Newsletters

DMB News February 1999

February 15, 1999
Written by Tom Tippett and Luke Kraemer

Welcome to the first edition of the Diamond Mind email newsletter. Through these newsletters, we will try to keep you up to date on the latest product and technical information about the Diamond Mind Baseball game, related player disks, and our ongoing baseball research efforts. Back issues are available on our web site.

If you don't wish to receive these messages in the future, please send an email response with the subject line "unsubscribe". We'll immediately remove your email address from the list. If you know someone who would like to subscribe to this newsletter, we'll be happy to add them to the mailing list if they send us an email message with the subject line "subscribe" and their name and street address in the body of the message.

Topics for this issue:

Goals of this newsletter
Corrections to the 1998 and 1939 Season Disks
Tips from Tech Support
TBW and OPS3
The 1950 Season

Goals of this newsletter

For now, we don't plan to make this newsletter into a big production that would include research articles and season replay reports and the like, though I could see it evolving into that someday. Our initial goal is to distribute company news, product information, answers to frequently asked questions, and anything else that we think would be of interest to a lot of people.

One of the regular features we plan is a brief write-up on a season from baseball history. Our goal is to bring some of these past seasons to life in a way that the numbers in a baseball encyclopedia cannot do all by themselves.

We may occasionally include material submitted by others provided it's sent to us in machine-readable form (email messages or simple text files) and doesn't require much editing. But please understand that because this is a free newsletter, we don't have a budget to pay someone to edit it, and that limits the nature and amount of material we can consider publishing.

Rather than clutter your mailboxes with monthly or weekly bulletins, we feel it will work better to send these messages only when when we feel we have new information worth sharing with the Diamond Mind community. Our guess is that this will happen a few times per year.

Corrections to the 1998 and 1939 Season Disks

Regrettably, we found a few small errors in our recently released 1998 and 1939 season disks. The good news is that you can fix these errors in a couple of minutes; the bad news is that they happened in the first place, and for that we apologize.

On the 1998 Season Disk, four outfielders who played on more than one team have incorrect error ratings on their combined records. The correct values are:

Geronimo Berroa -- 80
Ellis Burks -- 120
Jacob Cruz -- 100
Glenallen Hill -- 162

The team-specific records (e.g. Burks records for SF and Col) are fine, it's just that our program that produces the combined records for multi-team players had a problem with outfielders who played different outfield positions for different teams. To fix this, do the following:

- from the main menu, choose Organize/Agents to access the list of free agent batters

- choose Modify, select the player, choose Ratings, make the correction, choose OK to dismiss the ratings form, then choose Go to get back to the free agent menu

If you've already drafted your league or used Migrate to move your league structure from the 1997 disk to the 1998 disk, you'll probably need to use the Organize/Roster/Player/Modify command to find these players, instead of Organize/Agents as noted above.

On the 1939 Season Disk, we had the same problem. Here are the guys who were affected and the corrected error ratings:

Bud Hafey -- 87
Chet Laabs -- 92
Gene Schott -- 100
Dixie Walker -- 113

Also, on the 1939 disk, we discovered that two members of the Yankees have incorrect range ratings. Rolfe should be rated Av at 3B and Keller Av in both LF and RF.

We'll be happy to send a corrected season disk to anyone who wants one. Keep in mind, however, that if you've already drafted a league, you won't have to redraft or redo the migration if you make the corrections yourself.

Once again, we apologize for these errors. We'll try to do better in the future.

Tips from Tech Support

For the second year running, the most common question we've received about the new season disk is "Why isn't the computer manager picking the starting lineups when I try to autoplay a season?"

We tried to anticipate this question by answering it in our player disk notes. It's clear that many of you have seen these notes, because the number of times this question has been asked is down considerably from last year. For those of you who haven't seen those notes, you can view them using the following commands (assuming the 1998 Season Disk is your active player disk):

- from the main menu, choose Info
- from the Info menu, choose Source and then select Player Directory
- choose View and select the document titled 1998 Season Disk Notes

Getting back to the question, this occurs when you're trying to autoplay a season using the real-life transactions and game-by-game lineups but have made some changes to the team rosters. As you might imagine, the real game-by-game lineups are useful only if the right 25 players are active for each game, and the right 25 players will be active only if the rosters begin with the real-life opening day rosters and the real-life transactions are applied in the right order. If you change the rosters yourselves, everything gets out of synch and the computer manager cannot use the real-life lineups.

