Posts Tagged ‘baseball’

Five Things to Consider if you want to run a Dynasty League

Posted: August 18, 2023 by datechguy in baseball, dynasty baseball, fun, gaming, online gaming
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As anyone who follows me on twitter knows I’m very much into the Dynasty Baseball game, which came out of the old pursue the pennant boardgame from the pre-pc era. It’s my primary pastime these days beside watching regular baseball.

You can have a lot of fun playing in a league but if you want to run your own remember while it’s a lot of fun it’s also quite a bit of work. If you’ve thought of running your own league here are a few things you should consider:

A: Consider how much time you have:

The first thing you need to consider if you want to run a Dynasty league is how much free time you have to both run the league and play in it. Playing a game itself is not all time consuming, about 30-40 minutes per game is what’s required, but if you are scheduling games 2 days, 3 days or even four days a week can add up, particularly if you are not retired or have a family that likes to do things. Furthermore if you’re running a league you have to leave yourself enough time to put out the various fires that take place. So when deciding to run a league make sure you decide:

  1. How much time you have for administration
  2. How much time you have to actually play

What I’d do is figure how many free days I have to play and then subtract one or even two and then set whatever league you create to that length, that will assure that you have time to get it done.

B: Consider what type of league you want

There are three basic types of leagues in order of complexity

  1. Draft leagues (Hardest)
  2. Existing team leagues
  3. Season Replay leagues

All have advantages and disadvantages:

Draft leagues:

Draft leagues involve drafting players from a pool of players from the same season. Draft leagues have several advantages over existing team leagues:

  • A: You get to be GM as well as manager building your own team and are thus more invested in it
  • B You can continue the league year to year to keep up interest
  • C You can tweak the system to add realism, (trades, waiver wires etc)
  • D The Draft itself becomes an event

It’s my experience that some people enjoy the GM factor more than the games itself and that you really become invested in the teams and players. I’ve reached the point in my league that I started in 1969 that I even make baseball cards for the folks on my team to wit:

My Version of Jack Hiatt’s 1971 card

However draft leagues have their downsides:

  • A: Considerably more time to manage
  • B: Handling the rosters
  • C The draft itself may take days or weeks
  • D Keeping Competitive balance
  • E More things to go wrong

Running a draft league means, handling rosters of every single team, running a draft and trying to do it fairly and if you are having a league that goes from season to season keeping up the competitive balance from season to season. All of these require extra work and time depending on the size of your league: (My current draft leagues are 16 players for 1996 and 20 for 1971) and of course the more players the more work.

Bottom line: Draft leagues are in my opinion the most fun but if I were new I’d start with an existing league first to get my feet wet:

Existing team leagues

Having a league of existing teams takes a lot of work out of the system. The adantages are clear:

  1. There is almost no managing of rosters
  2. No trying to get people together for a draft
  3. No worrying about a change from one season to the next
  4. If more than one person wants the Yanks, or Cubs they can have them
  5. You can mix eras
  6. As soon as you have your schedule made you can start at once

Most existing team league involve GREAT teams which is the pool for tournaments. These tend to be very popular because the teams are memorable although you can spice things up as I did by creating leagues that aren’t just great teams two examples:

All pathetic team leagues: Teams in such a league all have to have a minimum loss level (90, 100 or something in between) This makes for a very odd game where you are constantly hoping for players to roll of their opponent’s cards. Also it gets interesting when one such team has a superstar. A 1967 Mets team with Tom Seaver for example. Can you picture the number Seaver produces when only facing slubs?

All Mediocre teams (the SD Jones league) I ran a league of teams that all had records from 80-82 to 82-80. This makes for an interesting league as there is enough of a mix of slubs and stars to really involve managing games.

Either way with these teams you don’t have the same roster / upkeep issues although with some of the older teams you are more likely to run into situations where a team has no pitcher eligible to use.

The disadvantages of set teams are:

  1. Teams are static no variation.
  2. No GM or Draft or Trade type fun
  3. Balance (think 27 yanks vs well almost anyone)
  4. Less incentives for teams losing to continue
  5. The mix of eras can cause anomalies

Bottom line set teams are a good option to start out but tend to be one or two shot deals. They work with teams that

Replay Leagues

With a replay league you play a team in an actual season in order.

