Ass whooping

[JoeDirt]

I'm terrible at curve.  Terrible.  I play a slurve style, where the ball can come from anywhere but has to end up being a strike.  It can be curved all you want but has to be a strike.  We also only allow one starting pitcher and you're not allowed to throw two changeups in a row.  If a ball is thrown or a second changeup is thrown, a fat strike must be place down the middle of the plate.

what the hell is this?  the rbi version of t-ball?

[chubbrock]

What do you play Dirty joe?

[JoeDirt]

curve....anything goes, man.  you pitch the ball and i try to hit it.

[SmokedUBad13]

It's the only real way to play... curve style w/anything goes.

Beales
SmokedUBad13
www.rbibaseballcotut.com - The R.B.I. Baseball COTUT

[Gantry]

Dude, I'm down.  I'm sure we could figure something out.  But how many people can we get?  Me, Chubbs, Sucka, Tyrone, Vegas.  Those are five off the top of my head.  Not nearly enough.

The early days of the Dee-Nee forums featured two big-time California groups - The Beales crew from near San Diego (check rbichampion.com for more info) and Dennis Kim's gang.  Don't remember Denny's URL but check the links page.  Perhaps you can get them together for a Cali tourney...

Beales never backs down from competition, which makes him so tough.  He's driven to Texas and New York looking for games.  Total RBI dedication, way more than I can boast...
 

[chubbrock]

I'm bias to the "slurve".  I don't know.  You can still pick up some K's here and there.  It's great if you know how to pitch.  

How many K's on AVG would you serve up in a VS game playing curve??

[JoeDirt]

I'm bias to the "slurve".  I don't know.  You can still pick up some K's here and there.  It's great if you know how to pitch.

If you know how to pitch, why not play regular curve, then?  I submit that slurve is bush league (no offense) because you can hit the very extreme back-outside part of the plate at the very last second...if it has to be over the plate (thus, probably swung at), who's to definitively say that it was gonna nick that centimeter of the plate?

How many K's on AVG would you serve up in a VS game playing curve??

Depends on who is pitching and what team is hitting.  There are certain teams where you just don't need to go out and strike out 10 batters...and then there are teams where you fear any contact what-so-ever.  

I'd say generally speaking (without factoring in teams/match ups), the over-under of SOs is 7.5.

[Flood]

I too play slurve, but wouldn't be against trying a curve style (anything goes) game or two...I imagine I'd strike out like a banchee, though.

[JoeDirt]

I too play slurve, but wouldn't be against trying a curve style (anything goes) game or two...I imagine I'd strike out like a banchee, though.

It happens.  But I don't mind SOing out for a few reasons: 1) causes more pitches to be thrown than a ground out, 2) very rare to be doubled up on a SO (without user-error, anyway).

Seriously, though, I don't mean to call all non-curve players out on this one, but isn't slurve and/or straight ball basically the rbi form of t-ball?  

Where's the skill in it?  I can only imagine I can complete in either with anybody from the opening pitch...unless it becames a drinking game--but then, it's more about tolerance and less about rbi, right?  I mean, you could also be rolling dice and determining the same winner (based on tolerance), correct?

Just wondering how that school of thought works...

[BeefMaster]

Seriously, though, I don't mean to call all non-curve players out on this one, but isn't slurve and/or straight ball basically the rbi form of t-ball?

Perhaps, but is that necessarily a bad thing?  I play slow-pitch softball, too, even though real baseball requires more hitting skill.  I enjoy the fielding and baserunning aspects of RBI far more than the pitching, so I usually don't bother with a lot of "fancy" pitching, because I want to get to the fun part.

Then again, I play mostly against the computer, so there isn't much challenge if you don't pitch all strikes.  Still, though, my best friend from college and I, while not having any rules one way or the other, usually ended up playing slurve style.  Slurve really doesn't end up with scores all that high (at least, not like straight-pitch), because solid contact can be hard to come by.

One other argument for (or against, depending on your perspective) slurve or straight-pitch - it blunts the skill differences between players.  I'm quite a bit better than the friend I mentioned above, so slurve makes our games more competitive.  I'd rather split a series of 12-10 slurve games than repeatedly beat him 6-1 in curve.

[Gantry]

http://dee-nee.com/rbi/faq.shtml#STRAIGHT

Why straight pitch? There's no skill in that!

