May 2010 WHAT'S NEW in 4.9.2: Copy and Paste this in your STADIUM.TXT file to support the new photos: Miller_Open.jpg -110 -5 35 -1 1 Miller Field Phoenix, AZ Jeff Hart citizen.jpg -84 -13 45 -9 -1 Citizen Park Philadelphia, PA Mark Yow Copy and Paste this in your BASEBALL.CFG file to support the 2009 season: 2009N | 23099| 22806| 4594| 578| 2548| 9028| 18205| 16| 4.43| | 2009A | 20173| 20718| 4143| 371| 2494| 7592| 15386| 14| 4.82| | New .DLL supplied from Perfect Sync which allows program to function under Windows 7. New .jpg's for Citizen Park and Miller Park. Previously if you ran out of pitchers with the "Warm Up" rule enabled, the program had a chance to hang in rare instances. Hopefully this will now be prevented. "Expected Pitch Count" routine calculations modified. Also, addition of "DEADBALL-ADJ" configuration setting to optionally turn off the stamina boost given to pitchers on teams who used relatively few pitchers. IF (Games > Starts) AND Starts > 0 THEN 'Has both starts and relief appearances MostlyStarter = 0 MostlyReliever = 0 x! = Starts / Games IF x! > .66 THEN MostlyStarter = TRUE IF x! < .33 THEN MostlyReliever = TRUE IF np(tm) = 1 THEN 'starting pitcher IF MostlyReliever THEN 'starting pitcher is primarily a reliever PitchesExpected = 105 'do not attempt to calculate expected pitch count ELSE 'calculate expected pitch count ReliefInnings = (Games - Starts) * 1.7 StartInnings = TotalInnings - ReliefInnings StartPitches& = TotalPitches& * (StartInnings / TotalInnings) PitchesExpected = StartPitches& / Starts IF PitchesExpected < 64 THEN PitchesExpected = 64 'about 4 innings IF PitchesExpected > 145 THEN PitchesExpected = 145 '9+ innings END IF ELSE 'relief pitcher IF MostlyStarter THEN 'relief pitcher is primarily a starter PitchesExpected = 50 'do not attempt to calculate expected pitch count ELSE 'calculate expected pitch count StartInnings = Starts * 5.7 ReliefInnings = TotalInnings - StartInnings ReliefPitches& = TotalPitches& * (ReliefInnings / TotalInnings) PitchesExpected = ReliefPitches& / (Games - Starts) IF PitchesExpected < 15 THEN PitchesExpected = 15 'about 1 inning IF PitchesExpected > 116 THEN PitchesExpected = 116 'about 7 innings END IF END IF ELSE 'All appearances are starts or all are in relief IF Games > 0 THEN PitchesExpected = TotalPitches& / Games IF PitchesExpected < 15 THEN PitchesExpected = 15 'about 1 inning ELSE PitchesExpected = 116 END IF END IF IF PitchersPerGame(tm) < 2.5 AND CmdDeadBallAdj$ = "Y" THEN y! = 1.375 - (0.15 * PitchersPerGame(tm)) '15% boost for 1.5-PPG teams (c1912) ELSE y! = 1.0 END IF ExpectedPitchCount = PitchesExpected * y! WHAT'S NEW IN 4.9.1 (Changes since 4.9) Slightly watered down the DAYS-OFF rule. You can pinch-hit for your pitcher even if you have no "rested" arms in the bullpen. On-screen display of pitcher fatigue. Can be controlled by entry in BASEBALL.CFG. Batting order optimization: Option "F" will make SBS leave a player in his original batting slot if AutoLineup selects the player to start. Platoon code: Placing "x" in column 5 of the .DAT file will prevent AutoLineup from starting the player vs. a same-handed pitcher. Works approximately 95% of the time. Does not affect Manual Mode. Only works in simulations with AutoLineup on. Hit-and-run: runner advances from 1st-to-3rd not automatic anymore (but still highly probable). Scoring: If fielder drops an infield fly in an infield fly rule siuation (force out at 3rd with less than 2 out), batter is declared out; no error charged; no advance by runners. SBS manager will not always leave a pitcher -- who pinch-hit for another pitcher -- in the game to pitch the next inning. The pinch-hitting pitcher WILL stay in to pitch if he is primarily a reliever or the team is running very low on available pitchers. Fewer inside-the-park home runs. More convenient display options in BASEBALL.CFG: TEXT-MODE (can be used instead of messing with Console-cols and Console-rows). RETRO-MODE Displays text-mode in FULL-SCREEN. The DOS look before Microsoft Windows conquered the world. Hit CTRL-ENTER to toggle back to Windowed mode. WHAT'S NEW IN 4.9 (Changes since 4.8.1) Statistics Files: Accumulated stat data is now stored in fields of "long integers", greatly increasing the amount of data that can be accumulated in statistics files. However, this "obsoletes" using stat files created in older versions or writing to old stat files with 4.9. Previously, at statistics file set could hold around 7000 games, now it can theoretically hold hundreds of thousands, although the screen displays and stat reports will get messy around 100,000 games. Scoring