Fortunately, the solution is simply to turn off the use of real-life transactions and saved lineups whenever you wish to make your own changes to the rosters (such as in any draft league). To do so, choose Organize/League/Modify and change the play mode to "No transactions." Do this for both leagues.

TBW and OPS3

Baseball fans, especially those with an analytical bent, seem to have an almost unlimited apetite for statistics that purport to measure overall offensive production for a player. We have Total Average and Runs Created and Offensive Runs (from Total Baseball) and lots of others. The problem with many of these is their complexity -- they often have enough terms in the formulas that you need a spreadsheet or calculator to work them out.

That's one of the reasons I like OPS (on-base percentage, OBP, plus slugging percentage, SPC) so much. It has a very high correlation with actual scoring, so it's an accurate measure, and it's easy to figure in your head if you have access to a book or other source that publishes on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Some find that the results are a little better if you multiple OBP and SPC, but the gain in precision is relatively small and it's not as easy to multiply two three-digit numbers as it is to add them.

Two members of SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) recently put forward two additional measures that meet the twin tests of being pretty accurate and easy to compute. I'm sorry I don't recall their names. I'd give them credit if I did.

The first is TBW, which is the sum of total bases (TB) and walks (W). It's a counting statistic, rather than an average, so it measures overall offensive production without taking into account the number of opportunities the player had. For that reason, it doesn't measure how efficient the player was in his plate appearances, but rather shows his total output for the season. The leaders in 1999 were Mark McGwire with 545, Sammy Sosa 489, Albert Belle 480, Barry Bonds 466, and Ken Griffey 463.

The second is OPS3. This is actually just OPS divided by three, so it's nothing new. The wrinkle is that by dividing by three, you end up with numbers that are distributed roughly the same as batting averages. For example, the 1998 AL had an OBP of .340 and a SPC of .442, so the OPS was .772. Divide by three and you find that a league-average player would have an OPS3 of .257. A very good season (e.g. Bernie Williams) has an OPS3 of about .300, and a truly outstanding season might creep over the .400 mark, as Mark McGwire did last year with a .407. We all have a sense for what it means to be a .300 hitter or a .400 hitter, and OPS3 taps into that subconscious evaluation system.

The 1950 Season

There have been many great Pennant Races over the years, but very rarely will there be two in the same season. A year that is often overlooked as being a classic is the incredible 1950 season.

Both races were nip and tuck the entire year with the NL not getting clinched until the last day of the season when the Dodgers squared off against the Whiz Kids Phillies in Ebbets Field. Not unlike the Phils' future 1964 edition, they had a comfortable seven game lead with ten games to go. Seemingly in charge, they proceeded to lose eight of those first nine but won the finale to take the crown, their first since 1915. Robin Roberts had to make his third start in five games on that last day!

Over in the AL, the Red Sox entered the season prohibitive favorites over the Yankees. It appeared time for the changing of the guard with the aging Yankees being overcome by the offensive juggernaut up in Boston. But the anticipated demise of the Yankees was premature with the Tigers, Indians, and eventually the Bean Eaters making a run at the defending World's Champions.

The key to the Phillies' (91-63) success was the near-perfect health of their regulars. This is pretty amazing considering their lead-off man and first baseman Eddie Waitkus was shot in the chest the previous season by a deranged, female fan, in a scene similar to the one in "The Natural". Del Ennis (.311, 31, 126) had the best year of his career as did Puddin' Head Jones (.267, 25, 88) at third. Robin Roberts (20, 3.02, 146) was the workhorse of the staff going 304 innings. Bullpen ace and League MVP Jim Konstanty showed current day form by appearing in 74 games, winning 16 and saving 22 with a 2.66 ERA!

The Dodgers (89-65) were heavy favorites to repeat as NL Champs even though they only won in a one game squeaker over the Cards the previous year. The Flock, as they were commonly known as back then, led the league in virtually every offensive and defensive category. Snider (.321, 31, 107), Hodges (.283, 32, 113), Campanella (.281, 31, 89), Furillo (.305, 18, 106), and Robinson (.328, 14, 81) highlighted the stellar attack. Newcombe, Roe, and Palica combined for 51 wins but no one stepped up to the necessary fourth slot in the rotation.

