A call for playtesting help!

[quietude]

I'm working on doing an update to the arcade RBI to add in some deserving players and maybe adjust competitive balance a bit (i.e. give Ho a slightly better chance of not completely sucking.)  I'm at the point where I need some opinions on how the new players and adjusted ratings affect the game, and if any changes are necessary.  Here's a short list of what I've done so far:

Oakland: none
Houston: added Bagwell, Wagner and Biggio
Atlanta: changed uni colors, added Chipper Jones and Tom Glavine
St. Louis: adjusted uni color, added El Hombre, Jimmy Ballgame and Enos Slaughter, boosted Gibson's stamina a bit
Chicago Cubs: Adjusted uni colors
Los Angeles: Added Piazza
San Fran: Added Barry Bonds and Christy Mathewson, changed uni color to off-white
Cincy: changed uni colors, moved Frank Robinson to starting lineup
Boston: Added Pedro, fine-tuned Clemens's stamina
New York: Added Jeter and Rivera, moved Mattingly to starting lineup

Pitcher batting stats represent career stats.  Most added players have stats based on 162-game average rather than a specific season.

Any suggestions on players who should be replaced or who need stats adjusted would be greatly appreciated.

[TβG]

good idea for an update. 

i have a question about piazza on the dodgers though.  i'm not sure how the original arcade rosters were compiled, but i think it's "all-time teams" for those clubs.

usually when all-time teams are put together players are inculded who played the most games or spent the most years with a particular team.  i think piazza played longer in both respects with the new york mets, so you may want to rethink having him on la.  but it's your rom, and especially if you're from the la area, i can understand you keeping him in la.

i like a lot of your other changes, but honestly, i'm not as familiar with the arcade version as i am with the nes version.

[Attezz]

Who did you take off of each team?

Why Glavine but not Maddux for the Braves?

I really hope you didn't take Spahn, Burdette or Niekro off the Braves, that would be a travesty.

Until I read your post, I never realized Big Six wasn't on the Arcade version, also a travesty

[quietude]

good idea for an update. 

i have a question about piazza on the dodgers though.  i'm not sure how the original arcade rosters were compiled, but i think it's "all-time teams" for those clubs.

usually when all-time teams are put together players are inculded who played the most games or spent the most years with a particular team.  i think piazza played longer in both respects with the new york mets, so you may want to rethink having him on la.  but it's your rom, and especially if you're from the la area, i can understand you keeping him in la.

i like a lot of your other changes, but honestly, i'm not as familiar with the arcade version as i am with the nes version.

You know, I debated that, since I tried to avoid similar situations with the Yankees and a couple of other teams, but what finally settled it in his favor is his appearance at the top of most of the Dodgers team hitting lists (4th in BA, 8th in OBP, 2nd in SLG, 3rd in OPS).  The other option would be Eric Karros, since the Dodgers desperately need some power off the bench.

Glavine replaced Garber in the Braves bullpen.  I debated Maddux, but Glavine's credentials as a Brave were stronger IMO.  I've debated adding Maddux to the Cubs rotation in place of Sutcliffe.

[Attezz]

You should add Edd Roush to the Reds in place of Griffey Sr.

You should have the Tigers replace the Astros.

[quietude]

Here's the list of replaced players (latest changes in BOLD):

Houston
---------------
Bagwell for Glenn Davis
Biggio for Terry Puhl
Wagner for JR Richard

Oakland
---------------
none

Atlanta
--------------
Jones for Del Crandall
Glavine for Gene Garber

St. Louis
--------------
Pujols for Jack Clark
Edmonds for Curt Flood (I'm going back and forth on this one.)
Slaughter for Willie McGee (Cards fans, your thoughts?  I think Country gets the nod over #51 myself.)

Chicago
--------------
Maddux for Rick Sutcliffe
Cap Anson replaces PHansn?

Los Angeles
---------------
Piazza for Steve Sax

San Fran
---------------
Barry Bonds for Bobby Bonds
Christy Mathewson for Mike McCormick

Cincinnati
----------------
Edd Roush for Ken Griffey Sr.
Barry Larkin for Dave Concepcion

Boston
---------------
Pedro Martinez for Dick Radatz
Joe Cronin into lineup for Rick Burleson
Harry Hooper for Rick Burleson

New York
---------------
Jeter for Lazzeri
Mattingly replaces Rizzuto in the lineup
Rivera replaces Righetti

[Attezz]

I think Jeter should replace Winfield.

