|
 Imagine a world where Pete Rose finally enters the Hall of Fame, where the Iran-Iraq war never occurred, and the spirit of baseball united the Islamic world and Middle East into one of peace, harmony, and friendly competition. Imagine a world where George W. Bush is remembered as a hero, a peacemaker, and is beloved by Muslims, Jews, and Christians worldwide.  That is the world of Muslim (and Israel) League Baseball (MaILB). Our team, the Istanbul Constantinoples, is struggling to make its name in the young league, and will watch history unfold around it. There's where you, goons, come in. As a general rule, any collaborative goon effort results in ruin. To prove this rule to be true, we will do a collaborative Let’s Play of the latest version of Out of the Park Baseball 15, hereafter called OOTP. What is OOTP? OOTP is an extremely intricate baseball simulator game. Unlike its cousin Baseball Mogul (of which there are a serious of great Let’s Plays/Leagues found here), OOTP lets the player control virtually every aspect of their baseball team, from trades to rosters to minor leagues, as well as an obscene array of customization options with regards to the league itself. You then simulate the team’s play, either by doing it pitch by pitch, or letting the season run and managing the finances/rosters of your team. If you’re a huge baseball nerd like me, it’s a lot of fun. Hopefully some baseball ambivalent people can just come and enjoy the LP, watching Who the hell are you? I’m JosefStalinator, and while I don’t post all that much (and this is my first LP), I’ve run a brief character-driven sim in traditional games. You can find it here. Don’t be fooled by Maxrob’s lies, I did most of the writing. I’ve also logged an ungodly number of hours of OOTP with my own leagues, so I have pretty intricate knowledge of its mechanics. So what is this LP going to do? This LP will focus on a goon-made, and goon run team, in which the posters will regularly vote upon general strategies to create an effective, and hopefully successful, baseball team. As the thread starts, the posters will help decide the structure of the league, its settings, team names, and so on. Goons will also assist with the drafting process – from the inaugural draft, to yearly rookie drafts, to signing international agents. Goons will be the GM and the Manager, and, if history is any indication, they’ll be lucky if their team finishes in second to last place. How will goons be involved? The posters in the thread will serve as collective Manager and GM, and I’ll help streamline decisions and make options obvious or available. Do we bench Assy McFart? Should we look for a new third basemen on free agency? Do we trade all our goon friends away and rebuild Astros style? And so on. Once the long and intricate setup process is done, and players are drafted, I will assign goons to players on a first come, first serve basis. You can always choose particular positions first, as they are available, and wait until such a position comes up. Goons will be able to use their Username or some other name, doesn’t matter to me. More details will follow below. What will updates look like? Once we are set up, I’ll begin simulating the season. I’ll do periodic updates on how the goons themselves are doing, highlights of our wonderful posters who are doing well (or awful), as well any relevant banter between them, our AI owner, and others around the league. I’ll also include important news and other happenings. Decisions will be highlighted and the posters can determine their next actions. I’ll probably start off weekly (or two weeks at a time, we’ll see what works best), and show general stat lines, but memorable games or performances, or games with more importance to the playoff race (including playoffs themselves), will be outlined in greater detail. Our triumphs will be chronicled, and maybe, just maybe, goons can manage to win it all. For the sandcastle, I did a demonstration found here. It has information about the game’s mechanics, as well as a sample of what we might expect to see in updates. I’m not entirely wedded to the “witty banter” style of LP, mostly because I’m not that witty, and it may end up being more like the Football Manager LP, relying on crafting an amusing meta-story than individual characters. We’ll see how it evolves. Note: I received some good feedback in the Sandcastle thread about the formatting and picture size. I’ve got Irfan installed and a better understanding of resolution limitations, so the updates here will be a bit easier to read. Let me know if there are any problems as we go along. Help what is bases-balls what do I do? An appreciation for the great sport of baseball is not required for this LP. I fully expect goons to make horrible decisions on a regular basis, and start Shitface McHolocaust because he has a better name than the actual good player. I will try to explain baseball mechanics for the uninitiated as I go along, along with the game’s mechanics and presentation, as well as offer advice on strategies to assist the players in making good decisions. Whether you ignore me totally is your call. The following is now irrelevant as the league is set-up, and preserved for posterity. Skip to post two for more relevant information: Initial Setup Tasks: The time will come to vote on these as prompted, so don’t do so yet. The initial tasks for the posters will be to determine the following characteristics of the league. This will be done with votes, though not necessarily in this order: 1. League Location – Our league needs a location! Want a team based in Mexico that is a Latin American League? Want a league that is entirely comprised of Kazakh teams? An Israeli league? All are possible in OOTP! The league can be based in any country, and it can be comprised of any combination of cities, countries, or regions. OOTP actually comes with an auto-region function, so I’ll first ask posters to vote on a region or country, and then I can randomize the teams and we’ll pick the team we most like. If you want to include a particularly desirable city, I’ll make sure to do so.  Here you can see the basics of how team location, naming, and structure play out.  Here’s some of the autoregion options. There are even more than can fit in one screenshot, and if you want to create a custom one, I can get creative and work accordingly. The full list of autoregion options can be found here. 2. League Name – Our League needs a name! Call it whatever you want, along with an abbreviation IE: Baseball Advanced Loser League (BALL) 3. League Structure – Our league needs a structure! The modern MLB has 2 subleagues, 3 divisions, each with 5 teams. That makes for a total of 30 teams. You can vote to structure it how you like, but I’m going to impose a limit of 16 teams max. It’s just more fun with fewer teams, and it might be fun to do an expansion eventually.  You can see the structure options here 4. Our team – The most important choice. After we determine the location of the league and the regions, I’ll randomize the cities. Goons can vote for their favorite, then vote for the best team name. Go Tashkent Terrorists! 5. Year – What year do you want to start the league in? This is mostly arbitrary, but may impact financials. Also, a gimmick 1939 German League or some other horrendous event might be fun. 1871 is the earliest year, to 2014. Feel free to be creative – it will actually help with my writing if I can incorporate some world events or whatever into the LP, even if we all just love watching numbers change. 6. Da Rules – I need help choosing some of the rules. While I’ll be doing a lot of the defaults or arbitrarily choosing some things, some additional stuff to vote on when we get there: -DH rules -Playoff Structure 7. Financials are complicated, so the following options will be chosen from: a. Absolute equality – all teams are forced to adhere to a (roughly) similar budget. b. Free Market – all teams will have budgets influenced by their market size and fan enthusiasm c. Luxury Tax – Free market, but with a fat luxury tax of 50% above 120% the average payroll. The tax is distributed to the poors. d. Set % of income – Free market, but income is taxed at 25% of total team income, then distributed equally to all teams. These will be voted on AFTER we decide our team, so we can see if it’s a small or big market team. The real variation in finances comes from two variables: market size and fan enthusiasm. Market size is borne by the size of the metro area and, roughly, where you can generate a market to sell merchandise and whatnot to your fans. This variable is kind of arbitrary, but you can more or less determine that New York will have a big market, while Tampa Bay will have a smaller market. Fan Enthusiasm is determined by a team’s success. Technically, markets with high fan loyalty will make this less elastic, even in bad times. Think of how Wrigley continues to sell tickets to Cubs games. In a totally free environment, teams with small markets will face permanent handicaps in how much money they can generate from merchandise, tv deals, and ticket sales, while big market teams will always have cash on hand. This also makes small market teams more dependent upon fan enthusiasm, which waxes and wanes with success. In order of imposed fairness, option a is most extreme, followed by c, then d, then b for full Inaugural Draft Once the team is chosen and the settings confirmed, the game will begin, and the team will participate in the inaugural draft. For fun, I’ll give the goon team the first pick – and ask for a general strategy as the draft proceeds. We’ll likely do the first few rounds one at a time, but when it comes down to trash minor leaguers and fillers, we won’t be doing all 50+ rounds, and I’ll let the AI fill them out. I’ll offer advice along the way, and show the stats of the most viable