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PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE

FPS Baseball Information

    LEAGUE OVERVIEW
      The PBL uses a program by Sierra called FPS (Front Page Sports) Baseball Pro. The player's perfomances in the game are based on their MLB statistics for the 2001 season, but after the 1st season, the PBL will take on a life of its own. At the end of each season, players are subject to the effects of aging, with some players electing retirement. Real high-school and college players are generated for the amateur draft, each with abilities ranging from one-dimensional players who may never play in games, through the players of average skill, to the star players who may eventually be elected to the Hall of Fame.
      As players age, the younger ones see improvements in their skills while the skills of older players decline.

      Although winning and losing happens on the field, it is guided and planned in the front office. As Owner and General Manager of a team, you will be faced with the challenge of building and maintaining an organization that will be competetive for more than just the current season. You will be faced with the loss of players due to injuries, retirement, or simply the effects of age. You will need to field a competitive team with the depth to endure injuries to key players, yet you must keep an eye on the future, developing the kind of players that can be the cornerstone of your organization for the next 20 years.
    ROSTERS
      Each team in the PBL has a 40 man roster, divided into an active roster and a reserve roster. The active roster holds the players who are available for use during games and the reserve roster contains players on your top minor league team (AAA) or on the disabled list (DL). From opening day until August 31st, the active roster can have a maximum of 25 players. After September 1st, teams may expand the active roster to as many as 40 players by promoting players from AAA. The total number of players, however, still may not exceed 40.

      During the regular season you may move players between the active roster and AAA freely at any time. You may place injured players on the disabled list at any time, but once placed there, they must remain there for 15 days. A maximum of 15 players may be on the DL and AAA at any given time.

      In addition to your 40 man roster, each team has a separate low minors roster. The low minors roster represents the team's farm system and may hold a maximum of 10 players. To qualify for the low minors a player must be 25 years old or younger. Players are assigned to the low minors when they are drafted in the amateur draft. Players may be promoted from the low minors to the 40 man roster at any given time, but once promoted, they may not be returned to the low minors roster. He must be released (and exposed to a claim by all 29 other teams) and then resigned in order to be placed back in the low minors.
      A player traded from a team's roster may be placed on the new team's low minors roster, if he meets the requirements.
    PLAYER RATINGS
      All players have several basic ratings, which range from 0 to 99. These numbers indicate the player's current skill levels. The higher the numeric rating, the more skill the player possesses. The lower the rating, the lower the skill level. The average rating in all catagories is 50. The ratings are divided into two catagories: Batting/Fielding and Pitching. However, since pitchers can bat, and batters may occasionally pitch, all players are rated in both catagories.

      In the PBL, certain skill ratings will change during the course of a player's career, improving from work during spring training and slowly declining as the player ages.

      Each player has three different sets of ratings, which are used at various points:

      Actual ratings represent the player's normal performance levels as shown on the roster page. Actual ratings do not change during the season.

      Potential ratings represent the maximum level a player may reach in his career. You will never actually see a player's potential ratings, they are a hidden value. A player's actual ratings may increase during spring training and aging, but will never surpass the level of his potential ratings.

      Effective ratings are up-to-the-minute player ratings used during a game. The effects of injuries, pitcher fatigue and any situational modifiers are reflected in a player's effective ratings.

BATTING/FIELDING RATINGS
ABVRATINGDESCRIPTION
CHContact HittingThis rating indicates how often a player makes contact, putting the ball into play.
PHPower HittingThis rating indicates how hard the player hits the ball.
SPSpeedThis rating indicates how fast the player runs.
GFGroundball/FlyballThis rating indicates how likely the batter is to hit the ball on the ground or in the air. A batter with a high GF rating hits more on the ground, a player with a low GF rating hits more in the air.
PLPullThis rating indicates how likely the batter will pull the ball. A batter whose pull is 70 or more is a strong pull hitter. A player whose pull is near 50 is more of a spray hitter. A player whose pull is 30 or less is an opposite field hitter
vLvs LefthandersSituational modifier when the batter faces left-handed pitchers.
SCScoring PositionSituational modifier when the batter has runners in scoring position.
CLCLSituational modifier when the batter is in a game that is close and late.
Hmat HomeSituational modifier when the batter is playing at home.
ASArm StrengthThis rating indicates how far and how accurate a player can throw the ball.
FAFielding abilityThis rating indicates how well the player plays the defensive position with that rating.

