What happened to Pursue the Pennant?
In the fall of 1995, PtP sent out a mailing to old customers indicating that the company had lost a significant amount of money on the 1994 card set, and that all orders for the 1995 set must include a $15 deposit. The 1995 card set never shipped.
What are the big differences between PtP and TIG?
The stealing system was completely overhauled, introducing a “bad jump” and increasing the chance that basestealers will get nagging injuries. Batter and pitcher cards are now completely park neutral with respect to all hits, and the vLH/vRH splits on the cards are produced using a regression algorithm. The defensive range system was expanded to have 11 range ratings, and the number of range plays was increased. The bunting system was changed significantly. Each card set includes a CHANGES file with a complete list of modifications from the previous season.
When do the new cards come out?
The target date for availability is early April. If you would like to be notified when the cards are available you can join the TIG Announcement Mailing List. You can also check the blog for updates (RSS feed).
Are you planning on producing card sets for past MLB seasons?
The mandate for our project is to create a card set for the most recent MLB season so that the Internet Baseball League can play its 162 game schedule. Given that this is a 100% volunteer effort, and that most members of the Design Team have IBL commitments, it is extremely unlikely that card sets for past MLB seasons will ever be released.
I want to create my own card set, can you help me?
The Design Team is happy to share the general concepts behind our card generation process, including data sources and methodology. At this time there are no plans to release anything other than a finished product to the general public, as the card generation process is not sufficiently documented to be useful to third parties. The best way to learn is to join the IBL and become a member of the Design Team.
Are all card sets backwards-compatible?
No, there can be significant changes to game play from season to season. Each card set is released as a stand-alone product and previously released sets are not updated. You should download the all of the pertinent files (cards, rules, charts, etc.) for each season you wish to play. Read the CHANGES files for more information.
Where can I get the cards?
The IBL Design Team is making their cards available via anonymous FTP at ftp://ftp.ibl.org/ibl/cards/
How can I print the cards?
Recent card sets have been distributed in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader version 4.0 or higher. Get the latest Adobe Acrobat Reader here. It is recommended that you set your page margins to zero before printing. It has been our experience that a full-service printer like Kinko’s will charge about $30 to duplicate onto a nice sturdy card stock and cut the cards.
What are those numbers on the top of the player cards?
These are: total hits / total on-base numbers / total bases
Have a question that isn’t covered in the FAQ? Leave a comment below:
Thanks for your interest in the game. I figure a good way to grow this FAQ is to answer questions here in the comments section, so fire away!
I am trying to learn how to play the game, after having been a Statis Pro junky for years. I notice the charts refer to clutch situations, but I can’t find the definition of a clutch situation anywhere.
Also, can you give an idea of the number of associats there are, how often owners give up a team and how long it might generally take to become an owner, as a dedicated associate?
Thanks for your time.
I thought we had the clutch definition in the playing instructions, but they do not appear to be there. I believe the original PtP rules defined a clutch situation like this:
- prior to the 7th inning, two outs with a runner in scoring position and the batting team tied or behind by 1 run
- 7th inning or later, tying or go-ahead run is on base, at bat, or on deck
We no longer assign clutch ratings but we haven’t removed the references from the charts in case we bring them back. Clutch ratings were removed because the PtP system did not properly balance the batting & pitching adjustments nor did it adjust the cards for non-clutch opportunities (if a player is better than his overall stats in a clutch situation he should be worse in non-clutch).
Regarding your IBL question, we have a few associates but they are generally people who do not have enough time to run a team. If you become an associate with the intention of becoming a full-time owner it usually doesn’t take long. There’s also the option of helping out an existing team by becoming a co-owner.
Thanks for your reply to my previous question. It really helped.
Now I am confused by bunting.
In the playing instructions it says that with men on base, the manager can declare if the bunt is a sacrifice or for a base hit. But in the charts, it says that with men on base, all bunts are sacrifices. Which one is right?
What is the definition of each term? I guess if all the runners are holding, the bunt is for a base hit, otherwise it is for a sacrifice.
Also in the instructions, it says that with men on first and third, the manager can hold the runner on third. In the chart, there are no restrictions, suggesting that the runner on third can be held at other times, such as if there is only a runner on third. Can he be held, while the batter tries for a base hit?
And what about other bases? If there is only a batter on second, can he be held while the batter tries to bunt for a base hit?
Thanks again for your help!
The charts are correct, you may only bunt for a base hit with the bases empty. Therefore, all bunts with men on base are considered sacrifice attempts. When I re-designed the bunting system I must have forgotten to update the instructions accordingly. I’ll update the instructions.
Regarding holding runners, it is the intention of the rules that this be limited only to holding the runner at third. This is so that the offensive manager is not required to put the squeeze play on with a runner on third. All other baserunners should be considered in motion on a bunt.
In general I think one of the problems you run into when simulating a game like baseball is that if you try to keep your charts simple you unfortunately end up with ambiguous resolution in certain situations. In order to account for every possible base/out situation it would require much more text than is feasible given the space constraints. I’m thinking it might be useful to start a page on the Wiki to document some of the rulings the IBL has passed to deal with these situations.
Okay, hopefully my last question: does case mean anything on a batter’s card when the positions he plays are listed? For example, is there a difference between SS and ss?
This is something that is done to assist IBL owners. Players who have their position listed in upper case played in 24+ games at that position in the previous MLB season. This is important because that is the cutoff for being eligible to start at that position in the playoffs.