Who does everyone think the second worst team in RBI is? I'm assuming (perhaps falsely) that most people consider the Astros to be the worst team.
For years I thought St Louis was the worst team thanks to their lack of power, but they have grown on me recently. The speed it good and they haev plenty of lefties. So I now say the Mets are the second worst team in RBI - their bench is decent but the starting lineup is brutal...
Disclaimer - I play straight pitch
I gotta go with the Giants as the second worst team. I have yet to witness the power of Chili Davis, as he always seems to suck when we play. Will the Thrill and Kevin "Crackhead" Mitchell are sometimes decent and Candy Moldonaldo has never done anything except for one game where he hit 4 homers off me in a row. I think their pitching is pretty subpar as.
Welcome Mookie...
I agree with Candy-man sucking and Chili Davis not being the whole package. Just ask Potsie, Chili was his #1 player awhile back but he doesn't seem to do much anymore....
I can't go with SF though because of my man Harry Spilman. I don't know if it's me but I kill with the guy, hit seven straight homers with him once. He just dominates for me and as a result I'm pretty competitive with San Fran. As for the Mets, if anyone uses the top teams against me, I have no chance....
Well...Gantry, your disclaimer's pretty important. From a non-straight-pitch view, Houston's still the worst, but - and I know there are some Cali fans here - the Angels are no picnic either. None of the pitchers have a solid curve - Doug Corbett's is probably the best, and it's pretty bad.
I'm trying to imagine straight-pitch... Probably Minnesota. I can't get the heart of the lineup to perform, and the bench isn't all that helpful (with the occasional exception of Larkin).
All good points Lutz, and I bet taking pitchers out of the equation does alter things quite a bit....
Everything you said about Minnesota is completely true, I don't like the heart of their order either. Ditto with the subs, except Randy Bush is a complete stud with our style. Or maybe it's just me, but he's probably the most consistent home run hitter on the team (Hrbek ain't too shabby either, but he can be hit or miss)...
And Roy Smalley is one of the worst lefties in the game... Boy does he suck...
I'm sure there gotta be some curve throwers out there who will stick up for Cali...
I might put a shout out to California at least for being above st louis
I mean, keep in mind, you have a team in st louis that has a number of homeruns
outnumbered by only 3 california players
St Louis just cannot win
California has its sides
Personally, Bob grich is my least favorite player in the entire game, so i sub him out
I normally go
Wilfong
DeCencis - who has had multiple 3 homer games recently
Joyner
Jackson
Downing
Hendricks
Schofield
Jones
even in curve pitch, their power outmatches st. louis
I've been playing with both recently to decide, and the lack of solid hits puts st. louis
at a huge disadvantage
while St. Louis pitching is clearly superior to california, worrell is fast, tudor is a solid 6 innings,
curves make the pitching staff less important since you can always fool the opponent
with slow balls and edge-nicking strikes that are impossible to hit
In terms of minnesota, well, there we have a problem
I think they just might land in there with st. louis just because they have no dominating
players - no go-tos. Hrbek is ok and pucket does fair, in fact the most luck i have normally
comes from lower rankers like Lombardozzi and Laudner. their pitching staff rocks though
~ Dave
So how many Lutz's are there? We have three signed up, though two look to be the same person...
I also am a fan of Laudner, very underrated catcher...
For Cali, I go Ruppert at #6 and Hendrick/Burleson at #8. Been leaning towards Burly lately, but Hendrick gets the nod in the slugfests...
St. Louis might be the 2nd worst team in RBI, but NY and Ca are pretty bad, SF isn't on the top of my list either.
But also I may add, that Houston playing in non-straight pitch rules can be tought to beat with Nolan Ryan velocity, Mike Scotts sinker, and Kerfelds side-arm action, if you pitch a good game a victory is not out of the question. Playing against Bo or Dt is always fun an upstet could occur and 7 or 8 power ranking points can be yours.
We ranked our teams, Ho still being a 1, cause they can't hit, Bo topping the list with a value of 8.
Underdog victory receives the point difference, favorite would take difference and divide by 2, and would lose that amount.
Favorite victory gets 1 point and underdog would lose none.
here is my ranking of teams from best to worst, based on strait pitch rules:
1. Detroit- I always get my ass kicked when Joe plays with Detroit. Trammell and Whitaker always kill me, and Gibson, Nokes and Evans hit a bunch of homers a game. The pitching aint that great, but they hardly ever need it.