corrections: - Credit a squeeze bunt as a sacrifice. - Credit a failed squeeze bunt as a caught stealing - If runner reached base on an error, SBS could prompt user to "stretch into a double". If successful, it was erroneously scored a double. Other Bug Fixes: - In Series Files (.ser), using the Manual Manage option caused game to hang. Fixed. - Excessive Pitch-Outs to a single batter by the computer manager. Fixed (I hope). New .DAT file features: - You may have a total of 50 active players (51 if DH is in starting lineup). Maximum of 25 pitchers. - DH Override:.DAT file option to override the DH setting by team: *DH=Y or *DH=N on the .DAT option line will force team to always use a DH or never use one. - Team Logo pictures can be loaded into the game via the .DAT file option line: *LOGO=image file Pitcher Management: - Fewer complete games in modern era (still a work in progress) - Possible to use "tired" relief pitchers with performance penalty - If "STARTERS-MAY-RELIEVE" is specifield in the BASEBALL.CFG file, the SBS manager will now occasionally select a relief pitcher out of the starting rotation - if spot starters are used. Additional ball park photos and updated STADIUM.TXT Increase time pitchers take to go "cold" by two batters. Reduced stolen base attempts by pitchers while maintaining the same "speed rating". More weight given to selecting pinch-hitters who bat the opposite hand of the pitcher. For batters, slightly reduced tendancy to "pull". Improved speed of simulations (in quick mode). Changes in 4.8.1 from 4.8 1. For teams which used a small number of pitchers (i.e. old-timer teams) SBS manager will use the bullpen sparingly. 2. More pitcher management: a. If spot starters are NOT used, general relievers will not be selected from starting rotation. b. If spot starters are used, a "tired" pitcher due to start will usually be replaced by a "spot". 3. Now support 300 different year/team combinations in a single simulation file. Up to 100 teams could be manually managed. 4. BASEBALL.CFG options added to control default values for Sound and Delay in manual games. 5. Pinch-running for a "cloned" pitcher who hadn't yet pitched caused hang-up at the start of the next 1/2 inning. 6. If a record was deleted from a schedule file an error occurred when reading the file. Fixed. 7. Changed the way HR's are adjusted when "Performance focusing" used. 8. Wordpad launches in independent window when appropriate. 9. Wild Pitches now count as "balls" (like pitchouts). 10. Streamlined normalization logic in engine. 11. Fixed error message for .DAT file not found. Changes in 4.8 from 4.7: Point-and-click data and stat summaries on players in lineup More play results: more combinations of line-drive double-plays: 5-4, 5-3, 6-3 ground ball force outs at 3rd, 5UN-3 DP, unassisted force-outs at 3rd and 2nd dropped-third-strike Stealing: Steal attempts per game by player and team tracked by the SBS mananger. Used to produce more pitchouts in situations where a player or team has many steal attempts. SBS manager won't likely steal with pitcher up or pitcher next SBS manager' steal attempts boosted slightly Bunting: If SBS manager bunts w/runners on 1st & 3rd and the pitcher up next, it's a squeeze No 5-6 force outs on bunt attempts Team color options: Option line in .DAT: *COL= Valid options are the traditional DOS colors of: blue, green, cyan, red, magenta, brown, gray, white Female pronoun option for play-by-play Option line in .DAT: *GEN=F Option to supress "Out of Position" messages. Baseball.cfg: OUT-OF-POSITION=N AutoExit command line switch /X on command line closes SBS at end of simulation Suppress "home field advantage" command line or .SCH option switch /T on command line or schedule file option Scorecard revamped Option to exit "gracefully" prior to a scheduled "Manually-Managed" game Sound set on by default for "Manually-Managed" games. Allow pitchers to pinch-hit and then stay in the game as the pitcher Pitcher fatigue influences groundball/flyball ratio on outs (fresher pitchers produce slightly more groundballs) Support for fewer than three pitchers in .DAT file Bug fix: a "cloned" pitcher could enter the game as a pinch-runner when his clone was still pitching Allow override for "tired" pitchers in schedules. Double-headers or a 3-man rotation can sometimes cause you do run out of "fresh" pitchers. This lets you go ahead and select any pitcher. Graphical opening screen and main menu Display pitch-count on offensive options Time-Stamp on Line-Score .wav sound file processing changed to (hopefully) improve reliability (Thanks, Bryan Bollman)