Destined to lose?

[Cavicchi]

Re: Destined to lose?

Read it in context. I almost regret mentioning it was outside the zone as that's not the most relevant factor. It felt utterly inevitable after what had happened for the first two runners to get on base.

How many home runs have you hit off pitches outside the zone?

One of my favorites is batter getting a hit with bat meeting ball near the catcher! I mean, back end of home plate and it's fair! A little more and it's past home plate!!!

As far as I'm concerned, from what I've observed, if the CPU wants to get a hit it will. If you are not allowed to get a hit, you won't. Whatever happens is allowed or disallowed, and that is my impression.

[wudl83]

Re: Destined to lose?

Read it in context. I almost regret mentioning it was outside the zone as that's not the most relevant factor. It felt utterly inevitable after what had happened for the first two runners to get on base.

Please watch some baseball games. There was already a ton of strange Giants games this season. SP sharp as hell, one hit given up, one freaky error and suddenly all breaks loose. Error, error, miracle hit, homerun, you name it. This is baseball my friend.

[Perfect Zero]

Re: Destined to lose?

At this point we've come down to the people who understand that Baseball doesn't act fair in every single game and accept that comebacks are a part of the Show as they are in real life, and those who refuse to believe that their own shortcomings as manager or just flat out bad luck are the reasons why they are losing.

There are many good reasons why comebacks happen in the Show as they do in real life. Managers get attached to the players and hope that the pitcher can get one more out when they are gassed. Fielders have wrong reactions to bunts, which in turn can have a confidence drain on the pitcher knowing that the runner on first shouldn't be there. We all make mistakes; that's just part of being human.

What the focus needs to turn toward now is how to manage games more effectively. Nomo's thread should be required reading on how to manage in the Show; it has so many great tips and it even helped me to get a few more runs on the board and keep a few more opponents off the bag.

[Steven78]

Re: Destined to lose?

Where's Nomos thread?

[Perfect Zero]

Re: Destined to lose?

Where's Nomos thread?

http://www.operationsports.com/forum...post2043493906

Actually this part is written by one of the developers. It has really helped a lot of people on these boards.

[rjackson]

Re: Destined to lose?

I am down 3 in the 9th. A couple of lob throws and a couple of errors and a WP by the CPU and a 1-2-3 bottom half by my closer and I win. I must have been destined to win.

The game does have a way of evening things out so people do not hit .500 with 100 HRs and 100 SBs but it is in your favor as well as the opposite is true. It is part of what makes this a great game, though.

[HechticSooner]

Re: Destined to lose?

Just one phrase for you, '69 Mets...they weren't called the Amazin's for nothing!

[BoomerHB52]

Re: Destined to lose?

Comebacks are, in my humple opinion, the best part in baseball. That feeling you have of pressure, anxiety and you dont know what the heck to do is simply amazing. And the better part is that The Show was able to put that in the game. Sure, it will frustrate the crap outta you but at the end it will be worth it.

The feeling of having a lead late in the innings, and the other team is working on a rally is exciting. Just as in real life, you will start feeling the pressure, the thinking of "I have to play smart. I have to locate the pitches exactly in the correct position" is the exact same feeling in a real baseball game. In the game, you are basically the manager. You are the one responsable for the actions. You screw it up, you get the L. You succeed, you get the W. Its that simple. Errors are part of the game. But its not part of the game if you automatically give up after an error. Thats you. Do not let those things affect you.

At the end, folks, is a game. You cant predict it, cant buy it, cant blame it. You have to live it.

[wudl83]

Re: Destined to lose?

maybe ask don mattingly and brandon league about comebacks and blown saves. maybe puig about bad baserunning, too. it's all out there.

[Jordyn]

Re: Destined to lose?

Or at least use the long relief guy for long relief. Multiple innings don't go to the guys who at most throw two in a row, no matter what you think the energy looks like. Plus I bet that this guy had the fastball thwacked, probably started 60 % of at bats with a first pitch fastball leading up to this, and still thought that the reliever that just had has fastball sent right back at his lips should throw it first pitch to the next guy, AND the guy after that. Confidence is in the game for a reason!

1. I left Joba in because Boone Logan had pitched the previous game and I knew he could only pitch to 1 or 2 batters max.
2. The only two other late inning relievers I have are Mo (my closer obviously) and Robertson, who sports an ERA of 6+. Joba hadn't pitched in a week and was ready to go. I warmed up Robertson though just in case Joba got hit hard and as I said, he got thwacked too
3. And here we go with the assumptions. I mix my pitches up, mix speeds, mix locations. Don't assume we're all idiots just because it's the Occam's razor. I know how to play the game and these instances happen a lot. Open your mind and you'll notice it too instead of just being blind to the Show bandwagon.

And these instances aren't just isolated to the CPU making comebacks, I make plenty of unfulfilling and unearned comebacks as well. Take last game for example. I'm up 3-1 in the 6th with Hughes on the bump. He's thrown about 65 pitches and his energy is fine, but I have Logan warming up. Triple, double, single, jack (yes, they hit for a consecutive cycle) and it's 5-3 (I fully accept the blame for this, I should've removed Hughes after the first double). This did NOT bother me one bit because I knew I mismanaged Hughes. What bothered me is what happened in the top of the very next inning. Jeter leads off with a walk and Cano hits a game-tying homer on a changeup that I was clearly early on and made subpar contact.

