So, it seems that every three seasons or so, each World adds a player/pitcher that has the ratings to perform like a first ballot Hall of Fame player. However, HBD cannot possibly re-create true Generational talent because true Generational talent tips the scales.

What if every 15-20 seasons, each World has a true Generational talent added -- a guy that can overplay CF and hit like Ty Cobb (Trout). A guy that can hit for power and average and overplay SS (Arod). A guy who can hit absolute bombs out of any park and do while being pitched around (Barry Bonds). Hard Ball Dynasty can't create these type of players because they will be over the 100 overall.

So the trout guy would have 95/95 range and glove, but also 99 power, eye, 90+ splits, 90+ contact and still play every day. A guy like this would be rated like 125 overall, but I think that would be okay. It would add real intrigue to the game. In fact, I would not be opposed to having a guy that emulates Barry Bonds having 110 power and 120 eye. These types of players would need to super rare though.

I'd easily argue those players already exist in HBD. They don't need 100+ Overalls to get there. To my experience, almost any player with 90+ Overall is rare in some way, although remember that Durability and Stamina play very heavily into Overall.

Posted by damag on 4/15/2020 8:16:00 AM (view original):
I'd easily argue those players already exist in HBD. They don't need 100+ Overalls to get there. To my experience, almost any player with 90+ Overall is rare in some way, although remember that Durability and Stamina play very heavily into Overall.

i would somewhat agree with the former, but respectfully disagree with the latter for the very reason that you mention.

I agree on the non-premium defensive side that maybe you can compare the best HBD player I have ever seen to Barry Bonds. Jean Carlos' career OPS only slightly falls short and if you put Yean Carlos at LF, he would over play it most of his career like Barry Bonds did. He also has high durability and health so he can play nearly every day and should [with some luck] only have a few injury bugs.

Where I respectfully disagree is the premium defensive side of the discussion. This guy is the best-hitting premium defender i have seen in HBD. Maybe you can find better players than this, but this guy won multiple League MVPs and Gold Gloves at the SS position. Yet, despite how great he is, he hits somewhere between Cal Ripkin and Arod. I would challenge anybody to find a true Arod (plays every day, wins more than one Gold glove at SS, and OPS 930) or a true Mike Trout (overplays CF and hits similar to Bonds and plays every day)

While i agree that you can find some rare talent on many of the 90+ overall players in HBD, you are going to see it more with the combination of +hitting/+defense in a COF or CIF like in real life (Cody Bellinger, Christain Yellich, Mookie Betts, etc.). Maybe there is a premium fielder somewhere that only has 75-80 durability and 75-80 health that OPS 930, can win multiple gold gloves at CF or SS, but only plays 140 games due to durability concerns. However, if that is the case, he is not ARod or Trout.

Also, I know that Trout and Arod are extremely rare players so that is why i think a player like that should only come out every 15-20 seasons.

I think you're not just talking about Generational players, I think you are talking about Historical freaks.

In that case, I can see the case for maximum A-Rod being 100+. Much as I believe Trout is the best outfielder I've seen in 50 years, I don't think he would be 100+. Prime A-Rod would have been.

But do Historical freaks exist in HBD? I think they do. I've seen the best hitter ever in one of my worlds and I knew he would be when he showed up as a draft prospect. I've seen the best SP in that same world and I knew it the moment he showed up in my IFA pool. In that same world there was a player who won, I think, eight MVPs and when he retired he led the world in all hitting categories including SBs.

And I do think you can say that such players shouldn't come around more than every 40 years.

By any standard I think you can say that prime A-Rod doesn't exist. It's actually hard to see how he ever did. But if you really want to see something I think is otherworldly, check out Johnny Bench's 1970 season. That kind of C doesn't exist anywhere, anymore, fact or fiction.

I'm curious, that dude that won eight MVP awards and led the league in all categories, was it during the early HBD seasons? I have heard from veteran owners that the game was still working out kinks in the beginning and the early players had ridiculous career numbers.

I would agree that there's probably not enough premium Shortstops that are also good hitters. I do see premium centerfield hitting/fielding combos here and there, but maybe there could be more as well. Comparing to current day, you have Lindor, Story, Baez, Semien, Bogarts, Tatis, etc. All great hitters, and for the most part good fielders as well.

Posted by tlowster on 4/15/2020 12:05:00 PM (view original):
I'm curious, that dude that won eight MVP awards and led the league in all categories, was it during the early HBD seasons? I have heard from veteran owners that the game was still working out kinks in the beginning and the early players had ridiculous career numbers.

Not super-early, Season 10 to 30. Yes I know that when a world starts up sometimes the numbers are all over the place.

Posted by pray4pro on 4/15/2020 12:12:00 PM (view original):
I would agree that there's probably not enough premium Shortstops that are also good hitters. I do see premium centerfield hitting/fielding combos here and there, but maybe there could be more as well. Comparing to current day, you have Lindor, Story, Baez, Semien, Bogarts, Tatis, etc. All great hitters, and for the most part good fielders as well.

This game would have been first devised/conceived/coded about 15 years ago. This generation of SS may be unlike any other, and with the exception of prime A-Rod, these types of players didn't exist back then.

Geez, now that there's nothing on to watch but classic games, I was watching some of the 1992 WS last week. "With all due respect", many of the players in that series don't even come close to resembling players today.

Oh yeah. Damag, I am sure you remember 92 and 93, but I am a Twins fan and I think in 91, the Jays had a better team that the Twins, but the 91 Twins were a scrappy team that found ways to win close games that year. That 91 Twins team would win 80 games in today's game.

https://www.whatifsports.com/hbd/Pages/Popups/PlayerRatings.aspx?pid=3249851

https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerRatings.aspx?pid=4781

https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerRatings.aspx?pid=278206

https://www.whatifsports.com/hbd/Pages/Popups/PlayerRatings.aspx?pid=8166285

Posted by Vitamin_C on 4/16/2020 6:28:00 PM (view original):
https://www.whatifsports.com/hbd/Pages/Popups/PlayerRatings.aspx?pid=3249851

https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerRatings.aspx?pid=4781

https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerRatings.aspx?pid=278206

https://www.whatifsports.com/hbd/Pages/Popups/PlayerRatings.aspx?pid=8166285

Generational pitchers and COF/CIF like the above seem to come along every six seasons or so, but even guys like Corey Seager and Lindor are super rare in HBD. Let alone Mike Trout, ARod, Willie Mays. i will stand corrected that the game lacks Barry Bonds type hitters, but I still feel that there is a lack of premium fielders that can hit in HBD despite the fact that there are many in the game today in real life. I think Damag made a great point above regarding the fact that this game was probably created like fifteen - twenty years ago when the game didn't have many premium fielders that could hit.

Maybe I should change the name of the subject to Generational Premium Fielders.

https://www.whatifsports.com/hbd/Pages/Popups/PlayerStats.aspx?pid=3441349

Catcher with some really strong batting lines his first few seasons. Started the world at age 28 or so.