The Giants (86-68) ended the season on fire, going 41 and 21 the final two months. They'll be tough next season when their rookie centerfielder arrives. Like the Phillies, this team stayed incredibly healthy. Dark (.279, 16, 67), Thompson (.289, 20, 91), Thomson (.252, 25, 85), and Westrum (.236, 23, 71) had good years. Jansen (19, 3.01, 161) and Maglie (18, 2.71, 96) anchored the strong pitching staff. The Boston Braves (83-71) hung close for most of the season. This time around it would have been "Spahn, Bickford, and Sain and pray for rain." Not nearly as catchy but the trio combined for 60 wins and 883 innings! Gordon (.304, 27, 103), Elliott (.305, 24, 107), and Torgeson (.290, 23, 87) had good years.

The Cardinals, (78-75) after coming oh so close in 1949, totally collapsed. They were leading the league as late as July 25th but injuries killed them. Musial (.346, 28, 109) had his usual stellar year and Slaughter (.290, 10, 101) was productive but no one else had much to write home about. The Reds (66-87) dug themselves into a deep hole early and never could put together a good string of games to climb back to respectability. Big Klu (.307, 25, 111) was fearsome and Ewell "The Whip" Blackwell (17, 2.97, 188) was awesome. Too bad they couldn't have played on a better team.

It's hard to believe that the Cubs (64-89) had the worst offense in the NL. If the ball didn't fly out of Wrigley, it was going to be caught. Pafko (.304, 36, 92) and Sauer (.274, 32, 103) had great years.

The Pirates (57-96), as usual, were pathetic. It'll be another eight years before fans have something to cheer about other than Kiner (.272, 47, 118), his fifth year in a row to lead the league in homers. Something he'll do again in 1951 and '52.

The scribes' crystal balls sure failed them in the AL. Little did they know that 1949 was only the first of five Championships. Joe D (.301, 32, 122), after being benched early in the season for lack of hitting, went on a tear after returning to the lineup. Yogi (.322, 28, 124) could have been the MVP but Scooter (.324, 7, 66) took those honors. It'll be tough to keep the Big Cat (.277, 25, 72) on the bench with that production in ONLY 274 at bats. Raschi, Reynolds, Lopat, and Byrne combined for 70 wins and rookie Whitey Ford put them over the top going 9-1 with a 2.81 ERA.

The Tigers (95-59) were expected to be good but not this good. They were in first as late as September 21st and led for most of the season. This team overachieved by playing six games better than their Pythagorean numbers. Balance best described Detroit but hats off to Wertz (.308, 27, 123), Evers (.323, 21, 103), and Houtteman (19, 3.54, 88).

Boston (94-60), the overwhelming pre-season favorites started slowly and ran out of time at the wire. This team scored an amazing 1027 runs, the fourth best total in the Modern Era. The pitching was strong too holding the opposition to 804 runs. It's incredible to think that a team could post a +223 run differential and finish third. To top it all off, Ted Williams (.317, 28, 97) missed nearly half the season with a broken arm!

Cleveland (92-62), the final member of the AL's fearsome foursome, had the league's best pitching staff with Lemon, Feller, Wynn, and Garcia. Rosen (.287, 37, 116), Doby (.326, 25, 102), and Easter (.280, 28, 107) were great. Washington (67-87) was the best of the worst. Yost (.295, 11, 58) and his 141 walks would earn him team MVP.

The White Sox (60-94) had a few good players in Zernial (.280, 29, 93) and Robinson (.314, 20, 73) plus some modest pitching but this team never was in the same class as the top four.

The Browns (58-96) are, well, the Browns. They do offer some finds for any draft leagues with Lenhardt (.273, 22, 81) and Garver (13, 3.39, 85).

The Mackmen (52-102) are just plain awful. They'd probably have trouble in a AAA league. Chapman (.251, 23, 95) made the best of a bad situation. Hooper amazingly won 15 games with a 5.02 ERA.

DMB News November 2015

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!

Believe it or not, Imagine Sports is 10 years old. We started working with Tom Tippett to build the online version of Diamond Mind in the summer of 2005, and it was 10 years ago this week that we fired up the system for the first time.

10 years is a long time, and we're happy and honored that you have taken this journey with us. To celebrate 10 years, we're having a $10 off anniversary special for the rest of November:

$10 off anything and everything in the Diamond Mind store! 

