer, of course. It’s a matter of preference. For that matter, it’s not black and white either. You may want something in between. As long as you have an idea what you prefer.
An Issue of Accuracy
Before going through the long arduous process of a season replay, you may want to decide how accurate you want that replay to be. Some things I will consider for my 1966 replay:
- will I make the in-season transactions as they happened in real life?
- will I use the same pitching rotations?
- will I even use the same lineups?
Again, there’s no right answer here. I will say this… keeping track of in-season transactions is not as easy as it probably seems and it plays havoc with stat keeping. The idea of just going with the APBA stock teams is incredibly appealing. As with anything in life though, you get out of your replay project what you put into it. I’m sure the perfectionist in me will win out.
Soon, I’ll write more and talk more about more tangible things that are necessary before I start a replay. I welcome comments from anyone out there who have done replays and have thoughts on what thought processes you went through before you got started.
I had this debate and I ultimately decided to use real life transactions, lineups, and rotations for every situation possible. I use every resource available to start with actual opening day rosters and follow along the actual royster changes throughout the season. The one major roadblock I ran into was injuries. I like to play by APBA’s rules, but this is the one time I decided to change, in if a player gets injured during a game, I simply remove him from that game, and do not use the injury duration chart. Unfortunately I can’t have it all with perfectly
Funny. I had a similar thought but different outcome. I started a 1901 replay and was going with real life transactions and lineups initially. Played about 30 games or so and was just exhausted by the record keeping. I started over with stock teams and turned it more into a “what if” although I have some home brewed rulea to try and get bench players some playing time. Pre-game I roll the bones for each player listed in the starting lineup. A J1 rests on an 11, a J2 on an 11-13, a J3 on an 11-16 and a J4 on an 11-26. Injuries can occur but they seem to come up so infrequently that they’re hardly an issue. I do that with starters as well so I occasionally get the 5th or 6th starters in there as well. Been fun so far!
Over the years I have played my share of solitaire season replays. One thing is for certain. During the course of the replay there is always that inevitable moment when the replay turns from interesting and fun to boring and monotonous. If you can get past that point you have a reasonable chance to grind through the entire season.
I know I don’t have it in me anymore to tackle the slog. I have two solutions that work for me.
#1 Pick a year that has a pennant race & read everything you can about the players, the race and the outcome. Then, go to the library and look through the old newspaper archives and copy the standings as they appeared on the morning of September 1 of the year you are replaying. Once you have the September first standings, its time to begin the replay. Be sure to use the lineups and rotations that were used that September and follow that formula through the completion of the season.
#2 A full seasonal replay using just one or perhaps two teams.
When did a replay of the 1994 Expos season I kind of looked at it as a re-creation and a what if. I drew up my own schedule and adopted some rules. I would allow myself a trade or two, as long as it was one that I felt was reasonable and felt right. I put myself into the mind of an Expos Gm with a limited payroll. I traded for John Kruk when Cliff Floyd tugged early. My rationale : Kruk was a free agent after the ’94 season and it was no secret that the Phil’s weren’t goon to bring him back. I looked at it as acquiring a bat for the stretch drive so I trades a prospect ( Shane Andrews ) even up and then strengthened my staff and bench later on by dealing Curtis Pride and Heath Haynes to the last place Padres for Pedro A. Martinez and Craig Shipley. I think doing this helped keep the season interesting for me as I played. I simulated the rest of the league on whatifsports.com to determine my division winners. I had a lot of fun playing my re-creation and have since started a more accurate re-play of the 1917 White Sox ( following actual schedule, everything else is to my liking) although I don’t think I will do any transactions. I chose the Expos because Larry Walker is one of my all-time favorite players ( plus I met many of the Expos when they were in AA Harrisburg), I chose the ’17 Sox cause “Shoeless” Joe Jackson has always been a favorite as well as “Buck” Weaver. I like to pick second place teams to see if I can pull out the division or a last place team to see how well I really can manage. Just as Tom has told me time and time again, ” the beauty of APBA is that you can play it any you want to make it enjoyable for you.”