Announcement Ahead of the 2023 GIG

January 07, 2023, 09:55:45 PM

Hello Mutineers!

As you may know, the Game Inside the Game (GIG) is kinda my baby. When I was on the CO (I stepped down 5 or so years ago), we developed the GIG idea mainly because we were losing 3 or 4 owners nearly every season due in large part to the inactivity between April and October. Simulation baseball is highly active between December and February as guys build their teams, but other than checking scores, it’s kinda dead during the season in terms of message board activity and engagement. So we created the GIG. And we’ve seen some seasons have 100% ownership return, and if we do have owners leave, it’s been one or two tops, almost every year since we started the GIG.

From this season forward, we’re making two rather significant changes to the GIG:

1) The GIG questions will be monthly instead of every 13 games.
2) The incentive to play and win has increased: The winner will now receive pick #4.1. Second place gets 4.12. And third place gets 4.23.

The purpose behind these changes are basically two-fold. First, it saves me time and it saves YOU time, but still helps keep us all engaged throughout the season. And second, there’s a greater incentive to play, with the draft picks being just a bit higher.

Now, if you wanna stop reading here, that’s the gist of it: Monthly GIGs and a better reward for the winners. But if you want to read a bit further, stay with me.

Not only do monthly GIGs save me time in coming up with creative questions every two weeks, I’ve actually already created the questions for all 8 GIGs for the 2023 season and beyond. They’re somewhat “canned” questions we can use year to year, but still fun to answer and will require a small bit of strategy and schedule-peeking (among other things) to increase the odds of your predictions. Since I had some time on my hands a few weeks ago, I busted out all these questions in the course of one afternoon. So here’s a sneak peek at the GIG questions for 2023 (subject to change if necessary):

GIG #1: Pre-season Predictions (shortly after 26-man rosters are turned in):
Predict the final finishing order of the top 4 teams in the KML.
Perfect = 10 points
Not perfect? 2 points for every team predicted, no matter their place.
Predict the final finishing order of the top 4 teams in the FF.
Perfect = 10 points
Not perfect? 2 points for every team predicted, no matter their place.
Which two teams will play for the KML Championship? (3 points each)
Which two teams will play for the FF Championship? (3 points each)
Which two teams will square off in the MSB World Series? (5 points each)
Who wins the MSB World Series? (7 points)

GIG #2 (thru April): Predictions based on the 10-team league you are NOT in: Predict the end-of-this-month’s finishing order of the ten teams. Ties count.
Perfect order of all ten teams = 15 points
If only your top 5 is perfect = 10 points
If only your top 3 is perfect = 5 points
If you guessed only the top team correctly = 3 points
How many wins will the top team have? (within 3 = 1 pt, nail it = 2 pts)
How many losses will the last team have? (within 3 = 1 pt, nail it = 2 pts)
How many games separate the 1st & 2nd place teams (within 1 = 1 pt, nail it = 2 pts)
How many games separate the 1st & last place teams (within 3 = 1 pt, nail it = 2 pts)
Now pick ONE team from this league: Name the team: _____________
What place will this team be in? (within 1 = 1 pt, nail it = 2 pts)
How many Runs For? (within 10 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
How many Runs Against? (within 10 = 1 pt, nail it = 4 pts)
Kyle will highlight 3 matchups - choose the winners

GIG #3 (month of May): Pick any full time hitter from another team.
Email that owner to be sure he’ll be in the lineup at least 80% of games played against BOTH sides of the plate this month. (1 point for emailing the owner - CC Kyle when you write the email.)
These predictions are for stats accumulated ONLY in the month of May. Each team will play ____ games this month.
Predict the player’s May stats:
AVE (within .010 = 2 points, nail it = 4 pts)
OBP (within .010 = 2 points, nail it = 4 pts)
SLG (within .010 = 2 points, nail it = 4 pts)
How many RBI will he have in May?
If the player has less than 50 total real life RBI:
(within 3 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
If the he has more than 50 total real life RBI:
(within 5 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
How many Doubles will he have in May?
If the player has less than 20 total real life doubles:
(within 2 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
If the he has more than 20 total real life doubles:
(within 4 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
How many HR’s will he have in May?
If the player has less than 15 total real life HR:
(within 2 = 2 points, nail it = 4 pts)
If the player has less than 15 total real life HR:
(within 2 = 2 points, nail it = 4 pts)
Kyle will highlight 3 matchups - choose the winners