The advantages:

  1. Very realistic. Actual team, actual schedule
  2. Schedule is pre-made so faster start
  3. The system handles trades and signings when it happens
  4. Excellent for solo league play

There are however some huge disadvantages

  1. Your season only moves only as fast as the slowest player
  2. Locked into the number of games in the season (162) games
  3. Unbalanced a bad team is always bad

A season replay league is a great choice if you want to get familiar with the game in a hurry. But you want to be sure that the players in it are committed because you can’t move to July 21 till all of July 22’s games are done. You might impose a 24-48 hour limit to get things in.

You CAN make a season replay league into a draft league but the amount of work is considerable and if you do be prepared for a season to take a full year

C: Consider how many series you want in a week:

Unless you are playing a season replay which is played based on when a day is finished. The Dynasty league system allows you to schedule up to four series a week at any time you wish to set.

As a series can be set for anywhere from 2-4 games that means as little as 2 games a week and as many as 12.

The fewer series played in a week of course the easier it is for people to play without having to resort to autoplay but that also means the slower the season goes. Also consider that a game takes 30-45 min in my experience so a 4 game series can take 3 hours while a two game series can be done in 90 minutes.

Also remember that the more series you have in a week the less likely you are to draw in players who are already in a league or two who won’t be able to squeeze in those extra games.

And the more series a week the less time to reschedule when real life insists on asserting itself over your scheduiled gaming time.

D: Consider how many games you want in a season:

Unless you are playing a season replay which fixes you at 162 games (or 154 if you play 1957 or 60 if you play the COVID season) you have the option to set any number of games.

The longer the season you play the more real it will be and the less impact injuries and suspension will have. Of course a short season the season will be and the more chance that a streak of good or bad luck will carry the day.

Also consider a short season means that you can have multiple seasons in a year while a long season will likely mean two at the most.

And if you have a draft league remember the draft takes up time between seasons it doesn’t finish in a day (unless you play face to face).

But either way remember you are the guy who is going to have to make this schedule and enter it manually into dynasty

E: Consider How many players you want to manage:

Note that I didn’t ask you how many teams you wanted in your league I asked how many players you want to manage.

A smaller league means fewer players and the fewer players you have the easier it is to have guys show up when games are scheduled and to schedule more games in a week etc.

It’s also a lot easier to come up with a schedule with fewer teams.

A small intimate league is fun but of course there is nothing like a large league with 16-20 players and a great variety of styles of play and management, plus you get less “Superteams because so many players are used. For example in my current 1971 league there are only 6 pitchers not on someone’s roster.

But keep this in mind any online league usually involves people you don’t know personally. The only thing everyone has in common is a love of baseball and a willingness to pay for the game.

There are invariably going to be the basic problems, people from different time zone having issues being free etc but you are also going to run into disputes and errors and mistakes and if it’s your league you have to make the calls. Managing people of different temperaments, different ages et/al can be difficult so do your best to impartially stick to the rules.

I STRONGLY suggest that you avoid non-league stuff in conversation or in the slack room and if you’re on social media and are angry about something in the news don’t vent in the league space (I made that mistake a few years ago in a league and it’s a mistake I regret.)

But more than that I suggest not having any kind of cash league with a prize. Once money is involved everything changes and any mistake becomes magnified

Remember in the end it’s all about having fun, make the choices to allow the maximum amount of fun for yourself and all the work will pay off.

Shades of the Yanks & Red Barber in Baltimore and Kevin Brown

Posted: August 8, 2023 by datechguy in baseball, media, Uncategorized
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I first heard of the Kevin Brown business on the drive home last night hearing he was suspended for something he said on his broadcast.

Things being what they are these days I had presumed he had said something either affirming conservative values or noting liberal insanity, things which are VERBOTEN by those who run sports media these days.

Then however they played the clip of what he said and all of us in the car were confused. Barber noted that if the O’s won that night it would be their first series victory in Tampa bay since 2017. My thought was, hey this is a positive thing highlighting the difference between the bad old days and what they have now.

Apparently any mention of the bad old days was too much for the o’s and denials by Baltimore not withstanding. broadcasters from all kinds of teams are having fits over it and are shocked that a team would so such a thing.

Apparently none of them remember what happened to Red Barber.

His entry at the encyclopedia Britannia reads thus:

Known for his integrity, Barber left the Dodgers after he was urged to make his commentary more supportive of the team, and he was fired by the Yankees after he reported that the last-place team had attracted a mere 413 fans for a September game.

