It has appeared to me (and others) that, each time a pitcher comes in, there must be a random "Roll" that either increases or decreases his effectiveness for that appearence. I base this on the fact that the trends I recognize early in a pitching performance almost invariably continue. Examples of this would be Jose Rosado walking two in the first inning and going on to walk 8, giving up many hits, in a 5-6 inning performance and, conversely, Jaret Wright, an INN pitcher last year, throwing a two hit shutout at the best hitting team in the league.

I realize that these results could be easily explained on the basis of minute sample size, but my feeling about the strength of "trends" that appear early in an outing then continue throughout it remains. Have others noticed the same trends? Mike, is there such a "roll," and, if so, what are the parameters?

BTW, I love the game, and really enjoy both the play and the community. While I have, on occasion, whined about my good players' underperformance and others' bad players kicking my butt, I ultimately believe that the game works quite will as a sim.

Thanks, and go Cavaliers!

Matt