Interactive SOM Baseball League - looking for managers

[Breeze]

I'm going to try this with a new thread...see if the better title will get people interested...

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At one time SOM was offered on the SI website as a fantasy game, where you’d pay money to draft and manage a team. (In fact, at one point several years ago, SI offered a free season to anyone that wanted to sign up. I believe it was the 1985 season and if I remember correctly there was a thread on here to let people know about this). Now SOM has apparently brought this back in house, and What I’d like to do is replicate this setup…

In some ways this will be better, as there is no cost to play. If it goes well and we have enough interest we can continue with the same teams and progress to the next year only having to draft rookies or players that were undrafted/free agents. Unfortunately, I won’t have the slick GUIs for players so it won’t be simple to make changes.

I’ve decided to start in 1967, and the reason for that is that I own the 1967-1975 season disks, so if the interest level in this is high enough, everyone can keep their team (or some protected number of players) and we’ll roll into 1968 (I can change the year if the participants would rather start with a different season). The rolling forward from year to year will in my opinion, make the draft portion very interesting…do you take an aging superstar who had a great season, or a young player who’ll help you longer? Obviously, we’ll need to get a good number of people to sign up, otherwise the player pool will be so large that everyone will be fielding superstar/allstar teams.

SOM has some pretty easy configurations to set up the team/player strategy. If you’re curious as to what you would be required to do - All that I will need from each participant is:

1. Team City and Nickname
2. Name of coaches (Manager, pitching coach, thirdbase coach, etc.) seems trivial, but the game uses this information for the post game write ups
3. Draft participation
4. Batting Orders – you can provide just 1 lineup or up to 5. Typically, people will do at least 2, vs lefties and vs righties. You can do vs lefties, vs rights, vs reverse lefties, vs reverse righties (a reverse lefty would be a pitcher that is left handed but better against right handed batters, and vice versa). Typically the fifth lineup would be for a pitcher that is even vsL and vsR
5. Set depth chart for each position
6. Rotation – I’ll need to know your pitching rotation
7. Set bullpen options (setup vs L, setup vs R, Closer)
8. Manager Strategy Options – (these are dropdown options that are typically aggressive, normal, conservative)

• • Base Running – sets the aggressiveness of baserunning
• • Base Stealing – sets aggressiveness with stealing bases
• • Closer Usage – do you want to limit the closer to just closing situations
• • Relief Usage – how quickly are you going to go to the pen (you Sparky Anderson or Earl Weaver)
• • Bunting – how willing to do a sacrifice or squeeze
• • Hit & Run – sets aggressiveness on using hit and run
• • Intentional Walk – how often do you want to use this strategy
• • Infield In – what is the earliest inning you’d bring the infield in
• • Pinch Hitters – set the first players on your bench to pinch hit
• • Defensive Replacements – set you defensive replacements (they will be considered for use in the seventh inning, and double switches are possible but we’ll get into that later)

9. Individual player settings – in addition to team options, a player can have different instructions. For instance, the team might be set to conservative base stealing, but you have Lou Brock and you want him to steal more…you can set him to have the green light. These are radio button options…

PLAYER OPTIONS

• • Avoid LH / RH Pitchers – this will increase the likelihood a player will be pinch hit for during a pitching change
• • SAC Bunt More
• • Don’t SAC bunt
• • Hit & Run More
• • Don’t Hit & Run
• • Steal More
• • Don’t PH for vs LHP/RHP
• • Avoid using as PH in Blowouts
• • Remove for defensive sub with lead

PITCHER OPTIONS

• • Don’t relieve before (pick an inning)
• • Quick Hook
• • Slow Hook
• • Mop Up
• • Max 6 IP for Start
• • Max 7 IP for Start
• • Less Intentional Walks with this pitcher
• • Avoid using in Blowouts
• • Avoid using before 6/7/8 inning
• • Max of 1 to 2 IP in relief
• • Max 2 to 3 IP in relief

10. We can discuss some additional options once we see if the interest in this is high enough to move forward.

In case you are wondering, the games will be played automatically. I will not be interacting with the game play in any way so HAL (the AI for the game) will use your settings from above to manage the team. I plan on playing 1 day of games each day, and then posting the game generated newspaper style write-ups for everyone to follow along. I’ll also see about posting box scores (though I’m not sure I can do that everyday). I will periodically post team/league stats so everyone can follow along (I’m pretty sure the game has the ability to create a website for the league, we can look into that if the interest is high enough).

