THE TALK SHOW

            Reading last month’s question about HBP chances makes me wonder: why don’t players (in recent years Carlos Quentin comes to mind) have HBP chances on their basic cards? 

            High-HBP batters go back to almost Day One of SOM’s history. Remember Ron Hunt in the ‘60s, who shattered the single-season record? Since then, Don Baylor, Craig Biggio and others were pitch magnets. Historically, Minnie Minoso was such a player. But the basic game has never had HBP and SOM has chosen to keep all its basic seasons compatible. New features get added to the advanced side. Since the basic game stabilized with the first full set of teams in 1962, the only changes of substance that I can recall were adding the 5-rated fielders and changing the standard pitcher fielding from 3 to 2. Other changes, such as card patterns, color, and dropping team nicknames, did not affect game play.

 

            I’ve been a baseball fan all my life but just discovered and started playing Strat two years ago. I have an idea but can you please explain the purpose of your clutch ratings as it relates to the overall Strat simulation? Also, Joey Votto, for example, was rated by Bill James as having one of the highest batting averages with runners in scoring position (but not necessarily two out) in the 2010 MLB season but had a -4 clutch on his Strat card. What’s the correlation, if any, between the two?

            Welcome to this great hobby, Paul. If you enjoy it as much as we do, you will find that any day playing Strat-O-Matic is a good day (I like the new T-shirt slogan, “Did You STRAT Today?”) Your question has been asked and answered often since the clutch ratings arrived in the 1980s. Though SOM applies the clutch ratings with men in scoring position and two outs, the rating never was intended to replicate batting average in those situations. Think of the clutch rating as an RBI refinement. Also remember that clutch does not affect extra-base hits, so sluggers like Votto still retain strong value in the clutch. It’s quite common to see the big home-run hitters decline in SOM clutch. Same for leadoff hitters who had high batting averages, but few RBIs.

 

 

            Has it never occurred to SOM to make a team of each franchise’s best players (lifetime)? Let’s say the best 30 or so players. Do you imagine how much fun it would be!  Of course, don’t include the newly franchise like Tampa Bay, only franchises at least 20 years old. Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Reds, Cardinals, etc.
 

            I would estimate that this frequently discussed subject has occurred to Strat-O-Matic for, oh, at least each of the last 40 years. Assuming we are talking about each player’s best season, there are two choices, each with its own challenges: Best players from sets that SOM has produced? Or best players including seasons SOM never has produced? If the former, SOM would have to decide whether the popularity of this set would undermine the sales of season sets to make the project counter-productive. If the latter, we’re talking about a major research effort to produce cards the Strat-O-Matic way. It amounts to this: Doing one team from a season according to current standards requires research for the whole league.

            In the next year or two, will Strat reprint the 1961, and 1962 baseball seasons in the same way as seasons 1964, and 1965 player cards?

            To be determined. Strat-O-Matic is analyzing which seasons are good candidates for digital printing.