PITCHING RATINGS
ABVRATINGDESCRIPTION
HRHolding RunnersThis rating indicates how effectively the pitcher holds baserunners.
ENEnduranceThis rating indicates how many pitches a pitcher can throw in a game before losing his effectiveness. While this rating determines the number of pitches that can be thrown before tiring, the value of the rating does not represent the actual number of pitches.
COControlThis rating indicates how accurately the pitcher throws at his target location.
GFGroundball/FlyballThis rating indicates how likely the batter is to hit the pitcher's pitch in the ground or in the air. A pitcher with a high GF rating gets more pitches hit on the ground, a pitcher with a low GF has more hit in the air.
ASArm strengthThis rating is used to determine the speed of the pitcher's fastball.
FBFastballThis is the standard pitch that nearly every pitcher has in his repertoire. It's flight path is essentially straight from the pitcher's hand to the targeted location in the strike zone.
CBCurveballThe basic breaking ball, this pitch curves down and away from a batter from the same side of the plate as the pitcher is throwing.
CUChange-upAlso known as on off-speed pitch, the change-up is about 15 MPH slower than the pitcher's fastball.
SLSliderA cross between a fastball and a curve, a slider breaks away from the same-handed batter like the curveball. The slider has more horizontal break than a vertical break.
SISinkerAlso known as a two-seam fastball, the sinker is thrown with near fastball velocity and as a sharp break downwards at the plate.
SCScrewballA "reverse curveball", this pitch breaks toward the same-handed batter.
KNKnuckleballA pitch thrown with almost no spin, the knuckleball is susceptible to any random air currents between the mound and plate and breaks very unpredicatably.
A pitcher may have a rating for each of the seven pitches, but will use only his 4 best in a game
vLvs LefthandersSituational modifier when the pitcher faces left-handed batters.
SCScoring PositionSituational modifier when the pitcher pitches with runners in scoring position.
CLCLSituational modifier when the pitcher pitches with the game close and late.
Hmat HomeSituational modifier when the picher is pitching at home.


    PLAYER HEALTH
      In the PBL, as in real life, players may be injured. Injuries may be minor, resulting in a reduction of abilities for a period of days, or serious enough to end a player's career.

      If a player is injured during a game, look at his team's injury report to find out the severity of the injury and how long the player is expected to be hurt. If the player is listed as "day-to-day", he may be used in games, but he will heal more slowly than if he is allowed to rest. If a player is listed as "expected OUT for", some period of time, he cannot be used in a game.

        HEALING
          Injured players heal a little bit every day. The amount that they heal depends on how they are used each day. A player who plays most of a game will not heal very much. One who appears briefly in a game will heal more and one who does not play at all will heal the most. A player heals fastest when he is placed on the Disabled List (DL), but a player cannot be brought back from the DL for at least 15 days, even if he fully recovers from his injury sooner.

          Some players may incur injuries that will leave them listed as "day-to-day" for an extened period of time. If a player continues in this state for more than a few days, you should consider placing him on the DL.
    PLAYER AGING
    PLAYER RETIREMENT
      At the end of each season each player decides whether to return for another season or to retire. Factors involved in their decision include the number of seasons they have played, how well they performed in the previous season and how well their team perfomed in the previous season. Any player who suffers a career-ending injury (CEI) will retire as well.
    PITCHING STAFF ORGANIZATION
    ALL-STAR GAME
      At about mid-season, all teams have 3 days off so that the All-Star game can be played on the 2nd day. The All-Star teams are divided into two teams, American and National League. They are selected by the computer at the time the game is played and are based on their current statistics as well as their rated abilites.
    PLAYOFF SCHEDULES
      After the regular season has been played, the best team from each division and 1 wildcard team from each league will advance to the postseason. The following table lists the lengths of each round of the playoffs:

      RoundNumber of gamesSchedule
      League Division series5H-H-A-A-H
      League Championship series7H-H-A-A-H-A-H
      World Series Championship7H-H-A-A-H-A-H
    HALL OF FAME
      Players who have shown outstanding performance over the course of their career may be nominated for election into the PBL Hall of Fame. To be eligable for nomination, a player must at least 10 years experience and must have made a certain impact during his years in the PBL. Nominated players are eligable for election 5 years after retirement and remain eligable for 15 years.

      Each year, the most qualified retirees are elected for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame, but only a limited number are selected each year. Marginally qualified players may find themselves at the bottom of each year's eligibility list and may never get elected into the Hall before becomng ineligable, but given a period of time when the relative level of player accomplishment is low, the marginally qualified player may get enshrined.

      Player accomplishments are measured statistically for each season and for the player's career as a whole. Players are given credit for each statistical accomplishment as well as reaching certain "magic" milestones, such as 3000 hits or 300 wins and a host of others. If a player wins any seasonal award or is an important member of winning teams, particularly if he plays an important defensive position such as catcher or shortstop, he will have a greater chance of becoming nominated and elected.
    AWARDS