Take Take Take Pitches

[bigbopper]

I have been reading this site and playing RBI for a while now but i think i either disagree or dont fully comprehend a few of the strategies listed on this site.

1) Taking pitches.  Now is it just me, or are you supposed to hit strikes and take balls, what is this taking pitches talk, are you taking strikes? I dont know who you guys play, but if i start off taking strike 1, i severley increase my chances of striking out.  I recognize the advantage of getting to pitchers like King and Sutton, but is it worth all the extra striking out you are going to do early in the game?  Also, on the flip side, as a pitcher, i throw nasty stuff, balls and strikes, even when i am detriot.  If alexander can only go 3.5 innings but get 7 strike outs, i think he did his job.  Are  you guys suggesting that you should serve up meatballs (down the middle pitches) to bad batters with no one on to conserve pitches?  In my experience ANYONE can hit a home run (except pitchers) even the Grinch. So i choose to pitch 4-6 pitches to everyone (Granted this can screw me in the end, but my games NEVER get to 10 runs like i see DET and BOS scoring on the COTUT tournament results, let me repeat i NEVER get scored on that much, so what is the story with taking pitches?

Also, fouling off balls, decent idea, but just swing at hittable balls and hope for the best i say.

2) Lefty hit: before i read this site, i never saw a difference or a difficulty with hitting with righties, nor an advantage with lefties.  As i read about the lefty hit it seems like they "get less double plays" and can pull it down the line between the 2B and 1B because of holding the runner.  In my experience, lefties get just as many double plays cause they pull it right to the 2nd baseman.  If anything, they hit better with no one on, cause then as a fielder, half the time you cant even control the 2nd baseman.  Also, as for hitting against rightie pitchers, its easier as a rightie that way the pitcher cant cross it in on your hands with an un hittable strike.  So what is all the talk about lefties?!?

3) The pettis: can anyone really pull this off with cons. ?


Ok, thanks for this clarification.
PS, team rankings, anyone who doesnt rank Dt as #1 doesnt know how to play this game.

PS (all these questions are relating to anything goes curve pitching)

[BeefMaster]

Also, as for hitting against rightie pitchers, its easier as a rightie that way the pitcher cant cross it in on your hands with an un hittable strike.  So what is all the talk about lefties?!?

I know JoeDirt, one of the world-class players on the forum, has the same preference as you - he would rather pitch to a righthanded batter with a lefthanded pitcher, and vice-versa.  I haven't played against or directly heard opinions from many other top players, but I believe they generally hold the same opinion.

[ultimate7]

Gererally relief pitchers are worse than starters, so if you can force the starters to go only 3 inn each you are in great shape, obviously you want to hit good pitches but being patient is important.

The lefty hit goes between the 1B and 2B men because there is a bigger hole because the 1B is holding the runner on.

What does with cons. mean?  I can pull of the pettis with fast guys sometimes, but usually the person your playing against is also pitching in a way to make that more difficult.

[bigbopper]

Cons. just means consistancy.

Also lefty hit, are you aiming to pull it? dont you get a lot of DPs that way too? i find it safer to always swing late SS is a tough play to first and im usually safe.

[BeefMaster]

Cons. just means consistancy.

Also lefty hit, are you aiming to pull it? dont you get a lot of DPs that way too? i find it safer to always swing late SS is a tough play to first and im usually safe.

That's the "Pettis", so it appears that you can do it at least somewhat regularly.

The Lefty Hit is a bigger phenomenon in Straight Pitch, where the homerun rules the day and you're always trying to pull the ball.

[Nacho]

Cons. just means consistancy.

I thought you meant players like Gooden, Strawberry, and Guerrero.

Also, those of us who play RBI the way it was supposed to be played (only using 1 starter/game) know the value of making pitchers work hard and throw a lot of pitches.

[Attezz]

(Granted this can screw me in the end, but my games NEVER get to 10 runs like i see DET and BOS scoring on the COTUT tournament results, let me repeat i NEVER get scored on that much, so what is the story with taking pitches?

Maybe your opponents suck...It's either that or you are the greatest RBI player in the history, I repeat, the HISTORY of the world.

I'm with Nacho, taking pitches don't matter with four starters, but it's huge if you're playing a no-reset series....But we've already had this discussion many times.

[fknmclane]

team rankings, anyone who doesnt rank Dt as #1 doesnt know how to play this game.

Are you counting the NL All Stars in your rankings?

[TβG]

the title of the thread reminds me of this gem:

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[broiler]

if you play rbi with only 1 starter and alexander goes 3.5 innings, i will 10 run rule you by the 7th inning stretch.  i dont care how many K's you have when your pitchers cant put any movement on the ball later in the game

[ultimate7]

if you play rbi with only 1 starter and alexander goes 3.5 innings

He was talking about 2 starters

[Attezz]

I've never gone 3.5 innings with Alexander.

[bigbopper]

i was talking 2SPs not 1.  Also, i never count NL or AL in rankings.

[bigbopper]

Also, the question remains, in anything goes, do you let the bad players hit and conserve pitches if you have a crap bullpen?

[broiler]

Also, the question remains, in anything goes, do you let the bad players hit and conserve pitches if you have a crap bullpen?

if you think a player is a bad player sub him.  hell yes conserve pitches if you have a crap bullpen.  you should know this if you like playing with detroit

[TbT]

I've never gone 3.5 innings with Alexander.

Bravo!  

for me heres how i view the taking pitches thing.  its absolutely neccesary in the 2 starting pitcher games.  theres an arms race being waged, and if its tied late, i dont want 1 pitcher left in my pen to the other guys 2.  simple as that.

also some guys are very crafty and stay just off the plate.  sometimes you need to take some pitches just to force bad counts for them and force them to throw strikes.  that is very key as well.  if your opponent knows your chomping at the bit for the big hit, your bound to see more garbage than usual.

and also when Doyle is throwing 76MPH, he's much easier to get a read on than when hes tossin them in there at 85.  so taking some pitches makes this occur sooner than not.

last year at the tourney i faced Gdavis who's a damn good pitcher. anyways i had to take a lot. he struck me out a ton each game, but the K's he got were routinely taking anywhere from 5-7 pitches.  his guys were tiring, and i won a couple games with some heroic late vs pitchers who had already used up thier best stuff.

thats all for now.

[TbT]

i think there was also a point made about the players with little power.

When i'm pitching i'm more likely to go after them to try and get some outs on 1 or 2 pitches, but im not throwing anything right down the pipe(well if i do, it was an accident)

but in certain situations where the score is tied, im still very, very careful.  gimme a decent lead, and i may be more agressive in trying to get quick outs and giving the batters something a little better to hit.

[broiler]

sometimes i wont swing at a pitch through the first 2 batters, then swing away when the power gets to the plate and your opponent thinks all you are going to do is take pitches.  

am i lying about this, maybe

[TbT]

sometimes i wont swing at a pitch through the first 2 batters, then swing away when the power gets to the plate and your opponent thinks all you are going to do is take pitches.  

am i lying about this, maybe in the cotut, No.

regardless its always good to protect your secrets.

[TbT]

another side note.  for some reason people in this years cotut dont really post here.  joe dirt and myself do regularily.

Beales(smoked you bad) and MfRiley do on rare occasion.
However the rbi knowledge here is top notch.