candidates for drafting. If the will of democracy is to draft all terrible players, then enjoy a terrible team. Stuff I’m Choosing For You The season will be 162 games long, there will be an All-Star game if we have two sub leagues. We’ll be doing a 5 man rotation, with otherwise standard strategy. The particular strengths and weaknesses of hitting/pitching will vary with the player generation/league evolution. It will be a Major League (no HS league you ADTRW rejects), and I’ll choose the presentation. There will be a AAA, AA, and A minor league system. This is mostly to ensure we have some new goons coming in from time to time. I can manage this for the most part, but I may ask goons whether to call up or send down players from time to time. I’m going to have our owner set our budget for now, but if I ever feel like we need to wrest control of the team from him, it can be done. Goon Players Once we are drafted and ready to go, I’ll start allotting goons to players. You can add your name to the Google doc found at this link. Don’t be dicks or I’ll revoke your edit privileges. There are three columns: Your desired name, your position preference, and your facial preferences. Name: There are three parts to a name, First, Last, and Nickname. The game may give you a nickname, which can be fun in its randomness, but I don’t care if you want a custom one. The name will be displayed in the format: First “Nickname” Last. Position: I’ll go in order of the list, first come first serve, but you can request particular positions or skill levels. If you choose “best available pitcher” or “highest rated second baseman”, you’ll receive it, and I’ll move down the list. I’ll probably stop with the 25 man roster, maybe naming some top prospects, and leave the rest of the goons on reserve in case anyone gets called up or drafted later. Facial Preferences: The game offers some limited options for the way your player looks. You’re free to post your own preferred picture (the recommended size is 90x135 or it’ll be all squished). If you want to let the game pre-gen it, you can choose your race between Hispanic, Caucasian, White, African, or East Indian. There are a number of beard and moustache options, though few good neckbeards (mostly handlebars and historical baseball facial styles.) I’ll do my best to go with your wishes. You can also set your hair color (only realistic ones, unless you do a custom picture). Additional Duties Once we get into the swing of things, I’ll present additional duties and decisions for goons to make. This game is really, really complex, so I’ll also accept spontaneous and complex decisions if the thread consensus demands it. There’s also a whole bunch of further decisions to be made regarding personnel, scouting potential players, changing player positions, and so many more I’m probably forgetting. I won’t let us get bogged down in votes, but I also want to make sure this is as collaborative as possible. Reference: Goon Sign-Up Sheet Let me reserve a few posts before posting, please. JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Nov 24, 2014 |
#
¿
Sep 24, 2014 05:36
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 09:35 |
|
|
Meet the Goons  Franklin Fink SA Username: cucka Istanbul Constantinoples 1980-1 Free Agent, signed by Teheran Mahdis 1982 (700k bonus) Released by Teheran Mahdis 1982 Free Agent, signed by Qatar Propane 1982 (320k bonus) Free Agent, Minor League Deal with Jakarta 1983 (270k bonus)         Cam Stevenson SA Username: oldskool            Awards: -Texas Swagger Award for Hittin' Good: 1980 -Pete's Olympic Hustle and Grit Award: Gold 1980 -Stay the Course Fieldin' Award 1982, 2B -Texas Tater Touch 'Em All Award 1982, 2B   Eric Clink SA Username: Clinkster         Awards: -Pete's Olympic Hustle and Grit Award: Silver 1980   John "Whiteboy" Black SA Username: Johnfw50 Free Agent, Minor League deal with Jakarta 1983 (150k bonus)     Cash "Money" Considerations SA Username: Icephoenix      Awards: -Lone Star Rookie Award 1980: 2nd place -Stay the Course Fieldin Award 1982, LF    Reeve Tresher SA Username: Revenant Threshold Free Agent, 1983 signed by Damascus Steelers   Prince Kelly SA Username: TheFlyingLlama         Awards: -Pete's Hustle and Grit Award: Bronze 1980   KKKLIP ART SA Username: KKKLIP ART     Jub "Jubs" Jub, 1980-1980.Jub's BNN Page SA Username: Jubs     Mohammad Jihad SA Username: Bguy32      Jack "Golden" Price SA Username: GoldenPrice         Awards: -Pete's Olympic Hustle and Grit Award: Gold 1980 -Decisive Decider Pitchin' Award 1982: Second Place Texas Swagger Award for Hittin' Good 1982: Second Place   Flex Townshend SA Username: Monicro       Sai Torr SA Username: Saitorr        Albrecht "Hagen" Alby SA Username: Albrecht "Hagen" Alby    Rob MacGregor SA Username: TheMcD       Awards: -Pete's Olympic Hustle and Grit Award: Silver 1980 -Cowboy Up Closer Award 1982: Second Place   John "Very Reverend" Friar SA Username: Friar John    Alex "This isn't Cricket" Campbell SA Username: Kingal Istanbul Constantinoples 1980-1980 Free Agent, signed by Cairo Cleopatras 1981 Free Agent, signed by Damascus (minor league deal) 1982 Retired, October 1982Signed as Hitting Coach for AA Yerevan   Bolivar Mallen SA Username: Val Helmethead      Xerxes Ironfist SA Username: Arquebus Awards: -Pete's Olympic Hustle and Grit Award: Bronze 1980   Sky Shadowing SA Username: Sky Shadowing Qatar Propane 1980 Caliphate Championship Ring! Free Agent, Signed by Istanbul Constinoples 1981-      Rahim "the Hefty" Lefty SA Username: Jesterea Istanbul Constantinoples 1980 Free Agent, signed by Damascus Steelers 1981 Caliphate Championship Ring! Free Agent, signed by Riyadh Wahabbis 1982 Free Agent, 1983   Jeff "Jefferino" Jeffers SA Username: Soviets   Kabul Cabal 1980 Istanbul Constantinoples 1981 Daniel "Danny" Glands SA Username: Daniel "Danny" Glands 1980 Drafted by Kabul Cabal Free Agent, 1981 signed by Istanbul Constantinoples Free Agent, 1983 signed by Kabul Cabal    Burt "Rampage" Roberts SA Username: beru04   Kurt Engle SA Username: Antitonic   Robin Williams SA Username: Neopie Istanbul Constantinoples 1980-1981 Traded to Islamabad Beef 1981-    Constance "Consty" al-Istanbuli SA User: Maximo Roboto   Franq-in Friq SA Username: Frankenfreak   Hoshi "Pantsu" Uemura SA Username: Lord Pants     Eric "Gravedigger" Garrett SA Username: Antitonic   Kane SA Username: Tanglewood1420     Rex SA Username: Ice To Meet You   Nif "Human" Bot SA Username: Niftybottle      Queen "Dongers" Al Khalifa SA Username: Dongsbot 9000    [url=http://74.122.196.130/~chrismac/josefstalinator/http-docs/your-league/reports/html/players/player_353.html]Kyle "Terminator" Reese SA Username: gbuchold Beirut Pines 1980-1983 Traded to Istanbul 1983- JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 10:07 on May 2, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2014 05:36
|
|
|
I'm fine with the Middle East idea - you guys can propose to let it do the "Inter-Continental Middle East" region, or just every Middle East country, represented by their capitals, etc. Iran 1979 might be fun - or just a general Cold War Mid East idea (goons would totally pick Israel just to be the odd man out). So would something like the Islamic State League, in which it starts as a small league in Syria/Iraq, but grows alongside the caliphate. Up to you guys, just remember to bold it in your post to submit it as an official proposal. PS: Make sure to put your SA username in the google doc, so I know who you are.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2014 07:54
|
|
|
Since it was the first one proposed, here's an example of the commonwealth idea, with some demonstration on how the auto-region function works: I think that it weights on population, making India a bit over represented, with some other randomness. I'd certainly smooth out any team generation to be a bit more representative (IE: Add more European teams, maybe some Canadian ones as well) to provide geographic representation, as well as group them by region. Keep suggesting - I guess if no consensus gathers, I can either make an arbitrary OP choice, or put it up to a vote if we start getting more participation.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2014 18:11
|
|
|
It looks like a consensus is brewing, but I want to keep taking suggestions for a bit just in case any cool ideas capture the posters' imaginations (and because I can't move onto the next step until later tonight). Here's what we've got so far: Commonwealth - 1971 Central Europe/Germany - 1950's South America - 1971 Middle East - 1979 Mexico City Dinger Gods - 1500's? Reformed Soviet Union - 2014 (from the test post, I'm assuming) I'll show off a preview of what it might look like tonight, and we'll move to vote on League Structure then. EDIT: Just to be clear, feel free to keep voting and voicing your support for any options. If any alternatives start to gain support, I can easily do a quick runoff. Also, I started following your suggestions and putting some of the more creative potential images for your players in the doc, so feel free to voice your opinion there if you love/hate it. JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 23:56 on Sep 24, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2014 23:19
|
|
|
