Digital Diamond Baseball V11 User Guide *

This guide is designed to help users take full advantage of the game. It contains tips on how to get started, and videos that cover some of the advanced features of the game.

Getting Started

In this section we have some videos to help you start playing games! The first video below shows you how to install player libraries and start playing games using any of the four available play modes.

You can learn how to customize logos, player pictures, and ballpark images here:

Finally, learn how to use the logo auto search feature to save time adding logos to your libraries:

Viewing Rosters, Reports, and Boxscores

The following video shows you how to browse the rosters in your player stats and roster status, and generate a variety of reports:

This video demonstrates how to quickly find interesting boxscores using the the new Boxscore Search Tool:

There is also a Quick Tip section in this guide with more boxscore search examples.

The Board Game Companion

Do you like to play table-top baseball games like Strat-O-Matic, Pocket Pennant Run, and Payoff Pitch? The Board Game Companion feature allows you to score your board game results and then take full advantage of the many features built into Digital Diamond Baseball.

Table-top games that you enter into Digital Diamond Baseball will automatically have play by play, boxscore, game summaries, player of the game awards, and more. In addition, the ability to reuse teams, as-played lineups, and transactions included with Digital Diamond Baseball, allow you to complete your board games quicker and with fewer errors. Finally, all of the board games you enter into Digital Diamond Baseball will be included in the rich reporting features that the game provides -- standings, leader boards, awards, player usage, and so much more!

The following video will help you learn how to take full advantage of the Board Game Companion:

Additions in V11

Game Engine Charts

Using Multiple Chart Files

By default, the charts used by the game engine are stored in a file named ChartsUser.db. This file contains the game engine charts, including any changes you may have made to them. For most users, one chart file is all you will ever need. However, power users may find it useful to manage multiple engine chart files. This allows the user to create multiple charts and switch between them. In addition, this features allows users to easily share their chart files with other users. Chart files are always located in the root folder of the DigitalDiamondDataFilesV11 folder. You can take advantage of multiple chart files using the Chart File Name feature. The screenshot below highlights (in yellow) how to access the Chart File Name feature:


There are three different common tasks you may want to engage in when using multiple chart files:

• Create a new chart file that is populated with the default game charts. To do this, click on the Switch button and enter a chart file name that does not already exist in your DigitalDiamondDataFilesV11 folder. When you are done, a new chart file will be created and activated, and you can begin editing the new chart file using the Chart Editor.
  
• Switch between chart files. To do this, click on the Switch button, and enter the name of the file you want to switch to. That file must already be located in your DigitalDiamondDataFilesV11 folder. When you are done, the file you entered will become your active chart file and it will be used by the game engine.
  
• Use a chart file that you received from another user. To do this, save the file in the DigitalDiamondDataFilesV11 folder and then switch to that file by clicking on the Switch button and entering the name of the file you received.

Play By Play Editor

Editing Simulated Stats

Using Statis Pro Basic

Using Statis Pro Advanced

Schedule Generator

Context Sensitive Player Notes

More Goodies

Changing Managers

Digital Diamond Baseball supports changing team managers during a game. Changing the managers can only take place when the Edit Managers dialog box is visible.

This dialog can be shown three different ways:

• You can goto the Menu Button and select Edit Managers.
  
• You can click on one of the Manager Buttons displayed next to a team in the linescore.
  
• You can press control+m.

The different options available for changing team managers are:

• Setting both team managers to Human, allowing you to manage both teams. The hot key for this mode is control+1.
  
• Setting one manager to Human and the other to Computer. This allows you to manage one team and the computer manager will manage the other. The hot key for this mode is control+2 if you want to manage the away team and control+3 if you want to mange the home team.
  
• Setting the managers to Watch mode which will set both team managers to Computer and allow you to watch the game in real-time. You can exit watch mode by setting at least one of the team managers back to Human. The hot key for this is control+4.
  
• Setting the managers to Quick Watch mode, which will set both team managers to Computer and allow you to watch just the next plate appearance. After the plate appearance (or when there is a wild pitch, passed ball, or successful steal) both managers will automatically be set to Human. The hot key for this is q.

Finally, keep in mind that the Edit Managers dialog box must be visible in order to change managers during a game.