Enter this code at checkout for your discount:  ImagineSports10

The fine print: This offer expires at 11:59pm EST on November 30, 2015.
No returns or refunds are allowed on sale items.

 ***

2015 Season Release in December!

2015 was a wild season in MLB, from the amazing turn-around of the Houston Astros and New York Mets to the World Series championship run by the Kansas City Royals.  You'll soon be able to relive it all in Diamond Mind.  Work on the 2015 season download is underway with a target release set for the usual mid-December date.  

***
Diamond Mind Version 11 Bug Fix Patch

Based on your feedback, work is underway for an update to address bugs in DMB version 11. We will notify you of a release date as we get closer to completion and have a better idea when it will be ready.  If you have not already done so, please send any bugs you may have discovered and any other suggestions to DMB_Support@imaginesports.com.  

The 2015 Major League Baseball season may be over, but it's
always baseball season with Diamond Mind!  

PLAY BALL!

DMB News April 2015

Developed in conjunction with Dan Szymborski using his ZiPS projection system, the DMB 2015 Season Projection database is will include something new by being dynamic – we will update the player projections around the All-Star Break to reflect performance in the season to that point and then projected through the remainder of the season. At the end of the season, we update the projections again for the playoff teams.

If you purchase the DMB 2015 Dynamic Projection database, you will receive these updates free of charge as soon as the updates are ready.

You can purchase the DMB 2015 Dynamic Projection database in the online store for $29.95, which includes the initial Projection database plus the two free updates (mid-season and for the playoffs).

***

New Deluxe Past Seasons Available on April 30, 2015

The 1969 season is the most recent to get the Deluxe treatment – the DPS version of 1969 will be available on April 30, 2015. You can purchase the 1969 deluxe season in the online store for $24.95.

If you already own the Classic Past Season of 1969, you can upgrade to Deluxe for $10.00. Just email usto get started. Once we’ve verified your ownership of the 1969 CPS, we’ll send you a promotional code so you can purchase the Deluxe version at the upgrade price.

***
NEW: Diamond-Mind.com!

In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve got a new look! Earlier this year, we unveiled a new DMB website and store. Head over and check it out. It’s still a work in progress, so we’d appreciate your feedback. Please send any suggestions to DMB_Support@imaginesports.com.

Spring is in the air! Happy Opening Day from the Diamond Mind team!

PLAY BALL!

DMB News March 2015

2 New All-Time Greatest Players Downloads Available Now!

Two new All-Time Greatest Players (AGP) databases are now available. Unlike DMB’s season downloads, the players in AGP are rated to reflect their career performance rather than that of a single season. Players with longer careers were rated based on their best series of peak seasons, while players with shorter careers were rated based on their entire careers. This effectively normalizes career length by removing the “penalty” of long careers, preventing the dilution of the statistical decline in later years of long-career stars. Each player’s statistics are then normalized* relative to the era and parks in which each played. 

AGP2015 is available in two volumes: 

All-time Greatest Players 2015 Volume 1: Pre-1969 

This AGP database gives you a great way to play games using more than 2100 of the best players in baseball history that played before 1969. In addition, Volume 1 includes more than 100 of the greatest Negro Leagues Players, normalized to MLB standards. Volume 1 players are organized into 48 teams based on the real-life franchises they were most closely affiliated with during their peak periods.

All-time Greatest Players 2015 Volume 2: Post-1969

The AGP 2015 Volume 2 database gives you a great way to play games using more than 2100 of the best players in baseball history who played in 1969 and after. In addition, Volume 2 includes more than 20 of the greatest Nippon Professional Baseball players from Japan, normalized to MLB standards. Volume 2 players are organized into 48 teams based on the real-life franchises they were most closely affiliated with during their peak periods.

Each volume is available for $29.95. Want both volumes? Buy the complete AGP2015 two-volume set for $49.95, a $10 discount. 

If you are an owner of the AGP2006 database, contact dmb_info@imaginesports.com for a 25% discount code on either or both AGP2015 Volumes (discount cannot be used in combination with the $10 discount described above). 

To get your AGP2015, click here.  Available for version 10 and 11 only. 

Don’t have version 11 yet? If you are a registered owner of any DMB game version, you can get $5 off the price of DMB version 11. Email DMB_info@imaginesports.com to request a discount code.

*******************************************************************************

Happy Opening Day from the Diamond Mind team!

