Strat-o-Musings
Michael J. Rivet, Jr.
May 1, 2001
Those
who can't - play SOM! . . .
The
current MLB season is still one of the most competitive I've seen since the
80's. Did you know that bull-pen ERA's are down about a run? Half the playoff
teams from2000 are struggling? Ichiro is the real deal (should of drafted him!)
And this new (?) strike zone is turning the game back into the one we love.
Now, they have to get rid of the DH.
It's
interesting to learn that your colleagues at work - the men anyway - all share
one thing in common: coaching youth sports. And how many of you SOM fans do the
same thing? I'm not necessarily talking to the baseball coaches here either. I
myself coach youth soccer and have gravitated to the 11-13 boys division - not
that I have anything against coaching girls. At the younger levels girls are
tougher, smarter, better disciplined, and better physically than most boys;
however, co-ed teams just don't get along.
My style
on game day is to manage my players always trying to keep a balance between the
best talent and freshest for a position and getting everyone playing time.
Through in allowing the boys to get experience at different positions and
trying to win a game my focus is totally on the game. This is where my
assistants come in. I find I usually need two. One is my wife who is good at
listening to the boys, keeping track of who's hurt, who has scored, who's
confidence is shot, and the general pulse of the team. Not that I can't but as
I said my attention is elsewhere. The other assistant, ideally, helps as a
cheerleader, watching the part of the field I'm not and suggesting plays when
mine aren't working (which is often but that's what practice is for!)
So, we ALL
love managing our team. The juggling, chess match of pitting match-ups and
strategy against our opposing owners. However, SOM cards don't cry, refuse to
play until they get a gatorade or have to go the bathroom in the middle of the
game!
On
sending instructions . . .
I love
Super Hal so much I could marry him! A friend of mine once said he wasn't
methodical enough to fill-out the bull-pen logic. I don't consider myself
methodical but I do manage a game tighter than Billy Martin, Bucky Showalter,
Chuck Tanner, Earl Weaver and Bobby Valentine put together. (I left Joe Torre
off this list of favorite managers because he's too laid back). Super Hal lets
me do this when my team needs to be played by someone else. And, in those
leagues I play in that is 100% by computer, my teams have preformed much better
on the road.
I draft
and trade to build a certain kind of team usually a team where everyone has a
role to be played. Players with '5 tools' are few and far between so platoons,
pinch-hitting and relief pitching become very important. The game is managed
from the 6th on, as we all know, and Super Hal allows me to send
more sophisticated imstructions than I'd ask my opponent to follow and run his
own team as well.
So, I
highly recommend carefully reading through all the help files about using these
logic lines and there are several good advice articles out there on our
favorite SOM sites.
The art of
instructions when playing with the cards is a whole other matter. I've seen the
range from a guy who sends only his rotation and two line-ups to the 4-color,
3-page treatise on running his team (guilty! Yes, I do this.) It shows the
character of your opponent: how careful they are, do they worry about things
that rarely happen, do they use strategy or they still brooding over that
caught stealing that happened just before a home run two seasons ago?
I
personnally feel that I'd rather give more information than less. The less
information you give, the more gray areas and interpretations your opponent can
make. Now, if you've played your opponent face-to-face then they my already
know your tendencies and you won't need involved instructions. I've played only
a handful of 'FTF' games against exactly 3 league opponents. The number of
people who know my style is very limited. Complex . . . er . . . complete instructions
are necessary.
How you do
it is up to you but my advise is to be organized, label everything and be
clear. Use your instructions for during a home game and analyze them to find
the loop holes. And give your opponent a break if he can't remember every
little detail because you know you forget to pinch-hit sometimes too.
On
competitive balance . . .
I have to
pass out some kudos to the guys in the Coastal Strat-o-matic League based in
Pennsylvania that I am a member of. Currently we have 14 members - 10 active
and 4 set to join our next season. In the three seasons it has been in
existence it has always been a very even from top to bottom. This season, after
28 games the number of wins goes from 10 to 16. My five-team division is
separated by 2 games. And I have the best road record in the league. And with
only one exception throught the first two seasons most teams have been
competitve - our first year everyone won at least 70 games.
At any
point in the season you feel like you can still be in it. That's not true every
where. Some leagues you know if you'll compete before the draft is over.
Trading can fix this but that depends on your fellow owners. [See last months
article.]
New
York Fall League Update . . .
This
league has been on hold due to lack of interest.
Anyone who
wants to view the NYFL, read the league rules and philosophy can go to http://www.oocities.org/athens/atrium/6325/NYFL.html
Along
the way . . .
So far I
have a 19-33 team (but not the worst), a 15-13 team (tied for first), and a 2-3
team (too soon to tell). At least the seasons are staggered and there is little
chance that they will finish at the same time. Each team has a slightly
different character, a few players in common, all pose different challenges and
all have been fun to play and put together.
I hope
everyone's seasons are fun for them.
Wackiest
result of the year. My 19-33 team is playing the best team in the league at
home in a four game series. I barely took game one and lost the next two
(scoring only 2 runs on 5 hits). So, I'm looking at a 1-0 deficit in the bottom
of the 8th with one out I decided to pinch-hit for Magglio Ordonez
against the right-hander Jose Mercedes who has handcuffed my team all night. I
bring in Klesko who promptly smacks a home-run to tie the game up. Randy Wolf
then finished off his 10 strike-out performance and complete game. Mariano
Rivera is summoned to relieve (by Super Hal). Being a big Yankee fan I know Mo
has a weakness to lefties - however small it may be - so I don't really worry
about phinch-hitting for my two switch-hitters Vizquel and Vidro. Plus, I have
a few lefties on the bench. Vizquel is up first and he draws a walk. Girardi
follows and it's an easy decision to bunt Vizquel over. Then with Vidro up Mo
unleashes a wild pitch - Vizquel to third. So now I'm hoping for one in the air
when Wiki Gonzalez lets one get by him and Vizquel scores the winning run
before I even know what's going on.
Wacky
game. Just the kind of thing you can't write instructions for. The kind of
thing that makes SOM fun.
On
Future Musings . . .
More on
the MLB season, more on how my team are going, more on being a SOM fan and this
"wacky" hobby we all share
Stratomusings
is a (mostly) monthly column.
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