Earl Weaver Baseball

		 Earl Weaver Baseball version 1.5 FAQ

by demystifier (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Platform: DOS

Version 1.00

Last Update: 2/11/2003

 

Emails about the game are highly welcomed, but please put something in

the subject line of the email so I will know it is about the game. This

will help me know it isn't junk and I will probably answer it sooner

than I otherwise would.  Also, before emailing me, I ask that you look

at the Table of Contents for this FAQ and Part XI, Frequently Asked

Questions to see if there is a part of this FAQ that deals with what

you are asking about.

 

Table of Contents:

 

Part I Introduction/General Description

 

Part II Starting up on DOS

 

Part III Starting up on Windows

 

Part IV Instructions

     A. DOS Prompt Instructions

     B. Main menu Instructions

     C. General Manager Instructions

     D. Commissioner Instructions

     E. Line up screen Instructions

     F. In game Instructions

      

Part V Stats

     A. Hitting  Stats

     B. Pitching Stats

     C. Fielding Stats

 

Part VI Drafting

     A. General Drafting Strategies

     B. Special Drafting Strategies

     C. How to draft with the commissioner's disk

     D. How to draft without the commissioner's disk

     E. How to Draft in Windows 95/98/2000/XP

 

Part VII General Game Strategy

     A. Line-ups

     B. Offense

     C. Defense

     D. Starting Pitching

     E. Relief Pitching

 

Part VIII Problems with Windows 95/98/2000/XP

 

Part IX Passwords

 

Part X Terminology

 

Part XI Frequently Asked Questions

 

Part XII Copyright

 

Part XIII Acknowledgements

 

Part XIV Version History

 

 

Part I -  Introduction

 

Earl Weaver Baseball v 1.5 was released in 1989 by Electronic Arts.  In

its day it was hailed as one of the greatest simulation baseball games

on the market, if not among the greatest ever. It gathered a relatively

loyal following for several years, even spawning a sequel.  Some still

consider this to be one of the greatest baseball games ever for PC or 

any console system, though because of how outdated it is (and because

it not very compatable with all Windows OS systems after Windows 3.11)

it has more or less died out and isn't played much.  The game is for 1

or 2 players at once (like always 2 is more fun), but theoretically 

you could have up to 32 teams in a Weaver League managed by 32 

different players (Yoiks!). (note: my copy of the game says 1988, but

I don't think it was actually released until 1989 officially). Also,

the game really is harder to ultilize on Windows 95/98/2000/XP, so if

you have an old 386 computer hiding in a closet somewhere, this might

be your time to think about getting it out and dusting it off.  I have

included a section Windows problems in the FAQ, so you can still play

even with these problems.

 

I've tried to create this FAQ in such a way that you can merely high-

light and copy a certain section to print off if that particular 

section is giving you trouble, since you can't both look at this FAQ

online and play weaver, unless you have two computers, which most of us

don't.  Some stuff may seem unnecessary for some of you familar with 

the game, but I've tried to create it as if the person reading it has

never played the game before and is unfamilar with DOS. In other words,

bear with me if you are actually familar with the game. If you want to 

skip over a section, I suggest using the find option of your browser to

find the section you want referencing the table of contents.

 

Part II - Starting up on DOS

 

To begin with, you must have the game installed on your system (duh).

Get to a DOS prompt. Get to the point where the directory showing 

is the one you have the game installed in (usually "weaver" or "ew" 

or "ewbb").  Once this is up as the current directory in DOS, type in 

"weaver" (just the word weaver, not the quotes) to load up the game. 

NOTE: you can type "weaver c" for cga mode that is more compatable with 

most Pentium chip computers.  This will load the game up with cga 

graphics. Of course, if you are on GameFAQs with a Pentium chip or 

better (like all of us, you probably need to look at Part III).

 

Part III - Starting up on Windows

 

Once you have the game installed in a directory on your system, there

should be an application titled "weaver" in that file.  That is your 

game.  Now, Earl Weaver Baseball (EWB) was never designed for Windows,

and starting it in Windows can cause some problems.  To begin with, if 

you merely double-click the "weaver" application, the game will look 

very bad and will either be too slow to play without being very annoyed 

on any speed lower than fast, but will be *way* to fast to play on fast 

or super.  To solve this, you can either go to the MSDOS prompt and 

follow Part II or you can download a batch file for this game at:

 

http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~ply9686/games/ewbbatch.html

Double-clicking "weaver" is still fine if you want to merely simulate

weaver games create your own players/stats (see terminology).  But to

actually play the game, using cga graphics is necessary on most 

machines, which is what _weaver c_ in DOS loads or the batch file

above loads.  Also, the batch file has other helpful attributes, namely

that it by-passes the need for passwords.

 

Part IV - Basic Instructions

 

A. DOS Prompt Instructions

 

Other instructions also are available at the DOS Prompt that can select

or deselect various options of game play.  As noted before, "weaver c"

will load the game with cga graphics.  As follows are other command

line options that can be put after the word "weaver". Note that many of

these options can be accessed from the game internally.  Also, if you

want to use several options, you can just put a space between the 

variable (ex. if you want a game with DH and no sound, "weaver d q" 

should work. 

 

"weaver x" where the following variables are substituted for x:

 

a - Play in arcade mode (not recommended, full mode is better)

c - Use cga graphics (recommended 9 times out of 10)

d - Use DH

e - Use ega graphics (if this gives you a problem try cga)

f - Go straight to main menu (not a big deal but useful in a batch)

l - Play the 2 default teams repeatedly.  Auto lineups/updates.

m - All teams in first league play 1 round robin in fast stats.

n - All teams in second league play 1 round robin in fast stats.

o - All teams in both leagues play 1 round robing in fast stats.

q - No sounds

s - Turn off announcer

t - Use Tandy graphics (um, no...you don't want to)

v - vga emulation mode (same as option e)

% - Play in fast stats mode.  Earl manages both teams. No graphics.

 

B. Main Menu instructions

 

Once you load the game, either a "pre-game" menu will come up or the

main menu will autoload (if you use the batch or if you use the "f"

DOS line command).  Assuming it is the former, you will be asked for

"Arcade Game" (F7) or "Full Program" (F8).  Select "Full Program" (you 

really don't want to ruin a great game like this by playing the cheesy 

"Arcade Game" mode, do ya?).  This will bring up the Main Menu.