Alright, I think it's pretty clear that most of you wanna do a Middle East Cold War baseball league. I have some ideas about a 1979 start so I'm leaning to 1979 as our start year, but I may do a slightly earlier one if inspiration hits me. Then, let's move onto the next stage of decision making. You need to decide our League Structure. This means determining how many subleagues we have, how many divisions per subleague(s), and how many teams per division. So, post your preferences on the following: 1. League name (and acronym) 2. Number of Subleagues and names 3. Number of divisions per subleague, and division names 4. DH preference (per subleague) 5. Home Nation (basically just where the HQ is, purely for flavor) I'll put a cap of 16 on the total number of teams, but I don't care how you approach it otherwise. Here's what a 16 team, 2 subleague, 2 divisions of four teams each might look like in the Middle East:  I know it's a lot, but since most of it is related, and I don't want to have two dozen votes on all the minutiae, let's see if we can get this covered in one fell swoop. And FYI, when it's time to actually choose a team, I'll make sure the desired city shows up on the list. The example is just to give some idea of the countries considered "Arab World" or "Middle East" for your reference. Also to demonstrate league structure. What is the DH? For the uninitiated in baseball, DH stands for "Designated Hitter". The Designated Hitter rule is optional, and allows a team to put replace the pitcher in their offensive lineup with a different player, typically one who is better at hitting. Pitchers tend not to hit very well, so this boosts offense, and allows players with sub-par defense who can still hit well to prolong their career. Not using the designated hitter forces the pitcher to bat, usually ninth in the lineup, which means we will see more  and more pinch-hitters (giving bench players more of a role). Not having a DH may allow more pinch hitting by goons who got some of the bench players, while a DH would allow another goon player to regularly appear on the lineup, and prolong some goon careers by keeping old guys around. Both have advantages from a play perspective, so I don't mind either way. JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Sep 25, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2014 05:22
|
|
|
Seems like people don't care quite as much about league structure, so if more suggestions don't start trickling in, I'll roll with the johnfw50 suggestion and let us pick our team in a few hours. Though we do have some disagreement on the DH rule, which I'm honestly shocked hasn't at least elicited some strong opinions. Feel free to vote on only one aspect of the 5 things I listed - you don't have to introduce a full slate. I'll cobble together all your opinions. I have to say though - it is strange that you want to name one of the divisions after a young Netanyahu with few accomplishments.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2014 18:57
|
|
|
If Israelis were to deify any of their leaders for a baseball division, it would probably be Ben Gurion. But don't worry, I'm sure plenty of Israeli leaders will be showing up at some point. I know Ariel Sharon is nearing the apex of his 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2014 19:53
|
|
|
Alright, it doesn't look like there were too many objections or strong opinions on this, so to get the Let's Play closer to actually playing, here's a rough draft of what the league structure may look like: The team names themselves were just randomly generated and will change, but the rough distribution of teams seems pretty solid. I just lumped all the non-Muslims into the Shiite league because there weren't as many Shiites as Sunnis. Now,  I need everyone to propose the team we should play, and its name. This is important, for it will decide who we will be playing as for (at least the first part) of this Let's Play.You can choose a team not on the screenshot, so long as it fits the general MaILB theme. Also feel free to propose team names for other teams than our own - any failed team names, or alternatives, will be used for the other teams we regularly play against. JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Sep 25, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2014 22:04
|
|
|
TheFlyingLlama posted:Oh man, we have to go with the Islamabad Beef. That one was randomly generated - the only one I changed was the Alexandria Copts (to justify another team in the Greenberg non-muslim division). If you do play as Islamabad, it may be worth putting an Indian team in there somewhere.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2014 22:23
|
|
|
Supreme Lord Jeremy posted:I fully support this idea... Besides, Turkey needs a team. Certainly more than Yemen, at least. Hey, there's only so many Shiite countries - it was that or give Baku a team, especially with the otherwise Shiite Iraq controlled by Sunni Saddam. Which may be an important point, if my terrible backstory I'm crafting that justifies the creation of a Middle Eastern baseball league is going to make any sort of sense. EDIT: Make sure to add yourself to the queue if you want to have a player named after you in game: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Rn47xAdDvR25frC3TE_tPqNIOBAsWB2cMGgqjY5Dy4U/edit?pli=1#gid=0
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2014 00:10
|
|
|
johnfw50 posted:If the story doesn't involve Sandy Koufax coming out of retirement at some point I'm gonna be real disappointed. Various figures, from the major leagues to political figures, will probably end up appearing in the meta-story. It's going to be kinda dumb but hey, not everyone gets full enjoyment out of watching spreadsheets change as I do. Right now we have some good team name proposals, and the Istanbul Constantinoples are currently the only team with even more than one vote. Keep proposing guys - even your failed proposals can be used for the other teams.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2014 01:45
|
|
|
Maximo Roboto posted:
If you play as the Tel Aviv Garfields, I will force you to auto-concede on both Jewish holidays AND Mondays.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2014 05:25
|
|
|
On November 4, 1979, fifty-two Americans were held hostage by Iranian radicals following the Iranian revolution. These hostages would be held captive for 444 days, before finally being released on January 20, 1981. The period following the Iranian Revolution would see the Middle East thrown into a period of sectarian rivalry, turmoil, and discord, where nations and peoples became pawns of cold war politics and foreign imperialism, as well as tools of religious extremism. This is not that story. This is the story of the unknown fifty-third hostage, a man whose presence in the hostage crisis is unknown, as in our timeline, he was never captured. In this alternate reality, this man would later become a hero of the Middle East – hated by some, loved by many, he found a way to subvert the hatred and religious tension and channel it into healthy sporting competition. The son of a wealthy and powerful United States politician and political family, this man forwent a comfortable life of fame, fortune, and power in order to pursue his dream of bringing about lasting peace, democracy, and baseball to the Middle East. This is his story. This is the story of how baseball helped avert one of the most devastating wars of the late 20th century, how it helped heal the rift between Israelis and Palestinians, Sunni and Shiite, and how it brought democracy to a corner of the world full of people yearning for freedom. This is the story of the first commissioner of Muslim (and Israel) League Baseball (MaILB). This is the story of George “Salaam” W. Bush. The Founding of Muslim (and Israel) League Baseball - Chapter 1: From Texas to Teheran Midlands, Texas, 1979:  Listen son, if you want to be successful, you need to take risks. Jeb is in Venezuela right now negotiating an oil contract. If you want Arbusto Oil to be successful, you can’t rely on Texas. The oil just isn’t going to last, and the market’s saturated – you need to pick someplace with untapped reserves, or somewhere with a future.  I ain’t gonna just use your connections to get Cousin Khalid to bankroll my operation, pa. I wanna earn it. I wanna show you I’m not a God dang failure!  : *sigh*, listen son – I’m running for President, and drat if this isn’t going to be a tough campaign. I need you to just keep your head low, go find some safe, cheap Saudi oil, and see if you can at least not ruin this family’s image, okay? : You just don’t understand pa, safe just ain’t me! I’m a man of conviction, of passion – a natural born risk taker! I know I can do great things pa, you just gotta give me a chance...: Look, I’ve charted a plane for you to Riyadh. Go there and negotiate a favorable contract, set up your oil company, and we’ll talk after the primaries are done.*HW Leaves*  *under his breath* I’ll show pa I have what it takes... Laura, get my finest jacket! I’m going to...no, no shortcuts. I’m going to Iran. Paris, October, 1980:  William J. Casey: Gentlemen, you know why were are here. There are some parties in the United States who would benefit from a certain... prolonging of the hostage crisis. While we may not see eye to eye on most things, surely you understand. We both get something out of this - we don’t want an October surprise, you get to continue to humiliate the current President. We can make some phone calls to our friends in Baghdad and Managua as well, and see if we can’t...  Iranian Representative: Ah, you need not name names or provide details. We know how these things work, for Khomeini is no fool. Just- : Excellent! So we are agreed then – the hostages will remain in your custody, at least until after the Presidential election is done, and Mr. Reagan is elected President. : I’m glad you could attend, Mr. Bush, for I have some news that may... alter the situation somewhat. If things were so simple, a meeting here would not be necessary. Your intelligence has informed you that we have 52 Americans hostage, yes?: Yes, my contacts at the CIA have informed me that there are 52 hostages in your control, why?: *cracking a smile* You must be a busy man, I understand. You have priorities with a campaign and your own business, and still you have friends in high places. But, lately, have you had any time for family? Have you, perhaps, talked to your son recently?