The Ground Ball attribute

[Gantry]

Just added this question to the FAQ.  Also, check the front page for a couple of insightful updates:

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What is the groundball attribute?

Thanks to the RBI Manager we now know what each player's real abilities are. One  important thing RBI Manager has brought to light is the groundball attribute. The groundball attribute is a hidden setting that certain players have. If a player is "blessed" with the groundball attribute, their chances of hitting a home run are drastically reduced. Because of this, the players with the groundball attribute are pretty much the worst players in the game.

The following players have the groundball attribute:

    * Gary Pettis
    * Mary Barrett
    * Spike Owen
    * Larry Herndon
    * Dan Gladden
    * Roy Smalley
    * Mark Davidson
    * Denny Walling
    * Bill Doran
    * Wally Backman
    * Rafael Santana
    * Vince Coleman
    * Ozzie Smith
    * Jose Oquendo
    * Mike Aldrete
    * Willie Randolph
    * Bill Schroder
    * Kevin Seitzer
    * Paul Molitor
    * Julio Franco
    * Andres Gallaragga
    * Al Pedrique
    * Tony Gwynn

Makes a little more sense now, eh? On this list, the only players I personally like are Doran and Aldrete. Though I will keep some of those faster players in as well, for Lefty Hit and Pettis purposes. But all in all, it is safe to say that the groundball attribute equals a shitty player.

[Gwynn3k]

that about sums up the 20 shitiest players in the game.

the ground ball attribute doesnt necessarily mean ground balls cause tgwynn pops the ball up all the time...  they should just make it simple and call it the shitty player attribute.

[Gantry]

Ground ball attribute was pretty much a made-up name.  I do like Shitbag Attribute, it has a nice ring to it....

I am shocked that my antichrist Steve Lake wasn't sporting the GBA, though he did get the coveted "0" power rating....

[Blyleven_No-No]

HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT'S THE 20 SHITTIEST PLAYERS IN THE GAME?  

I PINCH HIT ALDRETE FOR URIBE EVERY TIME I'M THE GIANTS, AND HE HAS POWER TOO.

[GDavis]

I agree that Aldrete is pretty good.  Also a lot of guys on that list make up for it with their speed.  I'm surprised not to see Robby Thompson on there, my arch nemesis. this guy has never ever ever gotten a hit, much less a dinger.  Can't wait to see the ratings for San Fran because Thompson's gotta have a negative rating for power.

[GDavis]

I just checked it out...power of 9 for Thompson. still seems higher than it should be.

[Gantry]

I agree with you guys, Aldtete does have decent pop despite the GBA.  He is more of the exception than the rule...

Bobby Thompson is pretty bad as well, though a 9 power is pretty terrible.  He's a definite sub...

[Gwynn3k]

when you say bobby thompson,  it makes me think of bobby thomson and the day he fucked the dodgers... what a beautiful day that was.   robby thompson sucks and should find his way to the clubhouse no later than the third inning...

[Dill]

That damn Bobby Thompson hit a game winning HR against me this week.  We think this might be his first HR (he gets taken out so much, plus we don't remember a lot of the games because of alcohol).  I don't believe the GBA for Oquendo.  He always puts the ball in the air.  But for some reason I think he is a power hitter, so I try to pull the ball, so that may make the difference.

[Gantry]

<<<  when you say bobby thompson,  it makes me think of bobby thomson >>>

That's where the nickname comes from, perhaps I should start spelling it thomson....

Jose Oquendo does have some sort of freakish power, but it's a bit inconsistent.   Has also has that dinger-in-first-AB thing going for him....

[Big Apple RBI Champ]

Ground Ball attribute is a misnomre, as Coleman unfortunately has a penchant for hitting popups.  I have my back against the wall tonight.  I need to beat the Giants and Angels in back to back 3 game series.  Any advice?  Not many guys to pitch to on either of those teams.  Even fucking Bob Brenley has beaten me recently.

[Gantry]

Ground-ball attribute is a term that I made up, so give it whatever name you want.  Anyway you slice it, that attribute lowers the players ability to go yard...

I got 4 dingers with Bob Brenley yesterday, he's got heart...

[Gwynn3k]

too bad he doesnt know how to manage an allstar team... to end a game in a tie is embarassing...  maybe bud selig will just go away... that would be a great thing for baseball.

[B]

that is very interesting that they had the "groundball" attribute....thats like hooking up the "punkifier" to an amp....it just makes it shitty....so, having the ability to hit the ball into the ground and directly to a defender is a talent that is very sought after...

however, vince coleman and ozzie smith hit the ball in the air more than any two men in history

[Gwynn3k]

you can add the rest of the cardinals to that list... the one guy who should hit the ball in the air, clark, is the one who hits into all the double plays.

[ultimate7]

You can't always trust FAQs

[TβG]

maybe this was discussed somewhere else, but what led to the mistaken belief that there was a groundball attribute?  what did that code value or whatever turn out to really be?

[nightwulf]

Each player in RBI has their own Power Rating, which the RBI Manager folks assumed was stored as a one-byte field. For each player, the byte immediately following the "power byte" was either a 02 or 03. The RBIBM folks figured that if that byte was a 02, they had an inherent abililty to hit grounders. While they were on the right track, this isn't technically correct.

The power rating for every player is actually stored in a 2-byte field, though it is stored in a funky manner. That "02" or "03" byte is in fact the first byte of their power rating, even though it is physically stored as the second byte. Let's take Reggie Jackson as an example -- his power rating is stored in the game as B1 03. If you reverse the bytes, his actual power rating is 03 B1 in hex, which translates to 945.

The reason the Ground Ball Attribute is misleading is that the "02/03" byte isn't the whole package for power. For example Steve Lake and Gary Pettis are very simliar in terms of power. But Lake has a power rating of 00 03 and Pettis F7 02. If you were to belive the existance of the GBA, Pettis is a groundball hitter while Lake is not. In reality, their power ratings are only 9 points apart.

In actuality, the GBA does not exist. A quick explanation for the nerdly among us: power is a two-byte field, but the authors of RBIBM treated it as a one-byte field. The "groundball attribute" is simply the second byte (in little-endian order) of the two-byte field.

[TβG]

no wonder i forgot so easily....

thanks nightwulf.