Skip to main content

Getting Started

There are several things to be considered, decisions to be made, and a large amount of prep work to be completed before starting a replay. I wanted to write down the decisions and steps taken to put all this into motion.

Game Play Platform

The most obvious question from an APBA perspective is cards/dice or computer? I really prefer the dice/cards version of the game. I just feel that rolling the dice and keeping my handwritten box scores puts me in the middle of the action. But that is just the gameplay portion of it - the whole records keeping aspect can be quite daunting.

If I was to go this route I would go with the Basic Game (BG), not the Master Game (MG). I already have the BG board modifications I want, plus I just don’t want the extra level of complexity and dice rolls that the MG would require.

Regardless, I have decided to go with the computer game (BBW 5.75). Besides the getting the inherent but automated complexity of the MG, most importantly is that it will do all the stat collection and report production for me. I can set-up the schedule ahead of time, I can still modify pitching graders to my taste, and instead of having cards and papers scattered all over my desk it will all reside in a single container - my computer.

The drawback here is that I might have actually only "played" one or two full games in BBW 5.75. For the past ~15 years I have used micromanagers exclusively to do all this for me in my draft league. I am sure it will take a few weeks of gameplay for me to get the full hang of it - sacrificing, stealing, when to run and when to hold, and so on, that the micromanager currently does for me. (Babe Ruth)

Resources

There has been a tremendous amount of baseball research over the past 25 years and all of this is reflected in Baseball-Reference.com. For every season, not just 1930, there is a treasure trove of information available:

Statistics: https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/1930.shtml (including batting, pitching, fielding, and more)

For easy research, I have dumped all of these tables into a single spreadsheet. Once that was completed I did the following:
  • Rearranged the first name and last name fields into a single last, first name field
  • Added a column to denote carded designation (CD, XB, XC)
  • I added a number designation to traded players last-name to help track their appearances among the different teams (i.e., Smith1, John)
Most importantly, there is a day-by-day recap of every game, complete with box scores:


This includes the actual starting lineups and pitching rotations for every day, for every game, which will be used as part of this replay.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Game Management

Given that APBA BBW 5.75 is a game it is necessary to note what settings will need to be set and what other gameplay limitations need to be acknowledged. Beyond just settings, it is a matter managerial discretion and limitation to ensure these are used but not abused. Stadiums and Rain-Outs I have installed period appropriate stadiums for all the teams and they have all been set to Domed to ensure we don’t have rain-outs. Actual 1930 rain-outs are already worked into the schedule as is. The stadium's files I have collected are in a semi-compacted format and need to be uncompressed before they can be used: Copy the <name>.DI_ and <name>.IN_ files to a temporary directory Open a DOS window (i.e, a CMD window) CD to your temp directory Use the expand command, as such: Expand <name>.DI_ <name>.DIB Expand <name>.IN_ <name>.INI Copy the newly expanded DIB and INI files to the Ballparks folder where the game is installed Assign...
2 comments
Read more

Week 20 (08/25/1930 - 08/31/1930)

Monday, August 25, 1930 There are a couple of light days coming up due to travel. It will take a couple of days to sort it out, but the Midwest teams in both leagues will be facing each other, while the eastern teams in both leagues will do likewise. St. Louis (AL) 3 Detroit (H) 2 Detroit Hurler Tommy Bridges (0-1) made his first ML start today. He gave up a run in the first and in the second, but settled down after that, not allowing another run until the top of the seventh. Unfortunately for Bridges, Dick Coffman (10-16) kept the Tigers off the scoreboard until the seventh and the Browns won in a close one. Philadelphia (AL) (H) 3 Washington 0 After a single game in Washington yesterday the two teams took a train to Philadelphia for games today and tomorrow. Lefty Grove (27-2) held the Nationals to three hits and center fielder Bing Miller drove in two runs with a double and a homerun to give Grove the run support he needed. Miller has 94 RBI's on the ...
2 comments
Read more

Week 23 Recap

Week 23 is completed and it is just about time to start wrapping things up here. There are a couple of travel days coming up, there are a few odds and ends games left to play, and then everyone has their final series to end the season. Cincinnati still has seven games to pay, but most teams have 3-5, so the standings are probably pretty close to final. Several teams are trying out some youngsters and several veterans are seeing their major league careers winding down. Philadelphia did clinch the AL pennant, but in the NL Brooklyn has been eliminated and Chicago is holding on by a slim thread. St. Louis swept three games in Brooklyn to start the week and they have been on a hot streak at the perfect time of the season. Brooklyn's offense has slowed without Johnny Frederick at the top, and Chicago is missing Charley Root anchoring their rotation, and neither team has played well since they lost these critical players. New York may dream of what could have been, but they are ...
Post a Comment
Read more