Me and Potsie went curve style in about 5 games and it was a ton of fun. I believe he won 3 out of 5 and we went random teams and one starter. We couldn't do shit, it is so hard to hit that fucker. Pretty sure we didn't get over 5 runs until the last game. Some observations:
1) Hitting is VERY hard, can't stress that enough
2) I HATE that inside ball pitch, I swing at it every time
3) Mike Krukow is the junk master
4) When your starter drops under 70, it's all over
5) Best reliever I saw was Reardon, pitched 4 scorless on me
6) Vince Coleman hit a homer off me, had lots of pop
7) The games go by MUCH quicker
8) Still makes a good light drinking game if you don't drink for striking out
9) Rob Wilfong (Tourney MVP) continued his domination of Potsie by hitting a leadoff dinger in game 2.
10) NEVER throw a fastball with Senor Smoke to Jim Lindeman with two strikes & two outs in the bottom of the ninth and a one-run lead. Trust me on that one...
I felt so helpless at the plate - I hit tons of grounders to 2nd and SS, that is very annoying. Pitching is 100% mental, adds more drama to the ABs...
It was a hoot and we'll definitely do it again. Dont' think it'll replace straight-pitch anytime soon, but it'll become part of the menu...
nice.
SmokedUBad
Glad to hear it Gantry. I think you'll get hooked on the curve game soon. I don't think you'll want your RBI any other way once you get used to curve style.
gantry, you and your boys gotta get better at that "curve-style" pitching, and we'll eventually get a national tourney together. i think its a dream whose time has come.
-dk
Nice work on the 'curve style' ballgame - it's the best way to play RBI, in my opinion.
It can get pretty damn frustrating as a batter when the pitcher throws nothing but curves and crap that is nowhere near the plate, but it makes every AB a challenge - and really takes the D- and E-contact hitters out of the game. Also, it requires a lot of guessing about where your opponent's coming w/ the pitch, as well as movement by the batter (around the box during the pitch) to guess right and make contact. You see a lot of Darrell Evans outside pitch HR's going out by the right field foul pole...lefties are known to defy physics on 'curve' games. We play that you can use both starters, and technically don't have to throw a single strike. It can be tough (the A-list starters are virtually unhittable for 3 innings), but it teaches the batter to go Wade Boggs and take a few pitches.
The scoring is definitely lower, but the games are faster and allow for more shit-talking to take place (as it's tough to go deep or hit for extra bases). Hard game to drink to, though.
Curve games are fun. We almost always play straight pitch, and have for years. However, I have played a lot of curve in my day, and can hang with most using this format. I personally feel that curve pitch takes too much concentration and discipline. We don't have the patience to fuck around with that bullshit. I would rather hit plenty of dingers, drink heavily, and proceed to the nearest bar so that I can pick up broads and bring them back for some RBI Afterbars. Chicks dig RBI and RBI fanatics, its a fact.
Hey there Dennis, glad you made it back! Gotta get some recent tourney photos up there on the site. For those who haven't seen Dennis' site, check it out at:
http://rbibaseball.tripod.com/home.html
Regarding curve style, it definitely shifts from a game of hitting to a game of pitching. I think if we ended up using two starters in a game, every score would be 1-0. More playing needs to be done...
So does the contact stat actually have meaning in curve pitch?