DMB-Blog
2016 Annual Season Database available now!
2016: The Curse Is Broken
by Steve Ehresman
Decades from today, when old-time baseball fans gather, they will still be discussing the remarkable 2016 MLB season. For the Chicago Cubs, 2016 was the year the franchise overcame the goat, the black cat, and Steve Bartman to capture their first World Series in 108 years. No more hoodoo. No more superstition. No more--excuse the expression--scapegoats. Finally, the Cubs were real, and their fans came on down to Wrigley Field to party like it was 1908.
Beyond the media buzz surrounding the Cubs, the 2016 season demonstrated that MLB itself is in great shape going forward. Young stars have taken over the game, playing dominant roles, as baseball pushes toward the front of the line to reclaim its crown as America’s favorite professional sport.
In 2016, a cast of players under the age of 25, like Manny Machado, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Michael Fulmer (ROY), Francisco Lindor, Rougned Odor, Gary Sanchez, and Mike Trout (MVP) of the American League, along with Kris Bryant (MVP), Bryce Harper, Gregory Polanco, Corey Seager (ROY), Dansby Swanson, Noah Syndergaard, Trea Turner, and Christian Yelich of the National League, all displayed the potential for all-star careers.
Sadly, when the 2017 season dawns, the Miami Marlins will be without one of their brightest young stars. The death of Jose Fernandez has denied us the privilege of watching a potential Hall of Fame career unfold. Baseball will continue, but we all will be poorer for his loss.
Along with its budding young stars, Major League Baseball relied on a cast of proven hitters to propel it forward. Sluggers Mark Trumbo, Nolan Arenado, and Chris Carter excelled in home runs. Superb second basemen Jose Altuve and D.J. LeMahaieu captured batting titles. David Ortiz, Edwin Encarnacion, and Nolan Arenado set the pace for runs batted in. Jonathan Villar and Rajai Davis were the Robin Hoods of the base paths. Charlie Blackmon, Khris Davis, Brian Dozier, Daniel Murphy, Anthony Rizzo, Jean Segura, and Joey Votto joined them near the top of the record boards throughout the 2016 season.
Rick Porcello (A.L. Cy Young) and Max Scherzer (N.L. Cy Young) provided excellent pitching throughout the season, while aces like Kyle Hendricks, Korey Kluber, Jon Lester, and Justin Verlander gave baseball fans no shortage of superb pitchers to cheer. Closers like Zach Britton, Aroldis Chapman, Jeurys Familia, and Andrew Miller showed how bullpens can re-define baseball, especially in October.
The World Series was the highlight of the 2016 season, moving beyond the sports pages to capture the headlines of major newspapers. The Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs, storied franchises joined by their years of frustration without a championship, met in a Fall Classic for the ages: a nail-biting, seven-game struggle from which only one long-suffering city could emerge a champion. Overcoming a 3-1 deficit and surviving one of the greatest World Series finales ever played, the Chicago Cubs clawed their way to baseball’s ultimate championship.
Diamond Mind has never been more pleased to present its customers with an historic season, complete with young stars, superb veterans, and a chance to replay what may be the most famous World Series in history. Match wits with Terry Francona or Joe Maddon any time you wish. With DMB, you can be at the helm when one of baseball’s great franchises overcomes its championship drought.
The 2016 Annual Season Database is Available Now!
Note: Two new ballpark image files have been added for the 2016 season, Rogers Centre (new full dirt infield) and Marlins Park (new outfield dimensions). These image files are available for free download from our Park Images page.
2016 Postseason Teams database is now available!
The 2016 Postseason Teams database includes all of the rosters, stats, ratings, manager profiles, park factors and other details that you need to play along with the 2016 MLB Playoffs. This release completes the trio of 2016 ZiPS Projection Database editions.
For this release, all players have been updated with their actual regular season stats (as of the end of play on Friday, September 30, 2016) and the player ratings have been carried over from the mid-season update of the projection database. In most cases, the 25-man rosters are our best guess since most teams had not announced their playoff rosters at the time of release. (Updated rosters are available in this community forum topic.)
Teams included in this database are the 2016 editions of the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and Washington Nationals. Here's your chance to manage all these teams in postseason play to determine the 2016 World Series Champion!
If you have already purchased the 2016 ZiPS Projection Season, you should be receiving an email notifying you that an update is available that includes the link to download the postseason teams file. Remember to check your spam/junk folder, but if you do not receive the update email, contact us at dmb_info@imaginesports.com.
The 2016 Postseason Teams set can also be purchased separately for $9.95.
Note: Two new ballpark image files have been added for the 2016 season, Rogers Centre (new full dirt infield) and Marlins Park (new outfield dimensions). These image files are available for free download from our Park Images page.
1968 Deluxe Past Season with transactions and lineups available now!
1968: Tragedy, Tumult, and the Shrine on Michigan and Trumbull
by Steve Ehresman
America in 1968, torn apart by assassinations and riots, faced an uncertain future. The deaths of Martin Luther King, Junior and Robert F. Kennedy were dark chapters in our nation’s journey through a nightmare decade of war and civil unrest. Few constants remained to remind the American people that they have always been stronger and more resilient than the forces of despair. For those who still believed in our nation’s spirit, institutions like baseball offered solace and healing in even the most painful of times.