DMB News July 2007

Diamond Mind Email Newsletter

July 20 , 2007

Welcome to the second edition of the Diamond Mind email newsletter for the year 2007. Through these newsletters, we will try to keep you up to date on the latest product and technical information about the Diamond Mind Baseball game, related player disks, and our ongoing baseball research efforts. Back issues are available on our web site, www.diamond-mind.com.

Topics for this issue:

A Word on the Future of Diamond Mind Baseball
The 9c Patch is Here!
2007 Projection Disk Additions
David Pyke Joins the Diamond Mind Team
Diamond Mind in the News

A Word on the Future of Diamond Mind Baseball
by Dayne Myers

Given some of the most recent posts on the DMB Forum, I thought it might be a good idea to provide some more information about how I got involved with Diamond Mind Baseball, our plans and goals for the company and the product and also to share the good news about the 9b patch.

History
I grew up near Youngstown, Ohio, about an hour from Pittsburgh, and was a die-hard Pirates fan. It sure was a good time to be a boy cheering on the Bucs...I started getting into baseball in 1971 (which turned out to be a fantastic year to start) and when the Pirates won the series for the second time in the 70’s in 1979, I actually felt like I was family.

Soon after becoming a baseball fan, I became enthralled with baseball simulation games. I started by playing Strat-o-Matic and eventually graduated to Earl Weaver Baseball when PCs came about. I started to sour on baseball with the strikes, and I swore off the game after the World Series was cancelled due to the lock-out in ’94. However, it would be a baseball simulation game that brought me back - a friend pushed me to play the Bill James Classic Baseball (BJCB) game in 1996, which used DMB as its sim engine. I was hooked again!

After leaving my last company, I considered a lot of different options but kept coming back to how much I enjoyed baseball simulations and how big an opportunity I thought there was in bringing sports simulation and other strategy games to a wider audience, and that’s when I decided to start Simnasium (now called Imagine Sports). In particular, I believed that many more sports fans would get into simulations if they were done right, and the internet provided ways to get those greater numbers of players than had existed before.

I knew from playing BJCB that the Diamond Mind engine is the most realistic baseball simulation, and I decided that we really needed DMB if we were to produce a great online baseball game. So, I called Tom, and we discussed our visions and opportunities for utilizing DMB and bringing it to a wider audience. We started with a license agreement.

During the design process for our online game, I played DMB over and over again and came to appreciate
even more what a truly great game it is. As you already know, the meticulous attention to detail and incredible baseball knowledge of Tom and the DMB team is evident throughout the game. I also realized that a lot more could be done with the game, and we set out to do just that.

After a very intense development process, the online version of DMB launched under the name "Total Baseball" in March 2006 to very good reviews. We believe the game offers an interesting variation on the PC game experience by allowing players to compete online against other players from around the world without the need to download software or rely on anyone to run the games. By automating the process, many more can enjoy DMB competing against others. We have been very happy with the feedback on the game to date. We have also been excited to see ESPN use DMB for a number of its feature stories in the last few months including its season preview and recent stories about the Hall of Fame, Jackie Robinson and Roger Clemens, as well as the big season preview, all of which generated significant interest in DMB.

Soon after we launched "Total Baseball," Tom and I both realized how well our teams were working together and that it would make good sense to merge our efforts. Tom was also becoming more busy with
non-DMB obligations, and joining forces would allow him to focus his DMB time exclusively on the aspects of the game he does best and, in fact, finds most rewarding (like refining the game engine) and leave the rest (marketing, operations, etc.) to us. Most importantly, as a combined entity we’d have more resources to devote to improving the game and bringing it to a broader audience.

But you should know that we are still working on improving the core PC Game. In fact, Tom and I agreed
that once he had transferred the business functions, our first priorities should be to get the 2006 season and 2007 projection disks out on time and get out the 9b patch. Since you all had waited so long for that patch, we also decided to add in some things that were planned for version 10, such as the play-by-play enhancements, at no charge. It’s just a little something extra to thank you for your patience.

Current Plans
I know there have been a lot of rumors on the message board forums about our plans for the offline and online versions of DMB. Let me start with by directly addressing the biggest concern:

We do not have any plans to discontinue the offline (PC) game.

Quite the contrary, actually...we are working on improving it.