 

On the main menu, there are three main columns, left, center, and

right.  On the left will be information about the home team, on the

center information about the visiting team, and on the right 

information about ground rules and the aptly named "Things to do". If 

you load up the game what I mean is extremely obvious and easy to use.

For both the home and visiting teams you can select:

 

1. The control instrument. Options are keyboard, keypad, joystick, 

mouse. It is highly recommended that you use either the keyboard 

and/or keypad. The keyboard uses w (up), a (left), x (down), d (right),

and s/enter key for selecting things on the menu.  If you can't figure 

out the keyboard perhaps you shouldn't be playing (just kidding, 

mostly). Other in game commands will be pointed out later.

 

2. Manager.  Options are You manage, Play and manage, Earl manages. I

have never actually know anyone who actually plays this game, so I 

ignore option 2, "Play and manage" right off the bat.  Earl manages 

means that the computer manages and plays the other team, though you

can still set up line ups and even make changes during games (though,

depending on how you set up your league this could be cheating). With

the You manage option you control everything from a managerial 

perspective.

 

3. Game level.  Options are major league, minor league, semi-pro and

sandlot.  I've never played on anything but major league level, but I

presume the lower levels are there if you want to beat up on the Earl.

 

4. Pitches per at bat.  Options are "one pitch" and "full at bat".  One 

pitch mode means that in an at bat, the computer will generate all but

the last pitch automatically and you only actually play the last pitch

of that at bat (assuming the hitter doesn't foul the ball off to 

continue the at bat).  Full at bat means you go through every pitch in

an at bat.  I personally play one pitch.  While you do take about some

of the in game strategy (particularily on stealing bases and pitch

outs), it cuts down on game time *a ton* and makes the game more lively

and fast-paced overall.  With one pitch mode you can literally play a 

full 9 inning game in 5-10 minutes.

 

5. League or non-league play.  I've honestly never played non-league 

play, so I can't tell you what is different about it from League play.

I presume it has something to do with not saving stats officially, but

I could be wrong.

 

This describes the left and center column.  The right column contains

Ground rules and Things to do.

 

Ground rules options are as follows:

 

1. Select Park (F3).  This option lets you pick any park that is in the

current park.dat stats file. If your system runs anything newer than 

Windows 3.11, a fair warning to NOT hit Set Path (F5) at this time. 

There is a way around this, which I'll explain later in the FAQ.

 

2. DH rule.  Select whether or not to have a DH or let the pitcher hit.

I personally prefer using DH's, though it does change strategy to have

pitchers hit.

 

3. Regulation game or Arcade.  Lets you pick whether to have the game

be regulation or arcade.  Pick regulation or Crom, high on his mountain

will laugh at you.

 

4. Injuries.  Select whether to have injuries on or off.  If you are

playing a season, you probably want to select to have them on to 

increase realism and add an extra element into the season.

 

Things to do options are as follows:

 

1. Play ball (P).  Pick this to go to line-up screens, where you pick

your line-ups and starting pitchers and then playball. 

 

2. Practice (F5).  Lets you practice hitting, pitching, and fielding. I

once messed with this for a whole 10 minutes.  It wasn't terrible, but

if you actually want to play a baseball video game, any of the RBI 

series on the NES or Tecmo Super Baseball on the SNES would do you much

better.  Managing is much more fun than playing with EWB.  Stats and

Strategy are what this game is all about.

 

3. General Manager (F6).  Here you can trade, clone, edit or even 

create your own players.  I will have an entire sub-section devoted to

the General Manager later. But, if your system runs anything newer than 

Windows 3.11, a fair warning to NOT hit Set Path (F5) at this time. 

There is a way around this, which I'll explain later in the FAQ.

 

4. Look at Park (F7). Lets you view the currently selected park. 

Whoopie.

 

5. Display stats (F8). Here you can look at various league, team, and

individual stats.  If you go here, it should be pretty easy to figure 

out how to use this option. Just remember, if your system runs anything

newer than Windows 3.11, a fair warning to NOT hit Set Path (F5) at 

this time. There is a way around this, which I'll explain later in 

the FAQ.

 

6. Continue Game (F9).  I've never tried it, so I can't help you here.

Just don't hit Set Path (F5).

 

7. Commissioner (F10).  Here you can create your own league and alter

many league and team factors. A sub-section will be devoted to the

commissioner later in the FAQ. If your system runs anything newer than 

Windows 3.11, a fair warning to NOT hit Set Path (F5) at this time. 

There is a way around this, which I'll explain later in the FAQ.

 

Quick Main Menu Commands List

 

F2 - select visiting team

F3 - select ball park

F4 - select home team

F5 - practice mode

F6 - general manager

F7 - look at park

F8 - display stats

F9 - continue game

F10- comissioner

P  - play ball

 

C. General Manager Instructions

 

There are several things you can do in the General Manager (GM)screen. 

The main functions are trading, cloning, and editing.  Trading (F6) 

meansthat if you hit enter while on a highlighted player, he will be 

selected.  Then if you go to the other team and hit enter on one of

their highlighted players, it will trade the players (this is very

easy to figure out if you try the GM screen).  Second, you can clone

players (F7). This means if you highlight a player, hit enter, and 

then go to an empty slot, the player you initially highlighted will 

be cloned to the empty slot.  This is useful if you have to draft 

using the actual weaver game because you don't have the commissioner's 

disk (see terminology under commissioner's disk or "stattool"). There 

will be a sub-section for drafting later in the FAQ.  The third option 

is to edit player (F8).  This is an excellent option.  With it you can 

create your own players, edit existing players, or even create your 

own real stats of more current seasons (which is a long, tedius 

process but worth it in the end).  If you go to a highlighted player or

empty slot and hit enter, the stats screen will pop up, but you can

physically alter the stats. This is helpful in several ways.  First,

if you get some stats from a friend or online, and they are outrageous

in just one or two aspects (say they give hitters too high a power 

ranking consistently), you only have to go through and edit that one

aspect of the player, and not recreate them completely.  Also, if you

wish, you can create completely fantasy players, such as yourself, or

make up your personal dream team with any players from any years you

wish and have them play for your team (How many games will let you have

a 1980 George Brett play with a 1990 Rickey Henderson?).  A whole 

sub-section will be given to creating players with this option later,

but for now it might be useful to know that www.mlb.com is a very

useful site for getting accurate and complete stats. Also, if you hit 

the space bar on a highlighted player, his stats will pop up on the 

screen. This is good for draft preparation.