GIG #4 (month of June): Predictions based on the MSB team that mirrors your team’s current place in the standings.
1st place & 10th place
2nd place & 9th place
3rd place & 8th place
4th place & 7th place
5th place & 6th place
Check out their schedule. These predictions are solely for THIS MONTH’S games. Each team will play ___ games this month. Predict the following:
How many wins will this team have this month? (within 3 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
Games in which they score more than 6 runs (within 1 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
Games in which they get shut out (within 1 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
Games in which they shut out their opponent (within 1 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
How many series will they sweep? (within 1 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
How many series will they get swept? (within 1 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
How many games will they lose a game when leading after the 7th inning? (within 1 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
How many 1-run games will they play? (within 1 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
Which player will lead this team in:
RBI (3 pts)
HR (3 pts)
SB (2 pts)
Kyle will highlight 3 matchups - choose the winners

GIG #5 (month of July): Predictions based on ANY team from your opposing league.
This GIG requires TWO posts in this thread. In an effort to not duplicate any one team, please name the team you’d like to predict on ASAP in this thread. Just name the team in the first post. THEN take the time you need to answer the questions and post them at any time before the deadline to get predictions in. By posting the team name ASAP, this will eliminate the possibility of two guys unknowingly predicting on the same team at the same time.
First post: What team did you pick? ____________
Second post: Check out their schedule. These predictions are solely for THIS MONTH’S games. Each team will play ___ games this month. Predict the following:
How many wins will this team have this month? (within 3 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
Games in which they score more than 6 runs (within 1 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
Games in which they get shut out (within 1 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
Games in which they shut out their opponent (within 1 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
How many series will they sweep? (within 1 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
How many series will they get swept? (within 1 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
How many games will they lose a game when leading after the 7th inning? (within 1 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
How many 1-run games will they play? (within 1 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
Which player will lead this team in:
RBI (3 pts)
HR (3 pts)
SB (2 pts)
Kyle will highlight 3 matchups - choose the winners

GIG #6 (thru August): Predictions based on any full time hitter from YOUR team.
Honor system that you will pick a player who will start 80% of your games this month.
These stats will be cumulative - in other words, the stats this player has for the whole season at the end of this month.
Predict the following stats:
AVE (within .010 = 2 points, nail it = 4 pts)
OBP (within .010 = 2 points, nail it = 4 pts)
SLG (within .010 = 2 points, nail it = 4 pts)
RBI:
If the player has less than 50 real life RBI: (within 3 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
If the he has more than 50 real life RBI: (within 5 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
Doubles
If the player has less than 20 real life doubles: (within 2 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
If the he has more than 20 real life doubles: (within 4 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
HR
If the player has less than 15 real life HR: (within 2 = 2 points, nail it = 4 pts)
If the player has less than 15 real life HR: (within 2 = 2 points, nail it = 4 pts)
Kyle will highlight 3 matchups - choose the winners

GIG #7 (thru the end of the season): Predictions based on YOUR 10-team league:
Predict the final finishing order of the ten teams. Ties count.
Perfect order of all ten teams = 15 points
If only your top 5 is perfect = 10 points
If only your top 3 is perfect = 5 points
If you guessed only the top team correctly = 3 points
How many wins will the top team have? (within 3 = 1 pt, nail it = 2 pts)
How many losses will the last team have? (within 3 = 1 pt, nail it = 2 pts)
How many games separate the 1st & 2nd place teams (within 2 = 1 pt, nail it = 2 pts)
How many games separate the 1st & last place teams (within 3 = 1 pt, nail it = 2 pts)
Regarding YOUR team:
What place will your team be in? (within 1 = 1 pt, nail it = 2 pts)
How many Runs For? (within 10 = 2 pts, nail it = 4 pts)
How many Runs Against (within 10 = 1 pt, nail it = 4 pts)
Kyle will highlight 3 matchups - choose the winners

GIG #8: Postseason Predictions (immediately following the last game of the season)
1 point each:
Who wins the KML 1v4 matchup?
How many games in the best-of-seven series?
Who wins the KML 2v3 matchup?
How many games in the best-of-seven series?
Who wins the FF 1v4 matchup?
How many games in the best-of-seven series?
Who wins the FF 2v3 matchup?
How many games in the best-of-seven series?
3 points each:
Who wins the KML Championship?
How many games in the best-of-seven series?
Who wins the FF Championship?
How many games in the best-of-seven series?
5 points each:
Who wins the MSB Championship?
How many games in the best-of-seven series?