Digital Diamond Baseball

How do I enter my product key?

Please follow these steps to transform your trial version into the fully functioning game:

1. Run Digital Diamond Baseball and open a player library. This will take you to the Home Plate Page.
2. Navigate to the Main Menu Page by clicking on the icon at the very top-left of the Home Plate Page (or by typing control+m).
3. Click on Edit Options and then Other Options. This will open the Other Options Dialog Box.
4. Paste (or type) your product key into the “Product Key" field in the dialog box.
5. Click OK and you should be all set!

Can I install the game on a flash drive or a drive other than my C: drive?

Yes, you can copy the entire game and the data files onto a different drive. Just follow these steps:

1. Copy the "C:\Program Files (x86)\Digital Diamond Baseball V6" folder onto your other drive.
2. Copy your "DigitalDiamondDataFilesV6" folder from your documents folder onto the other drive inside the Digital Diamond Baseball V6 folder you created in step 1 above.

How do I move my Version 5 libraries into Version 6?

Follow these steps to move your Version 5 libraries over to Version 6:

1. Using V5, Create backups of your V5 libraries.
2. Copy the V5 backup files (ddbbz5) files into the Backups folders in your DigitalDiamondBaseballV6 folder.
3. Shutdown V5 and run V6.
4. Restore each of your V5 libraries using the Install Local Library button on the Main Library Page.

How do I install the V4 and V5 libraries that I downloaded from DigitalDiamondBaseball.com?

Follow these steps to install libraries that were download from DigitalDiamondBaseball.com:

1. Run Version 6 and click on the Install Local Library button located on the main Manage Libraries Page. This will display the Install/Restore Local Library Dialog Box.
2. Click on the Local Library Backups edit box.
3. Browse to your Downloads folder (or whatever folder your backup file is in) and select the library you want to install.
4. Click on OK and the library will be installed.

Why do all of the games in my schedule have a '*' next to them?

Scheduled games that have a '*' next to them contain the actual as-played lineups that were used on that day in real-life. When you play these games, you will have the option to use these lineups.

Why do some of the games in my schedule have a '!' next to them?

Scheduled games that have a '!' next to them had one or more special events take place during the game. Some examples of special events are triple plays, no-hitters, and in the park home runs. You can find out what the special events are by clicking on the game and viewing the boxscore.

Where can I find my players' defensive ratings during a game?

Defensive ratings are shown next to each player on the field. The first number represents the player's error rating at that position (the average number of errors per 100 chances). The second number represents the player's range rating (1 - excellent, 3 - average, 5 - poor). In addition, clicking on any player in the game screen will display the player detail popup that shows a player’s defensive ratings.

How can I watch a game while the computer manages both teams?

As long as at least one pitch has been thrown in a game, you can change the teams the computer will manage by clicking on the HM/CM icon next to the team names in the linescore. This will toggle the manager between computer (CM) and human (HM). If both teams are set to CM, the game will enter "watch mode" allowing you to watch the game from the sidelines. If you want to exit watch mode you can press control+p or click on the red Pause button that will be displayed below the dice on the Matchup Tab.

How do I know if my pitcher is tired and when should I take him out?

A pitcher will turn red when he becomes tired and from that moment on the pitcher’s performance will gradually decline with each additional batter he faces. A pitcher turning red does not automatically mean you should take him out. There are alot of factors to consider. The key thing to remember is that a pitcher gets progressively tired. This means that when he first becomes tired he still may have an excellent chance to get the batter out. You can confirm this by looking at the Event Probability Table for the current matchup. If he is a good pitcher his numbers at that point in the game may be better than anyone in the bullpen, even though he is tired. You can also confirm this by going to the Bench Coach and looking at the matchups between the current batter and your relievers.

Remeber to keep two tings in mind. First, when a pitcher first turns red, it means he just started getting tired, and his performance will degrade with each extra batter they face. Second, the Event Probability Table and the Bench Coach don't lie. They will always show how your pitcher will do against a batter, taking into consideration how tired the pitcher is.

On the Matchup Tab, what do the percentages on the far right side of the event probabilities table represent?

The percentages on the far right side of the event probabilities table represent two running totals. The first shows the cumulative probabilities for making an out (these are in the rows with a red background). The second shows the cumulative probabilities for getting on base (these are the rows with a green background). This column is helpful because it provides a quick view of what the batter's on base percentage is (the number in the last green row), or conversely, their likelihood of making an out (the number in the last red row).

How do I create a new player?

Here are the steps for creating a new player by hand:

1. Form the Main Menu Page click on the Browse/Edit Players button. This will take you to the Browse/Edit Players Page.
2. Click on the New button located at the top of the page.
3. Enter the new player's information and statistics. The dialog box is big, so you will need to scroll down to the bottom to save the changes. The scroll bar will be located at the far right side of the main window.
4. Click the Save button to create your new player.
5. If you want to create lots of new players, your best bet it to import them using one of the many import formats supported by Digital Diamond Baseball. See the help videos on creating your own custom player librares for more information.

How do I edit a player?

