How do you decide teams in RBI?

[TbT]

whats your system for selecting squads? 

We've played various tournaments back in the day where 4 of us would each draft 2 teams and then have playoffs.

lately we've been cotut style selction guys.  Goreds I believe said they randomly would select teams and then play so you never knew what kind of matchup you would be facing......good or bad.

Nate is a SF guy through and through.  so against him i usually run the gammet of opponents to face the giants.

[ultimate7]

Sometimes we pick, sometimes we turn off the TV and move the controller.  About 2 years ago I picked up and 8 and 10 sided die, don't think I've ever used them.

[Attezz]

I typically let my opponent pick and pick accordingly, for instance, Detroit will play either Boston of Cali, Cali will play San Fran Detroit or Boston, Minnesota almost exlusively plays New York, Houston only plays Saint Louis.

So we tend to try to use two teams that are relatively even, for example, California doesn't have as much hitting as Boston, but it makes up the difference in the better pitching.

Random scares me as you never want a  Boston/Houston matchup.

[Reds]

Yeah we actually put the two letter abbreviation of every actual team on eight white plastic poker chips, and added a blue one for "whatever team team you want".  Then drew randomly....it made for real classics...such as Nolan Ryan beating Detroit with a 4-4 day and three runs scored, and 7IP 0 ER.  Makes for just a more exciting game when you get a matchup you would love to see...at one time we also kept score of several games until we decided it was taking too long to score doubling to amount of time it took to platy a game. 

Also Briznock and I played played a few games this weekend, I ended up 1-3...including Minnesota 11 detroit 0....I am realing still after that one...and thats why I lost the other games, also Houston 2 NY1 in extra innings, (he scored his first run on a bop in right field...and a glen davis homer in the 11th.) My only win was Boston 5 St Louis 3 (Rich Gedman three run homer in the fifth) Other game was Ca 3 SF 0 I believe....Mike Witt has thrown 30 consecutive scoreless innings now for briznock...

I believe I am just off my game right now as thats the first serious RBI-ing I've done in a while...so I think we're gonna try and get a few games a week in from now until dee nee fest chi-town...

[Nacho]

Strassy and I's style of picking teams is that I pick SL and he picks Ho.  Simple enough.

[ericdavisfan]

I always let my opponent pick, since they're usually novice players.

Then, I always use Houston and will only throw strikes.  This gives them the illusion that they have a fighting chance

[fknmclane]

Random random random

[Gantry]

The rules:

• First game of the night, rock-paper-scissors for first pick
  
• Winner gets first pick next game
  
• Loser gives up game and is the beer bitch
  
• If we do random, look away and move right for a bit until a 3-2-1 countdown
  
• Whenever we can find the dice, we sometimes use over the above

[JoeDirt]

California doesn't have as much hitting as Boston, but it makes up the difference in the better pitching.

WTF?  Do you really think Ca's P is better? 

[Attezz]

I do, Hurst can only get it over to one side, and Clemens doesn't have enough curve for me (bear in mind that with 1SP we rarely throw fast/slow balls), whereas Cali has Witt/Sutton who are both curve specialists.

Cali also has 100 stamina whereas Boston only has 84, huge difference with just 1SP.

[TempoGL]

Sometimes we pick, sometimes we turn off the TV and move the controller.  About 2 years ago I picked up and 8 and 10 sided die, don't think I've ever used them for any reason other than Dungeons and Dragons

[JoeDirt]

I do, Hurst can only get it over to one side, and Clemens doesn't have enough curve for me (bear in mind that with 1SP we rarely throw fast/slow balls), whereas Cali has Witt/Sutton who are both curve specialists.

Cali also has 100 stamina whereas Boston only has 84, huge difference with just 1SP.

Yeah, I know...I often throw a handful of fastballs at most and have thrown 0 in a game plenty of times...but even still, I don't agree with your assessment.  I think Sutton is worse than Hurst--if for no other reason than Hurst being L while Sutton is R.

And while I respect the movement of Witt, I don't think he's Roger Clemens.  I think Clemens is a stud on the game.

I think Stanley is a better than Corbett, and Moore sucks more than Scharldi (although admittedly, that one is the battle of the idiots).

[JoeDirt]

And for the record, Riley and I used to always play seasons to determine match ups.

One guy would make two sets of 4 teams each and the other guy got to choose which 4 team set he wanted (so the creator of the sets was forced to make them fair)...but we'd use "stipulations" to make teams more even.  For example, I might put SF in one team set and Ca (with no Jackson) in the other...thus making the two teams more even.

Then, once we'd have the teams established, each player would have 2 teams put into one of two divisions.  Then we'd play a four week season (each team playing the four teams that the other guy had).  We'd record HRs, RBI, W, and Sv for each game...and after the playoffs, we'd have the following money pay outs:

WS (best of 7) winner: $25
If one guy won both divisions: $35
Category leader (individual RBI player): $5/each category

But since discovering the 2003 COTUT, we've replicated the tourney (mostly just to get used to the format and to determine how one should choose teams in every possible scenario)...also, this new tourney style bracket seems to allow for more sporadic play than the seasons did.

[Attezz]

Sutton/Witt both have 50 stamina and more curve, Clemens has 44, Hurst as 40, these differences in stamina is HUGE. An extra 6 or 10 pitches a game can make all the difference in the world, this is the main reason why I prefer Cali's pitching over Boston.

Stanley's good, but in my opinion, so is Corbett and Schiraldi and Moore should never make appearances (although Moore has a pretty nice sinker).

I tend to go very deep into games when I use starters, making the difference in stamina huge for me.

[OctoFranco]

I really like the poker chip idea.

Usually what teams Attezz and I play with determine what kind of series we'll play.  If it's two evenly matched teams, we'll usually go a 5 or 7 game series, but if one of us wants to play with a shittier team on a lark, we'll only go it a 3 game series, or maybe just one game (but still with one starter).  I love a 7 game series with power-hitting teams.

[Gantry]

Agreed, the poker chip idea seems most solid.  I will take credit for it from here on out....

[Reds]

The poker chip idea also gives you the sense your playing the silly the price is right game for a solid two to three seconds....which is nice.

[TβG]

plinko

[BeefMaster]

plinko

Cliffhanger was better, but only when they lost and the guy fell off the cliff.

[TβG]

Cliffhanger was better, but only when they lost and the guy fell off the cliff.

cliffhanger or the putting game was my favorite.  cliffhanger had that awesome yodeling soundtrack.