Understanding Manager Profiles

Enjoy this three part series on Manager Profiles in Digital Diamond Baseball.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

The Postseason

Done replaying a season? Check out these videos to learn how to create the postseason.

Automatically Generating the Postseason

Manually Generating the Postseason

Tracking Careers

There are two methods for tracking career statistics in Digital Diamond Baseball. The first method is used when you want to replay a series of real-life season libraries and track the career stats for all the players across those seasons. The video below gives you step-by-step instructions on how to do this in Digital Diamond Baseball.

Tracking Career Stats Across Several Season Library Replays

The second method for tracking career statistics involves Digital Diamond Baseball's Career Mode. The Career Mode feature allows you to start with a season player library and then advance it to future fictional seasons by aging the players at the end of each season. The aging process actually changes each player's stats based on their age, their performance in previous seasons, and the positions they played. The next video gives you step-by-step instructions on how take advantage of the Career Mode feature of Digital Diamond Baseball.

Tracking Career Stats Using Career Mode

Drafting

Want to mix things up a bit? This video will help you take advantage of the draft feature in Digital Diamond Baseball.

Creating Custom Libraries

Digital Diamond Baseball makes it easy for you to create your own player libraries. There are several different options available. The first method is to import teams/players from the modified Lahman database provided with Digital Diamond Baseball (the Lahman DB is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License). The following video covers this process:

The second method is to import teams/players from season libraries that you already have installed. This method takes a little bit more time, but unlike the Lahman DB method, it includes custom ratings for the players that are imported. Here is a video that shows you the process:

The remaining library creation methods are covered in other sections of this user guide.

Active Rosters/Injuries

The Active Rosters/Injuries feature is a great way to add some variety and strategy to your replays. This feature is designed to be a replacement for real-life transactions and as-played lineups. Check out this video to learn more!

Building a Fictional Library

Digital Diamond Baseball provides tools for building player libraries consisting of fictional players. The following video demonstrates how:

Quick Tip - Data Files

The DigitalDiamondDataFilesV11 folder is the folder that contains all of your libraries, backups, exports, and custom image files. For this reason, it is important to know where this folder is and to give yourself quick access to it.

The location of this folder depends on our operating system and it is always displayed in the title bar of the application.

NOTE: Staring in the Lion update for macOS, the user Library is hidden by default. Consult this help page for tips on how to make it visible again: https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/access-hidden-user-library-files.html

TIP: You can make it really easy to access your DigitalDiamondDataFilesV11 folder. This can be done on Windows by pinning the folder to the Quick Access section of the File Manager. On MacOS you can add the DigitalDiamondDataFilesV11 folder as a favorite in the Sidebar of Finder.

Quick Tip - Backup Your Files!

It is always a very good idea to backup your player libraries. We all spend many hours customizing our libraries and playing games and it is a big bummer when something happens to a library and we don't have a backup.

Making local backups on your computer's hard drive is important. But technologies like OneDrive, Google Drive, iCloud, and Dropbox make it easy to backup to the cloud. I recommend setting an automatic backup to the cloud of your DigitaDiamondDataFilesV9 folder, and this backup should run at least once a day. This is the best way to product all of your hard work.

Another good practice is to make a copy of the libraries that you install (using a different name) and to do all of your work in the copy. This practice protects you from accidentally having your library overwritten when you reinstall the original library. There is a good video in this guide that shows you a good process to follow when managing your libraries.

Quick Tip - Fonts and Colors

The User Interface Options Group allows you to adjust the font size and background color used on the game's UI. Specifically, there is an option that allows you to change the base font size used throughout the user interface, except the Play Ball Page. The Play Ball Page auto-scales the interface based on your current screen resolution.

Smaller font size values will decrease the font size and larger values will increase the font size. This allows the user to adjust fonts to accommodate their screen's resolution and eyesight. The default values are optimized for a 1440x900 screen resolution. Users with higher resolution will want to enter a larger value and users with lower resolution will want to enter a smaller value.

In addition, there is an option that allows the user to customize the background color used in many of the user interface screens. We recommend that you use a darker toned color when setting this option.

NOTE: If you generally have trouble reading small fonts on the computer, your best option is to reduce your computer's resolution. By definition, higher resolutions make fonts and other screen elements smaller. The easiest and most effective way to make your screen easier to read is to reduce your resolution.

