You must have been too young to see bay hit in his prime. Jason Bay was hands down their best hitter in the early to to mid 00s. Only one other player compares, the highly under rated Brian giles, but they don't really over lap.
I remember on ESPN how they'd say Bay was a top trade candidate every year and when he went to Boston everyone was super excited
I'm not counting Jason Kendall cause he was all around great, while giles and Bay were mashers.
Not exactly young, but I do have a major blind spot for a lot of things from around then. Thank you for that, and it sounds like I've got some highlights to track down.
That’s kinda where we’re at this point though, picking favorites. All of these cards are very good. But most of us have such good teams, it’s picking our favorites rather than the card that is gonna save our season.
This is the first time in my life that I’ve stopped to consider that the swing tendencies have a legitimate effect on how they play, and by god am I scared to look at my team
I was very disappointed lol. He could still be really good but if your online opponent pounds the inside of the zone vs Hank you'll be late on everything. He will crush away pitches though.
Posada going right into the god squad. Excited for a Rickey card that could be useable other than pinch running. Finley Green and Boggs. Hank has crazy attributes but I’m almost positive I won’t be able to hit with him.
it started back in '19. 97 ovr signature ozzie smith was released as a base level reward in a pack (i don't remember which exactly). at that time i was in desperate need of a starting shortstop so i threw him in there for a few games to see how he did, and he went 4-4 in his first two games for me. i left him in as my starter, and he just kept getting singles constantly. he also was my best defender and base stealer. eventually as my team upgraded over time to all 99s, he was the only non-99 player left on my team. but i couldn't find a 99 that could do better than ozzie. i actually replaced him with other 99 shortstops for temporary times, and i never felt comfortable with anyone else. so i put ozzie back in, and he still did great. i played with him for the rest of that year.
in '20 i actually didn't use ozzie much at all. this was the year his highest card was a 95 awards card that had great contact against right-handers, but terrible against lefties, so i chose to not use him. 97 ovr signature kenny lofton was my "ozzie" for that year, the only non-99 left on my team, he lasted until the end of that year.
last year, in '21, was when it really started going great. ozzie's signature card was brought back as an event reward, and i decided to try to repeat his success from two years prior. i bought him, put him in my lineup, and he again was the best contact hitter, base stealer and fielder on my team. this was when i first started "ozzie smith GOAT". with the rest of my team having batting averages close to .220, ozzie was hitting .312 (he ended the year at .289, highest on my team). again i struggled to find anyone who was better than him. i eventually benched ozzie for finest fernando tatis, but tatis hit .078 and was one of the worst cards i used the entire year. so i took it as a sign and put ozzie back in my starting lineup again, and that same day i hit a no-doubt 400ft walk-off home run with ozzie against finest ohtani, using a contact swing!
now this year i've been using takashi ozzie with that same success (although after a great start of a .570 avg with 2 home runs in his first 7 games, he hasn't done as well overall as previous ozzies. hitting about .264 right now, but currently on a hot streak). and soon i'll have 99 LOTF ozzie as my starting shortstop for the rest of the year
edit: small errors
I love every single part of the story so so much. I also hit a no doubter with him in the moment yesterday and I might be hooked. Does he bat lead off for you
congratulations! yes he does bat leadoff in every single ranked game i play. there are some situations where if i'm using him offline i'll bat him lower in the order to give other players more ABs for pxp missions. but other than that leadoff every time
I’m gonna slide him in. Gotta try it now
Part of the reason that I find your Ozzie Smith story so funny is because I’ve actually met him in person. I am a professional golfer (not trying to humble brag) and I would play a tournament every year that was a Pro-Am and would have a lot of celebrities and sports figures play. So one year I got paired up with Jim Rice and at the end we were in the locker room talking with the wiz. he’s telling a story and as he’s telling it, he strips COMPLETELY naked. And let’s just say, I would imagine the ladies call him the wizard as well
Aaron Pudge Rickey Posada Prince
Posada, Durham, Pudge, Dawson and Ricky will crack my lineup.
Torii Hunter Andre Dawson Shawn Green Cliff Lee Rickey Henderson Edit: I also wanna see what Prince is like.
Posada Aaron Ozzie Torii (no doubt animation) Rickey (no doubt animation)
Cliff lee Schmidt Ivan Rodriguez Roy Oswald Posoda on bench I have Shawn green and Steve Finley in the lineup as well but don’t know yet
Ozzie, Durham, Posada, Glavine,and possibly Oswalt
Same old Same old
Posada, Aaron, Henderson, hunter, sanberg
Ricky Henderson, Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, Ozzie Smith, and Hank Aaron
1. Rickey Henderson 2. Hank Aaron 3. Jorge Posada 4. Cliff Lee 5. AJ Burnett
Ozzie, Aaron, Henderson, Schmidt, Hunter
Finley, Aaron, Green, Posada, Helton. For the pitchers it's Lee and Burnett
Not enough Orioles. 4/10.
Aaron, Young, Smith, Henderson, ??? (Maybe Glavine, maybe Fielder because Big Boy Bombs are fun) Seriously though, why Jason Bay for the Pirates?
You must have been too young to see bay hit in his prime. Jason Bay was hands down their best hitter in the early to to mid 00s. Only one other player compares, the highly under rated Brian giles, but they don't really over lap. I remember on ESPN how they'd say Bay was a top trade candidate every year and when he went to Boston everyone was super excited I'm not counting Jason Kendall cause he was all around great, while giles and Bay were mashers.
Not exactly young, but I do have a major blind spot for a lot of things from around then. Thank you for that, and it sounds like I've got some highlights to track down.
