Most importantly, I recommend that all players read the other help files I've uploaded here. (Well, not the statistical abbreviations one-- just use that if you're stuck on what an abbreviation in a statistics file is (the statistics files are found in your team page). I also highly recommend browsing around the links I've included. Many of them are quite good. If you're up to the math, the defense article in particular is superb. Even if you're not, it's worth a quick read as you might get an idea of the relative importance of defense at various positions.
One Strat quirk I want to point out immediately as well. In my justified opinion, the computer uses the hit and run play far too much. The hit and run is a fairly poor play in Strat. While it will often move the runner up, the chance of getting a hit even by the best hit and run man is only a .250 average. Since, when you want to move the runner up a bunt succeeds far more often than the hit and run, the hit and run should be used sparingly at best. Here's what I recommend. I recommend setting the manager tendencies to Extra Conservative on hit and run. I also recommend switching on your "Don't Hit and Run" tag on all individual players who are good hitters no matter what their hit and run rating is. For poor hitters with good hit and run ratings (e.g. a .250 hitter with a B (the highest) H&R rating), I suggest switching on the "Hit and Run More" tag. That way when it's actually a useful play, the computer may be inclined to use it, but won't think about it when it can only hurt you (most of the time!). In weak-hitting eras like the '60s, the hit and run will become a much better play of course. However, if you follow my advice you'll change over automatically since you'll just have a number of guys with "Hit and Run More" switched on. When we get into more Deluxe seasons, you'll also want to take a look at the batter's DP (double play) rate and take that into account. If he hits into a ton of double plays, you'll be more inclined to make him a "Hit and Run More" guy. If he seldom DPs, you'll want to be more cautious.
Another quirk I just discovered recently. If you set your relief to "Extreme Aggressive" and you have starters who are rated for relief, the computer manager will use those starters in relief, even if you have their relief set to "Never." The reason why this happens is because the computer is yanking pitchers from the game with such rapidity that his bullpen wears out and starting pitchers may be the only ones who can be used who aren't tired. (Basically the "Never" tag is being overridden by the computer's demand for a relief pitcher.) The moral of this story is probably don't use "Extreme Aggressive" as a setting until a more modern era when pitchers are specialized as starters or relievers, but not both. "Very Aggressive" seems to work with no problems that I've seen yet.
Should you use the Super Hal Bullpen Management settings? In my opinion, yes. It gives you unparallelled control of your bullpen and if set properly can greatly maximize the use of your pitching staff. However, there is no question but that it's quite a bit of work. If this sort of thing just isn't your cup of tea, don't worry about it. I doubt very much if it'll give you more than 3 or 4 extra wins a year (probably not even that). Now those wins can be crucial, but if programming the bullpen is like getting your teeth pulled to you, it's certainly not worth it. If you're not having fun, how important can it possibly be to win? Besides if you beat us all in the drafts, you probably won't have to beat us all in the manager settings.
A couple of other questions I've heard a couple of times which I'll clear up for those who might be curious. A player is rated for a defensive position only if he played it in that given season. He need only have played it a very small amount of time (I'm not sure what the minimum is, but I know it's not more than two games), but he must have played it. This means there will occasionally be a season when your star shortstop isn't rated for shortstop, only second base since he played that position exclusively in that season. (Note: in certain situations, this has been superceded by Article XI of the League Constitution). As far as playing a player out of position, I strongly discourage you from trying. While any player can play any position, if he's not rated for the position, he'll be given a "5" range (the worst possible, worse than anything you'll see for a rated player for quite some time) and a maximum error number. Of course, if you really want to I won't argue with you. (Perhaps you should consider trading one of those players you're trying so hard to get into the lineup though?) Also, all batters and pitchers are rated statistically only for the season they're actually playing. So if a player had an off-year in reality in 1926, say, he'll in all probability have just as bad a year for you. Strat doesn't recognize that Babe Ruth is a great player unless he had a great year.
