>Topic<Action-Strategy Baseball

Action-Strategy Baseball is a Baseball game that combines action (pitching, hitting, and fielding) with strategy (player characteristics:  speed and power, pitcher characteristics:  best and worst pitches, and managing decisions:  relief pitchers, pinch running and hitting, bunting, stealing, fielding positions, etc.).  The following help screens should give you all the information you need to know to play Action-Strategy Baseball.  First time players may want to read the help file all the way through before playing.

To elimintate "flicker" on color Macs, switch your monitor to black-and-white mode.

To start a new game, click on the "Play Ball" button on the title screen.  If you want to have a team you created play, click on either the "Home Team" or "Visitors Team" button before starting the game.  You will be asked to select the team from disk.  You may then change the starting lineup and select the starting pitcher.

If you do not select a team for either Home or Visitors, a default team will play.  The default team will be called either "Home" or "Visitors" and its players characteristics will all be average (0.5).  The pitcher's best pitch will be a fast ball, and their worst pitch will be a slider.  The batter's names will be Batter 1, Batter 2, etc., and the pitchers will be named Pitcher 1, Pitcher 2, etc.  See the "Team Characteristics" later in is help file for more information on player's attributes.

To save a game in progress, select "Save current game" from the File menu.  The current game will be saved (in a file you specify).  Any teams playing in the game will be locked so that they may not start a new game until the saved game is finished or aborted (by resuming the game and ending it with the "End Game" command).

To restore a game in progress, select "Resume saved game" from the File menu.  You will then be prompted to locate the game you wish to resume.

>Topic<Team Characteristcs

With Action-Strategy Baseball, you can create you own teams.  Teams consist of players (hitters and runners) and pitchers (who do not bat - consider this the American League).

Team Players:  Each team has 12 players.  The first nine players are your starting lineup, and the final three players are available for pinch hitting and running.  You get the opportunity to change the lineup (team order) every time you load a team.  Each player has two characteristcs:  speed and power.  Speed and power ratings range from 0.1 to 1.0 for each player.  Your team gets a total of 13 points which can be split any way you want between player's speed and power.  Points do not need to be evenly distributed between players or speed and power.  You can create super-human players (speed=power=1.0) or 98 pound weaklings (speed=power=0.1).

Power:  Power determines how hard the player can hit the ball.  For example, players with a high power rating are much more likey to hit homeruns than players with low power ratings.  The speed at which balls travel in the infield are a function of the player's power.  The type of outfield hits (line drives, pop-ups, and deep fly balls) are also a function of the player's power.

Speed:  Speed determines how fast a player runs the bases.  Higher speed ratings give better chances that a player can steal a base, avoid a double play, bunt for a hit, advance extra bases (first to third on a single, score from second on a single, score from first on a double, etc.), or tagup successfully.

Pitchers:  Pitchers also have two characteristics:  good pitch and bad pitch.  Each pitcher can throw five pitches: fast ball, curve ball, breaking ball, slider, and change-up.  The pitcher's good pitch is more effctive than the others, and the pitcher's  bad pitch is less effective than the others.  You will also want to keep track of the number of pitches a pitcher has thrown.  As that number goes up, the pitcher becomes more tired and thus less effective (fast balls aren't quite as fast; balls don't break as much).  At the end of a game, the pitchers "rest", and that number is reduced by a certain amount for every pitcher on your team.  You will probably want to rotate your starting pitchers so they are "fresh" for each game.

Hints:  You may want to make one player a pinch hitter by setting the player's power to 1.0 and speed to 0.1.  You may also want a pinch runner by setting speed to 1.0 and power to 0.1.  To maximize the points available to the rest of the team, you may also want a "bench warmer" whose power and speed are 0.1.

>Topic<Creating and Editing Teams

Teams can be created or edited only from the title screen.  To create a team, click on the Create Team button.  To edit a team, click on the Edit Team button.  Editing a team does not allow you to change a player's speed or power rating, or to change a pitcher's best and worst pitches, so make sure to create your team well.

Team Players:  You first get to set the player's names and attributes.  Enter their names in the name text boxes.  Player's names can be up to fifteen characters in length.  Using the up and down arrows next to the player's attributes, you can increase/decrease the player's speed and/or power.  The total number of attribute points left for your team is displayed at the top of the screen.  Make sure to use up all your attribute points.  Choose your attributes carefully, since you will NOT be able to change them after creating your team - editing a team does not allow you to change a player's attributes.  You can change player's names at any time by editing the team, as well as switching your batting order (players 1 through 9 bat, and players 10 through 12 are on the bench and available as pinch hitters/runners).  To change a player's name, simply type a new one.  To switch two players in the lineup, type in the player's numbers (1-12) and click on the Switch button.  To clear a player's statistics (average, etc.), enter the player's number and click on the Clear button.  Press OK to save changes, Cancel to cancel the operation, or View Stats to see the team's statistics.

