APBA Major League Players Baseball ================================== [Dox by Pac-Rat] [ Complete Documentation ] - INTRODUCTION APBA Major League Players Baseball puts you in the dugout as a manager of your favorite baseball team! The game is intended to be played by two players, each managing one team, but it can also be played by one player managing both teams. With the draft disk, you can set up your own league and organize teams, with players of your own choice. The game simulates much of the complex decision making that goes on in a real baseball game. Before the game starts, you choose which teams you want to manage, and then your starting line-ups. Once the game begins, the defensive manager has several strategic options of his opwn. Bringing in relievers, pinch hitting, intentional walks, hitting and running are just a few of the strategic decisions to be made. Sometimes you will even have to make quick base running and throwing decisions, just like in the real game. - SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS To play APBA Major League Players Baseball you must have an Apple //c or //e with 128K RAM and an 80-column card, two 5 1/4 floppy disk drives, and a monitor. - QUICK START (for complete game set-up, check next section) Starting from the Rules and Data Screen, follow the instructions below and you will soon be playing APBA Major League Players Baseball. The program will prompt you when you need to change disks. If at any point you make an inputting error, you can often back out of it by pressing the [ESC] key. 1. Press [RETURN]. The Team Selection Screen will appear. 2. Press [SHIFT] and [1] simultaneously. Wait for the division champions team name to appear under HOME. 3. Press [B]. 4. Press [SHIFT] [2] simultaneously. Wait for the other division champion's team to appear under VISITING. 5. Insert Side B of the Data Diskette in drive 2. Press [RETURN] to continue. The visiting team roster will appear. 6. Press [L]. 7. Press [1]. The visiting team's starting line-up will appear. 8. Press [RETURN]. The home team roster will appear. 9. Press [L]. 10. Press [1]. The home team's starting line-up will appear. 11. Insert the Play By Play diskette in drive 2. Press [RETURN] to continue. The Game Screen will appear. (Press [ESC] if you wish to shorten the National Anthem) 12. Press [P]. 13. Press [RETURN]. You're playing this year's league championship! Use the 'Quick Reference Card' for a summary of your managerial options. Important Notes: [CONTROL] [X] will end the game at any time and start over. - RULE, TEAM AND LINE-UP SELECTION Once BASEBALL is loaded, you can start playing with just a few keystrokes. [Rules and Data Screen] Using [SHIFT] [1], choose to play with a designated hitter (DH) or without a designated hitter. Your choice is highlighted. The DH option has been implemented according to the Official Baseball Rules. If you choose to play with a DH, certain managerial moves may nullify your right to use a DH (for example-announcing a defensive player at the DH spot in the batting order after the game has begun). If you attempt to make such a move, a warning will appear on your screen. Using [SHIFT] [2], choose the length of time available for dynamic decisions - Professional (10 seconds), Semi-pro (15 seconds), or Amateur (20 seconds). Your choice is highlighted. Using [SHIFT] [3], choose to play with or without sound. Your choice is highlighted. Using [SHIFT] [4], choose the speed at which you wish the outcomes to show Regular for dramatic play, Quick for "no pause" play. Using [SHIFT] [5], determine which Data Disk you have inserted. After using the shift keys to specify the rules, insert side A of the Data Diskette, press [RETURN], and the Team Selection Screen will appear. [Team Selection Screen] Teams are arranged by organization, league, and division. The game comes with 676 players organized by the leagues and cities in which they play. You can play these teams immediately. To select a team, follow these steps. 1. Choose the organization you wish to play with by pressing [1] through [6]. (Before drafting your own teams, you will have only one choice: PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL.) Your choice will be highlighted. 2. Select a division using [A] through [L]. (Before drafting your own teams, your choices are [A], [B], [G], and [H].) Your choice will be highlighted. The teams in this division will appear under TEAMS with their won/lost records. 3. Select a team to play with using the up/down arrow keys. Your choice will be highlighted. 