At-bats and innings pitched is the next question I've heard quite a bit. If a player only had 80 AB in a season, you will have great difficulty trying to get him to play a lot more than that. There are a couple of different reasons for this. Most such players (though not all) have higher injury ratings than normal players and thus will get injured with much greater frequency and often for longer periods of time. In addition, I have the settings set to "Try to Limit Overusage" which means the computer manager will make decisions about that player based on his usage to date. It won't actually stop playing the player when he's getting overused, but it will try to find ways to rest him, i.e. pinchhitting for him more often, bypassing him as a pinchhitter, etc. I recommend trying to limit overusage of a player yourself so that he's available when you really need him. The way to do that is if you have a really good player with fairly low AB, platoon him even if you derive no real benefit from the platoon. Other ways are to make sure his "Avoid Using as PH in Blowouts" option is tagged to save his AB for tight game situations or, for that matter, if he's really low, don't start him at all and use him exclusively as a pinchhitter. You may be surprised at how many games he wins for you this way.
One other tip I'd like to give is where you should play your outfielders. Since many outfielders have identical ratings for all three outfield positions, it may appear it doesn't matter where you play them. I suggest you play the OF who care (i.e. the ones who have different ranges in different positions) in the places they play best. If two or more outfielders don't care, I suggest you first put the best fielder in center and if you're stuck between left and right, put your better arm in right. For example, if you manage to recreate the 1927 Yankees outfield, you should play Meusel in right and Ruth in left (since Meusel had the best arm of his generation). This is, in fact, how they normally played on the road. (Ruth always played in right in Yankee Stadium since the short right field porch meant it required less range which is why we remember him as a right fielder.)
Another tip, this time regarding pitchers. People have asked me whether one should focus on ERA or some other measure (like WHIP or Defensive OPS) when selecting pitchers. The answer is both. You should ignore the record the pitcher received. Strat doesn't really pay any attention to record when deciding its pitchers' cards. However, it takes all the other stats into account. I think WHIP (Defensive OPS is even better if you can calculate it) is the best measure for pitchers since that's primarily what Strat uses. It also, however, factors in a "clutch" factor for pitchers which is determined by how good their ERA is relative to their WHIP (actually Defensive OPS). Pitchers with ERAs higher than you would expect with their collateral stats will bunch hits a little more often so their ERAs come up about right and the other way around for pitchers with the opposite stats. In my opinion, this is not that large a factor though. It doesn't really matter, however since either method will work in ranking almost all pitchers. When it comes to a close call, though, I'd use the other methods before ERA.
One more quick point before I dash for the exit. I guarantee there will be offensive inflation every season we play. I.e. your pitchers will allow more runs than they did in reality and your batters will score and drive in more. There are a few different reasons for this (and they're cumulative): 1) Parks. The owners in the league, for whatever reasons, chose predominantly hitter's parks, i.e. Sportsman's Park, Polo Grounds, Cubs Park, Shibe Park, Ebbets Field, and don't get me started about the Baker Bowl. This will inflate offense. 2) Talent. We don't have the same talent as the pool in real MLB. By taking a sixteen team league and shrinking it to ten, this has the effect of magnifying hitting. The best hitters in any league create far more runs above the average player than the best pitchers prevent compared to league average. (Greg Maddux in '94-'95 not even being an exception.) 3) Cumulative Offense. The removal of the "easy outs" from the lineup (caused by the contraction from sixteen to ten teams) makes it harder for a pitcher to give up a couple of hits and come out of the inning unscathed. This is very important to run scoring since runs come when hits bunch. I'll add a fourth as well, which only applies in "Deluxe" seasons. 4) Platoons. Since in Deluxe seasons (like 1927, 1930, 1934, and 1941) Strat rates players based on their actual performances against lefties and righties, it is possible to create absolutely killer platoons in those seasons. So expect to see higher ERAs, higher BAs, etc. than actually occurred in the season we're replaying.
Once again, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. Email to andrewstevens@home.com.