SIM COMPLETE - 1983 - Spring Training 2

[Jim]

ST means nothing. Stay healthy and it was a successful spring.

Definitely agree. Either last year or 2 years ago I had an awesome spring...and then tanked in the regular season.

[Sully]

Offensive numbers are inflated for two reasons. One, there's a lot of minor league pitchers getting some experience. And two, if GMs don't bring up a lot of arms for ST, the guys they do have on their staff are totally exhausted from pitching each day.

[Jistic]

ST means nothing.

I beg to differ. It is the single most important indicator of the upcoming season.

[Dave]

ST means nothing. Stay healthy and it was a successful spring.

QFT.

I know there's the realism factor and all that, but ST truly seems to mean nothing. Latham stunk it up during the spring. Am I going to cut him? Of course not. I had some prospects who did very well - will they actually perform during the regular season? Of course not. It's a terrible indicator of regular season performance and who does well during the spring seems to be relatively haphazard compared to how good a player actually is.

Couple that with the injuries and I'd skip the whole thing entirely if I could. At least in FOF, you need to play guys during the preseason games to reduce the amount of rust with which they enter the season. What's the utility of playing guys in OOTP ST? What's to be gained?

[Lintyfresh85]

QFT.

I know there's the realism factor and all that, but ST truly seems to mean nothing. Latham stunk it up during the spring. Am I going to cut him? Of course not. I had some prospects who did very well - will they actually perform during the regular season? Of course not. It's a terrible indicator of regular season performance and who does well during the spring seems to be relatively haphazard compared to how good a player actually is.

Couple that with the injuries and I'd skip the whole thing entirely if I could. At least in FOF, you need to play guys during the preseason games to reduce the amount of rust with which they enter the season. What's the utility of playing guys in OOTP ST? What's to be gained?

Somebody took an economics class or two in their day.

[Andrew]

Couple that with the injuries and I'd skip the whole thing entirely if I could. At least in FOF, you need to play guys during the preseason games to reduce the amount of rust with which they enter the season. What's the utility of playing guys in OOTP ST? What's to be gained?

There is a rust factor in OOTP as well.

[Lintyfresh85]

There is a rust factor in OOTP as well.

Don't lie. You just want more Matt Hannigan type injuries. Admit it.

[Dave]

There is a rust factor in OOTP as well.

Whatever it is, it couldn't possibly outweigh the risk of suffering a career-ending injury during ST.

[Andrew]

Don't lie. You just want more Matt Hannigan type injuries. Admit it.

Hey I've advocated getting rid of career ending injuries from the start. Nobody else seems to be that interested in it though (other than those who have lost an important player for their career)

I file this under the category of, nobody cares about it until it happens to them.

[Sully]

I care. Bring back Binns, Hannigan, and Robbie Gotay!

[spot]

There is a rust factor in OOTP as well.

Yes there is, but...

Whatever it is, it couldn't possibly outweigh the risk of suffering a career-ending injury during ST.

I agree!


With a 162 game season you can afford to lose the rust once the regular season starts. Unless of course you are the Philadelphia Phillies!

[Carlos]

CEI can happen anytime. What's the difference if it happened in the middle of May instead of March? No difference at all. Instead, now you'd be trying to find a capable replacement instead of seeing what that player may be capable of in action that doesn't affect wins and losses.

It's a Catch-22 and it's just the chance you have to take. Markus has stated that there is a rust factor in OOTP. Players need ST to get back into a groove. Some need less time, others need more. It's a hidden rating that no one can tap into but it's there.

The best way to avoid these injuries is to call up some minor leaguers and let them start. I put 4 of my 5 starting rotation in the bullpen so they'd work less innings in the first sim. Then I pushed them back to the starting rotation in the second sim. I don't know what that will do for them this season but they didn't get hurt so I'm gonna assume it worked out in that way.

Really, though, I was more lucky than anything. But it doesn't go without mentioning that giving your stars less playing time in ST is probably the safer bet. But sitting them down completely will get them off to a poor start for the season as they are not in playing shape.

[rubisco43]

Hey I've advocated getting rid of career ending injuries from the start. Nobody else seems to be that interested in it though (other than those who have lost an important player for their career)

I file this under the category of, nobody cares about it until it happens to them.

heck, i'd vote for getting rid of career enders. i'm lucky in that it hasn't happened to a good player of mine, but if i can avoid it, i'm for it.

[Spectre]

CEI can happen anytime. What's the difference if it happened in the middle of May instead of March? No difference at all. Instead, now you'd be trying to find a capable replacement instead of seeing what that player may be capable of in action that doesn't affect wins and losses.

It's a Catch-22 and it's just the chance you have to take. Markus has stated that there is a rust factor in OOTP. Players need ST to get back into a groove. Some need less time, others need more. It's a hidden rating that no one can tap into but it's there.

The best way to avoid these injuries is to call up some minor leaguers and let them start. I put 4 of my 5 starting rotation in the bullpen so they'd work less innings in the first sim. Then I pushed them back to the starting rotation in the second sim. I don't know what that will do for them this season but they didn't get hurt so I'm gonna assume it worked out in that way.

Really, though, I was more lucky than anything. But it doesn't go without mentioning that giving your stars less playing time in ST is probably the safer bet. But sitting them down completely will get them off to a poor start for the season as they are not in playing shape.

Well said.

[Carlos]

heck, i'd vote for getting rid of career enders. i'm lucky in that it hasn't happened to a good player of mine, but if i can avoid it, i'm for it.

I'm not against them. I just wish they were handled differently. There has been a thread about this in the OOTP Forums and hopefully, Markus will continue to look into it.

The majority of the people agreed that injuries as a whole needed to be less arbitrary. Right now it's "Hey, your guy is out for exactly 2 weeks." Or "He's out for his entire career."

First, no one is ever sure when a guy is coming back. Reality says that a guy is out for a time period but we don't know the exact number of days. I'd love to see this change in future OOTPs. So a guy could be out for "6-8 weeks" and that number could very well be 4 weeks or even 12 weeks. Guys get healthy faster than others. I'm for this but I understand why people would hate it. No one likes reality when it affects their players and makes things unpredictable.

Finally, CEI are just silly because no one is ever out for his career right off the bat. Guys try to make a comeback and we have urged Markus to look into this. I can understand if maybe Hannigan was out for the season. Fine. But now, it should state that "It is possible that Hannigan's injury might affect his career. His future playing career is in question." And now you play the waiting game. At least then, it's not a shot in the arm like, "Damn I lost this guy forever." There's still that hope and some guys will do it and others won't. Though I still think every player should attempt a comeback but perhaps suffer rating hits.