 

D. Commissioner Instructions

 

The commissioner option (F10) offers you several functions to create

or alter your own league.  These are: customize league, customize 

teams, customize parks, grant day off, copy one ball park, erase all

saved games, delete players and teams, create new league on new 

disk/path, clear accumulated stats, clear won/loss record. Note that 

for all these options if your system runs anything newer than 

Windows 3.11, a fair warning to NOT hit Set Path (F5) at this time. 

There is a way around this, which I'll explain later in the FAQ.

 

 

Commissioner options as follows:

 

1. Customize league allows you to alter league and division names. 

You can either change the currently existing data of a season, or 

create league and division names for a newly created league 

(which starts up with all blank data).  Because of the time in which 

the game was created, EWB only allows you to create only upto 4 

divisions, techinically.  This has never been a problem, because you

will probably never have enough human players to need more than 4 

divisions.  If you did want to play with more divisions, you could by

merely keeping track of the game records on something else (excel or

even just pen and paper).

 

2. Customize teams allows you to alter currently existing

teams or create team data for a newly createdly league.  EWB allows

you to create upto 32 teams for one season's data. Trust me that is 

more than plenty.

 

3. Customize parks allows you to alter currently existing parks or 

create parks for a newly createdly league.  EWB allows you to create

upto 32 teams for one season's data.

 

4. Grant day off lets you give all players one day off.  One of the

player stats is "Required Days Off".  General, this number is used for

pitchers and ranges from 1 to 4 depending upon how much they pitched in

an outing.  Say you start Nolan Ryan in a 1990 season and he pitches 

around 100 pitches.  He will probably have to take 3 days (i.e. games)

off before he is allowed to pitch again.  This option allows you to 

give all players in the league to reduce their "Required Days Off" 

count by one.  Also, note that if a player is injured, the "Required

Days Off" are what keep him from playing.  "Required Days Off" reduce

1 per game you play.

 

5. Copy one ball park allows you to copy an already existing ballpark.

This is useful if you are starting a new league and want to simply

copy as many ball parks as you need for how many teams you have in the

new league.  Be careful, though.  Doing this requires going through

Set Path (F5), which is very problematic for anything newer than 

Windows 3.11, and probably won't work on that system.  See the 

"Problems with Windows" section later in the FAQ for tips on helping

this.

 

6. Erase all saved gamed.  I actually have never tried this option, 

since I've never tried to save games while they were in progress.

 

7. Delete all players and teams.  It does just what it says. Not highly

recommended normally, though it can be useful if you need to create a

new league in Windows 95/98/2000/XP.  See the "Problems with Windows"

section.

 

8. Create new league on new disk/path.  If you are playing in DOS or

Windows 3.11 (or before), this is where you go to create a new league.

Hit enter on this and type in the new directory you wish to create for

your new league.  It will ask you to create players, parks, and league

data files.  Say yes to all.  If you are using Windows 95/98/2000/XP,

see the "Problem with Windows" section, and DON'T use this option of

the commissioner.

 

9. Clear accumulated stats allows you to set all accumulated stats back

to zero.  This does not effect real stats.  See the terminology section

for more information on real and accumulated stats. Use this option 

with great caution.

 

10. Clear Win/Loss record.  Sets the Win/Loss record back to 0 Wins and

0 Losses for all teams. Use this option with great caution.

 

 

E. Line-up screen Instructions

 

Okay, you've picked your teams and hit "playball" (P) from the main 

menu.  The game now asks for a password (ugh!).  If you have downloaded

a cracked version of EW online (they exist), you might be able to put 

in anything here and have it work.  If not, then you would be in a 

world of hurt, except that you can print off pictures of the original

weaver wheel (see terminology) at:

 

http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~ply9686/games/ewbpics.html

 

Print and cut this out (the holes of the front part too) and it can

function as your password wheel.

 

Anyway, with the password entered, the line-up screen now pops up. 

First you are asked to pick the starting pitcher of the visiting team.

You can either pick him yourself, or Ask Earl (F7).  If Earl is

managing the visiting team, Earl will autopick a starter, but you can

change the starter if you want to.  Hit Finished (F10) when you are

done.  Second, you pick the home team's starting pitcher just like you

did for the visiting team and hit Finished (F10).  If you need to go

back to any previous screen at any time, this can be done with back up

(F9).  The third screen asks you to pick the lineup for the visitor.

You can alter players positions for the game and their order in the

line up.  You can Ask Earl (F7) for a suggested line-up.  Note that if

anyone is injured, you cannot change the players position until the 

main line-up screen.  The fourth screen asks you for the home team's

line-up, just as with the visitors.  The fifth screen is the main 

line-up menu.  From here you can alter any position of any players and

change both visiting and home team line-ups.  You can also put pitchers

in the bull-pen, though this is usually not necessary at the beginning

of the game, unless you are playing with a strange team strategy (say,

having 12 or 13 really good relievers and no real starters).  When you

have finalized all your selections, hit finished and you are ready to

get into the actual game.

 

A few other things to note about this game include: 

 

1. This is where you go to subsitute players, switch pitchers, pinch 

hit, etc. during the game.

 

2. While your team is hitting, you can highlight your pitcher and he

will tell you how his arm feels (you get the catcher's opinion you need

to do a conference call while pitching).

 

3. You can send upto 2 pitchers to the bull pen to warm up on this 

screen.  It is absolutely vital to warm up your relievers before 

putting them in the game if you wish to have success with your pitching

staff.

 

F. In game instructions

 

In the main game there are many different commands you can do.  A list

(perhaps lacking a few things are as follows). Note that the game is 

played from a split screen perspective on the pitch, with the field 

being on the left side of the split screen and the batter/pitcher on

the right side.

 

F1 - Change game speed (ranges from slow to super)

F2 - Turn announcer on and off

F3 - Turn sound on and off

F7 - Tells you wind speed (too fast on most Windows run computers)

F8 - Conference call with your pitcher

F10- Leave game

L  - Access main line-up menu

Ctrl+Pause-Break - Exits game

Space Bar - Brings up a 2 column menu on the right half of split

screen.  More on this as follows:

 

"Space Bar Menu":

 

From the "Space Bar Menu" on offense you can:

 

- Go to the main line-up menu (lineup)

- Ask Earl for advice (Earl)

- Hit Aggressively (Aggr.)

