Hi everybody, I just finished a semester having turned in grades and spent part of this morning in Italy (while you were all sleeping in North America) looking back on some forum threads and learning a lot. 

Two things: 

first, I have been looking for the thread started by contrarian23 explaining progressive leagues to the un-initiated since lately I have become more interested in these, but I can't find it. Thought it was here in the SIM league baseball forum, but I also looked in both classifieds and didn't find it there either. It is even quite recent. 

If anyone remembers where it is and could bump it that would be appreciated. Otherwise you all risk professor-summer syndrome which is that as I browse looking for the thread I want, I cave in to the temptation to comment on or ask questions in a whole bunch of others which I have been doing already. 

Since my wife patiently lets me play here so I don't drive HER nuts (or the cat for that matter) with conversation, polemics and whatever is on the news, or talking about baseball, thereby saving my marriage, I don't want to drive you all nuts while all I really want to do is inform myself on progressive leagues. 


thanks,

One more question (I am the Lieutenant Colombo of my times): what does A++++++ refer to (sorry, if there is a specified number of +s, it is just that I keep seeing veteran players here refer to it as something everyone remembers except that some of us don't), and what did "Superman" refer to ?

Thanks.

Not all a+ arms are the same.....if you search by a+ arm, then add in the cs% stat & look at their performance histories, you will see what I mean.  Some Catchers will throw out a lot of people, because basestealers will still try to steal.  While others may only throw out a few runners, because no one tries to steal on them.

The superman was before my time, but I know it had to do with say, 95 maddux or 00 pedro pitching in long relief every other game.  Someone else will have to add some more detail to this one.

Also, in the past (and maybe to an extent, still - but not nearly to the point it was in the past), not all A+ range or fielding factors were the same. The pricing for a players range or fielding was based on the rating and not on the underlying stats, so some players (Richie Ashburn, Billy North, etc...) were quite the cookies because for the same price as a fielder with a much lower range factor you get their vastly superior range. There was a time when these A++++++ players were the cookies du jour. The last couple of pricing changes and the normalized fielding have (mostly) corrected for this, so you don't see these players as frequently as you once did.

And yes, the Superman Long A strategy exploited a loophole in fatigue that didn't ping starters pitching in relief. So, you could easily get 400+ IP out of 200 IP starters by having them throw in relief. Have a couple of 100 IP guys as your two starters on a 40 PC with a pull 5, and then have Maddux and Pedro in the pen as Long A and a high PC and they'd go 6+ innings in 81 games each. and you didn't even need anyone else in the pen.

Using Maddux in the Long A role, I managed a 70-3 season out of him. , and my 1st TOC Championship.