Pitchers:  The final step to creating a team is to input the five pitchers.  First give each pitcher a name.  The pitcher's names can be up to 15 characters in length.  Finally, select the pitcher's best pitch and worst pitch.  A pitcher will be able to throw the best pitch better than average, and the worst pitch worse than average.  The best and worst pitch can not be the same pitch.  When editing a team, you will not be able to change a pitcher's best or worst pitch.  If you wish to clear a pitcher's statistics, enter that pitcher's number (1-5) and click on the Clear button.  To view the team's statistics, click on the View Stats button.  Clicking on OK will create the team (or save it when editing).  Clicking on Cancel will cause any changes to the team to be discarded (or cause the team not to be created).

If you are selecting a team to play in the game (by clicking on Home Team or Visitors Team from the Baseball title screen), you will automatically be able to edit the team (perhaps to change the starting lineup or batting order).  After clicking on OK from the pitcher's screen, you will be asked which pitcher you want to start the game.

If you want to save a game in progress, make sure that both teams and the saved game file reside in the same folder.

>Topic<Team Statistics

Statistics are kept for each team.  To view a team's statistics, you can select View Home Team or View Visitors Team under the special menu while playing a game, or at various other places (team editing dialogs, and pinch hitter/runner and relief pitcher dialogs) by clicking the View Stats button.

General team statistics inlcude the wins, losses, games and innings played, total runs given up, and the total number of errors made by the team as a whole.  For each player, the statistics screen shows: PW (player's power), SP (player's speed), AB (at bats), SI (singles), DB (doubles), TP (triples), HR (homeruns), TH (total hits), KO (strike outs), BB (walks), AVE (average), RBI (rbi's), SB (stolen bases), and SBA (stolen base attempts).  For each pitcher, the statistics screen shows:  W (wins), L (losses), S (saves), KO (strike outs), BB (walks), IP (innings pitched - the decimal shows the fraction of an inning where .1 means one third of an innng and .2 means two thirds of an inning), PIT (pitches, remember that at the end of every game the number of pitches thrown is decreased to represent the pitcher "resting" between games), RGU (earned runs given up), ERA (era), BP (best pitch), and WP (worst pitch).

>Topic<The Pitch Screen

The pitch screen is where the game statistics are shown.  In addition to pitching and hitting here, you can position fielders, steal, bunt, show instant replays of the previous fielding play, select relief pitchers, and substitute pinch runners and hitters into the game.  Note:  The fielding team should use the keyboard, the batting team the mouse.

Game statistics shown:  The pitch screen shows the number of runs, hits, and errors for each team.  The fielder's positions are show (infield and outfield).  The name of the team at bat is also shown.  The number of pitches the current pitcher (for the fieldeing team) is dislpayed.  The current batter's information (average, homeruns, and rbi's as well as speed and power) is shown.  The number of ball, strikes, and outs are shown here, and finally, the pitcher's name followed by his/her best/worst pitch (where F=Fast, C=Curve, B=Breaking, A=Change-up, and S=Slider).

Shifting Fielders:  The outfield can play shallow, medium or deep.  The infield can play left, middle, right.  The infield can also be at normal depth or play in (to reduce the possibilty a bunt is successful or to increase the chance of double plays, etc.).  Select the fielder's positions from the Special menu.  The fielding positions for each team are remembered (so when you switch sides, the fielders adjust accordingly).

Pitching:  You will see a ball on the pitching rubber before each pitch.  The pitch will begin from this location.  Use the "Z" and "X" keys to move the ball left or right on the rubber.  The batter will not see the ball move (neither will you), so that the batter can be "suprised" at the location where the pitch starts.  Using "R", the pitcher can redraw the ball at its current location on the pitching rubber (in case the pitcher forgets where the ball is).  To pitch, press "F" for a fast ball (the ball moves quickly in a straight line), "C" for a curve ball (curves out by the piching rubber, curves in by the plate), "S" for a slider (curves towards the batter near the plate), "B" for a breaking ball (breaks away from the batter near the plate), or "A" for a change-up (starts out like a fast ball, but slows abruptly).  If a ball crosses the plate (which disappears when the pitch is thrown), it will be a strike.  Note that for two player games, the pitcher will not be able to pitch the ball unless the batter has the cursor over the batter control area (swing, check swing, bunt, and steal).

Relief Pitchers:  To put a relief pitcher into the game, select Relief Pitcher from the Special menu (or use the command key equivalent), and select the new pitcher.  Remember, a pitcher tires and becomes less effective the more pitches thrown.

Hitting:  The bat is located to the left of the plate.  To swing, click on Swing in the batter control area of the pitch window.  Pressing Check Swing will stop the bat.  If not checked in time, a strike will be called.  If the ball is hit when checking, the player's power will be reduced for that hit (affecting the ball's speed and trajectory in the outfield).  The direction and field where the ball goes is determined by direction the ball is breaking and the position of the bat (if you get around, the pitch will go to left field, if you swing late the ball will go towards right field).  The way the ball acts (speed, direction, and trajectory in the outfield) after it is hit depends of factors such as the power of the hitter, the kind of pitch thrown, whether or not the batter got around on the pitch, where the pitch was located, and the wind factor (for balls hit to the outfield high enough to be affected by the wind).