- Bunt (Bunt)

- Hit and Run (H & R)

- Run and Hit (R & H)

- Take a pitch (Take, not recommended for one pitch mode)

- Leadoff the bag (Leadoff, recommended if you want to steal)

- Steal Bases (Steal 2, Steal 3, Steal H, D Steal)

- Suicide Squeeze (Squeeze)

- Cancel out previously selected options (No Play)*

- Hide Selections (Hide)*

 

*These are very helpful against human opponents.  If you don't hide

against a human opponent, they will know exactly what you are doing.

You can also psych out opponents sometimes if you pretend you are 

doing something and then actually hit "No Play".  

 

From the "Space Bar Menu" on defense you can:

 

- Go to the main line-up menu (lineup)

- Ask Earl for advice (Earl)

- Conference call with the pitcher (confer)

- Guard the Line (Guard)

- Hold the Runner (Hold)

- Shift Fielders (IF Shift, IF Depth, OF Shift, OF Depth)

- Pitch around hitters (P Arnd)

- Pitch out (P Out, 4 in a row constitute an intentional walk)

- Charge 1st (Chg 1st, used in certain bunting situations)

- Charge 3rd (Chg 3rd, used in certain bunting situations)

- Cancel out previously selected options (No Play)*

- Hide Selections (Hide)*

 

*These are very helpful against human opponents.  If you don't hide

against a human opponent, they will know exactly what you are doing.

You can also psych out opponents sometimes if you pretend you are 

doing something and then actually hit "No Play".  

 

 

Part V - Stats

 

EWB is one of the most statistically driven baseball games I've ever 

played.  To be good at EWB you must understand some basics of baseball

stats.  Stats generally break down into three important catagories:

Hitting, Pitching, and Fielding, with both total stats and split stats

(see terminology for more on split stats).

 

A. Hitting Stats

 

Basic catagories for total hitting stats:

 

BA - Batting Average (calculated as H/AB)

G  - Games played

AB - At bats

R  - Runs

H  - Hits

1B - Singles

2B - Doubles

3B - Triples

HR - Home runs

RBI- Runs Batted In

SH - Sacrifice Hits

BB - Walks

SO - Strike outs

SB - Stolen Bases

CS - Caught Stealing

SA - Slugging Average ((HRx4)+(3Bx3)+(2Bx2)+1B)/(PA-(BB+HP+BS))**

OBA- On Base Average  (HR+3B+2B+1B+BB+HP)/(PA-BS)**

 

**For SA and OBA - (HP is "Hit by Pitch" and BS is "bunt sacrifices". 

Both are not calculated in EWB, so real stat OBA in EWB may be off a 

little when compared to what the hitter did in real life, but not so 

much that it really matters. PA is "plate appearances".

 

Basic catagories for split stats for hitters:

 

Split stats show VsR and VsL stats for players.

 

BA - Batting Average (calculated as H/AB)

AB - At bats

H  - Hits

1B - Singles

2B - Doubles

3B - Triples

HR - Home runs

BB - Walks

SO - Strike outs

SA - Slugging Average ((HRx4)+(3Bx3)+(2Bx2)+1B)/(PA-(BB+HP+BS))**

OBA- On Base Average  (HR+3B+2B+1B+BB+HP)/(PA-BS)**

 

**For SA and OBA - (HP is "Hit by Pitch" and BS is "bunt sacrifices". 

Both are not calculated in EWB, so real stat OBA in EWB may be off a 

little when compared to what the hitter did in real life, but not so 

much that it really matters. PA is "plate appearances".

 

Basic catagories for rankings for hitters:

 

POWER - Power is one of the most important offensive stats.  Hitters

with higher power rankings tend to have more home runs and extra base

hits, as well as more hits in general (though this last bit doesn't

tend to make much sense).

 

H&R - The higher the ranking in H&R (Hit and Run) the better the 

hitter will perform the hit and run option during gameplay.  Not too

important usually.

 

BUNT - The higher the ranking in BUNT the better the hitter will 

perform the bunt option during gameplay.  Not too important usually.

 

RUNS - This ranking affects the general speed of the player, including

the ability of the player to steal bases.  This is a moderately 

important offensive stat.

 

General notes on Hitting Stats:

 

Some stats are much more important than others.  In real baseball, 

there is a temptation to put a large emphasis on HR, RBI, and BA. In

EWB, one must caution against this.  POWER, SLG, and RUNS play larger

roles as catagories, in general, than the raw numbers of HR, RBI, and

BA (though it is by no means bad to have players who have high numbers

in these on your team). Keeping Versus stats in mind while making a

line-up or team can be very important too (more on this later in the

FAQ).

 

B. Pitching Stats

 

Basic catagories for total pitching stats:

 

W  - Wins

L  - Losses

ERA- Earned Run Average (calculated as (ER/IP)*9)

G  - Games

GS - Games Started

CG - Complete Games

SV - Saves

IP - Innings Pitched

H  - Hits allowed

ER - Earned Runs 

HR - Home Runs allowed

BB - Walks allowed

SO - Strike outs

HB - Hit Batsmen*

BALK - Balks committed*

 

*some leagues prefer to zero-out these stats as 1)they can happen 

seemingly too often in EWB and 2) it can be difficult to find these

stats when creating your own players based on real stats.

 

Basic catagories for split pitching stats:

 

BA - Batting average against (calculated as  H/AB)

AB - At bats against

H  - Hits allowed

HR - Home Runs allowed

BB - Walks allowed

SO - Strike outs allowed

 

Basic catagories for rankings for pitchers:

 

SPEED - Speed ranking measures the ability of the pitcher to strike

hitters out. Somewhat important pitching stat.

 

CONTROL - Measures pitcher's control.  The lower the control, the more

walks a pitcher is likely to give up.  This is a *very* important 

pitching stat.

 

FATIGUE - Measures how long a pitcher can pitch without getting tired.

The higher the fatigue, the longer they can stay in without getting

tired.  In general, starting pitchers should have a 6 fatigue or 

better, though having one 5 fatigue starter in a rotation is okay, and 

starting a 3 or 4 fatigue pitcher in an emergency is acceptable.

3 and 4 fatigue pitchers are usually "long relievers", while 1 and 2

fatigue pitchers are used for short relief circumstances, usually in

the later innings.

 

BUNT - How well the pitcher can bunt.  Not used at all if you play 

games with Designated Hitters (which is probable).

 

FA - Fielding Average of the pitcher.  The higher the better.