A little more detail on the story is here:

That September 22 [1966], the day Michael Burke became president, 413 specked 65,010-seat Yankee Stadium. On WPIX television, Barber thought it “the perfect place for Burke to start, nowhere to go but up.” Red asked director Don Carney to pan the stands. No shot. He asked again. Zip. Later he said, “I found out [Yanks radio/TV head] Perry Smith was in the control room. He told them not to show the seats

Well he may not have gotten the shot but Barber spoke up anyways:

Barber recalled from using 1930s radio teletype, leaning into his mic: “I don’t know what the paid attendance is, but whatever it is, it is the smallest crowd in the history of Yankee Stadium, and this crowd is the story, not the game.” Red’s act defied. Next week, like Mel Allen in fall 1964, he misjudged. Asked to breakfast by Burke, Barber, like Allen then, anticipated a new pact—indeed, thought Burke was going to ask about player personnel! Instead, the new Yanks head said. “We have decided not to renew your contract.” Barber convened the press, said that “I have a record of thirty-seven years of fine work. I am not going to allow Mr. Burke, or anybody, to trifle with it,”

Now in fairness there is always the possibility that the O’s will be able to produce some other reason for this nonsense, but let’s not pretend that this is a shock, after all if the Yanks were willing to do this to a broadcast legend like Red Barber how less likely are the O’s going to feel guilty over doing something similar with Brown if the owner digs in his heels?

Actually now that I think about it I guess Brown was suspended for advancing a conservative value: The same conservative value that Barber was fired for, telling the truth.

Elly De La Cruz and Playing Baseball Right

Posted: July 9, 2023 by datechguy in baseball
Tags: ,

One of the great young stars of Baseball is Elly De La Cruz. Not only has he already hit for the cycle in his rookie year he has helped raise a team that lost 100 games last season to first place.

Yesterday he did something that screamed Jackie Robinson, stealing 2nd, 3rd and home but most amazingly he did it on only two pitches.

I’ve watched that video a few times and while I noticed that he seems to have long legs and an athletic gait, what really struck me was the baseball sense. Let’s look at the video:

now the steal of 2nd wasn’t anything special other than the good jump but take a look at the 47 second mark of the video and check out where the 3rd baseman is when the catcher is getting up to throw.

There is nobody covering third. de La Cruz noticed this and immediately took off. Yeah the 3rd baseman right have broken for the bag if he had been ready and saw de la Cruz break. With a shorter distance he might have gotten there first and perhaps could have set himself to get a throw, but he wasn’t ready and de la Cruz saw this and took the base.

Remember this is a one run game at the time, you would think a team would be careful about these things but the Milwaukee infield was not and de la Cruz was ready to strike.

Now look at what he does once he’s there. The 3rd baseman is still nowhere near the bag and he starts down the line. at the 2:14 mark the catcher throws the ball back to the pitcher who turns his back and heads back to the mound casually. The moment de la Cruz notices the pitcher isn’t watching he breaks for the plate. The pitcher turns at the 2:19 mark and rushes a throw that doesn’t have a chance.

That’s some of the most intelligent baseball I’ve seen in years. Elly de la Cruz is only 21 years old but he’s clearly one of the smartest players on that field and more importantly he’s paying attention to the game and making wise decisions.

This is exactly how this game should be played and the fans of Cincy are lucky to have that kind of player on the field. Will he develop into a Larkin or a Rose, it’s way too early to tell but for now let’s just take joy in it all.

Quick Bits of Advice Under the Fedora, Picking a Lawyer, Why Coaches Exist, Killing Golden Geese, Al Capone Gangster and Legacies

Posted: July 1, 2023 by datechguy in baseball, culture, the courts, under the fedora
Tags: , , , ,

Some Advice:

If hiring a lawyer, make sure that none of them had to get therapy from their law school as a student over SCOTUS rulings they didn’t like.

There is a reason why third base coaches exist to let you know if it’s a good idea to take that extra base. If he puts up a stop sign with two outs in the last of the 9th when you represent the tying run listen to him.

If you are counting on $1000+ from a relative as a wedding gift, it’s a bad idea to inform them that they are not welcome at your wedding because you would be frightened by their presence because they vote conservative and not invite them on those grounds.

Not only will for forfeit that thousand dollar payday, but you will forfeit any future paydays that might have come up.

Reality doesn’t care if something is proven in court or not. Reality IS. If you base reality on court decisions or the lack thereof you will find yourself played for a fool.

Finally if your business or organization relies heavily on recommendations from current customers or users to family members for new bodies, don’t mistreat said existing customers. They’ll advise people to stay away.

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