4. Indicate whether this team is the home or visiting team. Press [SHIFT] [1] to choose the home team and [SHIFT] [2] to choose the visiting team. 5. Repeat these steps to choose a second team. 6. When you have chosen two teams, press [RETURN]. Insert side B of the Data Diskette and press [RETURN] to continue. The Line-up Screen for the visiting team will appear. Important Notes: You may change your mind about which teams to play for as long as you remain on the Team Selection Screen. Simply follow steps 1-4 above. Your new selection will replace the team you had previously selected. To play teams from different years or Data Diskettes against each other, load the first team following the procedure above, then switch Data Diskettes, press [SHIFT] [5], and load the second team. You may play any team from any organization against any other team. You may even play a team against itself. [The Line-up Screen] The name and year of the team is in the upper right hand corner. The line-up will be displayed in the upper left of the screen. The roster for the team appears in the lower half of the screen. On the roster, non-pitchers star at letter A and proceed down; pitchers start at letter Z and proceed up. Non-pitchers are displayed with last name, primary position (Pos), fielding rating at that position (D), the side they bat from (B), and running speed (Sp). Pitchers are displayed with last name, the arm they throw with (T), pitching grade (always as a starter, if they started during the actual season) (Gr), and control letters (Ctrl). Grades of relievers are marked with an asterisk. See THE PLAYER SCREEN for a further explanation of player performance ratings. [Announcing a Line-up] You may either use a pre-stored line-up or announce players individually. [Announcing a Prestored Line-up] Space has been provided for five prestored line-ups in the upper righthand corner of the screen. A frequently used line-up for each team is provided as choice 1. After you have saved your own line-ups they will also appear on the list. To load a prestored line-up: 1. Press [L]. 2. Select a number from [1] through [5]. Loading a line-up erases all previously announced players. The names of the players on the starting line-up are displayed,followed by their defensive position and fielding ratings. Totals are given for team and infield fielding ratings. If a designated hitter (DH) was stored in the line-up and you are not now playing with the DH, the DH will be dropped from the line-up and the pitcher,if there was one, will appear batting ninth. If a DH does not appear in the prestored line-up and you have chosen to play with one, the pitcher, if there was one, will be moved out of the batting order automatically,and you will need to select a DH. [Announcing Individual Players] To help make line-up decisions, you can display the complete player statistics. 1. Press [D]. 2. Press either [A]...[Z] or the batting number [1]...[9] of the player to be studied. The Player Screen will appear. For a complete description of the player ratings, see THE PLAYER SCREEN section. [Adding a Player to the Line-up] After selecting a player to announce, follow the steps below to add him to the line-up: 1. Press [A] to start an announcement. 2. Press [A]...[Z] to select the player. 3. Press [1]...[9] (or [P] if you elected to use designated hitters) to select his place in the batting order. 4. Press [1]...[9] (or [D] if you elected to use designated hitters) to select his defensive position. 5. The selected player and his ratings will appear in the line-up and his name will be highlighted in the roster. 6. Repeat this process until you have a valid defensive line-up. [Correcting a Line-up] Check the line-up to make sure it is the one you want. If the line-up is incorrect, press [R] for Remove followed by [1]...[9] or [P] to remove the incorrect player. Announce the correct player in the vacant position. BASEBALL will tell you if your line-up is invalid. Examples of invalid line-ups: you have entered two players at the same position; you are missing a player; you have an ejected or injured player in the line-up; you have not designated a defensive position for a pinch hitter, a pinch runner, or his replacement. If your line-up is invalid, make the correction as described above. After you have corrected an invalid line-up, if there is still a player marked with an asterisk, you must [M] Move that player to his proper defensive position to finish validating the line-up, even if it appears that he's already there. You may also use the [M] Move command to change the defensive position of a player without changing his line-up position. Before finalizing your line-up, you may make as many changes as you want. [Saving a Line-up] 1. Press [S]. 2. Press [1]..