 

C. Fielding stats

 

Basic catagories for fielding are as follows:

 

PO  - Putouts* 

AS  - Assists*

ERR - Errors committed* 

FA-1- Fielding Average for fielding position 1**

FA-2- Fielding Average for fielding position 2**

 

*these three stats as entered could be just for PA-1 if player has

two positions

**If you highlight a player and look in the upper right corner of the 

display, you will see player positions (in edit mode these will be 

"P1" and "P2").  FA-1 corresponds to the first (main) fielding position

and FA-2 corresponds to the second fielding position.

 

Basic catagories for rankings for fielders are:

 

RANGE - The higher the range, the more ground the player can cover in

a relative amount of time. This stat is most important for 2B, SS, 3B

and CF.

 

ARM   - The higher the ARM ranking, the faster and farther a player 

can throw. This statistic is very important for catchers and 

outfielders.

 

 

Part VI Drafting

 

A. General Drafting Strategies

 

In EWB, drafting is picking your team of 25 players from the list of

players in the league.  The draft is when all the teams in your newly

created league (probably between 8 and 12 teams) pick their players 

from the general stats of a real season (note: this is just the general

way it goes.  You could play an "AL-only" or "NL-only" draft where you

only pick from one league of stats, or you can create your own players

from thin air if you wish....generally, how ever, drafts come from a

full league roster of Major League Baseball stats of a real season). If

you wish to know the physical logistics of drafting (that is literally

how you conduct a draft) skip to Part VI C. and D. For now, I will 

provide a basic general strategy for drafting position by position, as 

well as some general tips.

 

General Tips:

 

You generally want to try and draft a roster with at least 10 or 11 

pitchers.  I usually find 10 to be an optimum number, but sometimes 11

can be necessary.  You want to draft 2 catchers, at least 4 starting

pitchers (6 FAT or better), and have at least one or two good left 

handed hitters per team.  3 or 4 is even better, but 1 or 2 is 

absolutely vital.  A team full of right-handed hitters is sure Weaver

death. One closer who is an excellent reliever is necessary. You also 

need at least 1 left-handed reliever who is good against left-handed 

hitters to get clutch outs against the other teams good left-handed 

hitters in the late innings.  Also, don't be a bit afraid to platoon

(terminology) players if it means you can get better match ups overall.

It will be rare that you can play a full roster without at least a few

platoon positions.  If you are really good at it, you can actually 

effectively platoon upto 6 positions, although it isn't recommended

unless you are a Weaver veteran.

 

Position by position analysis:

 

Catchers:

 

Drafting 2 catchers is an optimum number.  Your primary starting 

catcher should be relatively offensively adept and have an ARM rating

that is at least 4 or 5.  Catchers with a 3 ARM or less are incredibly

easy to steal bases against.  Catchers with an 8 ARM or higher are

very hard to steal bases against. Your back-up catcher will probably

not be too good, but should have some redeeming quality so that he is

actually occasionally useful.  For instance, he could have a good ARM

or be above average against left-handed pitching.  Also, catcher is a

good position to platoon (see terminology), especially if you don't

get a top tier catcher. There is usually high position scarcity (see 

terminology) at catcher, so this is one position to stay concerned 

with. The ARM ranking of Defense is very important for catchers.

 

1st Base:

 

Generally there are many good offensive First Basemen available,

including some good power-hitters.  What this means is that you can

often afford to gamble a little bit with the first base position,

hoping to get a good quality starting in the later rounds.  Be careful

though.  You don't want to let great hitters pass you by in earlier 

rounds if they are available.  Often, the 1B position is a good place

to get DH's from, since there are so many good hitters at first base.

1B is not usually a good position to platoon, but occasionally you can

get two good platoon players at first in the later rounds who are

offensively better as a platoon than a player picked much ealier in the

draft. Defense for 1st Basemen isn't too important, but is nice if you

can get it anyway.

 

2nd Base:

 

Second base is more often than not a position at which some teams are

going to get marginal at best players.  There often simply are not 

enough quality starting second basemen for everyone to get one. This

means you might have to get a second basemen earlier than you would 

like sometimes, while there are still better offensive players left at

other positions that are have more quality at them in general.  Be

cautious not to jump the gun too much, because you still don't want to

squander a quality upper round pick on a marginal middle round player.

2nd Base is a good position to platoon, especially if you can find 

players that excel in OBA versus right handed pitching in the middle

rounds, but are marginal enough in other catagories that they aren't

worth drafting early.  Usually there will be a few guys to get against

left-handed pitching in the middle to late rounds, especially if they 

are bad against right-handed pitching. Defense is pretty important for

2nd Basemen.

 

Shortstop:

 

Much like 2nd base, this position can be hard to fill in later rounds.

It is generally a good idea to scout both 2nd base and Shortstop well

before the draft to see which position is weaker.  There are some years

in the late 1990s where an 8 PWR Alex Rodriguez as a SS is far better

than a similar 8 or 9 PWR outfielder because there are so few great

players at SS.  Whichever position between SS and 2B that has fewer

good hitters means that each good hitter at that position is relative

worth more because of position scarcity (see terminology).  Also a

good position to platoon.  Usually there isn't much power at SS, so

catagories like OBA and speed become even more important.  Defense is

very important at shortstop, which will become apparent if you draft a

really bad defensive SS.

 

3rd Base:

 

Third Base usually has more power hitters than 2B or SS, but often

lacks hitters with high OBA (save for Wade Boggs in late 1980s, early

1990s stats).  This is a decent position for hitters in general, but

you can get stuck with quite a stinker if you are not careful (don't 

get stuck with Travis Fryman in the late 1990s...he is Weaver death).

If you really want to commit Weaver Blasphemy, just draft a 4 or 5 PWR

right-handed 3rd Basemen with about a .352 OBA and .455 SLG and 110Ks.

There are about one or two of these drafted every time, because they

are usually about the 11th and 12th most attractive 3rd basemen.  And

almost exclusively they hit a .300 OBA with a .400 SLG and 160+ Ks, 

effectively tanking that line-up spot for a team.  3rd Base is an OK

spot to platoon.  If you can get a left-handed good OBA 3rd basemen to

bat 2-hole for your team, it can be better than gold. Defense is fairly

important for 3rd basemen.

