Power League Baseball questions

[Spector]

I've fired this game up, but am not sure about what I'm doing with regard to the options. There's about a dozen teams you can choose from, but is there any difference in difficulty between them? What would be the best set up in the options to play this game if you are a beginner like myself?

[runinruder]

Which one are you playing?  If you're playing the first one, and if it's like the US version, then it's a super-easy game and you'll probably be annihilating the computer before long, regardless of which teams are involved.  But the best team is the left-most one in the top row.  They're called the "Tokyo Ninjas" in the US one.  The middle of their lineup is mighty, they have great pitching, and they have a couple good hitters on the bench and in the farms that can be inserted to make them even more potent offensively. 

You can see the teams' overall batting averages and ERAs, IIRC.  You might need to enter Edit Mode for this.  Then you can easily tell which clubs have the best hitting and pitching. 

Select Open Mode for standard exhibition play or Pennant Mode if you want to beat up on the other teams and ultimately face a super-human "Turbo Champ" squad.  I saw a screenshot of the JP version's title screen and the modes were presented in English, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find your way around. 

[Keranu]

I've always found the computer to be very difficult in all of the games! Maybe it's because I suck at getting good hits.

[Spector]

I've always found the computer to be very difficult in all of the games! Maybe it's because I suck at getting good hits.

I find the computer nearly impossible! I can play for 20 minutes without getting a run. I don't know much about baseball (I'm from the UK), but I feel I'm doing something wrong.

A question for runinruder: what do the stats AVE, HR and ERA mean exactly? If the numbers are higher, does that mean they are better? Yeah, I'm dumb on baseball.
And can I make teams weaker using the edit facility so that I might have a chance against them?

[nat]

I've always found the computer to be very difficult in all of the games! Maybe it's because I suck at getting good hits.

I find the computer nearly impossible! I can play for 20 minutes without getting a run. I don't know much about baseball (I'm from the UK), but I feel I'm doing something wrong.

A question for runinruder: what do the stats AVE, HR and ERA mean exactly? If the numbers are higher, does that mean they are better? Yeah, I'm dumb on baseball.
And can I make teams weaker using the edit facility so that I might have a chance against them?

AVE - Batting average. Higher is better...
HR - Home run count.
ERA - Earned run average.

[esteban]

I've always found the computer to be very difficult in all of the games! Maybe it's because I suck at getting good hits.

I find the computer nearly impossible! I can play for 20 minutes without getting a run. I don't know much about baseball (I'm from the UK), but I feel I'm doing something wrong.

A question for runinruder: what do the stats AVE, HR and ERA mean exactly? If the numbers are higher, does that mean they are better? Yeah, I'm dumb on baseball.
And can I make teams weaker using the edit facility so that I might have a chance against them?

I'm not an authority on sports, or baseball, but here you go:

AVE = Average hitting performance (getting at least a single... I don't know how a "walk" is calculated). 0.350+ is actually quite good, even though you're only getting a hit 1/3 of the time.

HR = Home runs. The higher the number, the more likely the hitter has the POWER to smack the ball out of the park. High AVE + High HR is a killer combination, but there are folks who simply excel in one category or the other. High Ave is generally more useful overall (they are more likely to get on base), but a high HR count can be useful (although more "luck" is involved) when you're praying for a miracle. High HR alone = "Power Hitter", whereas High AVE alone = "consistent hitter".

ERA = earned run average. This applies to pitching, and you want a LOW ERA. The lower a pitcher's ERA, the less successful offense (hitters) have been in scoring against that particular pitcher. I am not sure about the intricacies of this formula (i.e. how are errors factored in).

[termis]

Just adding some info to stevek666's info:  Most baseball game lists the player's prior year's stats, so I think it'd be relevant if I give you numbers based on a whole single season. 

Hitter Average:
Pretty much what steve said.  Walks do not count for your average. 

For example, in one game, let's say the batter gets to come up to the plate 4 times.  He gets 1 hit (a single, double, triple, or a home run), strikes out twice, and walks once (by getting 4 balls).  In that instance, the batter batted .333, or 1/3, and the walk is not calculated - the walk would go go into your OBP (on base percentage), but I dunno if earlier baseball games calculated that). 

In real baseball, someone who hits at least .280 is respectable, .300 would be a star-level batter, and batting .350 for the year would be friggin incredible.

Home Run
Once again, in real life, someone who hits 25+ Home Runs a year would probably be good enough to bat in the "clean-up" of the lineup (3rd, 4th, 5th in batting order - the ones who are mainly responsible for getting your runs for your team).  30+ Homers & you're likely a star player, and anything above 40, you're one of the marquee players in the league.

ERA
Lower the better.  The basic formula is how much the pitcher on average would give up pitching 9 innings.  So if he has an ERA of 3.5, that would give up an average of 3.5 runs per 9 innings.  Calculating this can get nitty-gritty (like runs scored on errors don't count, and if any runners are left on base if the pitcher gets changed and the runner scores, then the run is charged to the former pitcher), but on the whole, just know that an era of anything in the 4.xx would be an average Joe pitcher in real life, someone in 3.xx would probably be a star, and 2.xx would be a major star, and you may only a single pitcher or two every 10 years who can get their ERA's in the 1.xx's.

[offsidewing]

BB or Walks do not count as at bats.  I don't know how Power Leagues calculate Fielder's Choice, Sac Flies/Bunts, and Errors.

Huh, huh.  Sack Flies.

Hey, do any of the Japanese Power Leagues do seasons with on-going stats??

[runinruder]

PL3's Pennant Mode keeps track of batting average, home runs, and ERA.