Bunting:  To bunt, press Bunt while the pitch is coming.  Bunt to advance runners or to try for an infield hit.  Player's speed plays heavily into whether a bunt is successful or not.  If the infield is playing in, the success of a bunt is reduced.

Instant Replays:  To view a replay of the last fielding play, select Instant Replay from the Special menu.  While viewing a replay, press "S" for slow motion or "R" for regulat motion.

Pinch hitters/runners:  To put a pinch hitter into the game, select Pinch Hitter from the Special Menu or click on the bat.  Select the player to hit (once a player is replaced, that player will not be available for the rest of the game).  To put a pinch runner into the game, click on a runner or select Pinch Runner from the Special menu (and select a base).  Select the player to pinch run.

Viewing Team Statistics:  To view either the Home or Visitor's team statistics, select View Home Team or View Visitor's Team from the special menu.

Saving/Ending a game:  To save the current game, select Save Current Game from the File menu.  Saving a game in progress will lock the teams playing so that they may not start a new game (once a game is resumed, the save game file is deleted and the teams unlocked).  To end the current game, select End Game from the File menu.

>Topic<Fielding

General:  In order to successfully field a ball, you need to catch the ball in the fielder's glove.  If the ball hits any part of your body, an error will result.

Infield:  Your infielder can move left and right ("Z" and "X"), switch the direction the fielder is facing ("/" [slash]), and dive in the direction the fielder is facing (spacebar).  You can move in either direction no matter which direction the fielder is facing.  If you dive and catch the ball in your glove, your only play will be to first base (and you won't always get the runner out).

Outfield:  Your outfielder can move forwards and backwards ("Z" and "X"), move the glove up to catch the ball in the air, or down for a basket catch ("/" [slash] to toggle between the two - you start out with your glove down), jump in the air to catch balls that may go over the fielder's head ('.' [period]), or dive forwards (spacebar).

Tagging up:  After a catch is made in the outfield, a runner may tag up.  Do so by pressing the mouse button quickly after the catch (if you're too slow, the runner won't tag up).  The lead runner will tag up (don't bother tagging up from first because you'll be thrown out every time).  Watch what field the ball is hit to, especially if the runner is tagging up from second base, since this will affect your chances at success.  Runner speed and ball depth also affect your chances at success (if the fielder has to dive to catch the ball, the success rate increases dramatically).

Strategy:  If the wind is blowing out, or a powerful hitter is at bat, you may want to play the outfielders deep.  This will prevent the ball from being hit over your head.  If the ball is hit over your head, the closer your fielder is to where the ball hits, the less chance the runner will make it to third.

>Topic<Preferences

Keyboard Settings:  Using the Keys command in the Preferences menu, you can change the key settings.  Case doesn't matter for alphabetic characters.  The key settings will be saved when you quit Baseball.  To revert to the keyboard defaults as defined in the help screens, click on Revert.

Sound:  If you have system version 6.0.2 or later, the digitized sound option will be available (and is automatically chosen for you at startup).  Select Digitized Sound from the Preferences menu to toggle sound on/off.

>Topic<Playing Against the Computer

You can play against a computer controlled team.  To do so, select either "Home Team" or "Visitors Team" from the Computer menu.  You can also select the skill level of the computer team from the Computer menu.  The skill levels are Little League, Minor League, Major League and World Champions.  The Little League team has slow fielders who aren't skilled (brave?) enough to dive for the ball.  Minor League players move slow, but can dive.  Major League players are a bit faster in the field, but World Champions move the quickest.  Team characteristics (speed and power) are also better for the more skilled teams.

Computer Team's Statistics:  The computer team's record is saved at the end of a game.  This way, you can keep track of how well the computer teams play.  Each skill level has a seperate record.  To clear a computer team's record, first pick the skill level you wish to clear and select "Clear Stats" from the Computer menu.  If you want to "rest" all the computer team's pitchers without affecting other statistics, select the skill level and "Zero Pitches" from the Computer menu.  Do this if all the computer team's pitchers have high pitch counts.

Note:  The computer will not pitch until the cursor rests over the batting options.

>Topic<Credits

Action-Strategy Baseball was written using Symantec's THINK Pascal version 4.0.

Fielder Artwork:  John Conti

Helpful suggestions/bug reports:  David Friedman, Michael Bond, Jeff Kushner, Geoff Kinnel, and Bob Nordling

Finally, thanks to all those who have the generosity to register their copy of my sharware programs (as well as other's shareware programs).  It's you who make the shareware concept in Macintosh software continue!

>Topic<Closing Comments

Remember to use regular baseball strategies when playing Action-Strategy Baseball.  For example, hit and run to avoid double plays, hit to the right side to advance a runner at second base, pitch out if you think the runner is going, and put pinch hitters and runners into the game during the late innings if you're behind.  Please feel free to write me about your comments, suggestions, or bug reports even if you do not wish to register for my shareware programs (see the About screen for my address).  Please enjoy the game!