Trades will be allowed, injuries will occur, an all-star game will be held…and obviously a World Series (playoffs too if we get enough people).

Hopefully, this will generate some interest, maybe enough to get you to break out your old Neft & Cohen baseball encyclopedia. I’ll help with some of the specifics on the player/pitcher cards once I know we’ll actually be doing this.

If you are curious about SOM…here is a link to a wiki with some basic information

Strat-O-Matic Online Wiki

If you have questions, please ask…

[Breeze]

Ugh...screwed up the title - should have been managers wanted...plural. Now it sounds like I have a league and just need 1 person to fill it up...

Well if people still don't sign up, I'll just do a solitaire dynasty...

[Breeze]

In case you are wondering what the newspaper style write up will look like, I took this from another SOM dynasty that I did several years ago...




The National Herald - April 3rd

SPORTS

[1]NEGRO LEAGUE II AT NL PRE WWII
Alltime Players. 0 1 1  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  2  9  2
Pre-Nationals... 0 3 4  1 0 0  0 0    -  8 11  1
Win:Alexander(1-0) Loss:Wickware(0-1)
Homeruns- W.Wright(1st), G.Hartnett(1st), P.Traynor(1st)

Gabby Hartnett blasted a homerun and had 3 RBI and Pete Alexander tossed a
complete game at Booze Field where the NL Pre WWII club beat the Negro League
II Alltime Players by the score of 8 to 2.

Alexander(1-0) pitched a solid game.  He went 9 innings allowing 9 hits and 2
walks.  Neither team managed to score after the 4th inning.  

Frank Wickware(0-1) was the losing pitcher.  He was knocked around,
surrendering 7 runs in 2 and 2/3 innings.

[1]AL POST WWII AT DEAD BALL ERA
Post-Americans.. 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  0  3  2
Deads........... 3 0 0  0 1 0  0 3    -  7  9  0
Win:Johnson(1-0) Loss:Feller(0-1)

Walter Johnson shut down the AL Post WWII batters on just 3 hits as the Dead
Ball Era Deads beat the AL Post WWII ballclub by a score of 7 to
0.

Johnson(1-0) put on a good performance.  He surrendered only 3 hits and 6
walks in 9 innings.  Dead Ball Era had a total of 9 hits for the game.  

Bob Feller(0-1) was hit with the loss.  He surrendered 6 hits and 4 walks in 6
innings.

[1]OLD TIMERS AT NEGRO LEAGUE I
Oldies.......... 0 0 0  0 0 0  1 1 0  -  2  8  0
Alltime Players. 0 0 0  4 0 0  2 0    -  6 11  1
Win:Paige(1-0) Loss:Clarkson(0-1)
Homeruns- J.Gibson(1st)

Satchel Paige went the distance as the Negro League I Alltime Players defeated
the Old Timers Oldies by the score of 6 to 2 at Black Diamond Pk.

Negro League I came up with 4 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning with the
help of 5 hits.  They would hold up as the winning runs.  Negro League I
banged out 11 on the night.  

Paige(1-0) finished the game allowing 2 runs in the victory. John
Clarkson(0-1) suffered the loss.  He gave up 7 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings.

[1]LATE 20TH AT JAPANESE LEAGUE
Century Stars... 0 1 0  0 1 0  0 1 0  -  3 11  1
HOF Players..... 0 0 0  0 1 0  1 0 0  -  2  5  0
Win:Smoltz(1-0) Loss:Kaneda(0-1) Save:Gossage(1st)
Homeruns- D.Winfield(1st), C.Ripken(1st), S.Nagashima(1st)

The Late 20th Century Stars edged the Japanese League HOF Players at Nintendo
Field by the score of 3 to 2.