Quick Tip - Screen Resolution Support When Playing Games

Digital Diamond Baseball supports a wide variety of screen resolutions, but the best support is for resolutions from 1280x800 up to 1920x1200. Here are some tips to taking full advantage of the game's support for different screen resolutions when playing games:
The Base Font Size option located in the User Interface Option Group is used to change the font size of all text displayed on the game screens except for the Play Ball Page. This option will not have any impact on the Play Ball Page. The Play Ball Page screen elements are controlled using Digital Diamond Baseball's auto scaling feature described next.
The Auto Scaling option located in the User Interface Option Group is used to control the appearance of the Play Ball Page. When enabled, Digital Diamond Baseball will scale the components on the Play Ball Page based on your current screen resolution. NOTE: this feature works best if you have Windows Display Settings set to 100%. In addition, you need to either restart Digital Diamond Baseball or right-click on the game screen and select "Reload Page" whenever you change your computer's screen resolution.
There are also several options that control the size of the screen elements on the Play Ball Page.
These options are available to you during a game by selecting Menu->Options.

NOTE: If you generally have trouble reading small fonts on the computer, your best option is to reduce your computer's resolution. By definition, higher resolutions make fonts and other screen elements smaller. The easiest and most effective way to make your screen easier to read is to reduce your resolution.

Quick Tip - Hot Keys

Digital Diamond Baseball has several hot keys that you can use when playing a game so you don't have to rely on the mouse as much.

Lineup Actions
0: displays detailed stats for the current pitcher.
1-9: displays detailed stats for the corresponding batters in the lineup (spots 1-9).
space: displays detailed stats for the batter currently at bat.
a: displays the bench/pen dialog box for the away team.
h: displays the bench/pen dialog box for the home team.
l: swaps the teams currently displayed in the lineup panel.

Game Actions
control+i: rotates through the many different ways to position your fielders.
control+h: toggle holding the runner.
control+w: walk the current batter.
control+r: execute a hit and run.
control+t: execute a bunt.
control+s: attempt a steal.
enter: throw a pitch or swing.

Switch Manager
control+m: display the toggle manager popup.
control+1: set managers to human vs. human (requires the manager popup to be visible).
control+2: set managers to human vs. computer (requires the manager popup to be visible).
control+3: set managers to computer vs. human (requires the manager popup to be visible).
control+4: set managers to computer vs. computer (requires the manager popup to be visible).
control+5: close the manager popup.

Fast Play
control+f: display the fast play popup.
shift+1: fast play the current half inning (requires the fast play popup to be visible).
shift+2: fast play the current inning (requires the fast play popup to be visible).
shift+3: fast play to the top of the 7th (requires the fast play popup to be visible).
shift+4: fast play to the top of the 8th (requires the fast play popup to be visible).
shift+5: fast play to the top of the 9th (requires the fast play popup to be visible).
shift+6: fast play until someone gets on base (requires the fast play popup to be visible).
shift+7: fast play until a runner is in scoring position (requires the fast play popup to be visible).
shift+8: fast play until a runs scores (requires the fast play popup to be visible).
shift+9: close the fast play popup.

Other Hot Keys
esc: hides all currently visible popup windows.
control+q: save and exit the game.
control+b: display the boxscore window.
control+c: show the bench coach dialog.
control+u: undo the last play.

Quick Tip - Import/Export Team Attributes

Digital Diamond Baseball simplifies the task of setting the names, logos, and colors of teams in your library by allowing you to export team attributes from one library and import them into another library. For example, suppose you installed the 2021 library and configured all of the team attributes. Then you install the 2020 library and want to use the same names, logos, and colors for 2020. Instead of entering this information again, you can export the team attributes from the 2021 library and import them into the 2020 library. To export the attributes from the 2021 library just click on the Export Team Attributes button. This will export the data to a file in the Export\TeamAttributes folder. The file name will be TeamAttributes-2021.txt:

Next, open the 2020 library, click on the Import Team Attributes button, select the TeamAttributes-2021.txt file, and click on the Import button. You can check the Import Division Membership checkbox if you want the the teams to be in the same divisions in your league organization that they were in for the 2021 library. If you uncheck the Import Division Membership checkbox the league organization in the 2020 library will not change.