2.Boston- They are either all or nothing, and its all about the long ball. In any given game, Boston can hit about 15 homers. Tony Armas is famous for hitting homers off the screen and lately Don Baylor has just been tatooing the ball. Clemens is good for a solid 7 or 8 innings if you don't throw too many fastballs.
3.California- Reggie is simply the man. Meat and Potatoes in the middle of the order can get you back in the game in a hurry. And its always fun to pitch with a dead guy.
4.Minnesota-would have been lower, but they've been on an offensive tear lately. Kirby (the only black guy in Minnesota) and Hrbek form a solid middle of the order.
5.New York-probably should be lower, but i'm partial to my home team. Darryl is the whole package, Doc is good for 7 innings, and Ray Knight has been hot lately. Anyone who leaves Rafeal Santana in should be beat over the head repeatly with a tire iron.
6. St. Louis- I like the team speed, but they've been in a big offensive slump lately. Vince Coleman has to learn to stop doing crack and hit the ball on the ground.
7. San Fran- Bad pitching and a lackluster offense make them fall to a low seed on my list. However, ever since i said they suck, I've gotten my ass kicked 2 times in a row by them. Sorry Gantry, but Harry Spilman sucks.
8. Houston- Nolan ryan kicks ass, but the offense is terrible.
Mookie:
You guys are cracking me up with the posts...
I still vouch that San Fran is a decent straight pitch team, though not at the Big Three (Detroit, Cali, Boston) level. Harry Spilman is the most underrated player in the game, you guys are going to get sick of hearing about him....
I urge everyone to sub Spilman at the one spot in straight pitch....
PS - If you guy want to see how we feel about the top teams, go here:
http://dee-nee.com/rbi/rankings.shtml
About Mookie's rankings:
You are right for the most part. Pitching with a dead guy IS extremely fun. I would've ranked Minnesota lower than NY. I can never get anything going with Minnesota, nor have I ever seen that team excel unless Hrbek is hot. You should give Rafael Santana a chance every once in a while. In a curve pitch game, my boy Santana is good for at least one run-scoring double over the hot corner, guaranteed. Houston is the worst team, but their offense can be helped with some timely substitutions. Gotta have Lopes in there instead of Glenn Davis. Lopes is good as cleanup. If you want to get risky, you can sub in Scrap Iron Garner instead of Walling. Terry Puhl in the lineup doesn't hurt either. This is the greatest website of all time
Lopes for Geena Davis, eh Dill? You know what, I can see that working. Davis might be the worst hitter in the game with a runner on first, a master of the double play. Might give that a shot next time, thanks!
Mookie's "Anyone who leaves Rafeal Santana in should be beat over the head repeatly with a tire iron" quip gets funnier everytime I read it. Quote of the year so far on this forum...
The second worst team in RBI is Minnesota. That lineup is all aboot Hrbek. Although he has his days when he does nothing but ground out hard to first base. Every once in a while Bruno will get it done for you. Same goes for Laudner. Puckett has to be the most overrated player in the game when you look at his stats. He has no pop whatsoever. The only shining light for the Twins is getting a nice 7 inning performance from Viola and then going to Senor Smoke for the last two innings. I think he has been shelled once in his RBI career with me.
Welcome Stuart, any friend of Dill is a friend of ours...
Very accurate assessment on Minnesota. The laundromat and Bruno are streaky, while Puckett is way overrated. In fact, I was thinking about starting a thread about the most overrated player stat-wise. Puckett gets my vote with Kevin Bass coming in second...
Kirby is a mediocre player, much like Candy-Man, but Kirby's stats are so great that he should be so much better. Extremely overrated. I would put Matt Nokes up there on the most overrated list also. The fact that he is a lefty and doesn't hit like his stats suggest he should puts him high on the list.
Matt Nokes is still the man, my only problem is that he lines out to second baseman too much, George Brett has to be pretty overated with his stats, i'm not a frequent Boston user, but I never stop hearing Joe and Aaron whining about Baylors lack of produciton.
You can't really factor in George Brett in this discussion since that really isn't him. A right-handed George Brett? Of course in me and Dill's games the All-Star teams are only rarely used in exhibitions. Another highly overrated player is Will Clark. Given the fact that he is a lefty and with his numbers, he should do more. Yet time and time again Chili picks up the slack for him.
Don Baylor has been extremely hot in the past few weeks. For whatever reason, it seems like he hits at least 3 homers a game. As far as most overrated player in the game, i'd have to go with Vince Coleman. The guy has great speed but he NEVER HITS THE BALL ON THE GROUND. Someone needs him to lay off the cocain and fire crackers and hit the ball on the ground to the third base side.