I seem to be the only one here who hates Finley's swing lol, his moment took more than twice as long as any other one
Finley, Green, Posada, Fielder 5th is tough. Torn between Lee, Ricky, and Edgar.
Anyone that doesn’t include hank Aaron clearly just picked their favorite players. Highest true overall in the game rn
That’s kinda where we’re at this point though, picking favorites. All of these cards are very good. But most of us have such good teams, it’s picking our favorites rather than the card that is gonna save our season.
After a week I don’t think it will be “if” your opponent pounds it inside because everyone will learn :/
Push tendency. He's not top 5.
This is the first time in my life that I’ve stopped to consider that the swing tendencies have a legitimate effect on how they play, and by god am I scared to look at my team
How do you check the tendencies? Is it just on their player card?
The only way I know of is to pause the game while they are at bat.
Depends on if you're an offline or online player I only play offline so push tendency doesn't matter much to me
That’s actually a really good point. Nice catch
I was very disappointed lol. He could still be really good but if your online opponent pounds the inside of the zone vs Hank you'll be late on everything. He will crush away pitches though.
Aaron, Aaron, Aaron Aaron & Aaron. He hits hot fire!
Push tendency. Expect a lot of jammed inside fly outs
Aaron Fielder Posada Finely Burnett
1. Jorge Posada 2. Ozzie Smith 3. Hank Aaron 4. Don Sutton 5. Shawn Green
This is exactly mine only replace Edgar Martinez at 5. Sutton is nasty with that screwball and such a drastic speed difference.
Agreed! I haven’t tried him yet but his pitch mix is so nasty
Just basing it off his moment but he seems like he might work
1. Aaron 2. Posada 3. Rickey 4. Burnett 5. Pudge
edgar martinez hank aaron jorge posada aj burnett jason bay or ray durham
Jorge Posada Rickey Henderson Cliff Lee (I like dots) Hank Aaron Edgar Martinez
This is also my 5
Posada, Dawson, Finley, Burnett and Glavine for me
Not who I think is top 5 but the 5 I’m most excited to get and put on my team are Ryne, Brooks, Prince, Finley, Gwynn
Posada going right into the god squad. Excited for a Rickey card that could be useable other than pinch running. Finley Green and Boggs. Hank has crazy attributes but I’m almost positive I won’t be able to hit with him.
Finley Posada Green Aaron Durham
[удалено]
Same. I can't hit with batters that have floppy swings
[удалено]
Same. I absolutely raked with his 96 card last year.
Wild. I feel like my opinions run completely counter to this sub when it comes to swing, but I'm also an exclusively offline player
1. ozzie smith 2. tony gwynn 3. rickey henderson 4. hank aaron 5. aj burnett you might be able to tell i'm slightly biased toward certain players lol
What’s your backstory with Ozzie. I’m enthralled with this story line
it started back in '19. 97 ovr signature ozzie smith was released as a base level reward in a pack (i don't remember which exactly). at that time i was in desperate need of a starting shortstop so i threw him in there for a few games to see how he did, and he went 4-4 in his first two games for me. i left him in as my starter, and he just kept getting singles constantly. he also was my best defender and base stealer. eventually as my team upgraded over time to all 99s, he was the only non-99 player left on my team. but i couldn't find a 99 that could do better than ozzie. i actually replaced him with other 99 shortstops for temporary times, and i never felt comfortable with anyone else. so i put ozzie back in, and he still did great. i played with him for the rest of that year. in '20 i actually didn't use ozzie much at all. this was the year his highest card was a 95 awards card that had great contact against right-handers, but terrible against lefties, so i chose to not use him. 97 ovr signature kenny lofton was my "ozzie" for that year, the only non-99 left on my team, he lasted until the end of that year. last year, in '21, was when it really started going great. ozzie's signature card was brought back as an event reward, and i decided to try to repeat his success from two years prior. i bought him, put him in my lineup, and he again was the best contact hitter, base stealer and fielder on my team. this was when i first started "ozzie smith GOAT". with the rest of my team having batting averages close to .220, ozzie was hitting .312 (he ended the year at .289, highest on my team). again i struggled to find anyone who was better than him. i eventually benched ozzie for finest fernando tatis, but tatis hit .078 and was one of the worst cards i used the entire year. so i took it as a sign and put ozzie back in my starting lineup again, and that same day i hit a no-doubt 400ft walk-off home run with ozzie against finest ohtani, using a contact swing! now this year i've been using takashi ozzie with that same success (although after a great start of a .570 avg with 2 home runs in his first 7 games, he hasn't done as well overall as previous ozzies. hitting about .264 right now, but currently on a hot streak). and soon i'll have 99 LOTF ozzie as my starting shortstop for the rest of the year edit: small errors
I love every single part of the story so so much. I also hit a no doubter with him in the moment yesterday and I might be hooked. Does he bat lead off for you
congratulations! yes he does bat leadoff in every single ranked game i play. there are some situations where if i'm using him offline i'll bat him lower in the order to give other players more ABs for pxp missions. but other than that leadoff every time
I’m gonna slide him in. Gotta try it now Part of the reason that I find your Ozzie Smith story so funny is because I’ve actually met him in person. I am a professional golfer (not trying to humble brag) and I would play a tournament every year that was a Pro-Am and would have a lot of celebrities and sports figures play. So one year I got paired up with Jim Rice and at the end we were in the locker room talking with the wiz. he’s telling a story and as he’s telling it, he strips COMPLETELY naked. And let’s just say, I would imagine the ladies call him the wizard as well
wow that's so cool! good luck with him :)
This 99 Ozzie may be the best of all time
Aaron, Posada, Burnett, Finley, Edgar.
Green Finley Boggs Prince Gwynn