Beginning with the 2000 BRASSball season, the league employs a fully automated method of compiling and reporting player stats, standings and league leaders. The method takes advantage of the technology available to us and enables us to:
…
have every BRASSball
memberís computer version display the complete player-by-player stats for all
teams in scores of categories prior to the playing of each monthís game
…
have the up-to-date
league standings prior to the playing of each monthís games
…
have the up-to-date league
leaders in scores of categories prior to each monthís games
…
no longer burden the
individual league members with the necessity of compiling and reporting their
season stats, team leaders, team records or team stats during the season
…
have centralized stats
compilation and reporting that is free from the risks of the incomplete
information and disruption that can accompany in-season resignations of league
members
In
order to accomplish these goals, we will need to keep each of our league files
ìin syncî with each other by using the same standardized roster and stats
files, produced and distributed each month by a member of the leagueís
administrative team. It will be
mandatory for the leagueís membership to use the exact same roster files each
month and to wait until they are received to begin play.
In order to make
manageable the monthly process of handling the mass of files to be received,
downloaded, imported, manipulated, compiled and reported, the leagueís
membership must conform to certain logical and easy-to-follow game playing,
file naming and series results submission conventions. This document lays out the program and
provides all the step-by-step instructions needed to follow these mandatory
conventions.
The leagueís membership
must follow each of these instructions to the letter in order for the
process to work smoothly for all. The whole of the seasonís stats could be
jeopardized otherwise. But donít
worryótheyíre easy, they are logical, and most of us have been doing much of
this already.
Electronic delivery is
the standard and only acceptable delivery method for series results files, road
instruction MGR files, trade reports, contract signings, etc. Series results and road instructions
must be submitted as file attachments to e-mail messages. To ensure quicker down load times for
all, all series result files must be sent as a ZIP file attachment. ZIP software is now mandatory for
BRASSball League members. If you
do not have zip software, you can download a free version from the web by
visiting the following site:
http://www.winzip.com/winzip/download.htm
League Statistician: Brian
Budzyn
Backup League Statistician:
Vaughn Nuest
Refer to the BRASSball League Constitution for the instruction, series
results, etc. deadlines.
You are now mandated to use HAL for your road instructions and must
prepare a .mgr file to send to the League Statistician each month. To do so, attach the .mgr file to your
instruction email message.
To create your HAL settings:
1)
Select your team in the
ìManagerî window.
2)
Select the Team option
and go to ìUpdate Computer Managerî.
3)
On the ìUpdate (Your
team) Computer Managerî window, there is a drop-down menu listing the following
three categories: Pitchers, Batters, and Manager Tendencies. Each of these options brings up a new
screen of settings for you to personalize.
4)
At the bottom, is a ìSuper
Halî button that brings up a very detailed list of settings for how each relief
pitcher should be used. Update
this if you wish to reflect the situational relief instructions you want HAL to
follow.
5)
When you finish with
ìSuper Hal Bullpen Managementî, click OK, and then SAVE on the ìUpdate XXX
Computer Managerî window.
6)
To create a .mgr file,
go to the ìTeamî menu again and select ìExport Computer Managerî.
7)
You will be prompted for
a numeric key (to prevent your road opponents from viewing your settings). Once you have entered a key (or chosen
not to), you will be presented with a dialog box that asks you to name your
.mgr file.
8)
Choose a name
(Teamname_MonthYear.MGR is a standard method), the location or folder in which
to save the file, and click Save.
This is the file you email to the League Statistician.
9)
The League Statistician
will import your teamís MGR file and provide all league members with the
official monthly LZP file with all MGR files included. Once you restore this official LZP file,
you may begin playing your monthly games.
The initial league LZP file will be sent out after March 25. It will be complete through all
off-season moves and pre-season trades. It will have the correct ballparks
programmed for each team, as well as all the BRASSball league rules programmed
for the given yearís league play.
League members must install the League LZP file into their Strat-O-Matic
Game software and the BRASSball league will be there for them and ready to play. League members must not alter or
edit the league roster files in any way. In order to preserve the
compatibility across each of our workstations, we must all be working with the
same files all season long. The
accuracy of series stats importing and all league stats is compromised if the
files become incompatible in even the slightest way, causing a very
time-consuming problem of fixing the files and possibly replaying the games.
To restore the league LZP file,
select the menu item ìLEAGUEî ý ìRESTORE LEAGUEî. Then browse for the proper LZP file you wish to restore. Pay particular attention to the file
you restore.
The rules specific to the BRASSball
League are already programmed when you load your LZP file for the first
time. Even so, please double-check
to ensure that these setting are enabled so that we are playing under the same
rules and league structure.
1)
From the Managerís
screen, select the BRASSball League.
2)
Then click on the
ìOptionsî drop down menu and select ìRulesÖî. This brings up the ìGame Rules for the BRASSball
Leagueî window. Please make sure
the following conditions have been selected in the various categories:
Main Rules: Super Advanced With BK/WP/PB
Stealing: Super Advanced
Miscellaneous: Use Miscellaneous Rules
Injuries: Do Not Use Injuries
Groundball A: Allow GBA on Pitcher Cards
BP/Weather/Clutch: select all
Strategy: Super Advanced Strategy Charts
Closer: Do Not Use Closer Rules
Pitcher Fatigue: Use SADV Fatigue Rules
3)
Click OK to close the
ìGame Rules for the BRASSball Leagueî window.