[5] to choose the line-up number. If a lineup already exists at that position, the new line-up will replace the old line-up. 3. Enter a name for the line-up. 4. Press [RETURN]. This line-up will be saved to the data diskette. You will be able to load this line-up with the [L] Load command in the future. Important note: [ESC] lets you back out of any incomplete command. [Completing the Line-ups] Announce a line-up for each team. When you press [RETURN] after announcing the second line-up, you are prompted to insert the Play By Play diskette. Insert thid disk, press [RETURN], and the Game Screen will appear. - PLAYING THE GAME [The Game Screen] The top part of the Game Screen displays the two line-ups, the line score with run, hit, and error totals, the inning, count, and number of outs, and a description of each play as it occurs. The current batter is highlighted and after the first inning the lead-off batter is marked with an asterisk. To the left of the "INN," on the same line, is a space reserved for up to two scorer messages. The messages and their meanings are: E1...E9 - Error on the defensive player indicated WP - Wild pitch PB - Passed ball SAC - Sacrafice bunt or fly FC - Fielder's choice On some complex plays, further scoring messages appear in the description of the play. The lower part of the Game Screen displays the diamond, the defensive alignment, the current batter (on the appropriate side of the plate), and base runners with their running speed. You will also see the base running results of each play, partial game statistics for the current pitcher (innings pitched, hits, earned runs, walks (BB), strike-outs), partial game statistics for the current batter (at bats, runs, hits, RBI), the pitch, bat, and time-out indicators, and slected managerial calls when in effect (IN, STRETCH, HOLD, HIT & RUN). Important note: A HOME RUN graphic will flash repeatedly on the scoreboard after a home run is hit. You can stop the flashing by pressing any key. Below or next to each defensive player's name are one or more ratings: For all defensive players: The first number is the fielding rating for that player at that position. For the pitcher: The arm he throws with (R-right, L-left) and his current pitching grade. For the catcher: His throwing arm rating for steal attempts. For outfielders: Their arm ratings. For offensive players you will find: For the batter: His batting type and platoon factor. For base runners: Their base speed ratings. See THE PLAYER SCREEN for complete explanations of player performance ratings. [Managerial Decisions] APBA Baseball can be a game of managerial coaching decisions. Choosing the team and the line-up are only the first of these decisions. As you play the game, the following options are availible to you: Before [P] Pitch: [H] Hold - With a runner at first base, holding him on slows the runner somewhat for stealing and base advancement and provides the chance for him to get picked off. Of course, with the first baseman nearer the bag, it is easier to hit through the right side. Holding on is automatically in effect if there is a runner on first and no one on second, unless the defensive manager turns it off by pressing [H]. Press [H] again to reinstate HOLD. [I] In - With a runner at third base, press [I] draws the infield in and increases the chance of the play being made at home on a ground ball. If you play IN, though, more ground balls will get through the infield for hits. IN must be called before each pitch to remain in effect. [S] Stretch - With a runner at third base, pressing [S] causes the pitcher to pitch from the stretch rather than from a full wind up. In all base situations except men on first and third, pitching from the stretch will prevent the runner on third from stealing home, but the pitcher will be a little but less effective against the batter. With runners on first and third, the pitcher must pitch from the STRETCH. [1]...[9] - Either manager can display the statistics for a defensive player by pressing the number of his defensive position: [1] pitcher, [2] catcher, [3] first basement, [4] second baseman, [5] third baseman [6] shortstop, [7] left fielder, [8] center fielder, [9] right fielder. See THE PLAYER SCREEN for a description of player statistics. [B] Batter - Either manager can display complete statistics for the batter by pressing [B]. [SHIFT] [1]...[SHIFT] [3] - Either manager can display complete statistics for a base runner. Press [SHIFT] [1] for the runner on first base, [SHIFT] [2] for the runner on second base, and [SHIFT] [3] for the runner on third base. [CONTROL] [D] - Allow defensive substitution. See DEFENSIVE SUBSTITUTIONS MOVES, and RELIEF PITCHING. [CONTROL] [R] - Either manager can call up an instant replay by pressing [CONTROL] [R] - If the play went more than size lines, press [CONTROL] [R] again to continue the play. [CONTROL] [Q] - Toggles the Quick Play option. Quick Play speeds up the presentation of outcomes, but it does not affect the time allowed for dynamic decisions. [W] Walk - Press [W] to intentionally walk the batter. [P] Pitch - Press [P] to pitch the ball. After [P] Pitch: No defensive commands are allowed after the pitch. Before [P] Pitch: [1]...[9] - Display defensive player's statistics by positions (see defensive options). [B] Batter - Display batter's statistics (see defensive options). [SHIFT] [1]...[SHIFT] [3] - Display base runner's statistcs (see defensive options). [CONTROL] [O] - Allows an offensive substitution, ie., inserting the pinch hitter or pinch runner. See PINCH HITTING AND PINCH RUNNING. [CONTROL] [R] - Instant replay (see defensive options). [CONTROL] [Q] - Toggles the Quick Play option (see defensive options).