Rules
Table of Contents
League StructureClub RosterPlayersTeamsGamesBallparkWeather
League Structure
The league structure is that of a pyramid. There is one top league, two second level leagues, four thrid level leagues etc. The winners of each league division will be promoted and the fifth and sixth place finishers will be demoted. Note, the division winners will play at the end of the season in the league playoff, but it will have no effect on promotion.
Club Roster
Each team is allowed to have up to 40 players on their roster. 25 of those players can be assigned to the major league club and the remaining are allocated to various minor legue affiliates. Players in the minor leagues must be 25 years old or younger. Rookie ball players must be 22 years old or younger.
Players
Players have a number of attributes. Most of the in-game attributes are variable, in that they have a base value and a potential value and the current value is somewhere between then depending on training, experience and eventually the effect of aging.
Player ID #: unique reference number for the player.
Name: first and last name. They aren't necessarily unqiue.
Primary Position & Position List: the primary position (the position listed at the top right of the player page or on the left side of the roster page), is the position that a player is most experienced at playing. It's not necessarily the position he would be best suited to play in the long term. The position list (available on lower right side of the player page), lists all the positions that a player is experienced playing (those in upper case have more experience, those in lower case have less experience). A player can gain position experience by playing at that position in any game (including spring training games).
Bats/Batting: what side of the plate does a player bat from, either Left (L), Right (R) or Switch Hitter (S). Note, as a rule, right hand hitters hit better against left hand pitchers and left hand hitters hit better against right hand pitchers.
Throws/Pitching: which hand does a pitcher or fielder use to throw or pitch the baseball. See not above about hitter pitcher match-ups. Also note, most infielders tend to be right handed with the except of the first baseman, who is often left handed.
Age: indicates how old a player is. Age is an important factor in training speeds and ultimately, the player's age determines when skills begin to decline. All players will age one year during the off-season.
Nationality: where a player is from.
Height: simply how tall a player is in feet and inches. Pitcher will on average be taller than position players.
Weight: how heavy a player is in pounds.
Experience: approximation of how much total experience a player has accumulated (years in the big league).
Training: approximation of how much total training a player has accumulated.
Salary: player's yearly salary in US dollars. Note, the minimum major league salary is $0.5M per season and $0.2M per season in the minor leagues.
Scouting Report: a report with some information about the players current skill set and ability to improve on them. Also may indicate a measure of the player's overall potential.
- Batting Skills
Hitting: ability to hit the ball and put it in play.
Bat Control: ability to make contact with the baseball, especially important for avoiding strike outs and successful bunting.
Plate Discipline: ability to discern strikes from ball. Batters with good plate discipline will walk more and make the pitcher throw more pitches.
Power: ability to drive the ball, albeit not necessarily in a high trajectory.
Speed: ability to run fast around the bases.
- Pitching Skills
Velocity: ability to throw the baseball at a high velocity - a good fast ball. High velocity pitchers produce more strike outs.
Change of Speeds: Ability to throw the baseball at differing speeds - a good change-up. Helps confuse batters and get them out.
Movement: ability to put movement on the baseball as it's pitched to the plate - a good curveball.
Control: ability to throw strikes rather than balls and to "paint the corners of the plate". Good control prevents walking and hitting batters.
Stamina: ability to throw a lot of pitches without trying. Important for a starting pitcher.
- Defensive Skills
Fielding: ability to catch a ground or fly ball without making an error.
Range: amount of space a defender can cover either in the infield or outfield.
Arm: strength of a defender's throwing arm, important for completing double plays and for throwing base runners out from behind the plate or the outfield.
- Hidden Values & skills
So are there hidden skills? No, there are no hidden skills. There aren't any player attributes that can be trained or improved with experience nor that erode with age. There are however fixed player values that affect certain in-game outcomes. There effect is significant, but much smaller than the affect of the relevant skill.
- Training, Experience & Aging
Players essentially have two limits on each skill. A base defines the starting point for the skill and a potential defines the maximum to which a skill can increase. Three factors determine where the player's current skill level is: training, experience & aging.
Training: is primarily gained in the minor leagues and is especially effective for younger players. Even in the majors, the some training is gained. Players will get training in all categories, but a team can select a primary and second training focus for its players. These categories will receive additional training during the training cycle.
Experience: is gained while playing in the majors and to a limited extent in the minor leagues (ie. Playing in spring training games). There are several ways in which experience is gained: with each at bat for hitters, with each batter faced for pitchers and with each inning played in the field for positional defense purposes.
Age: is the final factor that effects where a current skill level is. As a player reaches 28-32 years old, certain skill levels begin to decline. Each skill declines starts at a slightly different point and can decline at different rates. After several years of decline, skill levels will be highly attenuated and may even drop below the base skill level.
Teams
A team or club is the entity that the user manager controls. The club's roster consists of 40 players (25 at the parent club and approximately 15 in the minor leagues). In addition, there is a ballpark, a pile of cash and history/legacy for each team.
Games
- Game Types
Spring Training Games: Spring games are at the start of the new season and just for practice. In addition, spring games are not restricted to the 25 man roster, but can include players from the minor leagues as well. Thus, these games are an excellent way to check out younger players and get them a little bit of experience.
Barnstorming / Exhibition Games: Although not implemented yet, in the future, there maybe opportunities to play exhibition games against other teams that the user managers are able to setup and schedule. They would have no effect on league standings or cup play, but it would surely be fun to run up the score on your outspoken buddy/rival in another league.
Cup Games: The cup is a competition, separate from league play, that is open to all teams. The top teams from an association will be invited to the cup, but seeding is random. The cup consists of a tournament of three game series; lose a series and go home, winners advance. These best of three game cup series consist of two games played as a double header on the first day and, if necessary, the third game on the next day. Cup results will have no affect on league standing, but will result in a larger cash payouts, happier fans and more prestige.
League Games: Teams will play more league games against their division rivals and fewer against the other division. Each season, a team will play 20 games (in 3 and 4 game series) against division rivals (100 intra-divisional games total). Additionally, in the middle of the season, each team will play 10 games against each team in the other division (60 inter-divisional games total). So the season is 160 games, plus the top to clubs from each division will play in the playoffs.
Playoff Games: League playoffs are in the best of seven format. There are several days of rest between the start of the playoffs, so pitching rotations will be rest (best pitcher will start game 1). Both playoff teams will promote, but winning the playoff will result in a larger cash reward, happier fans, more prestige and a bigger, better trophy.
All-Star Games: This is an entirely for fun game. It has not affect on anything in the game and simply matches the best players from each division against each other. The All-Star Game does mark the midpoint of the league season.
- Schedule
The schedule consists of 20 spring training games followed by 160 league games. For teams of sufficient rank, cup series will be inserted in between league series from the season start to approximately the midpoint of the season. At the midpoint of the season is the all-star game followed by the conclusion of the league schedule. Winners of league play will then play a 7 game playoff series before the calendar flips to the next season.
Ballpark
Ballparks have several attributes that effect game play and financials. Each park has a limited seating capacity that restricts the number of paid spectators to the game and therefore the income each game can generate. In terms of in game parameters, each ballpark can be grass or synthetic turf (aka Astroturf), can be open or domed and has fixed dimensions. These parameters can result in more errors, more hits and more home runs depending on the parameter and magnitude.
Weather
Weather can most certainly affect ball games, however in a domed ballpark, it has no effect.