4)
Now go back to the
ìManagerî window, click on the ìOptionsî menu again and select ìLineups and
Usageî. This brings up the
ìLineups and Usage Options for the BRASSball Leagueî window. Please make sure
the following conditions have been selected in the various categories:
Visiting Team Lineup: Draft League Mode No Rest
Scheduled Days Off: Give Scheduled Days Off
Minor Leaguers: Minor Leaguers ñ INELIGIBLE
Home Team Lineup: Draft League Mode No Rest
Auto Swap: No Auto Swap-O-Matic
Overusage: Ignore Overusage
Click on the boxes at the bottom of the screen that
reads: Use ìSuper HALî Bullpen and Use ìSuper HALî Lineup Slots.
5)
Double-check to see that
your ballpark effects and weather effects (if applicable) have been entered
correctly.
In BRASSball, we employ Strat-O-Maticís
game files for statistics reporting.
Subsets are not an allowable stat submission format. After a series is done you will find
the game files in the CDROMBB\EXPORTED directory. The easiest way to find the game files for the series you
just played is look at the times of the files. Also note that there are TWO game files created for every
ONE game played ñ one for the home team and one for the visitor. You must pass along both files to your
opponents and statistician.
Always double check when starting a game that
the game files box is checked on the lineup screen!
Before you start play for a given series, please be sure to reset all
the player rest requirements by giving each team 15 days off. To do this:
1)
go to ìTeamî,
2)
then ìGive a Team a Day
Offî
3)
give the Visiting team
15 days off.
4)
Repeat for the home
team.
You can also accomplish this from the Lineup Screen ñ prior to the
first game of the series.
At the beginning of each game:
1) From the Manager window, start a ìNew Scheduled Gameî
via the button or the ìFileí menu.
2) In the ìScheduleî window, find the date of the game
you wish to play. Select the
game that involves your team. Then from the drop down menu at the top of the
window choose MANUAL. Then click
ìPlay Day.î Then on the next
window click ìManualî again. You
will then arrive at the familiar lineup screen. Carefully set up the home and visiting teamsí manager,
starting pitcher, lineups, and eligible players.
3) Check ìExport Game File Resultsî.
Not much to say here ñ you all know how
to do this. Just have a great time
and please be conscientious in following your opponentís instructions and/or to
make sure to set/import his HAL settings properly and play his team to win.
At the end of each game:
1) Click on ìGet Boxscore.î
2) After you save the results in subsets (optional since
the league requires game files), you will be given a screen dominated by a
boxscore of the just-completed game. A Box marked Report at the top probably
says ìBoxscoreî. Use the arrow drop-down menu at the right of that box to
change it to ìBoxscore, PAC and Scoresheetî. Then go up top and hit the Save button. You will then be prompted to name
the boxscore and play-by-play report file. Please always name the file with the playing date first and
the team names following, exactly like this:
Sept01CHI@STL
Please follow these
naming conventions scrupulously.
It is essential that the month is listed first so that all the files for
a given month will list themselves in order next to each other when the
opponent, statisticians or LD are making lists and working with files,
reviewing replay requests, etc.
At the end of a series:
1)
You will find that Strat-O-Matic
saves the game files automatically to the EXPORTED folder. The easiest way to find the needed
files is to reference the time column in Windows Explorer. Also remember that there are two game
files for each game played. Put
the game files for each
team in the series as well as the boxscore/play-by-play files into a zip archive named in the following manner:
SeptCHI@STL
Playing dates are not necessary for the final series
report as there is only one series fitting this description each month.
2) Send copies of the zip archive to both your opponent
and the League Statistician and Backup.
3) Send the ZIP archive as an attachment to an email
message. A series is not deemed
completed until both your opponent and the league statistician(s) have received
all necessary game files.
4)
At the end
of each month, please save all of your existing subsets onto a disk or into a
separate directory and entitle it September Subsets or something. Please save
the boxscore files, too. You are responsible for keeping a full set of your
subsets and boxscores until you learn that the league has everything it needs
from you at the end of the month.
Upon the completion of a series, a
BRASSball League member submits his series results zip archive to his opponent
and his league statistician. The
statistician uses the series results, specifically the game files, to compile
and eventually report the full player stats, league leaders, standings, etc.
for every team in the league. The
road opponent uses the series results to verify that his instructions were
followed, looks over the series results, and then takes the game files and
imports them into his stats directory.
This way, the individual BRASSball League managers have their own stats
fully imported and updated prior to the next monthís games and prior to the
date for submission of road instructions for the following month.
When you receive series
results files from an opponent here is what you need to do:
…
Download the zip file
into your favorite download directory
and unzip. Please be cautious
about downloading directly from the e-mail attachment into a game
directory. There are reports of
problems caused by this action and itís safer to download somewhere else first,
then move the downloaded files into the appropriate sombb directory.
…
Move the Boxscores/play
by play (Print files) into the CDROMBB/Print folder. You can then view/print your
boxscores.
…
Move the game files from
your opponentís attachment over to the CDROMBB/IMPORT/ folder.
After you have moved the game
files to the CDROMBB/IMPORT/ folder, go into the game and go to the
ìStatisticsî drop down menu. Click on ìImport Game Results or Subsetsî.
NOTE: When importing files, be sure that you are importing
the correct files and the correct number of files. The game files you are importing should show a game date and
team abbreviation for easy identification.
Your import folder window will then
display on the screen. Double-click on your teamís subset and another box
should open listing all the game files in that folder (yours and your
opponentís) and the word ìYesî should appear after the file name. If so then
Click the ìImportî button and you should get the message ìX files importedî.
Verify that the amount of files imported is correct.
Your stats have now been updated.