*The Iranian Representative throws a series of photographs on the table, showing a broken, beaten George W. Bush in Iranian custody*  : You God drat piece of poo poo, is that my son? What the hell is he doing in Iran? He’s supposed to be in Saudi Arabia!: Haha, the fool, he comes to Iran in 1979 to negotiate oil contracts with the Shah. He ignored the brewing discontent, he ignored our grievances, and instead, found himself a friend with that fool Shah, with nothing to show for it other than a hangover and empty promises. The Shah was able to flee, but your son was not so lucky – he hid at the U.S. Embassy, and is now in custody along with the others.: God drat it, let him go. He may be no Jeb, but drat it, let my son go – the rest can stay!: Now now, you have said you want the hostages to remain in our custody, and so they remain. *smiles evilly* It is amusing to have the son of a man of such power, and perhaps now we have some more say in how these negotiations go. Before we continue these negotiations, I have but one question for you Mr. Bush. You are a veteran of war, and surely you know what happens to prisoners of high value. Have you, perhaps, heard of a man named John McCain?Teheran, December, 1979  Mr. Bush, or should I say, Mr. Vice President, I am so glad you could come here personally. I see you are nervous - do not fear, you will not become our fifty-fourth hostage. So far, your country’s... concessions have been reasonable enough that we will not risk reversing our great fortune. : I’m not Vice President yet, Khomeini. And you know I’m only here to make sure you bastards are keeping my son safe. I saw the pictures, I heard the threats, there’s no way in hell I’m letting you turn George into another Frankenstein like the charlies did to that poor McCain boy. : Oh, we have done no such thing. Would you like to see for yourself?*The ayatollah motions, and W emerges from a door, a bit skinny, restrained, but otherwise not unusual except for his sobriety* : Daddy! Oh Jesus daddy, I’m glad you’re here. Bring me back to Texas!: God drat it George, I knew something like this would happen! Just listen to me next time! You’re not Jeb, and you never will be, no matter how hard you try.:*visibly shaken* After all this, after I’ve been captured by these damned Arabs for months, you still come and tell me I ain’t as good as Jeb!: *Ahem* Amusing family dynamics aside, let us discuss the matter of your son’s release. We have received the shipments and other demanded concessions, but one thing still remains. You promised that you would keep the Israelis, Saudis, and Iraqis from intervening in our revolution. Yet, despite your promises, Saddam and his Sunni allies appear poised to strike. Our nation is strong, but Iraq may yet undo all of what we have done. And in the event of our failure, I cannot guarantee the safety of your son... : We’ve done everything we can! We’ve told Saddam he will receive no more aid, threatened sanctions, cut off CIA contacts, everything in our power! The bastard seems hell bent on following his own course. You can’t punish us, punish me, for not doing the impossible... what would you have us do?: This is not our problem. Unless you can find some way to keep Saddam from launching his attack, your son will remain in our custody.: Uhm, I have an-: This is absolutely ludicrous, how the hell am I supposed to get that insane fool to listen to me!: Daddy, I –: As I said, your problem, not ours. The other hostages will be released at the agreed time, no one need know of your son’s demise but yourself.: God dang it, I –: There’s absolutely nothing I can do that’s going to get Saddam to listen to reason. That man revels in death, I doubt there’s anything else he enjoys more than killing and –: BASEBALL!: Would you shut your son up, please.: drat it George, I told you to shut up, and now you’re babbling about sports? Why the hell did I name you after myself...: No pop, I have an idea, a way to get Saddam to listen, a way to help the Ayatollah, and, maybe, just maybe, help all these poor folks in the Middle East out! I don’t know much about Soonis or Shites or whatever other nonsense these people fight about, but I know one way to get people to resolve their differences, one way to help heal wounds and bring wealth, freedom, and prosperity to the entire region!: And what might that be, junior? What is your great idea?: Yes, this should be amusing. Let’s start a baseball league.EDIT: Just to be clear, keep proposing names for a while, voting remains open. JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 11:14 on Sep 26, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2014 07:01
|
|
|
Some great suggestions so far, here's where things stand: Islamabad Beef - 1 Istanbul Constantinoples - 2 Abu Dhabi Nermals - 1 Jerusalem Genies - 1 Tel Aviv Garfields - 1 Erbil Peacock Angels in the Outfield - 1 Jakarta Amorphophallus Titanum/Stink Flowers - 1 Many of these names will be preserved in your rival teams, but otherwise feel free to keep making suggestions. Since this vote is actually important and not just a bunch of boring structural things, I wanna give a bit more time for people to have a say in its outcome. After this, we just have a couple more things (probably just take care of financials and playoffs in one fell swoop) to determine and we can get drafting.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2014 17:12
|
|
|
Here's how the tally stands: Islamabad Beef - 2 Istanbul Constantinoples - 3 Abu Dhabi Nermals - 1 Jerusalem Genies - 1 Tel Aviv Garfields - 1 Erbil Peacock Angels in the Outfield - 1 Jakarta Amorphophallus Titanum/Stink Flowers - 1 Qatar Petroleum - 1? Dubai Golden Toilets - 1 Damascus Steelers Kuwait Kumquats - 1 We technically have a tie between the Beef and Constantinoples, so if anyone wants to cast the tie breaking vote(s) feel free to do so. I'll draft up the league structure with the team names later tonight, so there's still time for more suggestions (including other nation/city teams). JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 02:15 on Sep 27, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2014 23:27
|
|
|
The Founding of Muslim (and Israel) League Baseball - Chapter 2: From Baghdad to Beirut Baghdad, 1979:  They want us to do what!?  Philosopher and advisor Michel Aflaq: Now, Saddam, calm down and think about this. The Ba’athist party was founded on the principles of socialism and pan-Arabism. An Arab-wide sports league might be just the thing -  : A loving baseball league? This is absolutely insane! You know full well we have the power at our disposal to dispatch those Shiite bastards and finally win back Arabistan and the Shatt Al-Arab in one great maneuver. It would cement my legacy as the greatest Iraqi ever to live! : But can we win such a war without the Americans? And Saddam, don’t forget why you started this revolution. By uniting the Arabs, and the Sunnis, we can achieve things military conquest could never –: Don’t lecture me Michel, there’s a reason you’re a philsopher and I’m the President.: There is just one more thing... perhaps Saddam, you have heard of the term, ringer?*Uday and Qusay, then teenagers, walk into the room, baseball bats in hand* : Aren’t they a bit young to be involved in this scheme? And I thought ringers were supposed to be good – none of us know the first thing about baseball, and less about gaining any sort of competitive advantage.: *Motions for someone to enter* Tom House: Hello Mr. President. I was told you were... looking for a way to... even the playing field? Tel Aviv, 1979  This is... insane. The Arabs are organizing a baseball league?  Not just the Arabs, Mr. Prime Minister – word is that Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other Muslim states are considering joining too. Why are you so concerned? It’s just a sports league. It’ll simply be another source of useless condemnation like that laughable Arab League.  : And how do we know this isn’t a front for something else? I wouldn’t put it past the Arabs to give the “Palestinians” a team, and then start making money off the enterprise. Soon, we’ll be shut out, and then who knows what they’ll do? : Then... why don’t we join?: What? Why the hell would we join an Arab baseball league?: Have you not read the full brief, Mr. Prime Minister? They are saying it is being organized by the son of Vice President-elect Bush. Not only this, there are rumors that the outcome of the games themselves may have bearing on real events...: Could we even field a team?*Dayan motions, and a man enters the room*  I may be able to help with that. Allow me to introduce myself, Mr. Prime Minister. My name is Benjamin Netanyahu, and I spent much of my childhood in the United States. I can tell you for a fact that we could organize an Aliyah of Jewish players eager to benefit our state, and bolster our position, if we were to join this nascent league... : Interesting... I wasn’t aware there were so many Jews in the United States that played baseball. But will they be enough? Do you even understand baseball or its rules well enough to organize our team? : I may not be able to, but allow me to make one call – I think I know just the man for the job.*Netanyahu picks up the Prime Minister’s phone, dials a number, and a female’s voice answers* : Hello? Hey Anne, could you put your husband on the phone? Great, thanks.*brief pause* It’s Bibi. He said yes. When can you get to Israel?  