Baseball is a game of obsessively recorded stats anyways, and we'd use that to our advantage to model pitches, plays, games, seasons, etc. into something that 1) reflected what truly (historically) would/could/should happen in a given scenario, and 2) was fun and kept the player coming back for more. (Or else we'd hear about it in reviews!)

Well, turns out #2 is really, really important. Playing to statistical misunderstandings had to be part of the consideration. "That pitch/play/decision/outcome would never happen as often as it does! Fix it!" a producer with more baseball knowledge than I would claim. "It's happening exactly as frequently as it does/has historically," I would counter. Doesn't matter. Games need to be enjoyable and that means playing to common (mis)perceptions even if they're statistically wrong. But not too wrong. (Or else we'd hear about it in reviews!) :-)