MLB The Show 20: The Strat-O-Matic '80s Roster From htskr21

[Armor and Sword]

Quote: Originally Posted by GainzBro

I'd like to know more about Darius Light. Who is he? Where did his persona come from? I drafted him to my squad and he is probably the best rated pitcher in the roster database. Just curious of his origin. Sent from my LGMP260 using Operation Sports mobile app

Looks like a fictional deep sleeper!!


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[GainzBro]

Quote: Originally Posted by Armor and Sword

Looks like a fictional deep sleeper!! Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

Somehow he was on the draft board forever. The AI recommended I pick him for many rounds before I gave in. I tried to stick with guys I know as long as I could but the temptation to have a top closer was too great to resist.

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[GainzBro]

It has been so much fun scouting my team on Baseball Reference! I like to look at the year that corresponds to the player's age on this roster for veterans and for my younger guys it's cool to see their carer trajectory and reminisce over those seasons and the old school baseball video games I played with some of the players.
The most interesting part is noticing how the game has evolved. For example: Pete Vuckovich won a Cy Young for going 18-6 with a 3.34. Not bad you say, right? Get this in 223 IP he struck out a paltry 105 and walked a whopping 102! His Whip was over 1.5. I'm baffled he managed to go 18-6 let alone win the Cy based on what we know today. But how cool is that? Also my man Vida Blue pitched 312 innings in his age 21 season and was good for 260-290 every year! Crazy stuff. I love this great game and this roster keeps getting better the more I dig into it. The layers of immersion just keep building.

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[GainzBro]

Some of the best gems of this roster are the career minor leaguers and guys who had a cup of coffee in the bigs. Like Drungo Hazewood whose name sounded so fictional but so 80's baseball I googled it and found out he was a can't miss prospect who tore up the minors, had all the tools and made one big league start in which he struck out all 4 at bats.
There are many more like this which just makes this roster stand out.

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[Caulfield]

Quote: Originally Posted by doncropper

GREAT Job htskr21 ! Curious on the Strat-O-Matic reference. I am a Huge Strat-O-Matic fanatic... Again, Thanks for this GREAT Roster Set ! Don

interested in hearing the connection as well

[GainzBro]

Another thing I like about this roster is how the potential ratings are kept true to the prospects. We already know how their careers turned out but for all the 18-22 year olds on this roster it seems that potentials were given according to the perceived potential of the prospects at that time in their career. For example Ron Gant, one of my favorites has an A potential. Now we know his career didn't exactly turn out at an A level, probably a B in my opinion. But at age 21 (his age on the roster) he was a stud, top-prospect. I say bravo to this rating system as I see this to be done consistently throughout in the roster. Another example Glenallen Hill a B-rated 24 year old who had nice minor league numbers of a B player but never played better than a C in his actual career. This allows for a much more immersive fantasy experience as we let things play out it shouldn't be an exact replica of real life. We've already seen that. We're here to build our own universe or Stratosphere as I call it.
Also the established veterans in this roster have a potential rating given that fairly and accurately reflects their career production. This too is exceptional. This makes the older guys play at a believable level of simulation and balances the league really well.
I also see the lack of depth in pitching staffs accurately reflected as was true for that time period. To get a guy who is rated in the 70's to fill out bullpen spots is a challenge and a treat to have him! Also most of the 70's guys are vets in their 30's with lots of big league experience just like back in that day! It is very hard and rare to find young arms with high ratings as the old-school philosophy was to go with experience. This absolutely makes the roster play to it's time period.
I am 7 games into Spring Training and beyond thrilled with the playability and immersion of this roster.
I noticed Reggie Sanders is missing. Only because he's another favorite of mine who was in the Red's system in '88. So I added him. To my team of course. But by no means is this a complaint because this roster shows painstaking attention to detail throughout. Love it.

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[htskr21]

Quote: Originally Posted by doncropper

GREAT Job htskr21 ! Curious on the Strat-O-Matic reference. I am a Huge Strat-O-Matic fanatic and have been since I first purchased their game in '63 only the 2nd year of Strats' history. I actually have a Collectors' copy of their original issued game from '62. Even brought the game with me Overseas in '70 while serving in the Marine Corps and introduced it to many of my fellow Marines during my tour ...... talk about some 'ruff games experienced during that time with a bunch of rowdy Jarheads ! Again, Thanks for this GREAT Roster Set ! Don

Wow. You guys are fantastic. Thank you so much for the praise. I enjoyed making it. I played Strat growing up after ordering the 1985 season/board game when I was 15 years old. I played some with friends but probably ten times as many games by myself. I bet it was a blast to play with those guys.
Thanks for your service and again for the kind words.

[htskr21]

Quote: Originally Posted by GainzBro

I'd like to know more about Darius Light. Who is he? Where did his persona come from? I drafted him to my squad and he is probably the best rated pitcher in the roster database. Just curious of his origin. Sent from my LGMP260 using Operation Sports mobile app

He was just a guy in the roster I originally used as a base months ago.

(Or, he's a little known, scrappy, all heart pitcher from an Independent league up North. Undrafted, he was a walk-on at camp and through sheer force of will and a bulldog mentality, made the team.) The rest is history for you to play...