Official Scoring Question

[Guest Edgy DC]

I was playing a simulated game, and a strange scoring decision got made by a virtual scorer.

I'm managing a team winning 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth. In the fifth inning, an opposing baserunner crosses over to third with two outs, but my pitcher, Virtual David Wells, gets hurt. I'm forced to pull him one out short of being the pitcher of record. I feel virtually sorry.

I bring in the guy in the back end of my bullpen, Virtual Joe Roa, and he gets the last out on a grounder. My team extends their lead to 6-1 in the next inning, and Roa finishes the bottom half of the innng with a single baserunner allowed.

I try to ride Roa into a third inning, the seventh, still up 6-1. But he lets two of the first three guys on with a hit and a walk. The opposition is in the middle of their lineup now, though, and Roa simply cannot handle lefties. I virtually go out, pat his virtual ass, and turn the ball over to Virtual Frank Brooks, my lefthanded specialist. Brooks doesn't quench the rally right away, though. He walks the first guy to load the bases and gives up a two-run single before the inning ends with my guys still up 6-3. Too bad for Roa, who gets both the runs credited to him on a group effort. Such is baseball, right?

So my guys get both those runs back in the top of the eighth. I'm healthily in front 8-3. Feeling comfortable, and pulling away in my virtual division, I turn the mopup job over to September callup Virtual Pedro Liriano. Virtual Pedro gives me two innings without allowing a baserunner.

So who gets the win? Wells gets burned because he's a starter who didn't go five, but my virtual scorekeeper somehow over-interpreted the "ineffective reliever" clause, and also passed over Roa, who finished off the fifth with a runner on third and pitched through the sixth into the seventh before allowing two baserunners. He passed over Brooks, who allowed both those runners to score, but no runs charged to him, and gave the win to Liriano, who entered an 8-3 ballgame and finished up.

Would this ever happen?

10/5/2005, NYN04-Mon04, Olympic/Hiram Bithorn hybrid
 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
2004 Mitts             0  0  4  1  1  0  0  2  0     8 11  0     9  1
2004 Axe Pose          0  0  1  0  0  0  2  0  0     3  8  1     7  1
 
Mitts                AB  R  H BI   AVG    Axe Pose             AB  R  H BI   AVG
Matthews          cf  4  1  2  0  .292    Damon             cf  3  1  1  1  .311       
Rollins           ss  4  1  2  3  .263     Zaun             ph  0  0  0  0  .259       
Helton            1b  3  1  1  2  .290     Gipson           cf  1  0  0  0  .308       
Hidalgo           rf  4  1  1  2  .261    Hairston          2b  4  0  1  2  .310       
Lamb              2b  3  1  0  0  .298    Gonzalez,L        lf  3  0  1  0  .242       
 Brooks           p   0  0  0  0  .000     Wilson,T         ph  1  0  0  0  .000       
 Liriano          p   1  0  0  0  .000     Meadows          p   0  0  0  0  .000       
Valentin          c   1  0  0  0  .305     Harville         p   0  0  0  0  .667       
 McKay            ph  2  0  0  0  .000     Fikac            p   0  0  0  0 1.000       
Batista           3b  5  1  3  1  .251    Millar            1b  4  0  1  0  .248       
Anderson          lf  3  1  2  0  .250    Gonzalez          ss  4  0  1  0  .231       
 Roa              p   0  0  0  0  .000    Quintero          c   4  0  1  0  .313       
 Graffanino       2b  1  1  0  0  .211    Hinske            3b  1  0  0  0  .230       
Wells             p   2  0  0  0  .095     Kershner         p   0  0  0  0  .000       
 Kielty           lf  1  0  0  0  .253     Sweeney          ph  2  1  1  0  .259       
 McEwing          ph  1  0  0  0  .255    Spencer           rf  4  0  1  0  .303       
                     35  8 11  8          Lowe              p   1  0  0  0  .019       
                                           McDonald         3b  2  1  0  0  .185       
                                                               34  3  8  3             
 
Mitts                            INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Wells                            4.2  5  1  1  1  1  55  38  3.81
Roa                              1.2  2  2  2  1  0  26  15  8.90
Brooks                           0.2  1  0  0  1  0  15   6  2.66
Liriano          W 1-0           2.0  0  0  0  0  1  14  12  3.00
                                 9.0  8  3  3  3  2 110  71 
 
Axe Pose                         INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Lowe             L 6-13          4.2  8  6  6  4  5  98  59  5.58
Kershner                         2.1  0  0  0  1  2  34  21 11.57
Meadows                          0.1  1  2  2  2  0  19   9  3.28
Harville                         1.1  2  0  0  1  1  19   9  3.54
Fikac                            0.1  0  0  0  0  0   5   3  9.00
                                 9.0 11  8  8  8  8 175 101 
 
NYN: Kielty inserted at lf in the 5th
     McKay batted for Valentin in the 7th
     McKay moved to c in the 7th
     Graffanino inserted at 2b in the 7th
     McEwing batted for Kielty in the 8th
     McEwing moved to lf in the 8th
Mon: McDonald inserted at 3b in the 5th
     Sweeney batted for Kershner in the 7th
     Zaun batted for Damon in the 7th
     Wilson,T batted for Gonzalez,L in the 7th
     Gipson inserted at cf in the 8th
     Sweeney moved to lf in the 8th
 
E-Gonzalez,L. 2B-Rollins 2, Helton. HR-Hidalgo(19), Damon(21). 
SB-Matthews(33), Batista(12). K-Matthews 2, Helton, Hidalgo 2, Batista, 
Wells, Liriano, Spencer, Sweeney. BB-Matthews, Rollins, Helton 2, Hidalgo, 
Lamb, Valentin, Graffanino, Hinske, McDonald, Zaun. SH-Valentin. 
GWRBI: Helton
David Wells was injured for this game only
Temperature: 70, Wind: none.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

no.

[Frayed Knot]

It's the Official Scorer's decision there but it sounds like he screwed up to me. The way I've heard that rule is that a scorer can 'take away' the win from the guy who seems to have earned it when said guy pitches "both briefly and ineffectively". Roa, in this case, rode out an inning & 1/3 negating the "briefly" part (and pretty much the "ineffectively" part too).
I'd give him the 'W'.

[metirish]

Sounds like a question for a virtaul Bobby Valentine, he'd know the answer, Edgy where do you play such a game, I've never heard of anything like it, any link?

[Guest Edgy DC]

http://www.diamond-mind.com/

Most of the features are better than the virtual official scorer's boner would have you think.

The dopey team names are my own for the league I entered my team in.

[Theoldmole]

I play Diamond Mind too, but not Virtual Draft Leagues. Right now I'm replaying the 1948 season.

[metirish]

It looks fasinating, I'll give it a better look tomorrow, thanks for the link.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I just released everybody in the 2004 season and had the league re-draft everybody. I grabbed the Mets and whoever the computer drafted for them.

[Guest SI Metman]

Your virtual team has a virtual problem if Richard Hidalgo is your virtual cleanup hitter.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Best record in the league, sucka.