MLB Showdown Cards

 #ShotsFriday: Psychographics - Power Players

               Another exciting week for those trying to pick the long balls. @TweeterLegrand got on theo board with his first shot of the year picking Jose Abreu. That is Abreu’s 6^th for the year. @Avery25 is continuing his hot streak. He scored his third shot by picking Joey Votto, Votto’s first.  All last week the sun rose in the east, the government collected taxes and @TomWyliehart predicted home runs. He recorded a double shot with Troy Tulowitzki’s first and Jose Abreu’s seventh. This gives @TomWyliehart that league lead with 5 on the year. Send in your tweets using our hashtag #Shotsfriday or @MLBShowdownguru for the player you think will homer this Friday. Remember the 1^st place finisher at the end of the year gets a free 2014 color set. 2^nd place gets a free 2014 black and white set and 3^rd place gets 5 David Cone and 5 Greg Maddux 2000 cards.

                 Last week we started a 5 part series on our “Psychographics”. Psychographics are in short: The reason why a player plays MLB Showdown. Last week we talked about “The Homer”. You can read last Friday’s article to get caught up on that. In short those players want to have an emotional connection with the player/team/event they represent. This week we will talk about the “Power Player”.

                The short definition of the Power Player is a player that wants to experience extreme emotions during MLB Showdown. They experience extreme emotions by getting cards that could do the best possible thing, which in MLB Showdown or baseball is the home run. These players, thanks to the point limit this means having large flaws at low point levels. It is actually easier to gauge a player by the bottom of their order than by the top.

                Showdown can be a very emotionless exercise in long division at times. Power players like to enjoy the math part of it. They do not mind lower OB if the chart is more exciting. What I have found in my interaction with fans is that they want to be Power Players. More than half the players I talk to describe themselves as Power Players. They then share their teams with me chalk full of speed A players with 19-20 HR or less.

                The Power player isn’t concerned with getting the “best” player. They are concerned with taking a player in the 15^th round who other players didn’t even consider drafting. When they split a series 2-2 because a 6, 16-20 HR had an unexpected homer they gloat about it. They want to pick up that unwanted piece of paper and trot him around the bases. The end result of the game does not excite them. The in game, big result is what excites them. These players are too busy enjoying the moment to concern themselves with what the long division say is most efficient.  

Here is a quick comparison of players to tell if you are a power player

3 hitters at first base

Joey Votto	11	570	B(17)	0	19-20	0	17-18	0	12-16	5-11	3-4	2	1
Chris Davis	9	560	C(11)	0	16-20	0	13-15	0	8-12	3-7	0	0	1-2

Votto is the better player, Davis is the exciting Power Player option though.

5 Hitter LF/RF

Matt Holliday	10	430	B(15)	1	19-20	0	16-18	0	10-15	5-9	3-4	2	1
Jose Bautista	9	460	B(15)	2	17-20	0	15-16	0	12-14	5-11	3-4	2	1

Again I will say Holliday is the better player and he is cheaper. Bautista is the exciting option

7 hitter SS

Johnny Peralta	9	240	C(12)	4	20	0	17-19	0	9-16	5-8	3-4	0	1-2
JJ Hardy	6	220	B(14)	5	17-20	0	14-16	0	7-13	6	4-5	1-3	0

Peralta is a much better player. JJ Hardy though offers and exciting chart that will homer more be more exciting to play with.

8 Hitter 2B

Marco Scutaro	9	220	B(15)	1	0	20	18-19	0	9-17	5-8	4	1-3	0
Dan Uggla	6	200	C(11)	1	16-20	0	0	0	14-15	8-13	0	0	1-7

I am loving batting Marco Scutaro in the 8 hole. He is going to roll my line-up over. He is going to make sure I don’t have to start my next inning out with my pitcher. He wins games…boringly. Dan Uggla is going to frustrate you. Heck he strikes out with the advantage more than he even homers. That is excitement.

                This is a player set that we have neglected in our early sets. One way we did this was from 2009-2012 our set did not offer the extreme charts for the 5 OB players. The Karim Garcia and Brant Brown players were something our sets were missing. We found that these players do add something to the game. Even if only for a PH appearance each game. Our 2013 did have an adjustment that allowed for more exciting cards in the 5 OB tier. We have also found we need to make sure there are some exciting players at each position. This is usually done by trading doubles on a chart for homers. This is easier to do at lower OB. We do not make as many exceptions the higher we go up in OB. We always try to balance pure statistical cards and making a set that is fun for all possible players. 

Twitter-Board

5: @TomWyliehart – 2012 Champ

3: @MLBShowdownguru 

3: @BucNforthecard

3: @Avery25

2: @Orioles881

2: @Roktikitiki

2: @Youngfarm

1: TherealJohnR

1: @Piatz1019

1: @KyleVanPelt – 2011 Champ

1: @GregLeasure

1: @Benboozer623
1: @JMoeller05 

1: TweeterLeGrand

Player Board

7: Jose Abreu

3: Josh Donaldson

3: Pedro Alvarez

2: Mark Trumbo

2: Miguel Cabrera
2: Giancarlo Stanton

1: Albert Pujols

1: Josh Hamilton

1: Mike Trout

1: Justin Upton

1: Yeonis Cespedes

1: Starling Marte

1: Joey Votto

1: Troy Tulowitzki