To be honest, we play straight pitch because that is the way we have always played RBI. There are tons of homemade rules people create in RBI that seem just as silly. As far as the lack of skill/realism arguments go, they seem just as silly to me. This is a 15-year-old Nintendo game with half-sized rosters, VERY limited gameplay, erroneous stats, and unrealistic player abilities. If you want a realistic game, play something made in the last year. If you want the most skillful game, play chess. Everyone who still plays RBI does it to have fun, because it's the most enjoyable two player game ever made. And trust me, NOBODY has more fun playing RBI Baseball than we do. So if you get the most enjoyment out of curved-based RBI, then that's great. We personally prefer the high-scoring, straight-throwing, hard drinking style of RBI. Different strokes for different folks...

[SmokedUBad13]

Speaking from a more competitive standpoint, I believe curve is the best.  Personally, I feel pitching is about 60% of the game with hitting and defense both comprising the remaining 40% evenly.

Although I'll never fully understand the slurve or straight pitching styles of play, I do respect the fact that it's the fun that counts.  Whatever RBI style gives you the most satisfaction is ultimately best and should be continued.

Beales
SmokedUBad13
www.rbibaseballcotut.com - The R.B.I. Baseball COTUT

[Gantry]

Here Here (or is it Hear Hear?)....  Curve is definitely a fun way to play, hopefully we'll get better at it one day.  Potsie and I got into a good streak of curve but honestly I developed a little faster than him and won just about every game.  Got sick of that after awhile and we went back to straight...

Nick and I get some mean curve games in, I'll play him next time he comes over...

Both are fun and to me it's a matter of taste...

[JoeDirt]

Perhaps, but is that necessarily a bad thing?

Not one bit...I was just curious...I support all people enjoying the game of RBI--in whatever fashion they choose to play.  I just wondered.

To your point, though, Gantry--I think RBI curve style is extremely challenging.  I wouldn't be making a trip from Columbus, OH to Chicago if I didn't.  I do not claim it is the most realistic baseball game ever (although I can make an argument it's a lot more realistic than it appears on the surface).

I guess I just wondered if RBI was by-in-large a great reason to tip a few glasses back.

[Gantry]

That's my general FAQ question Dirt, nothing aimed specifically at you.  Curve RBI is a whole other ballgame and definitely takes more skill than straight.  No doubt....  

[JoeDirt]

I know...I was more afraid of pissing off straight/slurve players...but just had to know.

[ultimate7]

I also think curve is the best, but I think I could play slurve pretty well also.  (In curve with 1 starter, many batters you pitch to you throw only strikes hoping they put it in play).  I'd also like to try to play straight pitch some time just to see how much skill is involved.  There must be some tricks of the trade that regular straight pitch players use.

[fknmclane]

Bush league?  Now I'm fucking furious.  

Like Gantry and the rest of the dee nee crew, Chubbs and I have always played that way.  It's more fun.  I realize it may be easier to play and whatnot and you would think runs would be easy to come by, but this is hardly the case.  Chubbs and I have had numerous 2-1 scores.

Another reason I don't play curve is my pitching philosophy simple differs.  I want the batter to put the ball in play.  It's just far more fun I think.

I also think curve takes the game out of it, if that makes any sense.  Instead of trying to crush the ball, it ends up being a chess match, with the hitter and pitcher mind-fucking each other.

I'm sure if I played in Beales' tournament, I'd make an ass of myself, perhaps striking out 27 times.  But I also submit I would make an ass out of a curve player in a slurve tournament.

[JoeDirt]

Another reason I don't play curve is my pitching philosophy simple differs.  I want the batter to put the ball in play.  It's just far more fun I think.

I do this all the time against weak hitting players--saves my arm for the tougher outs.

I also think curve takes the game out of it, if that makes any sense.  Instead of trying to crush the ball, it ends up being a chess match, with the hitter and pitcher mind-fucking each other.

As a matter of fact, that doesn't make any sense.  
Isn't that the way real baseball works?  The pitcher tries to keep the hitter off balance, while the hitter tries to out-guess the pitcher?

I'm sure if I played in Beales' tournament, I'd make an ass of myself, perhaps striking out 27 times.  But I also submit I would make an ass out of a curve player in a slurve tournament.

In fact, I am positive you could not make an ass out of me in a slurve match up.  Tell ya what--I have a good buddy who lives in Phoenix...one of these days I'm comin' out there to visit for a weekend...when that happens, I'd love to play you and Chubbs in slurve.

I'll even make it as interesting as y'all want--and I've never ever played slurve.

[fknmclane]

Glasshoe   I can't wait.  I think it would be a blast to have some dee nee matchups.

I guess we can chalk it up to a difference in thinking.  Another reason I enjoy slurve is that it is somewhat of a compromise.  Anyone can play but it's also not for beginners.  I don't know.  I love the slurve and always will.