My team rankings

[broiler]

SF is a top four team no matter how you look at it.  i can understand if you prefer det/cal/bos over SF, but there is no way that min/stl/ho/ny are better than SF.  krukow has some of the best movement in the game with big daddy and teh caveman behind him.  some tough bats except for thompson but enough power off the bench

[Darky]

For pitchers, it's actually the opposite.  A very effective pitching strategy is to stay on the outside part of the plate and pitch either just off the corner (so the pitch can't be hit) or clip the corner (so even a hit would have the contact penalty applied).  Using that strategy, it's better to pitch to a righty with a lefthanded pitcher, because he can more easily make the slight curve in to nip the corner.

Beef speaks truth here. I have a much more effective time pitching righty to lefty and lefty to righty because I have an easier time controlling the outside part of the plate. Then I get the hitter to lean/expect the pitches there which helps me out coming inside every so often. The central focus of my pitching approach is pithing outside for the very reasons Beef specified. I usually set up on the opposite end of the rubber in relation to the hitter---not all the time though. With harder throwers, I move around the rubber a bit more and have another package of pitches for those situations.

Also, with the pitchers who have great movement, the S pitch and the back door S pitch is one of the best pitches in RBI. Reucshel, Krukow, Witt, Vlnzla have the best S pitches. Sutton can barely pull it off, but it's not as effective. I haven't played in while so I may be missing another lefty who can pull of the S pitch...but I don't think there is one.

I hear ya, kinda like a backdoor slider.

The contact penalty also applies to the handle of the bat. I suppose that's a litle riskier, but I just like the idea of pitching inside, even in RBI. 

Power to you if you can pull that off to a skilled hitter. I usually look for the pitch inside a lot and adjust outside. Depends of course how fast I can pick up on my opposition's tendencies and pitching style.

[JoeDirt]

S pitch is only to be used sparingly, however.  Because if I'm looking for it, it's going a long way.

[danehill917]

I assume the s pitch is when u curve it twice.  (?)

[edfan]

I played some games with SF over the weekend.  I was not impressed with their offense at all.  Jeffrey Leonard was solid, though.  Their pitching is great all the way through.  Pitched a couple of games with Krukow and a couple with Reuschel.  Both had good stamina.  Krukow has the best movement of any pitcher.  Both relievers were pretty solid as well.  I would put them at a distant 4th behind Ca, Dt, and Bo but they were fun for a change of pace

[BeefMaster]

SF was one of my more frequently-used teams back in my early RBI days; I liked them because of their balanced lineup - they could hit a homer out of virtually any spot in the order (although my buddy and I rarely used subs for non-pitchers, so I let the late Juan Cruz bat more than I should have).

I need to make my son play RBI again; he's getting competent enough at video games that he might be able to field successfully in the near future.

[JoeDirt]

if by "Juan Cruz," you mean, "Jose Uribe," then yeah.

[TβG]

jose cruz

[BDawk]

jose cuervo?

[BeefMaster]

if by "Juan Cruz," you mean, "Jose Uribe," then yeah.

This.

Good lord, I'm dumb.

[nomaaa]

i really think boston loses out pretty hard in 1SP matchups. or when you have to pitch hurst.

in 1SP, i really think SF becomes a top 3 team

[JoeDirt]

Hurst isn't that bad...as long as he's facing a lot or righties.

[nomaaa]

Hurst isn't that bad...as long as you cheat a lot.

[TbT]

poor bastard jose phady   that thread requires a re-read asap.

[Burnzky]

Do most people play 1SP or 2SP?

[AlecTrevylan006]

I play 1 SP (except for extra inning games) against a guy who plays 2 SP >_>

[danehill917]

I like those rules -- 1SP, but you can use your second SP if the game goes to extra innings.

[Burnzky]

we use 1 SP but are thinking of experimenting with 1 SP and also choosing one reliever who must throw the 9th and 9th inning only but i suppose he would also have to continue into extras.

[danehill917]

Don't do it Burnzky. You don't want to stipulate what pitcher you have to use in certain inning.

It's unnatural.

[nomaaa]

you know you're in the rbi forum when there's more than one 8bit character in a thread