First, we will be releasing the 2007 Season Disk in December and 2008 Projection Disk in the beginning of 2008. We will actually start taking pre-orders for the 2007 Season Disk and the 2008 Projection Disk before the end of the 2007 baseball season.

Second, we have already looked at making a lot of improvements to the core game play and user interface
in the PC version of DMB. Right now, we are figuring out how to best update the code base to make these changes possible.

Finally, we have added an additional tech support resource. David Pyke joins the team to help Luke Kraemer with tech support issues so that Luke will now have more time to work on improvements to DMB. (See Luke's article in this newsletter for more info on David's joining the team.)

I'm looking forward to a bright future for Diamond Mind Baseball!

The 9c Patch is Here!

In case you haven't heard...the 9c Patch is available now! Just go to www.diamond-mind.com to download the 9c patch.

NOTE: It is important that you complete any games in progress and have the DMB game shut down completely BEFORE you install the patch.

Enhancements in the version 9c patch:

• All of the play-by-play additions that were previously intended for version 10...this represents a 30-40% increase in an already large play-by-play library...also fixed all known play-by-play bugs
• A few minor modifications to allow DMB to run on Windows Vista
• Updated the Historical Era file to include recent seasons
• Updated the master player file (which is used when you're creating players) to include players who have made their big-league debuts and/or qualified for a DMB projection disk in recent seasons
• Altered the adjustments for players who are out of position, increasing the penalties for certain moves to more difficult positions and decreasing the penalties for certain moves (e.g. center field to a corner outfield spot) to easier positions
• Based on some new research, made a small adjustment to the fielding logic so the spread between range ratings is a little larger than before
• Made substantial changes to the computer manager's logic for relief pitching; the most significant difference is that it will now be more aggressive in going to the closer at the start of an inning even when a good starting pitcher is doing well and is not yet tired
• Improved the computer manager's logic for making double-switches
• Improved the computer manager's logic for choosing an emergency starter when the scheduled starter is injured
• Improved the computer manager's logic for choosing pinch hitters
• Improved computer manager's pinch hitting logic for certain game situations to put more emphasis on overall hitting ability and less emphasis on specific skills like hitting for average and getting on base
• Improved computer manager's pinch running logic for situations where a team's closer reaches base while protecting a lead...now refrains from replacing the closer with a runner when appropriate
• Improved computer manager's logic for putting a defensive team on the field after an offensive half inning when players were injured or replaced...when appropriate, the computer manager will give up the DH by moving him to a fielding position (at which he is rated) when necessary to avoid using another player out of position
• For relief pitchers who are making an emergency start, reduced their durability so it is much less likely that they will be able to pitch deep into the game
• Made minor modifications to the rates of WP and PB in different baserunner situations
• During migration, the relationship between teams and parks is now carried forward to the target database, the league schedule is reset, and the playing time limits are saved in the target manager profiles
• When importing a DMB season into the encyclopedia, a new option allows you to exclude boxscores and game-by-game stats in order to speed the process
• Overhauled the play-by-play commentary for ground ball plays where the managers are queried about running and throwing decisions...now provides better information about the likelihood of a double play and more suspense about the outcome of the play

Scoring bug fixes in version 9c patch:

• Corrected a problem with assigning earned runs after a play where a runner was picked off first and thrown out trying to steal second
• Improved the logic for assigning earned runs in certain multi-pitcher innings in which a relief pitcher gets a ground ball double play
• Corrected a problem with assigning earned runs when one or more runners scored on an inning-ending play where the batter was thrown out trying to take an extra base on his hit
• Corrected an inconsistency on certain plays when a fly ball is dropped for an error; previously, the game credited the hitter with an RBI and a SF but didn't treat the run as earned to the pitcher
• Corrected the logic for assigning earned runs when the lead runner is retired on a ground ball or bunt
• Stopped using the scoresheet notation POSB for stolen bases after a pickoff throw

Other bug fixes in version 9c patch:

• Corrected a problem in the leader boards where ties for the last displayed position were created by a new entry higher on the leaderboard
• Fixed a variety of minor bugs associated with certain reports and the reporting system in general
• Substantially reduced the frequency of errors on dropped throws by catchers - updated help system to correct a few typos and provide current contact info
• Modified computer manager logic to prevent relief pitchers from being used prior to a scheduled start (except in emergency situations)
• Corrected a problem in the leader boards where ties for the last displayed position were created by a new entry higher on the leaderboard
• Fixed a 9b NetPlay bug that occurred when the connecting manager tried to take a pitch in batter mode

2007 Projection Disk Additions
by Tom Tippett

Each year, when we're selecting the players who appear on the March edition of our Projection Disk, we strive to include everyone who is likely to show up on an opening day roster. When those rosters are finally revealed, I'm never happy when I see names that don't already appear on the disk.