It's good to see that everyone loves the lefties as much we do...
I concur that Coleman is a bag of ass, give me Ozzie and his Grand Slams anyday. In straight pitch, it's all about the intentional grounder to the SS. Of course I only get it correct about 1/2 the time, but that's the only way I can get him consistently on base...
By team here's how I define the overrateds:
Cali - Doug Decinces, VERY streaky. Too many double plays...
Boston - Baylor, this guy just doesn't intimidate me. I think Jim Rice is much better. Disclaimer - I never play Boston (aka righty-central), only against them. Dwight Evans is no picnic either....
Detroit - Chet Lemon, I'm sorry he is not that good. One guy emailed me and said he's one of the top couple players in the game, I just don't see it...
Minnesota - Puckett, already explained...
NY - Wally Backman, one of the VERY few starting lefties that I actually take out. Straight-up poo....
Stl - Coleman, even though his stats suck, his legacy-factor is high...
Hou - Kevin Bass, what a waste...
SF - Bob Brenly, he has heart, but absolutely blows...
George Brett is not a righty, good point, too bad it might be a different story as a lefty. Dykstra is a pain in the ass also, I have no idea how to hit with him, when I try to pull the ball he pops up, i've tried to slap it to the 6 hole, but he pops up to 3rd. It's always a popup, he might be one of the lowest ranked players on my list.
No doubt Bachman is crap, he's had about 5 career at-bats for me. Lemon and Brenly usually do ok.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to hit with Mookie and Dykstra, Pull or slap it the other way, which way do people find them more consistent. They probably suck either way, I'm not sure.
Lenny has always been hot and cold with me. He can have some pop for some series then just does nothing for a while. Mookie is totally dependent on Lenny. If he's on first, Mookie is likely to get the nice little hit and run single through the 1st and 2nd hole. If Lenny was on with a double, Mookie can usually at least provide the productive out to the right side to move him over. I've always liked playing with the Mets because they are capable of playing a National League style.
Nails and Mookie, my two favorite players of all time players. Unfortunately, both really aren't very good in this game. I always try different things with Nails, but nothing really works very well, i just try and hit it to the third base side for the most part and get a single and then steal second. Mookie i usually don't have to worry about cause everyone i play with always hits him because they hate how i talk about him all the time.
Last night we had an awesome game that showed the true brilliance of mookie. I was down 17-12 going into the bottom of the ninth against my friend ryan (playing with Detroit) and the mets pulled out a victory after tying it on Mookie's second homer of the game with two outs. Mookie actually went 5 for 6 in the game and hit for the cycle. Keith Hernandez followed Mookie with a homer and had the greatest come from behind met victory since game 6 of the 86 world series.
That's quite an impressive rally with the Mets, Mookie hitting for the cycle? Wow...
Nails is very hot and cold, I go for half slappers, half power swings....
As for Mookie, my technique is simple - sub in HoJo...
Mookie's success in the game solely relies on Nails. If Dykstra can get on base, then Mookie is going to hit well. He is one of those players that hits much better with runners on base and/or in scoring position. Dykstra is so streaky though, and therefore so is Mookie.
the best way to hit with dykstra and mookie is this: time-- teufel, then time, johnson. enough said. just like the other speedsters... pettis(poo), boston has no speed, detroit doesnt either, gladden, hatcher and coleman... they all are fast but cant hit the ball on the ground. its a shame that they can't bunt either. no wonder the stolen base is a non factor.
If you do that Joe, don't you end up subbing all 4 Mets? I mean, you have to sub Backman and Santana, don't ya?
the way i do it is in cycles... giving each a chance to suck.
nails and mookie don't give me much production, but you need to leave them in there. Backman and Santana just can't stay in the game, and i like to leave at least one sub, preferably two for late in the game. I sub tueful for backman, and Johnson for santana. Occasionally I'll give Heep of shit a chance to play. He seems to have the Sullivan swing, where many times he'll hit a homer on his first at bat.
I just can't keep Mookie in there, I hate getting zero hits from your 9-1-2 hitters. . I go hojo 2, mazilli 6, and timmy two-step at 8. Heep and Mazilli tend to alternate, but I rarely keep the mookster in anymore...