I consider Winfield more a Gopher than a Yankee.

[quietude]

Roush has an excellent case to beat out Griffey Sr., so that change will be made for sure.

I'd prefer to replace Winfield with another outfielder if possible, which means his replacement would be Bernie Williams, which would have the effect of giving the Yankee lineup the top 8 and 9 of the team's top 10 in HR.  Thoughts?

[Reds]

The reds need lots of changes...

Sit Griffey and put Frank robinson in as the starter in the #2 spot...also I would add Barry Larkin to the mix and take out Concepcion.

[quietude]

The reds need lots of changes...

Sit Griffey and put Frank robinson in as the starter in the #2 spot...also I would add Barry Larkin to the mix and take out Concepcion.

I completely forgot about Larkin.  D'oh.

I put Robinson in the #3 hole to replace Pinson, and thanks to the earlier suggestion I'm adding Edd Roush in Griffey's spot.

[Attezz]

Harry Hooper should replace Joe Cronin on the bench, Joe Cronin should replace Rick Burleson (seriously, what the fuck were they thinking?) in the starting lineup.

This is my second Harry Hooper reference of the day.

[quietude]

OK, if anyone has any other specific substitutions, they'll have to wait until after this revision.

I'm attaching the updated ROM to this post; play with it for a while, see if anyone seems woefully over- or under-powered and let me know what needs fixing.

[JoeDirt]

Houston: added Bagwell, Wagner and Biggio

Nice.  If you're trying to get more power to their line up, what about Berkman?

Atlanta: changed uni colors, added Chipper Jones and Tom Glavine

I'm against the uni color change, for the record.  Also, I can't believe that Glavine has more credentials than Maddux (although I haven't seen their Braves-only stats).

St. Louis: adjusted uni color, added El Hombre, Jimmy Ballgame and Enos Slaughter, boosted Gibson's stamina a bit
Chicago Cubs: Adjusted uni colors

Still against the uni changes...

New York: Added Jeter and Rivera, moved Mattingly to starting lineup

If that's Ruben Rivera, then make sure Jeter knows to bring an extra glove.

Pitcher batting stats represent career stats.  Most added players have stats based on 162-game average rather than a specific season.

Excellent idea.

[Attezz]

Joe, how do you feel about the uni changes?

[JoeDirt]

I'm not for 'em.

[Shooty]

Some good changes...although JR Richard really needs to stay in the game.  He was lights out.  Not his fault he had a stroke.

[fathedX]

This seemed like a good idea, then it all went to hell.  Eat it, Griffey haters.

[TempoGL]

removing terry puhl = bad news

[quietude]

The St. Louis uni change is just to slightly darken the red to be closer to Cardinal red (seriously, it's disturbingly close on my TV.  Looks a little dark on a monitor, though.)  The Chicago change was because the powder-blue Cubs unis were ugly.  The Reds changes were a function of the Red Sox stealing their preferred uniform colors.

Here's my rationale for Glavine over Maddux: Glavine had 48 more wins as a Brave and appeared in 140 more games.  Plus, I added circa-1992 Cy Young winning Maddux to the Cubs in favor of Rick Sutcliffe.

The Rivera is, obviously, The Hammer of God and not Ruben "Sticky Fingers" Rivera.

The argument for Wagner over Richard was that A) the Astros desperately needed a lefty in the pen, B) Wagner was equally lights-out as an Astro closer, and C) He's all over the top of the Astros' leaderboards for ERA, saves, WHIP, H/9, K/9 and games.  As for Berkman, he's getting there, but he's still pretty young.  Maybe in a couple of years.

[Shooty]

The argument for Wagner over Richard was that A) the Astros desperately needed a lefty in the pen, B) Wagner was equally lights-out as an Astro closer, and C) He's all over the top of the Astros' leaderboards for ERA, saves, WHIP, H/9, K/9 and games.  As for Berkman, he's getting there, but he's still pretty young.  Maybe in a couple of years.

Racist.