After the import, all of the teams in your 2020 library will have the same attributes that you set in the 2021 library. This includes the city, name, logo, and colors for each team!

Quick Tip - Pitcher Fatigue

Every pitcher in Digital Diamond Baseball is given a durability rating (DUR). Durability ratings specify how many pitches a pitcher can throw before they are susceptible to fatigue. The performance of a fatigued pitcher will decrease with each additional pitch they face after they are fatigued. The durability rating shown for a pitcher is estimated. The actual durability for a pitcher can fluctuate from game to game, and is not known to the human or computer manager.

Fluctuations in a pitcher's durability is determined by library specific settings such as the durability bonus and certain manager profiles settings. These settings can alter a pitcher's durability at the start of the game. These changes to a pitcher's durability are hidden from both the computer and human manager and represent how many more or fewer pitches a pitcher can throw before becoming susceptible to fatigue

Each time a pitcher throws a pitch their pitch count increases. When the pitch count reaches their actual durability, a pitcher becomes susceptible to fatigue. This does not mean the pitcher is tired; it just means that they may be getting tired soon. Pitchers that are susceptible to fatigue will only become fatigued at the start of an inning or if they allow a base runner. When a pitcher is close to becoming tired, they will have an orange shadow box around their field icon and on-field image. When a pitcher actually becomes fatigued their icon and on-field image will have a red shadow box.

Let's look at a specific game. Suppose CC Sabathia has an estimated durability rating of 92 and his actual durability for this game is 97 (which is hidden). This means that he will become susceptible to fatigue when he has thrown 98 pitches. However, he will not actually be fatigued until he either allows a base runner, or is on the mound at the start of the next inning.

A pitcher's pitch count carries over from one game to the next. However, the number is reduced based on how much time they rest between appearances. At the end of every game, each pitcher's pitch count is decreased. By default, starting pitchers typically need around four days of rest before their batters faced total is reduced to zero. Relievers, on the other hand, are often fully rested in time for next game. However, if a pitcher pitches two games in a row, they are likely to need an extra day of rest before the are fully rested.

In Digital Diamond Baseball, a pitcher's estimated durability rating and pitch count total are displayed using the following format: durability/pitch total. For example, CC Sabathia's DUR column might look like this 92/18, which indicates that he is estimated to be able to throw up to 92 pitches before being susceptible to fatigue, and that he has thrown a total of 18 pitches.

Pitchers that qualify as both a reliever and starter use a slightly different format that looks like this: starting durability|relief durability/pitch total. For example, Ivan Nova's DUR column might look this: 84|43/12, which indicates that his estimated durability is 84 pitches when starting and 43 pitches in relief. In addition, Nova's total pitches thrown is currently 12.

Quick Tip - Custom Ratings

In Digital Diamond Baseball, custom ratings consist of the run rating, range rating, the outfield arm rating, catcher arm rating, and the pitcher hold rating. All ratings are between 1 and 5. A rating of 1 is the best and a rating of 5 is the worst. A rating of 3 represents an average rating.

When importing players using the Baseball Reference import feature, ratings are automatically included. The calculations used to determine the ratings are described below:

The range rating is based on the Rtz field provided by Baseball Reference This is the number of runs above or below average the player was worth based on the number of plays made. This value is currently only available on or after 1954. Currently, all fielders except for the pitcher and catcher are given a range rating.

The outfield arm rating is based on the Rof field provided by Baseball Reference. This is the number of runs above or below average the outfielder was worth based on baserunner kills and baserunner advance. This value is currently only available on or after 1954.

The catcher's arm rating is based on the Rctch field provided by Baseball Reference. This is the number of runs above or below average the catcher was worth based on baserunner kills and baserunner advances. This value is currently only available on or after 1954.

The pitcher's hold rating is based on the RspP field provided by Baseball Reference. This is the number of runs above or below average the pitcher was worth based on baserunner kills and stolen baserunner advances. This value is currently only available on or after 2003.

Ratings are used by the Digital Diamond Baseball game engine to determine outcomes when a play consists of a defensive or offensive advantage (Def+ or Off+). Offensive advantages occur when the run rating of the lead runner (or the batter if the bases are empty) is 2 or more ratings better than the fielder's range rating. Defensive advantages occur when the fielder's range rating is 2 or more ratings better than the run rating of the lead runner (or the batter if the bases are empty). The impact an advantage will have on a play is determined in the game engine's charts and can be edited using the Chart Editor.