In the quiet, seemingly reliable world of our National Pastime, life on the diamond proceeded with equanimity, despite the fact that Major League Baseball was posed on the brink of revolutionary changes. With the unexplored worlds of expansion and divisional play on the horizon, some have come to regard 1968 as the last authentic baseball season, one that our ancestors would have recognized because it had been in place since the established National League and the upstart America League declared a truce and began playing post-season games dubbed the “World Series.” After 1968, baseball would evolve and usher in a “brave new world.”
No better testimonial exists to describe the 1968 season than the fact that its two Cy Young Award winners were also MVPs in their respective leagues. In the National League, MVP Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals awed the sports world by compiling a 1.12 ERA, on his way to a 22-9 season, in which he struck out a league-leading 268 National League hitters and tossed 13 shutouts. Not to be outdone, the American League MVP, Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers, put together a record-breaking 31-6 campaign, along with a 1.98 ERA and a staggering 28 complete games.
Whereas other hurlers, such as Luis Tiant (21-9, 1.60 ERA, 9 shutouts), Sam McDowell (283 strikeouts, 1.81 ERA), Dave McNally (22-10, 1.95 ERA), Mel Stottlemyre (21-12, 2.45 ERA), Fergie Jenkins (20-15, 2.63 ERA), and Juan Marichal (26-9, 2.43 ERA), vied for the attention of America’s baseball fans, Gibson and McLain truly compiled seasons for the ages in the “Year of the Pitcher.”
It would be inaccurate to overlook the outstanding offensive statistics many batters compiled in 1968, despite the overall dominance of hurlers. Batting champions Carl Yastrzemski (.301) and Pete Rose (.335) consistently hit opposing pitchers, while Frank Howard (44 home runs) and Willie McCovey (36 home runs, 105 RBI) led their respective leagues in slamming long balls. Ken “Hawk” Harrelson prospered in his first full-season with the Red Sox, slamming 35 home runs and compiling 109 RBI. Bert Campaneris and Lou Brock tied for the lead in stolen bases with 62 apiece. Cincinnati debuted a twenty-year-old catcher, who hit 40 doubles, clubbed 15 home runs, and drove in 82 runs, while posting a .275 average. The National League would hear much more from Johnny Bench in the years ahead.
In the Fall Classic, the upset-minded Detroit Tigers faced the defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. Led by an outstanding cast, the Bengals captured a championship for Motown, besting the Red Birds in a compelling seven-game World Series, in which Mickey Lolich starred and Mickey Stanley played shortstop. The team that many Detroit fans have called “Baseball’s Last Real Champions” brought hope and calm to Tiger Stadium and to a great, but troubled, American city.
Since that turbulent summer, baseball has forged ahead, never looking back: adding divisional play, a designated hitter, free agency, new teams, and even wild cards. Although the National Pastime is prosperous and healthy, our fascination with the Boys of Summer from an earlier age has never waned. Diamond Mind is excited to re-issue this historical season, complete with all the features that have made it a leader in baseball simulations. Order yours today, and replay the year in which Major League Baseball bid adieu to the old era and stepped boldly into the future.
The 1968 Deluxe Past Season database contains everything you need to play games using teams and players from the 1968 season -- a full set of ratings and statistics for every player who appeared in the big leagues that year, plus team rosters, manager profiles, ballpark ratings, transactions, and league schedules. Statistics include official batting, pitching and fielding totals with left/right splits for all batters and pitchers.
If you are a registered owner of the 1968 Classic Past Season, you are eligible for upgrade pricing for this item. Send an email to dmb_info@imaginesports.com to request your discount promotion code.
(The Diamond Mind Baseball - Version 11 game is required to use this product)
All-Time Elo Teams Collection available now!
The All-Time Elo Teams Collection is not a new season, nor does it contain any teams not already available from Diamond Mind Baseball. Instead, it takes 64 of the best teams of all-time, based upon the Elo Rating System, and puts them in one place, making them available to you for any project that you wish.
The Elo Rating System is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in competitor-versus-competitor games such as chess. The FiveThirtyEight website applied this system to baseball, rating the teams from every season in modern history. This database contains the top 64 of these teams, with the following adjustments:
- Teams from the war-time years, 1942-45, have been excluded.
- Teams from a given franchise must be separated by at least three years. For example, with the 1939 Yankees included, the 1937, 1938, 1940, and 1941 Yankees are excluded.
The All-Time Elo Teams Collection is compatible with Diamond Mind Baseball - Version 11 and at the low price of $14.95 is a great value for 64 of the best teams in baseball history.
Owners of this collection are invited to participate in the All-Time Elo Co-op Tournament. Visit the Fans of Diamond Mind Baseball community forum to view the official rules and regulations and check out the tournament brackets.
- Tags: elo tournament
Diamond Mind Community Message Boards
There are a number of online communities available for Diamond Mind Baseball users. These groups can be a source of indispensable information about the Diamond Mind game, troubleshooting tips, reference materials and an overall great place to stay in touch with other Diamond Mind customers.
To join the Fans of Diamond Mind Baseball discussion forums, click the link below. This ad-free message board is maintained and moderated by enthusiasts from the Diamond Mind community.
Fans of Diamond Mind Baseball (tapatalk.com)
Also visit the Diamond Mind Baseball forums.