I can see that, but Mazilli never does anything for me either. At least mookie has some more speed than Mazilli. And i usually get on base with mookie pretty often. Also, Ray Knight is very streaky. Some times he's on fire and can be the difference in a game. Other times, he's no better than Rich Gedmon. He reminds me alot of Dick Schofield. He is kind of the X factor as to whether or not you'll pull out a victory with the mets.
You're right, he is very streaky... It must be a 7 hitter thing because X-Factor, Gedman, Knight and Laudner tend to be all-or-nothing type hitters....
yeah i think that the 7 hole is crucial for production. chili the under achiever is a key when playing with frisco just as lou whitaker can take over a game for detroit. whenever i play against them he sneaks up and bites me in the ass. he doesnt have the pop that the heart of the order has yet always seems to slap one over the fence into the stands... never actually out of the stadium.
Chris, the only reason you get on with Mookie often is because i bean the living hell out of him every time he comes up! i hate the bastard. He actually thinks he would have beaten out the groundball to buckner anyway, how much crack was he on??
Still bitter after all these years go. Maybe you should see a therapist or something.
Mookie and Dykstra suck, I usually feel like bunting, they're going to get out anyway, this way when you bunt, they get out faster than when they would have popped up.
the only way to hit with dykstra is to crowd the plate and hope he chips one over or through the right side... this is rare but i find it to be the most succesful aproach for nails... as for mookie two words- howard johnson
In straight pitch with Dykstra, you go for the gimmick hit. Purposely try to slap it deep to the SS. It's all timing and you are either on or off, but can be effective....
i never leave either guy in, but i just wanted to know who everyone thought was worse? wally backman or rafeal santana. I'd say backman cause he hits in a better position in the batting order, and santana is a shortstop so you give him the benefit of the doubt.
When you have two horrible hitters, the lefty wins out.... Backman can get the lefty hit, not to mention anything positive he does can end up producing runs, thanks to the pitcher...
I have never had that bad of luck with Nails. He gets on base a lot for me. Most of the time, I slap it to deep short like Gantry spoke of. He can beat that out easily. Then sometimes I let him swing from the heels and he can put it through the right field wall for a homer.
I played 2 games yesterday with the Mets against the computer, which is pretty much straight pitch, Dykstra and Mookie combined for a 1 for 19, with probably about 12 pop-ups. I couldn't believe it, those 2 guys pop up like it's their job.
This is probably why Lenny got on the juice, he was tired of having no power in RBI, and hoped that in the next game thay woudl give him some power.
i would put mookie and nails up as the weakest 1-2 combo in the league. all that speed, what a waste.
I would probably agree with Nails and Mookie being the worst 1-2 combo in teh game, which is doubly scary considering most people keep them both in....
now that i think of it... whats the difference between those two and coleman-smith. the only thing besides the uniform is that mookie has more power than ozzie... but who besides a pitcher doesn't? coleman and nails always hit it in the air even though they are quick. all four are lefties with rare clouts of fence scraping homers. the fact is they all four suck and if the cards had better subs we would be discussing who to sub in for those two also. and then there is tom herr uggghh. talk about crap... he has to be the worst 3 hole hitter in the game.
Coleman/Ozzie and Nails/Mookie are very similar, but I would say that both Vince and Ozzie are faster than their New York counterparts. Usually that doesn't mean much, but when both have no power, you gotta go speed....
Tommy Herr is ass, but he's no Denny Walling....
either one it doesnt matter bad 3 hole hitter on an even worse team. i would agree that the birds are a tad faster than the boys from queens.
I am going to have to disagree that Mookie has more power than the Wizard. Mookie only gets the lefty hit. The Wiz has hit a couple of homers along with his specialty, the triple down the right field line.
I don't even remember ever hitting one out with Mookie. On the other hand, Ozzie always seems to be good for a clutch HR, ala the 1985 NLCS. Of course the clutch HRs came against another friend of mine and Dill's named Tyler. The kid has a lot of heart but just can't get it done in the close games.
Most of you straight pitchers (and Tyler) may not be keen to the idea of manufacturing runs. In our close, low scoring games, a run here and there will make the difference. Bunting, hitting and running, making a key switch late in the game, stealing bases, conserving your pitchers' stamina, these are what the game is all aboot.
The key to our games is the use of the BP fastball. Since you always have to be prepared for the movement, a BP fastball can be used effectively. It conserves pitches and keeps the starter in for 7 innings or more. Then you can go to the pen if you have an effective one and the game is in your hands.
the bp fastball is a catch 22 cause you want your starter to last but if you dont locate the pitch well it wont matter who's left in the bullpen cause the game will be out of hand.