To be fair, it may be unrealistic for us to bat 1.000 when picking those players. To do so would require that we cast a very wide net, perhaps wide enough to include 2500 or 3000 players instead of the 1800-plus we cover now, and it's not at all clear that adding hundreds of marginal players would add enough value to the disk to justify all the extra work.

There are many reasons why a player might not make our first cut. Someone can come out of retirement unexpectedly. A young player might be promoted all the way from the low minors based on a good spring. A well-traveled veteran who doesn't project to be good can snag a job based on experience and a top-flight attitude. A rash of injuries can temporarily open a roster spot for a replacement-level player.

Still, it's always a bit disheartening when we miss someone. In past years, we've generally found the need to add 6 to 12 players to the April update. This year it was a record total of 15, so we wondered whether this was just an anomaly or whether our selection methods were somehow lacking.

After further review, we've concluded that there were good reasons why most of these players were excluded. Here are their stories (stats through July 3):

Alberto Castillo, c, Bal -- This veteran backup catcher was promoted after starter Ramon Hernandez was placed on the disabled list. He didn't make the first disk because he's 37 years old and appeared to be well down the Boston depth chart before he was traded to Baltimore in late March. In the first half of the season, he batted .161 in 31 atbats.

Gustavo Molina, c, ChA -- Strictly a catch-and-throw guy who wasn't on our March disk because his bat didn't measure up. It took him seven years to reach AA and he didn't hit when he got there. His minor-league career OPS is .652, and it was worse in 2006 when he split time between AA and AAA. Molina was demoted after going 1 for 18 in the first six weeks of the season.

Josh Hamilton, of, Cin -- Perhaps the most intriguing story in the NL this year, Hamilton didn't make our first cut because his well-chronicled battle with addiction limited him to 55 relatively unsuccessful plate appearances over the past four seasons. But he had a great spring, he has a ton of talent, and he's been a significant contributor so far in 2007.

Alejandro De Aza, cf, Flo -- A speedy center fielder with a career minor-league OPS of .720 and only a half-season of experience above A ball, De Aza batted .354 in the Grapefruit League to snare the starter role at a position that was a major hole for the Marlins going into spring training. After two weeks, he was sitting near the .322 OBP we projected for him, but a stress fracture in his ankle has kept him off the field ever since.

Joakim Soria, rhr, KC -- Soria wasn't on our first disk because he did most of his recent work in Mexico. But he's off to a great start with the Royals, posting a 2.27 ERA in 32 relief appearances.

Joe Smith, rhr, NYN -- Smith is a legitimate prospect who was taken in the third round of the 2006 draft and is ranked 9th in the Mets system by Baseball America. We didn't include him on the March disk because he's so new to professional ball, having pitched 20 dominant innings in low-A and 13 unimpressive innings in AA last year. Like Soria, Smith got off to an excellent start in 2007, tossing 15 scoreless innings before allowing his first run in mid-May. Since then, however, his ERA has been in the fives.

Jay Marshall, lhr, Oak -- This soft-tossing side-arming lefty specialist posted a stunning 1.04 ERA in 62 relief innings in the high-A Carolina League last year. He's been successful throughout his minor-league career, but it took him four seasons just to get out of rookie ball. His lack of experience in the higher minors was the reason we left him off last time around. But the A's jumped him all the way to the big leagues, so they must be impressed with his sub-.400 career OPS allowed against lefties. In the majors, he's been getting lefties out (.617 OPS) but has been pounded by righties (.945 OPS) en route to a 5.60 ERA.

Don Kelly, if, Pit -- Kelly showed enough promise to make our projection disk in past seasons, but he didn't make the cut this time because his career stalled in the high minors and he's gotten a little old to retain his prospect status. His OPS in two AAA seasons is only .620, and this year he batted .154 in 26 atbats before being sent back down.