I’ve already booked my flight. Beirut, 1979 Israel’s motion is acknowledged. All those in favor? *A group of Middle Eastern Delegates raise their hands in unison* The motion passes. The non-Muslim division shall be called the Greenberg division, and all non-Muslims will be included in this division. As per Israel’s request, this division will be within the Shiite league, evening us out at two divisions per league. That’s everything then, ain’t it? : I hope you, and you father, realize the gravity of the situation. Should the Sunni League win the championship, I expect the Shatt Al-Arab to be immediately ceded to Iraq. Failure to do so will undermine all that we’ve worked for here with this ridiculous scheme.: Don’t you worry your pretty little moustache, Saddy. Any and all disagreements referred to the league will be considered binding, and any of our members’ who don’t go along with it, will be booted from the league and face my daddy’s wrath. If there ain’t no more objections? Good, then, as your first commissioner, I officially declare the opening of the Muslim (and Israel) League Baseball. See everyone at the draft! *W bangs his gavel, and everyone claps politely, as important world leaders shuffle past each other, glaring menacingly with little conversation. Through one door, Hafez Al-Assad furtively darts into the corner of the hallway, and speaks softly into his concealed microphone*  Moscow, calling Moscow. Did you receive the transmission without difficulty? The proceedings went exactly as we suspected – the Americans are indeed making a power play, and I fear that we will find ourselves even more isolated and surrounded by American puppets and fools! We have been granted a team, but I do not think we can compete... *In a dingy Moscow office, an aging Breshnev laughs*  Ah, Hafez, do not sell us so short! You do not think we are looking out for you, comrade? You are one of a dwindling number of friends in the Middle East, so just you wait... we have been preparing for just such an event for some time. I take a trip to Siberia soon to oversee final stages of project, but, in case this line is insecure, let me just put it this way – the Americans will not see what is coming. *Breshnev hangs up the phone and calls in his secretary* Comrade, I need three things. First, call Fidel and tell him it is time he paid us a visit. Second, tell Novosibirsk that experiment бейсбол is to be completed now, and the subject is to be sent to Moscow. Third, get me another vodka. *Breshnev picks up a grainy photograph from his desk, and smiles* 
JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 04:44 on Sep 27, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2014 01:32
|
|
|
Alright, it looks like the Istanbul Constantinoples is leading. I'll write a brief story thing introducing the team and its background soon. For now, have a look at how the divisions are shaking up:  I tried to make the groupings make sense, and group them roughly by geopolitical alliances. I really wanted to include the Nermals, so they're in the Jinnah division, even if they're a bit of the odd man out. If you feel like you have any good team names, or cities, that fit well with the theme, feel free to post it. Here's the next step: FinancialsSince financials are somewhat complex, I've given you four options. In order to choose well, let me explain what the options are and what determines a team's finances: The real variation in finances comes from two variables: market size and fan enthusiasm. Market size is borne by the size of the metro area and, roughly, where you can generate a market to sell merchandise and whatnot to your fans. Larger metro areas have higher market sizes, typically. While it should be more static, the statistic can change based on a team's success, and is kind of arbitrary in OOTP when dealing with fictional settings. Istanbul seems to be pretty small in the simulated seasons I ran, so we may have trouble being successful if there are no equalizing measures. Might be a fun challenge, though. Fan Enthusiasm is determined by a team’s success. Technically, markets with high fan loyalty (a statistic that is arbitrary) will make this less elastic, even in bad times. Think of how Wrigley continues to sell tickets to Cubs games. Fan enthusiasm is determined by a team’s success. Wining championships makes this go up, and fans go to games, and you get more revenue. Prolonged periods of being bad will make this go down. As such, teams with small markets and low fan enthusiasm can often be trapped in a cycle of not having enough money to then elicit more sales and pay for better players. There are a number of ways to deal with this problem, and I've given you four options, in order of forced fairness. The first option forces all teams on the same budget, the last option lets the free market reign, and the middle two options offer methods by which to assist poor teams without unduly punishing the wealthy. Keep in mind, that if we are successful and we choose absolute equality, players will demand more money - and likely we won't be able to pay them. But, if we are terrible, it means more good players might trickle our way from the other teams that can no longer pay their inflated salaries. So, vote on your preferred optiona. Absolute equality – all teams are forced to adhere to a (roughly) similar budget. This means that market size and fan enthusiasm will have minimal impact on the budget. b. Luxury Tax – Free market, but with a fat luxury tax of 50% above 120% the average payroll. The tax is distributed only to the poors. Rich teams will pay a penalty for paying their players more than the average, and it'll go directly to the poor teams. c. Set % of income – Free market, but income is taxed at 25% of total team income, then distributed equally to all teams. This is the "fairtax" of the options - all teams are taxed 25% and the money is evenly redristributed back to all the other teams. Hurts rich teams a bit, but not nearly as much as the luxury tax. d. Free Market – all teams will have budgets influenced by their market size and fan enthusiasm. Freedom reigns.  This is the last vote, and then we will get drafting!
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2014 03:18
|
|
|
So, to sate my curiosity, I ran a league with this structure for a few seasons just to see what the financials looked like: Istanbul seemed permanently stuck at "below average", but with a pretty solid fanbase. This means we may see a hard cap on how much revenue we pull in, but at the same time, when we suck it won't decline quite as rapidly. I'm not sure if the market size is determined at the start though, so it may be that when I actually start our league it will give us a better/worse situation. I also wanted to post about this simulated league if only for the greatest randomly named player I've ever seen. 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2014 04:22
|
|
|
KKKLIP ART posted:As a question, I know that sometimes Baseball teams have spats with their respective cities, is there an option to relocate to get a new stadium or better market? Such as when the braves said gently caress it and moved 10 miles from where they are now to a Actually, the one thing OOTP doesn't do that Baseball Mogul has down a bit better is financing/building new baseball parks. It's not that OOTP doesn't have parks and dimensions, it's just that if we ever wanted to move the team, we just edit the team's information with a new city, and just edit the park, and instantly it changes. Which reminds me, if anyone has any preferences for park dimensions or characteristics, feel free to post it. I.e: Retractable dome, astroturf, pitcher-friendly, hitter friendly, etc. It's pretty obvious that free market is everyone's desire, so I'll get the ball rolling on the next step when I have time later tonight.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2014 17:45
|
|
|
 Chapter 3: From Cincinnati to Constantinople Istanbul, 1979:  *A group of shadowy figures are seated around a table, shaped like a crescent moon. A man with a thick Turkish accent speaks.* Please, have a seat. What was your name, Mister... gül? No matter. Look, we know you are not here entirely by choice. We know things did not go well in the United States, a situation arose, and we are very thankful that you could help us here. The CIA tells us you are the perfect man for the job of managing our baseball team and ensuring the interests of the United States, Turkey, and all of NATO are pursued in earnest. *In the middle of the room, a man is bound and gagged. He offers some muffled resistance*  Listen Pete, it works like this. You sign the paper, you take the contract. What you did goes away, never heard of again. If you’re good, maybe we’ll let you back into baseball. Or even the Hall of Fame. But for now, we can’t let that happen. You refuse, and you come back to America as a prisoner – and you can kiss your career, and any chance at ever reaching that hits record, goodbye. *The gagged man attempts to flip off the men at the crescent table*  Listen you stupid son of a bitch, the CIA knows everything, and if you don’t cooperate with our Turkish friends here, you’ll be lucky to make it back to the United States alive. Things don’t work here like they do in the states – when there’s a problem, the Turks here make it go away. *The man gestures to the poster of Ataturk with his gun* This guy didn’t gently caress around. You crossed him, and you were dead. And you know what? They loving love him here. He’s a Stalin or a Hitler without a legacy of genocide and tyranny, even though he did the same God drat thing. *The turkish man coughs, and pushes a series of papers toward the gagged man. The man with the gun takes off the gag and unbounds the prisoner’s hands.*  God drat it. I should never have tried to strangle those hookers. And the hobo fights, and the betting on hobo fights... And it’s Rose. Pete Rose. *Pete scribbles his name onto the piece of paper*  *smiles* Thank you Mr. Rose. May I congratulate you for being the manager of Turkey’s first baseball team. And what will you call our great team from Istanbul?  : I dunno, I think I heard a song about this place once. Isn’t it famous for its Constantinoples?
JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 11:34 on Sep 28, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Sep 28, 2014 10:14
|
|
|
 : Well here we are. I’m manager, and apparently General Manager, of my own baseball team. Now, I figured this would happen someday, but not under these circumstances. Those bastards have me by the balls, but it’s alright, I’ll show them I’m not only the best drat player there is – I’ll clear my name and show I know how to manage as well. Once I do well, they'll let me back in, and I'll be a Hall of Famer in no time. Baseball don't owe me nothin', but I owe it to the game to get my rear end back in there.That’s where you come in. What they don’t know is that the voices in my head, they tell me what to do. How the hell do they think I hit so well? The voice says fastball low, I swing, and god drat it if it ain’t usually a fastball low. So voices, let’s take a look around the league and see what we're up against.  : Looks like our team, the Istanbul Constantinoples (a stroke of genius on my part) are in the Hussein Division, in the Sunni League. That means we play real baseball – no damned DH like in the Shiite League. No idea who our rivals might be, but we gotta beat the Baghdad Baathists, Riyadh Wahabbis, and Cairo Celopatras to get to the playoffs.I’m not gonna concern myself with the rest of the league just yet, but I know we’ll kick their butts when the time comes.  : That’s our league logo. Just a big rear end M? I like it, but some might want something fancier. : And our team logo. Also a big rear end letter, this time just an I. Could maybe use something a bit more creative there.Well, we’ll take a look at the team, personnel, and finances in depth. But first, we gotta get a team going.  : Looks like we draft first! We got a tough decision to make – we get first overall pick. Don’t worry voices, I’ll make sure to check the top candidates and see if we can’t decide on the best drat player this Godforsaken place has got.We finally start drafting tomorrow JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 23:53 on Sep 29, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Sep 28, 2014 11:33
|
|
|
POST EXPLAINING GAME MECHANICS INCOMING: Looks like the guys in design managed to crank out a better logo. Let's see how it looks on our boys. : Looks pretty drat good. I took the liberty of changing our team colors to red because, well, it's a pretty drat good color too. The Turks seemed to like it. Something strange is happening on the front of the uniforms, but hey, this is a new league. Let's give em a bit of slack for now and be grateful we have the best drat logo of all the Arabs. Anyways, back to the draft. : Alright voices. We get first pick. Before we pick, let's talk a bit of strategy.One thing we gotta remember, is that when it comes to players of equal skill, some positions are a bit harder to find than others. They call this "positional scarcity". Good hitting first basemen are a dime a dozen, and honestly, they don't need to throw well or do much well other than sit still and catch the ball. Catchers though, now they're great finds. Positional scarcity goes in this order: 1. Catcher 2. Shortstop 3. Second Baseman 4. Center Fielder 5. Third Baseman 6. Right Fielder 7. Left Fielder 8. First Baseman So, if we are drafting and got two equally good choices, a great catcher will benefit us more than most outfielders or third basemen. Before we look at the player list, let's also remember the abbreviations and what they stand for. Catcher - C Shortstop - SS Second Baseman - 2B Center Fielder - CF Third Baseman – 3B Right Fielder - RF Left Fielder - LF First Baseman – 1B Starting Pitcher – SP Middle Reliever – MR Closer – CL Alright, one last thing. We got a scouting director, and drat it if he isn't just awful.  : Right now, we need to scout the majors. And look at that - he's just "okay" at scouting the majors. I don't know what they do in Egypt, but by gone it in American baseball we don't just settle at okay. This bastard is the one who can tell us how good the players we might draft are - not only how good they are now, but also what their potential is.The potential and overall ratings he gives us are pretty straightforward. They vary from 20 to 80, with 80 being an absolutely elite player, and 20 being a permanent minor leaguer. The only difference is that overall measures how good a player is right now, while potential indicates how good they might become once they develop a bit. Neither is perfectly accurate - some guys end up fizzling out, while others transform from 20 to 80 guys overnight without expectations. Our scouting director is the one who determines the accuracy of those things. But he's poo poo. So we won't know if we're really drafting great players, or if we draft duds. Unfortunately, we can't do poo poo about this now - hiring a new guy would take longer than the day we are allotted for the draft. While I've got my eye on an improvement, for now we just gotta accept some degree of uncertainty. : Now that that's covered, let's look at our options.  : drat. We got some hard choices. Let's talk a bit of strategy real fast, cause there's a couple things to think of when drafting that is immediately obvious.First off, as much fun as it would be to draft a 6'4", 250 pound 36 year old Sudanese man, that might not be our best bet. We are picking our star, the guy we want locked down in our organization for some time, who will either be the ace of our staff or the guy hitting in the middle of the order. Pick someone young - young as possible is best, but as the draft goes on we can't be as picky. Players usually hit their prime around 25-8, and start to decline around 33-35. But every player is different - some guys get hit by 30 like a truck, while others can play into their 50's. They might be salvaged for a while playing first base, or going to DH in the other league. For now I've filtered out all the relief pitchers - they aren't worth our time yet. Taking a look at this, I think we have about 2 pitchers and 4 hitters that could be candidates for our first pick. I'm gonna look at a hitter and a pitcher first real quick to explain the mechanics, then I'll just tell ya the numbers and you voices can work it out amongst yourselves. Here's my personal favorite of the hitters available. His name is Bala Tavukcu.  :  This guys is impressive. Let's go window by window, left to right. These ratings are all 1-100, unlike overall/potential, which are 20-80. Personal Details: First off, he's 24. That's great - he'll last a good long time, and may even be in our organization for another 10-15 years. The other things aren't too much concern right now - he's a switch hitter, which might be useful, but the other stats are just flavor. Personality: I won't go too much into the mechanics of personality, but it does tell us a bit about them. Here's more information. He's smart, so less likely to cheat, but lacks work ethic and may go into slumps. Defensive Ratings: Skip right down to the position ratings, don't worry about infield range, arm, or any of that.  . A good second baseman is hard to come by, and it's one of the most valuable positions defensively. He can probably also be converted to SS or 3B easily, as you can see by his ratings. Technically these are not his only limits - this just shows what the player has experience doing. With practice, he'd probably make a decent outfielder as well. Pretty much any player can play first base with some competency. As players get old, you can shift them down that positional scarcity chart to gradually easier positions, with some limitations. This guy can do anything but catch, which is highly specialized.Basic Batting Ratings: Here's the important stuff. Let's go through category by category. Contact: Contact determines a player's ability to hit the ball and reach base safely. High contact hitters have very high average. This guy is elite - I have to say, I may be a bit biased, but his contact is something special. Gap Power: Gap power determines a player's ability to hit the ball into the gaps. Players with high gap power (and speed) get more doubles and triples. 66 isn't shabby at all. Home Run Power: This determines a player's ability to hit Home Runs. More dingers is great, but this guy won't hit many out of the park at all. Players with high HR power hit many Home Runs. Eye/Discipline: This determines a player's ability to determine what pitches are being thrown, and also where they're going in the strike zone. Players with good eye/discipline will hit better because they'll judge pitches better, and they'll walk more. This is an underrated stat - and this guy excels at it. Expect a high On Base Percentage. Avoid K's: This determines a player's ability to avoid striking out. Where this differs from Eye/Discipline is that players with high Avoid K's will ground out our foul instead of striking out, tiring out opposing pitchers and moving base runners over. A good stat which again, this guy excels at. Other Ratings Speed: Speed is how fast a player can run. Their stealing and baserunning stats just determine how good they are at stealing bases, and how likely they will be to do things like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spx9ZeSYVTU. High speed means more stolen bases, and with this guy's ability to get on base, he'll probably lead the league in SB's each season. : Bunting is nice, but don't worry about it too much.Overall Take: This guy is elite. He's my favorite for first pick among the hitters, that's for sure. Contact hitting, discipline, speed, he's a manager's wet dream. : But, something could be said for picking a pitcher first. An ace pitcher will come out once every five days and dominate for most of the game, and a case could be made that their individual impact is greater than any hitter. So let's look at the best pitcher on the list. Also gives me a chance to explain any of the stats unique to them.Here's Tankut Yamak.  