 

Outfield:

 

Finally there are the 3 outfield spots.  There are often alot of very

good hitters in the outfield.  Usually I suggest trying to get at least

one really good left-handed hitter in your outfield.  Platooning one 

outfield spot can also work out very well.  There should be plenty of

good outfielders to fill your roster with, offensively speaking.  You

should be very careful not to draft outfielders with 2 or 3 ARMs if at

all possible.  A 2 ARM Tim Raines toward the end of his career might 

have a great .400+ OBA, but your pitching staff will greatly suffer by

all the easy runs and extra base hits his weak arm allows since he can

*never* throw anyone out.  A great ARM in the outfield is also a great

help, since Weaver tends to have guys run home *alot* on hits if they

are taking off from second.  A good/great ARM in the outfield will lead

to alot of outfield assists, which will greatly help your pitching 

staff.  RANGE is important too, but doesn't seem to come into play 

quite as much, excepting that if you have an exceptional RANGE in one

of your outfielders, then he rob some hitters of home runs by leaping

and putting his glove over the fence to catch balls that other OFer's

couldn't reach.  Defense is most important for Center fielders, least

important for Right fielders.

 

DH:

 

If you are using the DH rule, you will get to put one extra hitter in

your line up that doesn't have to play in the field.  There are often

a few good "DH-only" players who are great hitters. I recommend against

drafting them early, but you can sometimes get a great hitter later

because of his "DH-only" status.  Edgar Martinez and Jose Canseco in 

the late 1990s are good examples of DH-only players who should

rightfully start. The advantage to drafting such a player is that you

can sometimes get more value out of a draft pick than you otherswise 

would (i.e. the player you select is by far the best hitter left in the

draft), but the major disadvantage is that a DH-only hitter can limit

team flexibility overall.  First basemen are also often used at DH. I

caution against filling your DH slot too early, since you can usually

get some really good hitters in the later rounds, but starting pitching

can dry up relatively early.

 

Starting pitching:

 

Getting a few good starting pitchers is vital to your team. One could

argue that starting pitching is the most important position on your 

team.  I've seen mediocre offensive teams make the playoffs by having

two dominate starters and a good number 3 and 4 man.  It is imperative

that you draft at least four starters.  Unlike many newer baseball 

games, you can have a four man rotation in EWB, where as you usually

have to have a five man rotation.  I suggest that you draft 4 or 5 

starters, but use a four man rotation of your best four starters.  You

should have at least 1 decent left-handed starter, as some teams will

be very weak against left-handed pitching (this can become extremely

important in the playoffs, as your marginal left-hander in the regular

season can become the difference in a seven game series).  If you only

draft 4 starters (remember, pitchers with over a 6 FAT), you should

try and draft at least one long reliever (3-5 FAT) to keep in case one

of your starters gets rocked in a start or injured.  You need at least

one guy around for an emergency start. Above all, you absolutely can't

wait forever for starting pitching.  If you get stuck with 3 or 4

mid-level starters after the draft, you are going to be in for a long

season and a world of hurt.

 

Relief pitching:

 

One closer who is an excellent reliever is necessary. Two or 

three is an excellent thing to have (and can occur in Weaver leagues

as there are usually only 12 Weaver teams, but more like 30 real

teams to draft from).  You also need at least 1 left-handed reliever

who is good against left-handed hitters to get clutch outs against the

other teams good left-handed hitters in the late innings.  If you can

snag two of these, you can really dominate the late innings.  Also,

having a right-handed reliever who is better against left-handed 

hitting can come in very handy as well.  

 

 

B. Special Drafting Strategies

 

This section is devoted to providing alternative strategies for 

general drafting.  These strategies will show you how to build various

non-traditional teams.  This can be a tactic you might want to try if

you are in a league in which certain types of players are always 

undervalued, or if you just want to try something different. Note also

that these strategies may not be legal according to your specific 

league rules (i.e. some leagues require you to have a certain number of

starting pitchers, or to only play a person out of a qualified position

in an emergency and never as a starter, etc.)

 

1.  The Relievers Orgy:

 

This strategy is rather strange, but I have seen it executed

effectively.  To begin with, the basis of this team is to draft around

12-14 extremely good relievers, with no real starters.  This can be an

interesting thing to try in either leagues that undervalue relief 

pitchers, or in seasons which there are many bad starting pitchers, but

an excess of good relief pitching.  If you are to try this, it is very

imperative that you get good hitters early that can play against both

sides of the plate.  You cannot platoon much at all if you try this

strategy, since you must draft more pitchers than normal.  Also, try

to get a few 2-3 FAT pitchers that can pitch more than just 1 inning.

I've only seen this tried once, and it worked very well.  By the time

it was figured out by other drafters what the person drafting this type

of team was doing, he already had like 7 or 8 relievers, and there were

too many middle range relievers left to keep him from getting them. He

finished second overall in record and fell just a game shy of 

reaching the world series in a very close league championship series.

The strategy can only work if there is only one person trying it, and

if it doesn't get snuffed out early.  Therefore, it is a risky

strategy, but does has potential for high payoff.  Be warned, though,

it could be Weaver death if you end up trying this and get like 4 good

relievers and a bunch of bollocks to fill out your pitching staff with.

 

2.  Ignore Positions:

 

This strategy is when you pick the best hitters left, irrespective of

their positions.  The general effect of this strategy is that you will

end up with alot of 1B and OF, and a really bad defense.  I once saw a

guy who drafted and started four 1B in his infield.  He had the 2nd 

most home runs in the league, but finished under .500 and out of the 

playoffs because he gave up so many errors and extra hits because of 

his bad defense.  A more moderate variation on this is to draft one

or two players out of position that are really good defense players in

general.  For instance, you might draft J.T. Snow as a 1B and play him

at SS or 2B in some late 1990s seasons.  While he does commit more 

errors than normal, it is actually better since his offense against

right handed pitching is often better than the lesser SS and 2B 

players.

 

3.  All out for starting pitching:

 

This strategy is to get four really good starting pitchers really early

in the draft.  This can actually be a good strategy in general, as

good pitching tends to be harder to come by than good hitting 

(especially if you are playing with real stats from the 1990s).  One

problem with this strategy is that it tends to be snuffed out as soon

as you get your 2nd great starter, and almost always if you get 3 

starting pitchers with your first 3 picks.  This can cause a run on 

starting pitching, which can defeat the whole purpose if you have to

draft a mid-level starter for your 4th pitcher.  However, if you can

nab 2 great starters and then start a run on starting pitcher, this can

work to your advantage too, since you can get some really good hitters

while everyone else is panicking over starting pitching...and still 

have 2 great starters that will be better than most other teams.  