Here are the steps for editing players in your library:

1. Form the Main Menu Page click on the Browse/Edit Players button. This will take you to the Browse/Edit Players Page.
2. Using the Team dropdown list at the top of the page, select the team that contains the player you want to edit.
3. Find the player you want to edit in table of players. If you don't see him, use the Next/Previous buttons to page through all of the players. Alternatively, just type part of the player's name in the Search box located at the top right of the table.
4. Highlight the player by clicking on them.
5. Click on the Selected Players button located at the top of the page and then click on Edit. This will display the New/Edit Player Dialog box.
6. Make your changes to the player's information. The dialog box is big, so you will need to scroll down to the bottom to save the changes. The scroll bar will be located at the far right side of the main window.
7. Click the Save button to save your changes.

There seems to be lots of ways to import players/teams. Which method should I use?

Here is a short description of each player import method and their strengths and weaknesses:

• Import players from the Lahman database: Imports one or more teams from any season in baseball history directly into your library. There is even an option for including L/R split stats for seasons after 1950. This allows you to build a library with players form any season in baseball history. This will be your number once choice for importing players into a library.
• Import players from another library: Allows you to import players from other libraries that you have installed. The players will be placed on the free agent “team” in the current library. This is a great choice if you want to build a library of players and then conduct a draft.
• Generate players from another library: Randomly selects players from other libraries that you have installed using the criteria you specify and places those players on the free agent "team" in the current library. Criteria inclue position, minimum playing time, and maximum age. If you check the Generate Random Names checkbox, the players will be given random names when they are imported. This is great way to replenish a career library after players have retired.
• Import players from Baseball Reference: This does the same thing as importing from Lahman but is considerably more work. The only reason to use this option is if you are participating in the real-time replay of the current MLB season or you are importing minor league teams.

How do I view or set a team's opening day lineups?

The name column for players that are on an opening day roster will be displayed in green. To view all players on a team's opening day lineup, select a team from the team list box, check the Opening Day check box, and uncheck the Not Opening Day checkbox. To move players to/from an opening day roster, select the players, click on the Selected Players button, and then click on Toggle opening day roster. NOTE: When you restart a season players on an opening day roster will be activted and all other players will be deactivated.

What are league averages and when do I need create them?

In Digital Diamond Baseball league averages are used to put a player's performance into context. Knowing how many home runs a player hit in a particular season is not very useful until you know how that compares to the average player in that season. The year field assigned to each player specifies the league averages that will be used put that players's stats into context.

In most cases you do not have to worry about league averages because the game comes with a database of the league averages for all of the seasons in the majors. However, if you are creating a library that contains palyers in the minors or some league other than the majors, you will need to create a league average file. In addition, custom league averages are recommended if the players in your library contian stats that span several seasons. Follow these steps to create a new league average and assign it to the players in your library:

1. Run DDBB and open the library that contains the players you want to assign a league average to.
2. Navigate to the Main Menu page and click on Edit League Averages (your will find this button in the “Players” section).
3. On the League Averages page click on the New button located on the top-right of the page.
4. Give your league averages a name (e.g., 2016ArizonaLeague, 1980Decade, 2016NipponProfessionalBaseball) and click on OK.
5. You should see your new league averages in the list. Click on the Edit button next to your league average and enter the totals into the dialog box.
6. When you are done entering the totals, click on OK.
7. Go back to the Main Menu page and click on Browse/Edit Players.
8. Click on the All Players button located on the top-center of the page.
9. Click on “Set league average year for all” and then select the league averages you created earlier. (You can also assign different league averages to players in your library by selecting a subset of the players in your library, clicking on the Selected Players button, and then selecting "Set league average year").
10. Click on OK and you are all set!

How does the computer manager handle player usage?

The computer manager will follow the team profile when deciding how much to use players. However, if playing time limits are enabled, a player's overall usage during the replay becomes a factor when the computer manager is making decisions before and during a game. As a result, the computer manager will sometimes override a team profile setting when plaing time limits are enabled and a player is being overused.

The game has two different methods for tracking player usage: Distirbuted and Greedy. The distributed method prorates usage across the entire season. As a result, this method spreads out playing time as evenly as possible throught the schedule. As a general rule, this method works best when the library does not have real-life transactions. On the other hand, the Greedy method attempts to use a player as much as possible until they have reached their playing time limit. This method is generally a better choice for libraries that use real-life transactions.

All of the options related to playing time limits can be found in the "Usage" option group.

How does the game handle pitcher fatigue?

Every pitcher in Digital Diamond Baseball is given a durability rating (DUR). Durabilitity ratings specify how many batters a pitcher can face before they are susceptible to fatigue. The performance of a fatigued pitcher will decrease with each batter they face after they are fagigued.

Each time a pitcher faces a batter thier batters faced total increases. When the batters faced total is larger than their durability, a pitcher becomes sucseptible to fatigue. This does not mean the pitcher is tired; it just means that they may be getting tired soon. When a pitcher actually becomes tired is determined by their durability bonus, which is a random number that is calculated at the start of the game, and is hidden from both the computer and human manager. This bonus represents how many extra batters a pitcher can faced once they become susceptible to fatigue. In addition, pitchers that are susceptible to fatigue will only become fatigued at the start of an inning or if they allow a base runner. When a pitcher becomes fatigued thier icon on the field will turn red and the word "Tired" will appear in red next to their name on the Matchup tab and the Lineup tab.