Defensive Ratings Technically different than a hitter, a pitcher does have defensive ratings. While a great defensive pitcher is nice, in the end, their ability to pitch will overcome any deficiencies they have in fielding. They aren't designed to be defensive, but Yamak certainly won't mess up any routine plays. Pitching Ratings Stuff: This is a bit complex, but overall, this is the most important stat. It's dependent upon their individual pitch ratings and velocity. High stuff means more outs, fewer hits, and a lot more strikeouts. This guy is elite and will rack up tons of strikeouts. Movement: This determines the movement on the pitches that the pitcher throws. This is especially important if they're dependent upon curveballs, but impacts all their pitches. High movement pitchers will give up fewer home runs overall, and just pitch better. Control: Almost as important as stuff, control determines a pitcher's ability to get the ball to the location he is aiming for. Pitchers with high control issue fewer walks, and since they hit their targets, will be better overall in allowing hits and getting strikeouts. The individual pitch ratings aren't that important, since they're factored into the 3 previous ratings. Starting pitchers will need more than one or two good pitches to be successful, typically. Closers and relievers may be able to rely on one really good pitch. Other Ratings Type: This ranges from flyball pitchers to groundball pitchers. Groundball pitchers need good defensive players behind them in the infield, as they get players to hit weakly into outs. Flyball pitchers need decent outfielders to catch fly balls, but risk giving up HR's in some parks. Don't stress about this too much. Velocity: This is the speed of a pitcher's pitches. High velocity makes fastballs better, though this is less important for pitches like changeups. Useful for measuring whether an older player is losing steam, as his velocity often goes down. High velocity typically equals more strikeouts (if the rest of their stuff is good). Stamina: This stat is really important for starters. High stamina means the pitcher can stay in a game longer and throw more pitches before getting tired. This guy is a bit mediocre in that regard, and it may be the one flaw I can find in him. Overall, this guy is amazing, and worth a first pick. Also, each player has an injury proneness rating, that measures how likely they will be to get hurt. In order, from likelihood a player will get hurt: Fragile-Normal-Durable-Iron Man. It's generally better to pick players who won't spend half the season on the disabled list, but of course, it's not a guarantee. It didn't fit in the picture, so I added it in myself for you. : Well voices, that should be all you need to know. I'll show you each player's stats one more time, and you guys choose which one you prefer. Don't worry, each update won't be this long and technical, I just wanted to explain the game's mechanics. I'll likely give you guys a few options to choose from for another round or two, then fill out the rest myself or through the auto-draft. JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 23:52 on Sep 29, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2014 10:14
|
|
|
Vote on our first overall pick from the following options . Read the previous post for advice if you wanna win. Second Baseman, Bala Tuvakcu Injury Proneness: Durable. Overall: Elite contact hitter, high OBP, speed. My first choice among hitters. Only flaw is he won't hit any dingers ever.Shortstop Harb Najm al-Din  Injury History: Durable. Overall: Elite player at an extremely scarce position. Slightly better defensively than Tuvacku at SS due to better infield arm. More balanced hitter that would make a typically unproductive position extremely useful. Third Baseman, Baariq Baruti  Injury Proneness: Durable. Overall: Good 3B, more balanced hitter with great power and contact hitting. great defensively. Lacks a bit in discipline Catcher, Abdul Bin-Ya'Qub  Injury Proneness: Durable Overall: Elite Power, best value comes from positional scarcity of elite catchers. High strikeout rate means he'll lead the league in HR's and strikeouts. A bit older than other candidates. Starting Pitcher, Tankut Yamak Injury Proneness: Durable Overall: Elite in virtually every stat, with a dominant fastball and secondary pitches for strikeouts and groundouts alike. Only flaw is mediocre stamina. By far the best pitcher in the draft. Starting Pitcher, Zayd Abdul  Injury Proneness: Normal Overall: This guy's stuff is absolutely amazing. Will lead the league in strikeouts, with a filthy fastball that makes his stuff go beyond 100. Big concern is the mediocre control, which means he may walk a lot of batters. Pick this guy if you love strikeouts more than winning. Also slightly younger. VOTE AWAY!
JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 22:04 on Sep 29, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2014 10:27
|
|
|
tadashi posted:
This is a good post. Do not ignore it. IcePhoenix posted:I would like to see the stats for that 25 year old shortstop before voting, considering an elite shortstop is about a billion times more valuable than an elite 2B. I would recommend anyone who already voted but is still paying attention consider changing their vote as well if he turns out to be a good hitter. Ask and ye shall receive. Shortstop Harb Najm al-Din Injury History: Durable. I mainly didn't include him because he's inferior to Tuvakcu in every way except power. In fact, Tuvakcu is actually better at SS (if he maxes out experience) than this guy would be, and Tuvakcu can hit better and is faster as well. tadashi posted:In most cases a starting pitcher only pitches once every 5 games which is why players in the field are considered more valuable (sometimes in OOTP you can get away with a 4 man pitching rotation but it's not realistic). Pitchers are also more prone to injuries that will take them out for a whole season (like an elbow or shoulder injury) or more which is why batters are also usually considered less risky. There are no absolutes (one of the MVPs in Major League Baseball this year will probably be a pitcher for the Dodgers), this is just a bias most baseball fans have for these and other reasons. I almost went with a 4 man rotation, since I usually do that when I play on my own. I mostly went with a 5 man so we could have more goon participation, and lower the risk that our goon-named players would destroy their arms. tadashi posted::If you want to see how this all comes together, you can check out this league: http://www.redraftleague.com/game/lgreports3/news/html/leagues/league_100_home.html which uses a 1-100 scale for player ratings. Man, is there some way to build a website like this for this league? I don't actually know how that works. I'd still post and everything in the thread, but it might be nice for others to be able to follow their player and look around as they please.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2014 20:31
|
|
|
IcePhoenix posted:Let's not go too far here. Tuvakcu is going to be a terrible shortstop regardless of what his rating is. With an arm in the 40s he's going to give up a lot of infield hits. He's also more prone to error and is not as good at turning double plays, though those don't matter as much in this case since they are close. Good point - I didn't really look that closely at the arm rating. I'll add al-Din to the original post. I wish there was an easy way for me to show you the entire draft class, but I'm unaware if there is such a way. One thing I also didn't explain - this is a serpentine draft, which means the draft order is reversed every round. This means we get the 1st pick, 33rd pick, 34th pick, 65th pick, 66st pick, and so on. The nice thing is that we can draft twice and do this faster, but it also means that we aren't going to get to pick any of these elite guys, since our next pick won't be for a while. JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Sep 29, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2014 22:03
|
|
|
tadashi posted:Do they have distinguishable splits vs. LHP or RHP? You don't have to post them, I'm just curious since Bala Tuvakcu is a switch-hitter. Here's Tuvakcu's splits:  He's the only one with a noticable split. For the baseball uninitiated, what this is telling us is how hitters compare versus pitchers that throw left handed or right handed. The conventional wisdom is that pitchers have the advantage, generally, against hitters that bat the same side as they throw. That is, a left handed pitcher generally will perform better against left handed hitters. This is not true for all players, and is a broad generalization. Some hitters are called "switch hitters," and actually change the side they bat from depending on who they are facing. This allows them to be left handed versus right handed pitchers, and right versus lefties. Tuvakcu appears to be slightly better against left-handed pitchers, which means that he probably hits better from the right side. Some players, switch hitter or not, have profoundly different ratings against lefties/righties. I'll try to let you know if anyone has a particularly dramatic difference. For the most part though, most hitters will be marginally better against their opposite side. tadashi posted:Also, he's a Turk and I demand immersion I mean, you'd figure having a Turkish elite player on the Istanbul team would boost ticket sales, right? (I have no idea if it works this way - probably not).
