Why the Knuckleballer complaints?
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Why all the complaints about knucklers? I just hit a 2 run homer with Griffey off Feierabend three batters after I hit a homer off Nolan Ryan with Bob Feller.
If the game had continued past the 4th inning Feller may have hit for the Cycle. He was 3-3 and only needed a triple.
This is in TS19 ranked seasons.
Just wanted to share. I don’t actually want to start the debate again (I could just look up the previous threads). All I want is to reach 800 so I can stop playing ranked seasons! 79 points to go! If anybody who is 900+ in TS19 Ranked and wants to do me a solid and lose a game, hit me up
I picked up 70 points beating somebody a few days ago... hoping for more such results. -
He's a common. He should get lit up most of the time. I remember hitting well against him last year, but that was also because a lot the players that resorted to using a common knuckleballer to try and get an advantage sucked at the game. There were only a couple games where everything I hit against him went no where.
I'm pretty sure the real concern would be if SDS brought back knuckleballers that are actually decent (Niekro and Dickey).
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There aren't any complaints about knuckleballers anymore, because SDS nerfed the knuckleball out of existence early in the year. The sliders against KN are so forgiving that you don't even need to be on it to send it out.
However, in previous years it was definitely a problem with the Niekros, R.A. Dickeys and Steven Wrights of this world. The biggest issue was that you could locate a pitch that pitchers themselves have no clue where it'll end up, as if you were throwing simple 4-seamers with a control artist like Maddux. Add a little bit of pitcher confidence in there, which is inevitable, and you were in for a hell game.
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Well I didn’t need boosting - just won nine in a row (a few blowouts) to make 800 and the platinum. The kicker is that the last one (my last for good) was a Kershaw perfect game all the way to the end. My opponent was an absolute legend 650-odd rank who didn’t cheese anything. Seriously cool dude.
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Congrats on the Platinum.
I was going to go back and try for '19, but still don't feel good enough to reach CS. -
@TheGoaler_PSN said in Why the Knuckleballer complaints?:
Congrats on the Platinum.
I was going to go back and try for '19, but still don't feel good enough to reach CS.Thanks, I would recommend giving it a go. I tried last April and gave up. Ranked Seasons was infuriating. After getting the 20 Plat I decided to give it another shot and started a month ago. It took 67 games. I played opponents ranked anywhere in the range 0-1000 (mostly 400-600).
After 34 games I was back down under rank 400 because I just fell into old habits. This time I wasn't getting frustrated though, I figured I would just keep playing until April and see what happened. Then something clicked. I was learning from the experience. I started predicting pitch patterns. I started taking more and more pitches. I knew which outfielders I could run on. And the more pitches I faced, the better I was able to make contact.
Call me Billy Beane, but in my second half I went 25-8. I did quick sell a bunch of diamonds to acquire a few players - 98 Lindor, 93 Ichiro, 99 de Grom.
If I were to give any hitting advice as a below average hitter (not that I have the right to because my batting average was under .250) it would be this:
- Take pitches, especially when you have runners in scoring position and especially when the bases are loaded. The game places a massive cloud called chance over the pitcher in high leverage situations. Unless a pitch is where your PCI is waiting (with less than two strikes), don't swing at it.
- Take pitches, especially early in the game.
- Take pitches and don't be afraid to risk a backwards K on a 3-2 count.
Pitching advice: Good luck.
Seriously though, it's such a mental game. When pitching you can take advantage of when you know your opponent will swing at anything. With runners in scoring position, most would swing at the first pitch if it were remotely close to the zone. Moreso if the pitch was up (and Trout was batting - Trout was an easy out most of the time). If they had just hit into a double play with no outs, they're going to swing at the first pitch. I know that because that was me before I chilled out and stopped caring. Chuck a pitch just above the zone in these situations. It's an easy strike one and sometimes strike two.
Another thing: if you get to 600+ and you match up with somebody who you know is very lowly ranked (eg 0-1 record or very few games played), offer a friendly quit straight away. I had two pointless games in my last 10, one where I got +2 points for wasting 45 minutes of my life beating a stalling bunt dancer who was ranked something like 80, and zero points - yes, 0 points in another game won against somebody with an 0-1 record.
Give it a go. Learn from your games. Take pitches. You'll get to 800! And keep us updated
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