The deciding run was scored by Late 20th in the top of the 8th.  Rickey
Henderson delivered a single.  Henderson was safe at second on a stolen base.
Wade Boggs then delivered a one-base hit.  Mike Piazza stepped in and he
banged out a single.  Mark McGwire stepped into the box and delivered a
base-hit scoring the run.  Japanese League was out-hit by Late 20th, 11 hits
to 5.  

John Smoltz(1-0) was the winner allowing 1 run in 3 and 2/3 innings. Smoltz
got help from Goose Gossage who earned his 1st save.  Masaichi Kaneda(0-1)
was tagged with the loss.  


[1]TURN OF CENTURY AT NL POST WWII
Centuries....... 0 1 0  0 2 0  0 1 0  -  4  9  0
Post-Nationals.. 1 0 0  1 0 2  0 6    - 10 14  0
Win:Marichal(1-0) Loss:Nichols(0-1)
Homeruns- R.Bresnahan(1st), S.Musial(1st)

Roberto Clemente had 4 hits and 3 RBI as the NL Post WWII team topped the Turn
of Century Centuries by a score of 10 to 4 at Big League Field.

Juan Marichal(1-0) earned his pay with a solid performance for Marichal.  He
went 8 innings surrendering 9 hits and 4 walks.  This was a game of many
highs and lows for the home town fans, as the lead kept changing - 5 times in
all.  

Kid Nichols(0-1) absorbed the loss in relief.  NL Post WWII scored big getting
6 runs off him in 2 innings.

[1]LEFT OUTS AT CARIBBEAN
Left Outers..... 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 3 0  -  3  8  2
Alltime Players. 0 1 0  0 0 0  2 0 1  -  4  9  1
Win:Luque(1-0) Loss:Wynn(0-1)

Dave Concepcion had 3 base hits and 3 RBI as the Caribbean Alltime Players won
at Paradise Park in dramatic fashion over the Left Outs Left Outers, the
final score, 4 to 3.

Caribbean scored the deciding run in the 9th inning. Omar Linares drew a walk.
Felipe Alou then called for a steal which was successful.  After an out was
recorded, Caribbean continued their aggressive style with another stolen
base.  Caribbean got their 2nd stolen base of the inning.  Concepcion came to
the plate and laced a base-knock making Caribbean victorious to the delight
of the the home town crowd.  Caribbean had 9 hits for the afternoon.  

The victory went to Adolfo Luque(1-0) who went 1 and 2/3 innings, allowing 1
run. Early Wynn(0-1) was charged with the loss in relief.  


[1]AL PRE WWII AT FOFC
Pre-Americans... 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 1  -  1  4  2
All Stars....... 0 0 0  4 2 0  0 0    -  6  8  0
Win:Babson(1-0) Loss:Grove(0-1)
Homeruns- B.Ruth(1st)

Brian Babson pitched 9 strong innings as the FOFC All Stars defeated the AL
Pre WWII ballclub 6 to 1 at FOFC Stadium.

Babson(1-0) was very good in the win.  He didn't give up much, just 4 hits and
2 walks in 9 innings.  FOFC totaled 8 on the night.  

Lefty Grove(0-1) was the loser.  He couldn't find the strike zone and allowed
7 walks in 4 and 2/3 innings.  When questioned about his counterpart after
the game, Grove was lavish in his praise, 'It was obvious very early on that
we were going to be in for a long night.  Babson brought his 'A' game with
him - he had good stuff and was able to spot it perfectly.  He probably only
made one or two bad pitches the entire game!

[Suicane75]

Count me in.

[DavidCorperial]

Still in as manager.

[britrock88]

Call me Mr. Manager.

[path12]

Hello. I would like to join your game.

[Breeze]

In my work to get the dynasty league baseball thread going again I was reintroduced to most of the seasons I have available for replay. I realize that many of the people on the board are younger than I am, and I wasn't alive for the 1967 season. You really need to like baseball history to enjoy doing a replay of a season with players you don't know or never saw...