Brandan Morrow, rhr, Sea -- A very highly regarded prospect, Morrow was taken with the fifth overall pick in last year's amateur draft. The only question is the speed with which he has been promoted. Morrow logged only 16 pro innings last year, and while he was successful, he did walk 9 batters in those 16 innings. In 2007, he's been hard to hit (.236 average, .318 slugging) but has walked 33 in 31 innings.

Sean White, rhr, Sea -- Unlike Morrow, White is not a top prospect, but he does have over 400 innings of pro experience. Still, this was a puzzling choice, because White had a career ERA of 4.00, struggled at AA last year, and had never pitched in AAA. Evidently, he won the job because of a 1.59 spring ERA, but 5 walks and 6 strikeouts in 17 spring innings doesn't impress me much. Before going on the DL a few weeks ago, White's ERA was 7.03 in 24 innings.

Jamie Burke, c, Sea -- Like Castillo, Burke is a veteran backup catcher, but Burke has done most of his work in the high minors, while Castillo has logged over 1000 major-league atbats. Many teams lean toward defense when choosing a backup catcher, but Burke's more of an offensive threat than a catch-and-throw guy. To date, Burke has batted .385 in 52 atbats.

Gary Glover, rhs, TB -- Glover is a 30-year-old pitcher who missed all of 2006. Primarily a starter in the minors and reliever in the majors, Glover has posted career ERAs between 4.50 and 5.00 in both roles and pretty much at all levels. We didn't include him in March because he projected as a replacement-level pitcher. And he's performed at a replacement level with a 5.36 ERA in 42 relief innings.

Matt Kata, super sub, Tex -- You probably saw him first when he had a decent half-season for Arizona in 2003, but his major-league numbers declined slowly from there and he spent most of 2005 and all of 2006 in the minors. In recent seasons, he has added all three outfield positions to his former utility-infielder profile, and that versatility is his biggest asset today. Nevertheless, he was designated for assignment after batting .186 in 70 atbats, elected free agency, and then signed with the Pirates.

Levale Speigner, rhr, Was -- A marginal prospect who is ranked 29th in the Nationals system by Baseball America , Speigner has had a decent minor-league career, mostly in relief. He allowed 14 baserunners in his first 5 innings, settled down to produce a string of good results out of the pen, and then got crushed in six starts - 31 earned runs in 20 innings - to push his ERA to 8.78 at the mid-way point.

Jesus Flores, c, Was -- Flores is a legitimate prospect who is ranked 11th in his team's system by Baseball America and has belted 33 homers in 912 minor-league atbats. So why wasn't he on the March disk? Mainly because he's only 22 years old, and even though his defensive skills are impressive, it's extremely rare for a team to trust a major-league pitching staff to a young catcher with no experience above A ball. (Feel free to insert your own comment about whether the Nationals actually have a major-league pitching staff this year.) A .634 OPS indicates that he still has work to do offensively.

There you have it. Fifteen players who were left off the March disk because they didn't project to be good enough to win a job, didn't have enough experience at higher levels, or played in a foreign league.

With hindsight, we might have been able to make a case for including a couple of these guys, but in my view, none of them was a clear mistake given the information we had in late February.

David Pyke Joins the Diamond Mind Team
by Luke Kraemer

I’d like to welcome David Pyke to the DMB Tech Support team! Some of you know David by his DMB Forum username of "diesel." David will be taking responsibility for DMB tech support issues so that I can spend more time working on enhancements to the Diamond Mind software. I’ll be working closely with David in his first month or so to train him on our procedures and be sure you receive the same level of service you are accustomed to. Accordingly, since David and I are on opposite sides of the country, please use email as your primary means of communication with us and as your first method of requesting support (support@diamond-mind.com). This will ensure that your issues are handled in a timely manner. We understand that some issues are more pressing than that, so you can continue to use the 800 number (800-400-4803) when needed. Pat will direct the request to whoever is best suited to respond. I’ll still be involved in tech support, overseeing David’s work and working with him to solve any major issues that may come up.

Welcome David!

Diamond Mind Featured in ESPN Headline Stories on the Return of Roger Clemens!
By Charles Wolfson & Luke Kraemer

ESPN asked Imagine Sports what we thought about the return of Roger Clemens and what impact he may have on the Yankees’ hopes of turning the season around. We ran the DMB simulation to produce likely outcomes, and ESPN featured the story on its home page on the day of the Rocket’s return!

You can find the article at http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2898563