 

4.  Great OBA

 

This strategy is best suited for leagues that over-value POWER and HRs,

and undervalue OBA, but can be used at any time.  The basis of this

strategy is to attempt to get high OBA players at all positions.  This

means that you will probably have to draft some positions earlier than

you might otherwise (C, 2B, SS, 3B) and let some good hitters go to 

other teams in (1B, OF), since you can still get good OBA hitters in 

these positions later.  Remember, it is still vital to get good 

pitching if you do this, because no matter how much you get on base, a

team with 4 medium to bad starters is going to get pounded.

 

C. How to Draft with the Commissioner's Disk

 

To begin with, you will need the Commissioner's Disk software for the

EWB 1.5.  If you have this, open up the software (usually stattool.exe)

and you will see a "Draft A League" option at the bottom of the screen.

You will want to have created a league before performing this option.

You can do this either here in the Commissioner's Disk or in the main

EWB program. To do it here, select create new league.  Enter in the

new path for the new league.  Then edit the league and team information

to be as you wish.  Now, go to "draft a league".  This brings up a 

screen where you are given select draft order and draft type, as well

as set the number of players per team.  Set all three of these numbers

to 25.  Set the "source" path to the directory which has the stats of

teams you will be drafting from, and set the "Destination" path (F6) 

to the directory which is your newly created league (note: doing this

in post Windows 3.11 will cause problems...blah, there is a possible

way to do this in Windows 95/98/2000/XP, but it is a pain, and

will be address this in Part VI E and in the "problems with Windows"

section).  You can pick to have either a regular or bid draft.  0

With a bid draft, each team gets a certain amount of money to spend, 

and players are brought up to be bid on.  Teams must bid a minimum of 

$1 (as a standard) with no maximum, other than the fact that teams 

must fill out there 25 man roster without going over budget.  A team 

owner is arbitarily picked to start the bidding.  He/She brings up a 

name and a price and the bidding begins.  The highest bidder gets the 

player.  The next owner introduces another player and the process 

continues until all teams have 25 players.  The regular draft (which 

you will probably use more often) has 25 rounds.  Each team gets one 

pick per round.  Order of picking can be either Same each round, 

reverse order each round, or random. I prefer random, though reverse 

order each round tends to be most fair, except that the teams with back

to back picks tend to have some advantage.  Same each round is a bad 

idea, unless you have a mixed league of veterans and newbies, in which 

you might want to give the newbies early round picks each time (okay, 

it is *still* a bad idea). With this type you just have whomever goes 

first start and you keep picking until all teams have 25 players.

 

D. How to Draft without the Commissioner's Disk

 

Okay, so you don't have the Commissioner's Disk.  Create your new

league in the commissioner (F10) part of the main menu of the EWB

program.  Create your new teams/league data here.  Either copy ball 

parks with the "Copy one ball park option" or through copying the 

"parks.dat" file from the main stats directory to the directory with

your new league data.  Now, do a draft on pen and paper with your 

league (yes, I'm sorry but that is part of it).  Go to the General

Manager part of EWB (F6) and clone players (F7) from the original teams

in the year you are drafting from to the teams they are supposed to be

on in the newly created league.  Continue to do this until all teams

are filled.  Yes, it is a boring process, but does the job.  Also, if

you try this with Windows 95/98/2000/XP, it won't work, which is why

you need to look into the next section.

 

E. How to Draft in Windows 95/98/2000/XP

 

If you delve into the following and it doesn't make sense, go and read

the "Problems with Windows" section.  That should help explain it some.

This is pain, sorta.  The main issue is that you can't use the set path

function (i.e. switch directories) in either EWB or the commissioner's

disk without it making an error.  There is no way to fix this, but 

there is a way to work around it.  For drafting, you will have to

conduct a draft in such a manner so that the source and destination 

files are the same.  First of all, there are a few things you can do to 

make this possible. This suggestions takes time.  First, copy a folder

with the real stats to a new directory in windows.  Change the name of

the directory (just to prevent confusion).  Now copy all of the game

files (graphics file, the program itself) to this newly created 

directory.  Be careful to NOT copy stat files, because you don't want

to save over the stats files with the old-timers stats.  Just copy in

the actual game flies (as well as the stattool if you have it).  Now

go into the EWB game, and edit teams so that one league is called 

"draftees" and that the other league is called whatever you want your

new league to be called.  In the "draftees" league, rename all the

teams either numbers or letters (1-16, A-P).  Then go through and trade

all the draft worthy players to teams in the "draftees" league and 

delete the other players. Then start a draft with one of the above two

methods (this does limit your overall possible teams to 16, but since

8-12 teams per league is standard, this shouldn't be a problem). Other

possibilities are that you just simply choose to only draft from one

league (AL or NL), or you just simply draft using the same source and 

destination folders (you still need to create a separate folder for 

this to not screw up the real teams/stats on the original stats). If

you only want to draft from either the AL or NL of a certain year (not

a bad idea, btw), you simply need to copy the stat directory (with game

files, of course) and then change the team/league data for the league

you don't want to play with, changing the data into your league's team

and league names.  Then you can draft using either the Commissioner's

disk or EWB game without having to switch directories via "set path".

You can also try and just draft on the commissioners disk, using the

source file as the same destination disk, only drafting for as many

teams as you want to, and changing the team name data.  This will get

the players you want on the teams you want through the draft, but any

players not drafted on the teams you alter will now be gone and the 

players you draft that were not on the teams you alter will still be

on their original teams.  If your league doesn't allow you to have

reserves or injuries roster replacements, this doesn't matter at all,

so you can actually save yourself a great deal of time if this is the

case by drafting this way.

 

Part VII General Game Strategy

 

So you finally have your league drafted and are ready to play with your

own team.  Here is some general stategy to help.

