From: stvjas@meteor.wisc.edu (Stephen Jascourt)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball,rec.sport.baseball.fantasy,comp.sys.ibm.pc.games
Subject: Re: PTP FAQ (PURSUE THE PENNANT PC BASEBALL)
Date: 29 Aug 92 04:11:01 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Wisconsin, Meteorology and Space Science

In article <1992AUG28.215546.5615@TERMINATOR.CC.UMICH.EDU> RDUNkle@aal.itd.umich.edu (R. M. Dunkle) writes:
>This is the answer to some questions mailed to me by (?) (I chopped the header
>off without thinking. Brilliant me) (I should note, I'm not affiliated with 
>PTP or Tippett Software, or anyone)
>  o  Is it fun?
>        - Sure is. I wouldn't have it, otherwise

absolutely!

>  o  Is it worth $75?
>        - If you want a statistics-based baseball simulator, it is.
>          Remember, the ($amount) includes everything you need - full
>          (and I mean full) stat-keeping, player and schedule editing,
>          computer manager...

The computer manager is their first crack at it and is quite limited. For
instance, you just tell it whether you like to hit and run a lot or a little
but can't tell it against which pitchers and with which batters.

>  o  Does it break baseball rules?
>     ((For example: Bringing in a pitcher or player who was in the game
>       but was removed earlier.  Giving a win to a starter who doesn't
>       go the minimum five innings.))

If your designated hitter takes a position in the field, so that you have to
put the pitcher into the lineup, it requires the pitcher to face the first
batter (so you can't change pitchers)=-- at least it did that for me when I
wanted to change pitchers after making such a move. And some earlier versions
had a few bugs, but I haven't seen any scoring errors with version 3.02

>  o  Are player's abilities accurately reflected in PtP?
>
>            - As much as in any other stats-based game, yes. They seem to
>              come out, not only reasonably, but with the same sort of
>              deviation as in real life - some people may have good years,
>              but some will have bad, about the same % as in real life

PTP has a few systematic stats problems. It has a randomization problem which
makes pitchers go on long streaks, like 10-15 batters, in which they get
almost everyone out (like 13 of 15) and streaks when they give up runner after
runner, and this happens to bad and good pitchers far more than should
statistically be expected. Also, most of the fly balls are "deep fly" and
it doesn't account for some players like Boggs having very few pop ups (at
least, experience is that players who do certain things extremely rarely do
them far more often in PTP). And I have one pitcher who had 2 balks in 90
innings in real life and had 5 in a 15-inning stretch in PTP, and I average
50-100% too many balks in most of my leagues most years. Also, the computer
likes to give too many triples, particularly to very slow players in parks
that are supposed to reduce triples. But overall, the OBP, SLG, H/9 IP, etc.
come out fairly well after considering what parks I play who in and who the
competition is (since my leagues are not strict replay leagues).

>  o  Is pitcher fatigue handled decently?
>      -- For one game, a series, and a season?
>
>            - Yes, Yes, and Yes. Very well. The sturdiest guys can start
>              every 4th day. It keeps track of batters faced for the
>              last five games for each pitcher (visible on the main pitching
>              roster screen, no less!)

See above streakiness about pitchers. Pitchers can get shelled in early
innings and then get 9 of the next 10 batters out after you leave the bum
in to spare the pen. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it-- the computer
is in either out mode or hit mode regardless of who the pitchers and hitters
are, except the good hitters might sneak a hit in during out mode and get a
longer period of 'hit mode', likewise with pitchers, but the flow of the
game all to often isn't as usually is in real life. Naturally you get all
different kinds of games, some with baserunners left on in every inning, etc.
but the distribution of game flows seems quite unrealistic. I expect this to
change if they can find a way around the randomization problem, which has
something to do with the system clock cycle and not much to do with the
random number generator-- it has been found to be a problem, for instance, in
software that generates random numbers for lottery tickets or auto racing
things of some kind. 

>  o  As a manager, can you do everything during a game you want to?
>
>            - Well, within the limits of baseball. Yes. :)
>
>  o  Are there different stadiums & associated stadium factors?
>       ((Grass vs. Artificial turf?
>
>            - Yes. You can even edit the stadium factors, from Elias or
>              wherever.

They do it by % of 1b, 2b, 3b, and HR for RH and LH at each park compared to
average, so weather and turf effects are implicitly accounted for. But there
are no special plays for turf-bounce doubles or single gets held up in grass
so fielder can make a play and just nips the batter at first. It has play
descriptions of this nature but they occur in all parks.

WARNING: version 3.02 has a bug which causes line drive outs to the OF to be
double plays on hit and run regardless of which field the ball was hit to
and who the runner is and who the fielder is. Rumor has it that this bug was
fixed in version 4.0

PTP is lots of fun and is a better game for us statheads than most any other
but it does have its problems and they are not insignificant if you are
looking for a game that plays just like real baseball. So, just be forewarned
not to expect more than what can reasonably be delivered, and ENJOY!

One other note: PTP computer range (fielding) ratings are absurd and have been
for the last 3 years. The card ratings are much better (for the board game)
and both have five rating categories. The computer game allows you to manually
change the ratings, so in the leagues I am in we change the computer range
ratings to match those on the cards (so we have an objective standard with
no favoritism; can't let league members make arbitrary decisions about their
personnel's ratings!)

Stephen Jascourt   stvjas@meteor.wisc.edu