Two years ago, I was driving in a car with Trace Wood of The Long Gandhi and Lawr Michaels of CREATiVESPORTS to an Arizona Fall League game. We were talking about the players' use of anabolic steroids. Jose Canseco's book came out and he claimed that about 80% of all players used some sort of enhancement. We had talked to a trainer for an MLB team and he said that the number was around 50%. We knew that testing performed by Major League Baseball found that only 1% of all players tested positive for anabolic steroids.
Our discussion wasn't about who was taking steroids, but why. My argument was that players knew what was going on in the clubhouse. It was human nature that if you know your competition is cheating, it is going to be very difficult not to cheat yourself. Now, when I say competition, I didn't mean the opposing team, I was talking about all the other minor leaguers fighting for a big league job.
Where did I get such a bleak opinion about human nature? Play-by-Mail Strat-O-Matic leagues, of course!
A Play-By-Mail Strat league is a game of honor. You give your computer manager to your opponent and he is supposed to play his games. Sitting on the menu bar is Edit/Undo. It is too easy in the bottom of the ninth and the bases loaded to undo play after play until a walk-off grand slam is hit.
On the other hand, HAL can be a moron. I've watched HAL take out a lefty specialist in the bottom of the ninth against Jim Thome. I undid that change, but HAL kept doing it over and over. Finally, I turned off HAL for my opponent. Computer programming is one of my skills. I know how one would program a computer manager.
"Tzzzt. Situation?"
"Bottom of the ninth, team leading by one run. No outs."
"Pitcher?"
"Left-handed reliever."
"Batter?"
"Power hitting left-handed hitter. Very strong verses right-handed pitchers in both on-base and power. Average on-base and average power against left-handed pitching."
"Computing... WARNING! Current reliever does not have a closer rating. Reliever is now tired. Instructions from maker do not authorize using reliever when tired. Order Pitching Change! Bring in right-handed closer. Tzzzt."
The reality is that even a tired, left-handed specialist is a better match up than the closer in this case, but HAL will put in the closer every time. I'm glad that there is an undo command in this case. If I don't override HAL, I feel that I would be cheating.
So, on the one hand, I feel it is human nature that even inherently honest people will cheat if they feel that others are cheating. Therefore, as a commissioner of a league, one must be strict about cheating. On the other hand, by the nature of rolling dice and the normal curve, there is a minute chance that the most improbable thing will happen.
In this series of articles, I will describe methods that people use to cheat and different rules that can be implemented that deter cheating. The best method of deterring cheating is to only have the best managers, but finding the right managers is an art in and of itself.
Unusual Home Field Advantage (The "Homie")
Yes, there are slang terms for this. A "homie" in Strat is someone who has an unusual tendency to hit the undo command when he doesn't get a clutch hit or when his opponent gets a clutch hit. The primary signs of "Homieism" is an unusual difference in winning percentage at home verses on the road. It is the most common type of cheater in Play-By-Mail leagues.
I have heard people accuse others of being a homie just because that manager has won five more games at home than on the road. In most cases, every team should have a better record at home than on the road for the following reasons:
- The team should be designed to take advantage of the park's characteristics.
- A team with many small pieces will play better with a human manager than HAL running it.
- The home team always has the bottom of the ninth in which to win.
- The Maximum Rules has a home field advantage setting that when on gives a team an additional home field advantage.
The primary investigative tool for the commissioner is the preseason replay. As a commissioner, once every team has turned in a computer manager, one should run a series of replays and print out the standings page. I run ten simulations and staple the sheets of paper together and set them aside. If another owner complains, then one has the printouts for a baseline.
A common rule that many leagues use is Home and Road Points. Instead of standings defining who makes the playoffs, teams are assigned two points for every road win and one point for every home win. It is the number of points that determines who makes the playoffs.
My home league has used the point system since 1996, and only a handful of times has a team that won the division not been the division winner in points.
The point system is extremely effective in bringing out the homies. In order to beat the point system, one really has to cheat at home. If a person is inclined to cheat, it becomes very obvious.
The best penalty for a homie is to kick them out of the league.
Blatant Rebuilder (The "Tanker")
As most leagues are keeper leagues, each team should be in a state of competing or rebuilding. A draft may have a future Hall-of-Famer, a couple of All-Stars, some regulars and a bunch of other stuff. There is a natural desire to acquire that future Hall-of-Famer or All-Stars so cheating to lose and earn the better draft pick may just be as desirable as cheating to win. The guy who looses on purpose is the "Tanker". He is going to rest his good players more often. He is going to set his computer manager to quick-hook his ace starter on the road.
He is cheating because he is keeping his good players while losing. If you trade your good players for prospects and take your lumps that is different story.
Again, the primary tool is a series of replays. One can look at usage rates and example box scores to determine if someone is throwing games. Also, checking the computer manager to look for improper settings is also a good way of checking if a manager is throwing games. I've seen managers switch their second baseman to short and their short stop to second to have a worse defense up the middle.
A common rule is to declare that every franchise must put their best available team on the field every game and attempt to win.
The best penalty for tanking is to take away what they want most, the good draft position. Move their draft position between teams that made the playoffs and the teams that didn't.
Next week will tackle transactions and collusion.
JP Kastner is the Commissioner of the Strat-O-Matic Baseball Online Experts’ League and plays in three other Strat-O-Matic leagues. He is also a second year member of Tout Wars in the Mixed League.