In case guys would prefer to start somewhere other than 1967, and potentially starting at a more recent date might spark more interest, I'll list off the seasons that are available (I'm not in front of my game right now so a bunch of this is from memory...I'll have to edit the list when I get home)

[Breeze]

Seasons Available

1919
1950
1957
1958
1959
1962
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1985
1988
1991
1995
1996
1997
1998
2002
2003

Feel free to chime in with a preferred season (but you might want to wait until tomorrow so I can get the full list and make sure it is accurate)

[britrock88]

'67 to '75 is the longest consecutive window, so why not that?

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by britrock88

'67 to '75 is the longest consecutive window, so why not that?

Doesn't matter to me, just throwing it out there. If the interest is high enough, I'll purchase the seasons needed to continue the dynasty beyond '75 or whereever the gap ends up being.

[path12]

Yeah, I'm fine with 1967. But I was alive then......now that I think about it I might have gotten my first baseball cards that year.

[Breeze]

Guys, 4 teams isn't going to make much of a league. I'll leave this up for a while longer to see if we can generate any more interest. If not, maybe will come up with a 4 team round-robin tournament. We'll discuss our options down the road. If you have any thoughts, I'm open.

[JAG]

I'm interested.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by JAG

I'm interested.

Cool...good to hear from you again...

Did you see Babson pitched last night?

[JAG]

He's gotta pay the rent somehow.

EDIT: Ah, didn't realize you restarted that other dynasty. I'll have to read back and see what's going on.

[Breeze]

Guys, I'm not sure how we want to proceed with this. With just 5 people we are going to probably need to come up with some ideas on how to play this...

I have a few.

1. limit the draft to just the AL or NL (kind of like a Fantasy Baseball League does when they don't have that many managers)

2. I can create Clone/AI based teams that will draft and play, (but not sure how interesting that would be)

3. We could adjust the format to be just a tournament

4. We can wait to see if this generates any more interest.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by JAG

He's gotta pay the rent somehow.

EDIT: Ah, didn't realize you restarted that other dynasty. I'll have to read back and see what's going on.

I'm surprised he was evicted after 5 years...

[JAG]

Originally Posted by Breeze

Guys, I'm not sure how we want to proceed with this. With just 5 people we are going to probably need to come up with some ideas on how to play this...

I have a few.

1. limit the draft to just the AL or NL (kind of like a Fantasy Baseball League does when they don't have that many managers)

2. I can create Clone/AI based teams that will draft and play, (but not sure how interesting that would be)

3. We could adjust the format to be just a tournament

4. We can wait to see if this generates any more interest.

What is the minimum we'd need to run a league, 8 maybe with 10-12 being better? Maybe post something in Off-Topic to see if anyone has interest that might not regularly check this forum? Or PM some of your regular dynasty players (I would think CF would be interested in this at least).

Just tossing out ideas.

[JAG]

Also, you can edit the thread title if you do the advanced edit option.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by JAG

What is the minimum we'd need to run a league, 8 maybe with 10-12 being better? Maybe post something in Off-Topic to see if anyone has interest that might not regularly check this forum? Or PM some of your regular dynasty players (I would think CF would be interested in this at least).

Just tossing out ideas.

Yeah, I think at least 8. Obviously the more the better. 10 to 12 would be good. We have enough players to easily support 16 teams with everyone having mostly star players...there would be no need to dig deep into a baseball encyclopedia just to build a roster. And as always I'd be willing to help anyone that signs up.

Shoot if it makes it easier we could draft the Hall of Famers and make teams from that...but we'll see if we can even generate enough interest to make it worth while.

[Breeze]

Here is an example of what I'm talking about doing in this dynasty...

Strat-O-Matic Baseball Online

[BYU 14]

Just saw this, I am interested.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just saw this, might be interesting (I played the online version for a while when it rolled out). Not entirely clear on how the draft is proposed to work here - the initial pool is '67 only, right? - but you could count me as a solid maybe at least.