|
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2014 22:26
|
|
|
Alan Trammell posted:Since we don't have a DH, draft the pitcher that has the best hitting stats, so we're not giving away at-bats. This is a good strategy that isn't bad in any way.  This is the best contact pitcher. I chose him as much because of that ridiculous nickname (I haven't touched any player names yet). Nicknaming your players after cancer - the OOTP way.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2014 22:58
|
|
|
I'll leave voting going for a bit longer, especially with IcePhoenix making a strong case for al-Din, the elite shortstop. Remember to bold your selections or I can't guarantee your vote will be counted. Current Tally: Bala Tuvakcu, 2B - 11 Harb Nahm al-Din, SS - 2 Abdul Bin-Ya Qub, C - 1 After we are done, I'll post the logs of how everyone else drafted, and we'll get to choose two new guys! JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 02:18 on Sep 30, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Sep 29, 2014 23:33
|
|
|
Jubs posted:Did I miss the part where our created players were getting drafted? Once we draft, I'll change the names and whatnot to match the players we created in the google doc, going in order of people's positional preferences.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2014 00:34
|
|
|
: Well voices, it was nice to hear you pretty emphatic about our first pick. Mr. Commissioner, the Istanbul Constantinoples select Bala Tavukcu, 2B. : Now that that's done, we wait our turn. Let's see how the other teams draft. : Looks like Damascus agreed that Al-Din was a great choice. I wouldn't be shocked if we saw that guy around on the leader boards for a long time.Now it's our turn, and we get two picks. Thing are getting a bit more complex now, as there's fewer young players, and more great older players, and good players in less scarce positions. Here's the top hitters by ability:  And starters:  Since we don't have an ace yet, it may be wise to use one of our two picks, at least, on a pitcher. : A couple strategy things to consider:-We can't be quite as picky with age this time, but it's still pretty early, so we can probably go with a slightly less good player we will have for 10 years over an elite guy who might die in one or two -We haven't picked a pitcher yet. Might be time to do so. -We also don't have any relievers, and I am not showing them yet. If you want to start drafting relievers, let me know. -We are also starting to see some good first basemen and other less scarce positions trickle up. It's time to consider weighing getting a good outfielder versus a slightly less good more scarce position. Our team so far:  Posting some good candidates in a minute, so wait just a moment
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2014 02:13
|
|
|
Omran Zakkariya, SP Injury History: Normal. Overall: This guy is elite, and currently the best pitcher in the draft. Suffers a tiny bit from lack of control. Biggest flaw is age - at 32, it's tough to say when he'll start declining. Fawaaz Bin Farooq, SP  Injury History: Normal Overall: This guy has great control, okay movement and good stuff. His youth is a great strength, as his stamina, and he may even improve slightly with time (see the potential 74). Butrus Nuri, SP  Injury History: Normal Overall: Another older candidate, this guy has great stuff and is generally well balanced. Age is still a concern, and Omran may simply be the better choice between the two. Ntagahera Aondohimba, SP  Injury History: Durable. Overall: Not too young, not too old, might be a good middle ground in age. Elite control but otherwise okay to good in movement and stuff, with some decent pitch selections and stamina. Impossible to spell name. Hitters Youssef Bin Azeem, LF  Injury History: Normal Overall: Comedy old fat man option. Draft this guy if you want to hit tons of dingers/draw tons of walks at the risk of him dying or retiring in a year or two. Left Fielders aren't too hard to come by, but expect his skills to decline in the next few years. Tirfe Nkundiushuti, 1B  Injury History: Durable Overall: Elite power and okay at everything else, this guy is young and would be a great pick if he weren't at first base. Pick this guy if you like power, but know that young first basemen are something of a liability. Without a DH, we could simply move some of our older guys to 1B, but if we have this guy, he'll need that spot to hit dingers. Ilhan Orhan, 1B  Injury History: Normal Overall: Another power 1B, just slightly less old and better at contact hitting. Same reason not to pick as before - 1B are easy to come by, and its nice to have the position open for aging veterans. Awwab bin Hashim, SS  Injury History: Durable Overall: Decent contact hitter who won't strike out a lot, at a rare position, not too young or old. Great defense. Is a good pick based on positional scarcity/age. Okba Gogo, 3B  Injury History: Durable Overall: Decent 3B who can also player 2B or outfield. Has some power, but mediocre contact and strikes out a lot. 30 is a good middle ground in age. Teferra Moyenda, C  Injury History: Iron Man Overall: Catchers are hard to come by, and this guy has nice power and discipline, meaning he'll sit well in the heart of the lineup. Not too old, but prone to strikeouts. Very mediocre catcher ability. Iron man injury history is really good for catchers, as he'll rarely get hurt. Good pick based on positional scarcity. Lufti Jibril, C  Injury History: Fragile Overall: At a scarce position, and will hit a poo poo ton of dingers. But, he's old, his catcher ability is already declining, and his injury history is fragile. You'll likely need to replace this guy in a year or two, so be warned. Masruq Bin Uthman, CF  Injury History: Normal Overall: A decent youngish outfielder who is excellent defensively at any of the outfield positions. Great gap power means his hits will become doubles/triples more often, but otherwise okay-good at hitting. Pick this guy if you really want an outfielder. Khayri Eisa, 3B  Injury History: Durable Overall: A good young 3B, who could also play a decent SS or 2B. Good contact/gap power, but lacking in discipline and HR power. Might be an alright pick if you want a young infielder. Remember that you have two votes, so choose the two players we should draftI'll pick the top two vote getters. If you want to see anyone else, or the top guys at any position, just request it and I'll add it to the post. I didn't post every veteran, so let me know if you want to see any of the elite 30 somethings at any position. JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Sep 30, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2014 02:48
|
|
|
Alan Trammell posted:Can't believe you let Melanoma get away... Not my fault! But don't worry, I expect goons to trade away all their friends in order to acquire him.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2014 02:57
|
|
|
Cthulhu Dreams posted:It seems clear that drafting only young(er) guys is the best play. Win later. My very first OOTP game I ever played, I didn't really know how development works, and paid no attention to age, simply drafting the best players at each position. My team was unstoppable and won 3/4 of its games the first year. The next year, between injuries and player decline, I didn't even break .500 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2014 04:16
|
|
|
TheFlyingLlama posted:Farooq and Hashim Farooq is a mystery to me - he certainly won't be bad by any means, and he's gonna be a great pitcher, but I can't tell if he can turn his control into a super never-walk groundball ace, or if he'll just be a reliably great pitcher who blows it with HR's from time to time. If it makes all of you feel any better, Farooq is actually a pretty good hitter (for a pitcher):  He might hit upwards of .150, or even .200 in a good year 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2014 05:15
|
|
|
The Merry Marauder posted:because if Llama will not vote for Egyptian Barrold Bonds, I will do it for him. Gaze upon perfection:  Ser Barrold is adored by all
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2014 05:21
|
|
|
Cthulhu Dreams posted:Can we see what more prospecty talent is out there? Best 5 young guys regardless of position? I was gonna show that in another pick or two (since it's way too early to pick prospects), but I'll parade them out in a bit.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2014 06:35
|
|
|
As per request, here are the top prospects in the league. I don't recommend drafting them just yet, as there's still plenty of better talent out there, and in fact, there aren't any super stellar 80 potential prospects. One thing to note: for potential ratings, they are shown as "overall/potential", with the different colored part of the bar representing the potential graphically. Top Prospects List Here are the top prospects regardless of position, with only one MR shown (the first): Abdul-Khaliq Labid, MR  Injury: Normal Zayyad Piracha, CF  Injury: Normal Nobuhito Takahashi, SP  Injury: Normal Imad Bin Asif, RF  Injury: Durable Mundhir Bin Nawfal, 3B  Injury: Normal Yasar Abbud, 3B  Injury: Durable Remember that potential is no guarantee - and sometime you find under performers and diamonds in the rough. Current Vote TallyFarooq, SP - 11 Hashim, SS - 8 Azeem, LF - 2 Zakkariya, SP - 8 Eisa, 3B - 1 Moyenda, C - 1 Jibril, C - 1 Aondohimba, SP - 1 Still very competitive, with Farooq mostly pulling ahead. I'll keep the vote going until tomorrow, with plenty of time to see Hashim overtaken by anyone. JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 07:48 on Oct 1, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2014 08:56
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 09:35 |
|
|
Current Vote Tally Farooq, SP - 11 Hashim, SS - 8 Zakkariya, SP - 8 Azeem, LF - 2 Eisa, 3B - 1 Moyenda, C - 1 Jibril, C - 1 Aondohimba, SP - 1 : God drat it voices, I come to you for inspiration. Well actually, you come to me, inescapably haunting me every moment of my life... but, how am I supposed to know which way to go if you're screaming two names just as loud?: Just go with your gut, Pete. Be a decider. Don't let no one tell ya what to do! If I lived the life of a follower, hell, I'd still be in Texas and not here livin' my dream!: Ah well, gently caress it, I'll go with my gut then. We need a veteran ace to top the rotation, age be damned. Mr. Commissioner, we choose Omran Zakkariya, SP and Fawaaz Bin Farooq, SP: Alright, let's see the log of how everyone else drafted. And, a quick look at our top options: Pitchers  Hitters   Relievers  Current Positional Breakdown  I'm uploading some top candidates, so give me a moment JosefStalinator fucked around with this message at 21:19 on Sep 30, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2014 21:17
|
|