MLB Showdown Cards

MLB Showdown Shots Friday 

Back to back in the bad way for everyone here playing for Shots Friday. Second week of no long balls. The pick that should have been made 2 weeks ago... AJ Pierzynski. If someone had picked him they would be dominating with 3 home runs, had 2 picks last week and still have the White Sox catcher this week for free. You live you learn. Still a 3 way tie atop the Twitter-board and Player-board. Hopefully that gets broken today. I am rooting for someone to go from 0 to 2 in one night. I am predicting someone else getting a double shot. Hopefully the All-Star break served our power players well. Now lets get to the meat of the matter.

We introduced some new card type last week so why not keep the the pattern up. It is Shots Friday and nothing is sacred on Shots Friday. Fans of the game know that players go out and play but managers control the battle field. How should managers impact the game or should they? Sounds like time for experimentation to me. First they have been made so that a player may start with his manager already in play or put him in the deck and have him drawn first. Both are serviceable options. Truth of the matter is I barely have any play time with them myself. Let us learn together. Let us spot light 3 and see what we can come up with. 

Let us start with that mad scientist they have down their in Tampa Bay. Joe Maddon is responsible for all the success the Rays and previously Devil Rays have had as a franchise. That includes time spent by manager of the 116 win Mariners, Lou Pinella. How has he been so successful. It is a multi-variable thing I imagine but statistically one big thing is stealing bases. Maddon's team lead the Majors in steals in 2008,2009,2010 and were second to only the Padres in 2011. Here is a card for him then.

• A player may discard a card at any time to attempt a stolen base attempt or discard two cards to attempt a double steal
  
  
  
  
  

game changing? In some formats maybe. In a stud format you do not need to carry a runner not held because your whole hand is runner not held, It increases your diversity of hand in a stud format. Of course a team should be built around this. Over powered? I do not think so. Stealing is not a new dynamic, we are just loosening the reigns a bit. 

Let us try someone with a track record in a few stops. Charlie Manuel has made it to the World Series with some impressive line ups in two cities. Those line ups had more infielders in key spots then you may suspect. The debates may be had who is better, Thome or Howard, Utley or Alomar, Rollins or Vizquel. Charlie may be the most educated on all of them. For that let us add some offense to his card.

• If an Infielder has 2 or more extra base hits in the game then remove Charlie Manuel from the game and draw a strategy card from the discard pile that says “add to the swing
  
  
  
  
  

Over powered? Of course not. A single draw may barely effect the game. Especially since it may not happen. We may want to explore the idea of him not being removed from the game. That would allow multiple draws (up to 4). This is why I need people out there playing and sending feed back. We listen to advice around here. 

Alright enough offense. Alright I will give you maybe the most well known manager in all of baseball. Braves fans will be pissed about this... Joe Torre. I do not know many people who hate him. He won a lot with a lot of good talent. His formula was that his team would bat 9 times and the opponent would effectively only bat 8. The closer for Joe Torre was a weapon. John Wetland who is a mere trivia fact now was a weapon then. Mariano Rivera is the best weapon the closing position has ever seen. Jonathon Broxton had some mixed success with Torre but was there. So lets see what we can do.

• If a closer has entered the game in the 9^th inning or later and his team is up by 3 runs or less then he recieves +3 to his first pitch
  
  
  
  
  

Over powered? If used right it may be useful. Like those Yankees teams, other players are going to have to do their job in order for this to work well. But if they do this is a fantastic bonus. 

I like them in theory. How they work in practice? How is the best way to have them used in a league setting? Should they be stronger or weaker? Should I scrape the whole thing and quit wasting my time? I have more questions then answers but I am excited for what this could mean for the game. Remember folks play for the card.

Friday Shots

Twitter-Board

@Markrom:1

@Kylevanpelt:1
@RuffRidinNole:1

Player-Board

Jay Bruce:1

Adam Dunn:1
Jose Bautista:1