Spongebob Social!

[Gwynn3k]

whatever keeps you on your game tinypines.  its killing your fielding percentage though. might hurt when it comes time to talk contract.

[Gantry]

I have never heard or thought about this "sub is a worse fielder" rule, but you can be sure I will be playing close attention to it...

And the quick throw rule definitely causes BOPs, I'm sure of it.  Another more controversial theory is that you can cause your defenders to BOP!!!  I was mocked when I first started using it, but we all tend to do it now, especially when you really need that BOP to keep your inning alive.  It's simple - when you are batting and pop a ball up, begin to hit the buttons as fast as you can when the defender gets close to catching it.  I am convinced that this will cause more BOPs than not hitting the buttons, but it isn't officially proven yet.  The technique varies - I hit both buttons, lips only hits one (don't remember which), and Potsie only hits the button as soon as the defender catches it, just like the quick throw.  A golden nugget of RBI wisdom (or charlatanism) from your friends at dee-nee.com......  

[Gantry]

One more BOP theory I thought about involves the pitcher.  We're convinced that the pitcher BOPs more than your average fielder.  If there is a moderately high popup, we all typically bring the 3rd baseman in to catch it.  It seems silly at first, but if you pay attention, you will notice that the pitcher has a higher BOP percentage...

Anyone else have some more BOP theories?  If we get enough (and can get a BOP pic), Lips and I will make a BOP page.  If not, I'll probably add these theories to the FAQ....

[Gwynn3k]

i have never tried to make the opponent bop but i do know that the pitchers get balls slapped of them more than any other players.  however, some bops are of the soft variety and the pitcher has time to recover and throw the player out.  unfortunately, he is still given an error for the play.  what kind of official scorer does tengen have working up there in the booth.  

gpines, instead of pushing buttons to make me miss pop ups, will have his runner(s) between 1st and 2nd or 2nd and 3rd  run back and forth to try and block the shadow.  it has yet to work but he is adament and tries it every time.  it might work against someone with less experience or a high BAC.

[GPines]

I've never heard about hitting the buttons to make a BOP, but i will give it a try.

And yes someday I will make someone miss a pop up from getting my runner in the shadow, it's only a matter of time.

[Gantry]

We do the "distract the fielder" technique as well, though it rarely works.  It worked once or twice back in the day, but now it's more tradition than anything else.   Either that or we're not drinking enough...

[Gwynn3k]

i think that it could work after about five games of death... other than that it is a reach.  i would give credence to the button pushing before i expected the distraction to work.  

[Dill]

I have used the "distract the fielder" approach against Stuart and it consistently works for 1 BOP per 3 game series.  I will have the runner run back and forth quickly also, but not to distract the shadow.  Instead, it is to mess up the RBI fielder's view, to possibly distract him from fully watching the ball all the way into the glove.  

[Stuart]

Dill is exaggerating greatly.  The runner going back and forth to distract the fielder has worked twice at most in the many times we have played.  I'm not that much of an amateur.

[Dill]

Don't let Stuart and his big words fool you.  The distraction works.  No telling how many times Tommy Herr has dropped the ball.  

[Stuart]

If only worked on the drunken RBI games where we took out all the good players.  In regulation play, it worked maybe twice.  

[Dill]

OK you got me on that fact.  But you have to remember that I exaggerate everything I say.  That play was more prevalent early on, but now the fielders are used to it.  They have learned to concentrate in the face of adversity.

[Stuart]

The fielders have definitely adjusted.  And you're right, you are the biggest exaggerator of all time.  I'm ready to play you this weekend.  What should we drink?  BTW Nolan might get fired tomorrow.  And its not Nolan Ryan, fellow RBI fans.

[Gwynn3k]

stuart, you might want to question your players concentration level if they are distracted by dill's ploy.  

[The_X_man]

Sorry to hear about Nolan, unless of course he is like Dan Duquette and is getting $2.5 mil for being fired.

I too have significant research to back up the BOP induction ritual by pounding the buttons.  In fact, the term my posse uses is getting the "Japanese Rice".  This is due to the Asian looking face that a player gets after committing the error, in conjunction with Jim Rice committing the first induced error on record.  When the BOP is induced, we yell out "Japanese Rice!!!" Kind of like Mr. Miyagi yelling Banzai in karate kid.  Always followed by a social.

Just a some info on east coast rituals.

[Gantry]

That's a quality name... Japanese Rice has been listed as a variant in the definition for BOP...

Any mention of Karate Kid on this forum will garner special favors.  We bought the soundtrack CD a couple weeks ago and it's currently #1 in the RBI Rotation.  "The Best Around" is a top5 RBI-inspiration song, productivity just soars when it's played.  Not at "Hit Me With Your Best Shot Level" yet, but it's getting there..

[GPines]

Thats a good inspiration song....but

I dont' know when I hear Karate Kid I think about Ralph Machio(or however you spell it) he should be on your banned list if he's not allready.

[Gantry]

Watch yourself there Greg....  The karate kid was one of our all-time favs (and part two wasn't too shabby), plus he was in The Outsiders and My Cousin Vinny.  I can't vouch for the rest of his stuff though...

[Gwynn3k]

karate kid is a classic  especially the soundtrack  bananarama... how can you go wrong with that classic 80's group.  and machio is not nearly as bad as the actors on the banned list.

[GPines]

I have to admit I grew up watching the Karate Kid,  I dont' know maybe I could settle for banishment for post Karate Kid era.