[Breeze]

Well interesting turn of events here...I was prepared to put this in mothballs for a while before trying again, but now we are sitting on 7 players. If we can get a few more we'll be in good shape. Maybe we can shake the trees and get a few more...

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Just saw this, might be interesting (I played the online version for a while when it rolled out). Not entirely clear on how the draft is proposed to work here - the initial pool is '67 only, right? - but you could count me as a solid maybe at least.

John,

I figured we'd just draft in the thread like some other dynasties have done. There will be a bunch more players available than the teams will need so I don't think it will be a problem, but I'll also be available to provide some suggestions and the system can make picks for you if you get stuck (or if you take too long)...

However, I am open to suggestions.

Beau

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Breeze

I figured we'd just draft in the thread like some other dynasties have done. There will be a bunch more players available than the teams will need so I don't think it will be a problem, but I'll also be available to provide some suggestions and the system can make picks for you if you get stuck (or if you take too long)...

I may not have worded that well. My confusion was mostly around confirming that the initial draft would consist solely of players from '67 ... and then the next season would draft newcomers (and I guess leftovers who got carded) from '68, etc.

So we basically know who/what we're getting, the question is simply a matter of how we draft in terms of how we value where they are in their career arc, how we build a franchise based on that, etc.

Right?

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I may not have worded that well. My confusion was mostly around confirming that the initial draft would consist solely of players from '67 ... and then the next season would draft newcomers (and I guess leftovers who got carded) from '68, etc.

So we basically know who/what we're getting, the question is simply a matter of how we draft in terms of how we value where they are in their career arc, how we build a franchise based on that, etc.

Right?

Ah, right, I see where you are coming from now. Shouldn't be too much of an issue. The way I see it, and we'll use this as a guideline, is at the end of '67 each team will protect say 10 players, the rest go back into the draft. From there I'll start the '68 season, put the retained players where the belong and the remainder will be in the draft pool. I'll have to see if I can export that list, which would make things easier, but just going to baseball-reference.com will probably provide most of the insight you'd need, and I'll be available to assist.

Plus if it is too complicated we'll just play '67, then pick another season and start all over. I'm flexible...

[Breeze]

Still need to get a couple more people if we can though...

[Breeze]

I posted a note in my dynasty league baseball thread about this one...hoping to generate some more interest. I simplified what this will end up being into something that I hope will clear things up for those who have been reading this but haven't signed up...

basically this dynasty will be like a head to head fantasy baseball league based on the 1967 season with some decent newspaper style write ups, playoffs, league leaders, awards, etc.

I'll give this through the weekend and then we'll see where we are and discuss our options.

[JonInMiddleGA]

{watching}

[Breeze]

We have 8 now...(assuming everyone who signed up previously is still interested after this delay). ntdeacon said he wanted to play, but would need some initial help because of his schedule until June. That shouldn't be an issue, I can use the AI and offer some general suggestions which will probably be sufficient.

Hopefully, we can get at least 2 more signed up by the end of the weekend.

[path12]

Originally Posted by Breeze

We have 8 now...(assuming everyone who signed up previously is still interested after this delay)

I'm still in.

[Suicane75]

I'm still with ya, like a good case of crabs.

[Breeze]

Well we didn't get anyone else to sign up, so we probably need to talk about our options...

1. We can play with an 8 team league - this will mean every team is owned by an FOFCer, which is good. It will allow trades with any other team, and will probably lead to a more interesting season. However, if additional people want to join, they would have to wait until the next season, and we'd have to determine a way to do an expansion draft...

2. We can play with a 10 team league. This would mean 2 teams would be drafted and controlled by the AI (as far as setting up computer management, I could set up the default settings or allow the AI to do the entire thing). We would need to talk about allowing trading with the 2 computer teams as well. However, this arrangement would allow someone that wanted to join late to choose one of the teams to take over.

3. Do a 12 team league. This is the number that SOM used when they did their online stuff through Sporting News. Obviously this is just like #2 above, but would have 4 computer teams, and would allow for 4 FOFCers to join late.

