Table of Contents

Selecting Managers, Teams, Pitchers, and DH Usage

The Play tab in the Main window is the place to go when you are ready to play some baseball.  From the Play tab you can create or manage a season schedule, play a scheduled game, or play an unscheduled game.  In addition, from this tab you can specify what teams are playing, who will manage the teams (the computer or a human), who will be the starting pitcher, if the designated hitter (DH) rules will be used for this game, and the starting lineups.  This section discusses selecting the managers, teams, starting pitchers, and DH rules.

Selecting Managers

Before playing a game, you can decided who who will manage the teams that are about to match up.  By default, the away team will be managed by a computer manager and the home team will be managed by a human manager.  If you want to change these defaults, simply check or uncheck the Use Computer Manager checkboxes located near the top of the away and home team lineups. 

The most common scenario is for you to manage one team while the computer manages the other team.  However, it is possible for both teams to be managed by a computer manager, in which case you play the spectator role, or for both teams to be managed by you, in which case you make the managerial decisions for both teams.

Selecting Teams

The Away Team drop-down list and the Home Team drop-down list box on the Play tab display which teams will be playing against each other.  If you have associated a team logo for the selected teams they will also be displayed. See Editing Teams for more information about specifying a team logo.  If you are playing an unscheduled game, you can select both the away and home teams.  However, the same team cannot be selected as both the away team and the home team.  If you are playing a scheduled game (see Scheduling Games), the team drop-down list boxes will be pre-populated with the teams scheduled to play, and you will not be able to change them. 

Selecting Starting Pitchers

When you select a team, the computer will automatically choose a starting pitcher.  The chosen starting pitcher will be displayed in the Starting Pitcher drop-down list boxes.  You are free to change the default starting pitchers when playing either a scheduled or unscheduled game.  To help you choose a pitcher, you can hover the mouse over any pitcher in the drop-down list box to see a summary of their real life pitching statistics.  In addition, you can ask the computer manager to pick a starting pitcher using one of three different methods:

  • Default Starter: The computer manager will do its best to pick the most qualified starter.
  • Load From Profile: Clicking this button will cause the computer manager to suggest a starting pitcher using the Team Profile for the currently selected team.
  • Load From As-Played: Clicking this button will cause the computer manager to suggest a starting pitcher using the as-played lineups stored in the current schedule (see Managing a Season for information about as-played lineups).  This option is only available if you are playing a scheduled game and the schedule contains as-played lineups.

Selecting the DH Rules and Day/Night Option

The DH rules and day/night options are specified at the bottom of the Play tab.  If you want the game to use the DH, be sure to check the Use Designated Hitter checkbox located in the bottom-left corner of the Play tab.  If you want the game to be played during the day, be sure to check the Day Game checkbox.  NOTE: If you are playing a scheduled game, you cannot override the day/night options specified in the schedule.