If you would like to know when a Def+ or Off+ takes place during a game you can go to the the "Basic In Game" Options Group and enable the "Show Command/Column" option. This will annotate the PBP window so that it displays the type of advantage as well as the command that was used to resolve the play.

Keep in mind that if you don't agree with a player's rating you can change it! This is very easy to do. You can go to the "Player Editor" page and edit a player's rating directly, or you can import a CSV file containing user calculated ratings. Importing ratings can be done in the Player Editor. The CSV format player rating files is:

Name, Team, RatingType, Rating

Valid values for RatingType are:

• HOLD
  
• CARM
  
• RANGE1B
  
• RANGE2B
  
• RANGE3B
  
• RANGESS
  
• RANGELF
  
• RANGECF
  
• RANGERF
  
• OFARM
  
• RUN

The following is a sample import file that sets the run rating and hold rating of two players. Notice that a header is required and included as the first line in the file:

Name, Team, RatingType, Rating
Josh Martinez, MIL, RUN, 4
Cliff Jones, LAA, HOLD, 1

Custom rating import files should be placed in the Import/Ratings folder prior to executing the import.

Finally, if you decide you want to disable any or all of the custom ratings, you can do so in the "Ratings" Option Group. This does not remove the ratings from the library. As a result, you can easily enable them again at any time.

Quick Tip - Bench Coach

Are you in a close game and contemplating bringing in a pinch hitter or reliever? To help you with the decision you can call on the Bench Coach to get the combined event probability card for any possible batter/pitcher matchup in the game.

You can access the Bench Coach at any time by clicking on Menu->Bench Coach or by pressing Control+B. In the Bench Coach Dialog Box you can choose any pitcher and any batter and the combined card will automatically update with the combined probabilities for the matchup.

Quick Tip - Out Of Town Scoreboard

The Out Of Town Scoreboard feature allows you to manually play a game and keep an eye on the progress of other games being played on the same day. This feature is disabled by default and can be enabled via the In-Game Options Group. If enabled, when you are playing a manual game all other games on that day will be played simultaneously and the Out Of Town Scoreboard can be viewed by clicking on the Today's Games button located in the linescore.

The out of town games will progress as your game is progressing. When an out of town game has completed you can click on the word 'Final' in the Out Of Town Scoreboard to view that game's boxscore.

Staring with V10, it is possible to manage/manually play more than one game per day and still take advantage of the Out Of Town Scoreboard. The key is to mark the teams you want to manually play as 'favorites' (favorite teams are covered in a different section of this guide). Games featuring one or more of your team favorites can be manually played when the Out Of Town Scoreboard is enabled.

NOTE: doubleheader games will not be auto-played on the scoreboard. Instead, you should fast play the doubleheaders or play them manually if they contain the team the you are managing.

Quick Tip - Boxscore Search Tool

The Boxscore Search Tool provides a powerful interface for searching for boxscores based on a wide variety of conditions. Below are several examples of interesting queries that can be used in the Boxscore Viewer.

Road Game Shutouts Pitched by Erickson (MIN)

Come From Behind Wins For Boston

Philly Home Games Where Starter Pitched At Least 7 Innings

Philly Home Games Where Schmidt Hit a HR

Yankee Games With a Grand Slam

Quick Tip - Installing Custom Libraries

Follow these steps to install a library backup file that you have downloaded from the Internet:

1) Download the backup file
2) Run Digital Diamond Baseball
3) On the Library Page click on Restore A Backup
4) Click on "Click to select a file" and browse to the file you downloaded

This will install the player library and you will be all set to play ball!

NOTE: One popular place to download custom player libraries for Digital Diamond Baseball is: http://www.digitaldiamondbaseball.com. You can install any of these libraries by following the steps above.

Advanced Tutorial - Importing From Baseball Reference

Advanced Tutorial - Import Custom CSV Files

Advanced Tutorial - Playing the 2023 Season In Real Time

This video shows you how to replay the 2023 season as it unfolds in real time. Please be sure to watch the video on importing stats from Baseball Reference before watching this video.