Open for opinions...let me know how you'd like to proceed.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Breeze

Well we didn't get anyone else to sign up, so we probably need to talk about our options...

Well, if we're starting in '67, then there were 20 MLB teams.

I think that swings me toward saying 10 team league (with 2 AI/latecomer slots) doesn't seems like a bad idea. Mostly AI control, maybe set trades with those teams to be 48 hour up/down on member vote or perhaps even simply set them to ineligible for trading until human owned.

My .02 fwiw.

edit to add: This reminds me to ask, how deep are the human rosters expected to go? I'm assuming 25 active players but what about inactives/reserves/minors/whateveryacallit

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

.

edit to add: This reminds me to ask, how deep are the human rosters expected to go? I'm assuming 25 active players but what about inactives/reserves/minors/whateveryacallit

25 Active is right. We can draft up to 40 for a team...and you could manage active/inactive by some set time period (week, 2 weeks, month). Shoot for that matter if we go 10 teams, we could create a minor league and let them play out with the AI running at the minor league games and you could choose to promote/demote based on that same time period...

I'm open.

[path12]

I'm fine with either the 10 or 12 team option. As we go along I bet we'll pick up at least a couple people.

[Breeze]

ok, we'll see if any of the other owners want to chime in, but regardless why don't you send in your team city and nickname.

[DavidCorperial]

Stamford Rams for me

[path12]

Couple of years early but let's see the brand new Seattle Pilots!

[ntndeacon]

Birmingham Barons

[BYU 14]

Salt Lake Pioneers

[JonInMiddleGA]

Atlanta Crackers

[JAG]

Montpelier Cows

10/12 team league would be the preference, no real preference between them.

[Breeze]

looks like we are just waiting on BritRock and Suicane to get there team names in. Might want to pull out your Neft & Cohen Baseball Encyclopedia and bone up on 1967...

[path12]

Originally Posted by Breeze

looks like we are just waiting on BritRock and Suicane to get there team names in. Might want to pull out your Neft & Cohen Baseball Encyclopedia and bone up on 1967...

This whole thing got me nostalgic so I ordered the board game but for some reason decided to get 1964 instead of 1967. So encyclopedia it is.

[britrock88]

Would the Bouton Beaver Shooters be too profane?

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by britrock88

Would the Bouton Beaver Shooters be too profane?

If you've got your heart set on that, it's fine with me as long as no one else complains.

[Breeze]

I'll set up the league tonight and the game will automatically set the draft order. I'll leave a placeholder for Suicane and I'll use the following names for the Computer Controlled teams:

Louisville Colonels
Milwaukee Grays


Once that is completed we can start the draft. There are a few things that need to be mentioned/discussed:

1. You can set up the size of your stadium. One of the features in the game is ballpark affects for singles and homeruns. The mechanics of this feature work like this: When a certain roll occurs there will be a symbol for a ballpark affect, which will then look at your settings. The settings are based on a 1-20 random scale. You specify your options for a positive result so 1-X = Good, Remainder is bad. On a single ballpark affect a bad results in an out. On the homerun, a negative outcome is a single. This way if you build around pitching and want a pitchers park you might want something like a 1-4 possitive and 5-20 negative result.

Quick note: If we choose to move forward through 68, 69, etc...once you've set up your stadium, I will not allow you to change it more than 4 points on any given season.

2. To make this as fun as possible I am not going to implement many of the rules around overusage that many SOM league put in place. With that said, I will point out that overusing "Fluke Cards" will not be allowed. Obviously if you don't play Strat regularly you probably aren't familiar with this term...but in essence this is when the mechanics of the game can be exploited.

Remember each player is created to play close to their abilities based on their actual statistics, and when you have a player that performed extremely well with a small sample size the card is going to be a very good one. In fact, it can be so good that if overused the player would likely be a record setter or league leader. For instance: One example is the 2009 card of Randy Ruiz (.313/.385/.635 in 130 PA) - if we allowed him to play a full season in SOM Online, he may very well lead the league in homeruns, which is not believable by any stretch of the imagination.