Let's look at a specific example. Suppose CC Sabathia has a durabiilty rating of 25 and his random durability bonus for the current game is 3. This means that he will become sucseptible to fatighue when he has faced 26 batters. However, he will not actually be fatigued until he has faced 29 batters and either allows a base runner, or is on the mound at the start of the next inning.

A pitcher's batter faced total carries over from one game to the next. However, the number is reduced based on how much time they rest between appearances. At the end of every game, each pitcher's batters faced total is decreased. By default, starting pitchers typically need around four days of rest before their batters faced total is reduced to zero. Relievers, on the other hand, are often fully rested in time for next game. However, if a pitcher pitches two games in a row, they are likely to need an extra day of rest before the are fully rested.

In Digital Diamond Baseball, a pitcher's durability rating and batters faced total are displayed using the following format: durability/BF total. For example, CC Sabathia's DUR column might look like this 25/6, which indicates that he can face up to 25 batters before being susceptible to fatigue, and that he has faced a total of 6 batters. Pitchers that qualify as both a reliever and starter use a slightly different format that looks like this: starting durablity|relief durability/BF total. For example, Ivan Nova's DUR columnm might look this: 23|20/12, which indicates that he is susceptible to fatigue when he faces 24 batters when starting and 21 batters in relief. In addition, Nova's total batters faced is currently 12.

All of the options related to pitcher fatigue can be found in the "Pitcher Fatigue" option group.

How do custom range ratings work?

All custom ratings in DDBB are assigned values from 1 to 5 where 1 is the best, 5 is the worst, and 3 is average. Range ratings impact the outcome of some plays, but only when the ball is hit to a fielder that has a range rating above or below 3. Average range ratings (3) do not impact outcomes. Players with good range may rob a hit from the batter, while players with a poor range rating may cause a routine out to become a hit. When the range rating of the fielder impacts a play you will notice it two ways. The result on the event probability table won’t match the actual play (an out may be converted to a hit, or a hit may end up being an out), and the play-by-play call will give some indication that range had an impact the outcome (e.g., “boy he can cover some ground”). If you want range to play a bigger (or smaller) role in the game, you can change the "Fielder Range Factor" option located in the Custom Ratings Options group. Increasing this option will cause range ratings to have a bigger impact during game play.

How do team profiles impact when my players are used and how often they are used?

The Version 6 team profiles allow you to control two things: what players are used in a particular situation and how often they are used. These are two very different things, so let's look at each one separately.

Team profiles are the primary way to specify what players you would like the computer manager (CM) to use in paricular situations. Specifically, you can specify the following:

• Different starting lineups that will be used based on the opposing starting pitcher, the DH rule, and possibly the schedule date.
• The players that should be considered when the CM wants to make a subsitution in the starting lineup.
• The pitchers that make up your starting rotation.
• The pitchers that should be considered when the CM wants to replace a starting pitcher with a spot starter.
• The pitchers that should be considered when the CM wants to bring in a reliever in a variety of game situations. These situations are divided into the typical roles: long man, middle relief, setup (vsL and vsR), and closer (vsL and vsR).

When and how often the CM will use a player is actually guided by three factors: (1) the playing time limit settings, (2) the fatigue status of a team's pitchers, (3) and the settings in the team profiles. To see how these factors impact the CM's decision, let's consider an example where the CM is looking for a closer and the current batter is left-handed. In this situation he will do the following to determine which pitcher he will choose from the list of relievers specified in the team profile:

1. Because it is a closer situation, the CM will look for a pitcher listed under the Closer vLHB section of the team profile.
2. Next, the CM will remove all tired pitchers from the list. Pitchers are considered tired if their batters faced total is greater than their durability.
3. If there are no players left on the list, the CM will repeat step 2 using the list of players for other roles (in this order: closer vRHB, setup vLHB, setup vRHB, middle relief, and long man) until step 2 produces at least one choice, or no pitchers are found.
4. If step 3 finds at least one option, the CM will pick a pitcher from the list based on the frequency setting for that player in the team profile (Often, Sometimes, Rarely). However, if playing time limits are enabled, and there is at least one pitcher on the list that is not overused, the computer will skip players that have reached their playing time limit (as determined by the usasge calculatiom setting).
5. If step 4 does not find a single option, the bullpen is depleated and the current pitcher will remain in the game.

A few closing comments on team profiles and player usage. The Often, Sometimes, Rarely frequencies are very useful if you are playing a season with playing time limits turned off. In this case the resulting player usage will closely match the frequencies (Often, Sometimes, Rarely) you specified in your profile. However, when playing time limits are enabled the resulting player usage will typically end up very close to the players' real life usage regardless of your profile frequencies. The lesson here is that profile frequencies have their biggest impact when playing time limits are disabled.