Help "reading" the cards for new mystery game managers

It is important for new managers to the mystery card games to understand how to read the cards to help figure out which of the 5 years their players are in. Here is a rundown of the methods I've used. Hopefully other managers can add their insight also to help the new managers quickly get up to speed:

1. When a position player is injured - Position players can only be injured from a roll on their card. First find out how they got injured (HBP+inj, Lomax+inj, ground out+inj etc.). Also...did they get injured from a lefty or righty pitcher? Then...look at your players 5 cards to zero in on which seasons sustain that injury from the lefty or righty side of their card. This method may not pinpoint the year, but could eliminate some of the years.

2. When a pitcher is injured - Pitchers are injured during the DH at-bat. First find out how they got injured (KO, ground out etc.). Also...did they get injured by a lefty or righty hitter? Switch hitters will always be the opposite of the pitchers arm for their at-bat. Once you've checked out the injury and the batters hand, look at your pitcher card. Go to column 6 on the left or right side of his card (determined by the batters hand) and go to the result on line 12. If that matches the injury sustained then that year is a possibility. Check all 5 years. For illustration purposes, In the 80's game Soto gets injured by Eddie Murray (a switch hitter). The injury is sustained on a strikeout. Murray is considered a lefty batter vs the righty Soto. So now go to Soto's card and look at column 6, result 12 on all 5 cards. You will see that Soto is in either his '81 or '83 year. This method may not pinpoint the year, but could eliminate some of the years. Also...You can't tell anything in NON-DH leagues using this method.

3. HBP - Batters can be HBP only from their card. If a batter is HBP, look at each of their years that can get that result. Sometimes you can eliminate years that do not have a HBP result using this method.

4. Hitters injury duration - The length of the injury can help determine players years. If a hitter has 600+ plate appearances (at bats + walks), then he can only be injured for 3 games maximum. If a hitter has 680+ plate appearances, then he can only be injured for 0 games maximum. Don't be fooled by a hitter getting injured for only 3 games and believing it to be the 1 season he exceeded 600+ plate appearances. Remember...it's 3 games MAXIMUM. A player with 599 or less plate appearances can get injured 0-15 games.

5. Pitchers injury duration - A pitcher with 200+ innings work can only be injured for a maximum of 3 games.

6. Homeruns - Hitters with a "W" rating on a given side of their card can not hit a homerun off of the pitchers card. So if a hitter with a "W" on that side of his card does hit a homerun you may be able to eliminate some years. For illustration purposes, in the 80's game Brett Butler hits a homerun off of Guidry (lefty). Look at Butlers 5 cards...All 5 are "W" against lefty pitching. However...only 1 card ('84) does not have a homerun opportunity on it for Butler. Therefore...Once Butler homers against a lefty, you can eliminate his '84 year.

The above are all "Solid" reads. You can depend on their accuracy. Next...I'll list less-reliable reads.Jimmy_C

Less-reliable reads:

There are many, but I'll list a few of the more common ones I've seen. Sometimes, un-reliable reads will be the only thing you can run with when you need to make a player decision:

1. Performance - This is a really bad way to make a player "read" especially early on. But after 100 crummy at-bats you may want to use it to make a move.

2. Tilt - If a player is heavily tilted in one direction, it may be that 4L or 4R year.

3. Triples - If a batter has 1 card with an unusually high amount of triples chances, it may be that year.

4. Strikeouts - See triples above.

5. Strikeouts/Walks ratio - See triples above.

6. Intentional Walks - Is a batter receiving a high number of intentional walks? Could be that he's on a great year...OR...could be the guy next in the order is on a crummy year.

7. Leave lineup blank and see who the game engine puts in - There are managers who live by this method. As far as I'm concerned there is questionable reliability to it. (No longer an option since SOM updated the program to nullify this)

Hopefully some of the other experienced managers in the game can add to this post for the new players.Jimmy_C

Copying my post from old forum.

Point #6 in the first post is only partially true. Dont forget the possibility of an inside the park homerun through the X-Chart and from stretching a triple to a homerun. It can happen on a card where no homeruns exist.

I generally consider triples a good indicator. Hitting a triple does not mean you can eliminate a card with no triples on it, but hitting many triples is a good indication of a high triples card. Also it's important to keep an eye on L/R splits when considering triples.

As far as intentional walks go, I usually consider it an indication of a high clutch year. Either that or a neutral clutch year and the guy hitting behind him is negative clutch.

Pinch hitters can be a clue as well. If someone is pinch hitting for someone like Pedro Guerrero or anyone with 4 great cards, I generally see that as a bad sign. We had a great debate on that in one league. The owner immediately cut Guerrero when he was pinch hit for. Kind of like HAL making the lineup, other owners don't believe this is always a great clue. He was immediately picked up. In this case, it did turn out to be his one bad card and he was left in waivers eventually.

Newcomers - please ask when you have questions. There are many experienced players ready to help out. We were once just learning the game. I still remember the people who helped me when I first started. Let's have fun!

Chuck

This is all great stuff. Remember, trying to figure out which year a hitter or pitcher has is a fun game within a game and vital to your success. And unlike with a single-year team, your real work/fun begins after the season starts.

The hardest decision for me was when to pull the trigger on someone based on poor performance alone. I'd say rookie managers are often too impatient.

Also, pay attention to when the drop penalty goes up.

And finally, once you determine that you do have a good card for someone, don't drop them just because they are slumping!

EDIT: fixed typo

This is all great stuff. Remember, trying to figure out which year a hitter or pitcher has is a fun game within a game and vital to your success. And unlike with a single-year team, your real work/fun begins after the season starts.

This is why I suffer from severe mystery-cad addiction

The hardest decision for me was when to pull the trigger on someone based on poor performance alone. I'd say rookie managers are often too impatient.

Couldn't agree more, this is why I try to avoid hitters with the same injury type (e.g. HBP) on every card. Performance (slash line stuff) is the least reliable way of figuring out what card you're dealing with.

I have gotten Matt Stairs in my only 2 90's teams (usually play 80's). He has been injured in both showing he is not in his best or worst season in both leagues. His middle 3 seasons (by the numbers) are excellent...but he has sucked badly in both. Thru 36 games he has a .152 BA and .665 OPS. Has anyone else had him continuously under perform? Is he the 90's Ken Phelps?

I have gotten Matt Stairs in my only 2 90's teams (usually play 80's). He has been injured in both showing he is not in his best or worst season in both leagues. His middle 3 seasons (by the numbers) are excellent...but he has sucked badly in both. Thru 36 games he has a .152 BA and .665 OPS. Has anyone else had him continuously under perform? Is he the 90's Ken Phelps?

Here's another way to look at it. Once Matt's performance improves--and it will--your team's performance as a whole is likely to go up. Conversely, if you have someone setting the league on fire, it's unrealistic to expect they will maintain that pace. So, a slumping player (with a good card) is not necessarily your enemy!

And as I said before, whatever you do, don't cut him now that you know you have a good card for him.

When I first started I believed in point #6 about a W power player not able to hit a HR but I found you can't rely on that one so I don't even use it when trying to determine card any longer. I also used to believe that if a player is HBP and NOT injured it couldn't be a card where the injury is on the HBP result but there is a slight possibility that a player is not injured when rolling for injury duration.

Bump