Please understand, I am not complaining about losing due to CPU comebacks. I am upset because the game always seems to allow the losing team to make some sort of a rally, regardless of situation. It can be the CPU or the user (and the developers acknowledged the game cannot differentiate between user or CPUI, which just furthers this theory), but 95% of all games end up with the losing team making some sort of rally. Do I think there's some hidden code? No. I think the developers got lazy and (1) made confidence WAY too important and (2) relievers aren't NEARLY as bad as the game makes them out to be.

[nomo17k]

Re: Destined to lose?

...

And these instances aren't just isolated to the CPU making comebacks, I make plenty of unfulfilling and unearned comebacks as well. Take last game for example. I'm up 3-1 in the 6th with Hughes on the bump. He's thrown about 65 pitches and his energy is fine, but I have Logan warming up. Triple, double, single, jack (yes, they hit for a consecutive cycle) and it's 5-3 (I fully accept the blame for this, I should've removed Hughes after the first double). This did NOT bother me one bit because I knew I mismanaged Hughes. What bothered me is what happened in the top of the very next inning. Jeter leads off with a walk and Cano hits a game-tying homer on a changeup that I was clearly early on and made subpar contact.

Please understand, I am not complaining about losing due to CPU comebacks. I am upset because the game always seems to allow the losing team to make some sort of a rally, regardless of situation. It can be the CPU or the user (and the developers acknowledged the game cannot differentiate between user or CPUI, which just furthers this theory), but 95% of all games end up with the losing team making some sort of rally. Do I think there's some hidden code? No. I think the developers got lazy and (1) made confidence WAY too important and (2) relievers aren't NEARLY as bad as the game makes them out to be.

I can actually see why you feel this way, and I think there's certain truth to what you are seeing.

There's this "regression to the mean" effect that tends a team to score about 4 - 5 runs in a game, not that the nature or god of baseball making the team to score this many runs if they aren't, but it's just a game of baseball by nature allows enough scoring opportunities to happen such that an team tends to score 4 - 5 runs *on average over a long run.* If you look at the distribution/histogram of runs by a team, you will see a peak near 4 - 5 runs, and the steep decreases toward zero, and longer tail toward higher runs. So you are more likely have games in which your team scores about 4 - 5 runs. The same goes for the opposing team, so overall, you feel that there are many "see-saw" or close games in which teams scoring 4 - 5 runs. Couple this with relatively ineffective relievers (which tend to make this happen more in the game), you get an impression that late-inning rallies are fabricated.

But even then, the reason why this happens doesn't really require the game scripting based on situations or forcing certain things to happen to balance the game to play "real." It's just very unfortunate a few people who think the game forces situations at times (despite numerous confirmations that it doesn't) ALWAYS chime in in this sort of thread and make a lot of discussions tiresome and fruitless.

I don't think the effect is as big as you make it to be, but I actually think the game can see some improvement in this regard. (My personal favorite is more player specific confidence system and/or more dynamic stamina system.)

[wudl83]

Re: Destined to lose?

Nonetheless I would like to know if the terms "always" or "last game" or "previous game" and "next game" are for real or only imagination and exaggeration. Humans tend to remember negative things better than good things.

[G3no_11]

Re: Destined to lose?

1. I left Joba in because Boone Logan had pitched the previous game and I knew he could only pitch to 1 or 2 batters max.
2. The only two other late inning relievers I have are Mo (my closer obviously) and Robertson, who sports an ERA of 6+. Joba hadn't pitched in a week and was ready to go. I warmed up Robertson though just in case Joba got hit hard and as I said, he got thwacked too
3. And here we go with the assumptions. I mix my pitches up, mix speeds, mix locations. Don't assume we're all idiots just because it's the Occam's razor. I know how to play the game and these instances happen a lot. Open your mind and you'll notice it too instead of just being blind to the Show bandwagon.

1. You should look into getting some bullpen help.
2. I'm assuming you have more than 3 relievers.... you can still use other guys even if they aren't "late inning guys." If your 7, 8, 9 inning guys are fatigued than you have to adjust, not leave Joba in for 3 innings in a close game.

[Jordyn]

Re: Destined to lose?

Using Joba in one inning is painful.. Using Joba for more than that is just to jump off of the Everest heads first.

It happened to me earlier playing against the Rangers. Winning 3-0 in the 7th, my SP was dealing having allowed only two hits so far. His energy was just in the middle, and he was reaching the 70 pitch count. Of course my thought was "Hey, im going to start warming up my 7th inning man just in case.. But im going to let my SP gets through this one" But because Baseball is the best sport, the unexpected-kind of expected happened. Single, double, dropped flyball by the SS. 3-1 man on third and first. 0 outs. Two consecutive huge K's. But then, a walk. Bases loaded two outs. Line hit through the 3B line... But wait. The ball hit the bag (my 3b was already in the motion of reaching for the ball down the line) and went to the opposite field. The ball ended up between 2nd and 3rd. Safe.
Next batter, hits a ground ball to SS, my fielder reaches it makes the throw with the Jeter motion... The ball is in the air.. It is... It is... Safe. The runner was already celebrating the safe when the ball was caught by the 1B.

So there you go. Pitcher dealing and collapsed lol (bad luck also)

So the dropped fly ball by your shortstop and the line drive hitting the bag that conveniently allowed them to tie the game up doesn't strike you as coincidental? Or perhaps the routine ground ball that your shortstop just happened to take his time throwing, resulting in the runner being safe? I'm not saying there isn't any user fault here, but these happenings are . . . questionable at best.

[wudl83]

Re: Destined to lose?

Questionable like the defensive mistakes of the Dodgers infield that lead to League's 4 ER in 0.2 IP and a blown save last night against the Dbacks?