Clock on the scoreboard?

[GPines]

Does anyone really know what that clock on the scoreboard means, it's not minutes played, or innings, or hits, I can't figure out any kind of pattern at all. It's a mystery to me.

[Gantry]

I believe it's an inaccurate measurement of time, aka minutes played.  We always called it "RBI Time" or "RBI Minutes" because it didn't seem to follow normal time.  I believe an RBI minute is slower than a real minute, but Sperling and Potsie are the experts on it.  Lets see if either one of them emerges from the shadows and gives more detail...

[Gwynn3k]

it might be the time but i am sure the clock is broken from all the shots hit off it by the likes of dawson, bell, gibson, et all. that would explain why it seems to be disfunctional.

[Gantry]

Next time we play (which might be tonight), we'll put a stopwatch to the games and see how off the scoreboard is from human time.  It's a good question for the FAQ...

[Gwynn3k]

that is some interesting research... i am sure the clock will be off from the stopwatch but you never know.  maybe the makers of rbi thought it necessary to time the actual game time while play was going on.  maybe they were trying to speed up the game.

[GPines]

Glad to hear some research is being done, I will pay more attention to it, maybe I can find some kind of a pattern.

[GPines]

For some reason I never before thought it was minutes, but it surely is, if you start time from the first pitch, the clock keeps exact time of minutes played.

[Gwynn3k]

we should use that in our season huh...?

[Dill]

The clock has been fully functional in Arkansas for years and years.  Me and Stu played a curve game that lasted only 11 RBI minutes.  It was a killer 1-0 ballgame featuring Nolan against The Doctor.  Astros win.  One of the our best RBI games of all time.  

[Stuart]

Dill is right aboot the clock.  That game he mentioned was an intense, National League style game.  I'm almost starting to sweat just thinking aboot it.

[Dill]

Stu, you are right aboot the sweating.  My palms are getting moist as I type just thinking aboot that game.  The most intense game of all time.  National League style games can not be beaten for intensity level.  Those high scoring AL type games are almost comical.  If I wanted a circus-type game, I would play Baseball Stars and play against the girls.

[Stuart]

Or if I wanted a bunch of runs I would play Baseball Simulator 2000 and hit missile balls or whatever.  National league style games are without question the best.  

[Dill]

I know we said we are going to play some straight pitch games this weekend when I make the journey back to Northwest Arkansas, but we are going to play some classic NL games also.  Sunday night will be Hell.  Our first round of DEATH could prove to be, in fact, death for us both.  At least we'll die while playing RBI.  How many games do most people play during Death?  

[Stuart]

Instead of death, let's just both go to the hospital for alcohol poisoning.  I'm a little scared of this straight pitch, never done it before but I guess it's worth a try.

[Dill]

I'm scared that I'm only a curve style player.  What if we start playing and figure out that we aren't as good as we thought?  What if we can't hit the straight ball?  What if we only score 6 runs combined?  This is going to be like playing the game for the first time all over again.  

[Stuart]

That is exactly what I'm afraid of.  We are curve-style guys.  We are traditionalists damnit!  We are going to choke like dogs.  I say our first straight pitch game is Detroit 3 Boston 2.  I just don't have a good feeling aboot it at all.

[Gwynn3k]

being a curve style player myself... it can get frustrating playing straight pitch cause you feel like you should hit bombs every pitch.  you have to remember to keep your swing tight and not pull your head out.  if you do this you should be successful.  good luck

[GPines]

Right just like Gwynn3k said, just relax, don't try to do to much, just make solid contact and you'll get through it.   Dont worry you'll find yourslef back at curve-style in no time though.

[Dill]

Thanks for the support guys.  We know it is going to be a big step in our RBI careers, but we just can't tell whether this will be a step in the right direction.  But we are going to give this straight pitching a legitimate try.  It is just going to be very odd seeing the Rocket without his trademark cutting fastball.

[Gantry]

And don't forget those rules aren't set in stone..   If you guys come up with a curved-based death with slightly different rules, let me know and I'll put them on the site.  But if you're playing to drink, straight-pitch is where it's at...

As far as the # of games, it varies because we typically play with 3 or 4 people, so you aren't playing many games in a row unless you always win.  If someone is hot that night, not only do they get the prestige of kicking everyone's ass, they invariably end up being the drunkest....

But if there's two people playing consistently I'd say 4-5 games will get you where you need to be.  Everybody's interpretation of "drink" is different, but in a 20-18 9 inning death game, we will typically down close to 3 beers each.  Lighter scoring games are a little over two beers.  Very rare to see the four beer game...