 

A. Line-ups

 

Selecting a good line-up is generally very important.  Your line-up

has nine players, with all 8 defensive positions being filled and 

another spot for either a DH or pitcher, depending upon whether or not

you play with a DH (you should, it is more fun).  I'm going to assume

you play with a DH, and thus have nine real hitters.  First, you make

sure that the first 3 batters of your line-up have a relatively high

OBA.  Generally, having speed in the top spot is good, but having a guy

with high OBA and low speed is better than a guy with great speed and

a low OBA.  Having power in the 3-hole (3rd hitter) is nice too, but

OBA is very important.  You want to have good sluggers at spots 4-6, to

drive in those hitters who are always getting on base for you in the

1-3 spots.  Power isn't the only attribute here, but it is an important

one.  Often you want your best power hitter hitting clean up (4th 

hitter), but having him hit 3rd or 5th is sometimes okay too, 

especially in the 3-hole if they have a high OBA and in the 5-hole if

they have a mediocre OBA.  Good OBA in the middle of the line-up is 

also quite important, and sometimes if you a good power hitter with a

subpar OBA, you will want to bat him lower in the line-up, like 7th or

8th.  The 7-9 spots of your line-up are reserved for your worst hitters

overall.  You generally want to put your worst hitter last, but 

sometimes you might put a guy who is a little better of a contact 

hitter/OBA guy in the 9 hole and put a power hitter with strikeouts in

the 8-hole who has a low OBA.  This is so that the 9-hole hitter can

more often start something in front of the high OBA 1-3 hitters, while

the power hitter can more often drive guys in (or strikeout, thus not

having a Double Play) from the 8-hole.  Of course, if you are a really

good drafter, you might have good hitters up and down the lineup, but

you should still follow the general suggestions.  In addition, you want

to make sure to have a few left-handed bats in your starting line-up

against most right-handed pitching.  Having at least 1 or 2 left-handed

power hitters is very important for winning alot of the time.

 

Starting pitching:

 

You want to have 4 or 5 starters per team, with a FAT above 6.  You

should try and get atleast one left-handed starter who is a quality

pitcher.  Getting starters with low control can kill your team in the

long run.  In the game, you should stick with your starters as long as

they are throwing well, but stay sensitive to pitch counts.  Also, 

don't be afraid to do conference calls, but realize that 2 conference

calls in one inning means that you have to take your pitcher out. I

recommend doing a conference call in clutch situations or if your 

pitcher walks two batters to begin an inning (which is also a good sign

to get the bullpen working.

 

Bullpen:

 

You want to manage your bullpen wisely.  Have atleast one good closer,

and try to snag one good 2 or 3 FAT reliever.  Having a pitcher who is

right-handed and good against left-handed hitting helps, as does having

one left-handed pitcher who is good against right handed hitting.  They

tend to have many situations in which they are at an advantage.  Having

one left-handed pitcher who is good against left-handed hitting is 

vital for late innning match-ups, to either face the other teams best

left-handed hitter or make the other manager pinch hit for him. In

game, you want to make sure to get your bullpen guys on ready "Rdy" 

before putting them in.  Also, try not to overuse your relievers, and

do all you can to not put in your closer until the 9th inning. Also,

don't waste your closer in a game that you are clearly going to lose.

 

Part VIII Problems with Windows 95/98/2000/XP

 

The fatal flaw of EWB is that the "set path" function in the game isn't

compatable with Windows 95/98/2000/XP.  This is truly unfortunate. As

follows are a few ideas to try and get around this.

 

First, when you put weaver on your machine, you need to copy the files

that run the game (i.e. the graphics, application files, etc.) into

*each* folder where you keep stats.  This means that if you want a new

season, create a new directory, copy all the files that run the game

into this new directory, and then copy the stats of the year you want

your new season to be drafted from (more on drafting later).  For

example, if I wanted to play a season using 1998 season data that I 

have, I would create a new directory, copy all the regular game files

(not counting stats) from the main weaver directory, then copy the

1998 season data files (parks.dat, players.dat, leagname.dat) into the

new directory as well.  Then go to the newly created directory, and

click on either the "weaver" application file or the ewb batch file (if

you have it).  This will then bring up the game, with the 1998 stats

in that folder.  If you just want to play with real teams, just play

and save as normal, never switching directories through the "set path"

function.  

 

**VERY IMPORTANT NOTE**

 

If you are going to do this, DON'T replace your data files by accident!

This can accidently do this if you simply hit copy and paste of all the

files.  This should be avoidable because you should get a prompt asking

you to override the data files if you accidently try to replace season

data files.  One way to help this is to make a folder called 

"gamefiles" in which you put all the game files in except for

players.dat, parks.dat, and leagname.dat. Then you can copy all these

files (the files, not the folder itself) into your newly created 

directories for new leagues.

 

Now if you want to draft in Windows 95/98/2000/XP, it is as follows

(copied from above incase you want to print out just Part VIII):

 

How to Draft in Windows 95/98/2000/XP

 

If you delve into the following and it doesn't make sense, go and read

the "Problems with Windows" section.  That should help explain it some.

This is pain, sorta.  The main issue is that you can't use the set path

function (i.e. switch directories) in either EWB or the commissioner's

disk without it making an error.  There is no way to fix this, but 

there is a way to work around it.  For drafting, you will have to

conduct a draft in such a manner so that the source and destination 

files are the same.  First of all, there are a few things you can do to 

make this possible. This suggestions takes time.  First, copy a folder

with the real stats to a new directory in windows.  Change the name of

the directory (just to prevent confusion).  Now copy all of the game

files (graphics file, the program itself) to this newly created 

directory.  Be careful to NOT copy stat files, because you don't want

to save over the stats files with the old-timers stats.  Just copy in

the actual game flies (as well as the stattool if you have it).  Now

go into the EWB game, and edit teams so that one league is called 

"draftees" and that the other league is called whatever you want your

new league to be called.  In the "draftees" league, rename all the

teams either numbers or letters (1-16, A-P).  Then go through and trade

all the draft worthy players to teams in the "draftees" league and 

delete the other players. Then start a draft with one of the above two

methods (this does limit your overall possible teams to 16, but since

8-12 teams per league is standard, this shouldn't be a problem). Other

possibilities are that you just simply choose to only draft from one

league (AL or NL), or you just simply draft using the same source and 

destination folders (you still need to create a separate folder for 

this to not screw up the real teams/stats on the original stats). If

you only want to draft from either the AL or NL of a certain year (not

a bad idea, btw), you simply need to copy the stat directory (with game

files, of course) and then change the team/league data for the league

you don't want to play with, changing the data into your league's team

and league names.  Then you can draft using either the Commissioner's

disk or EWB game without having to switch directories via "set path".

You can also try and just draft on the commissioners disk, using the

source file as the same destination disk, only drafting for as many

teams as you want to, and changing the team name data.  This will get

the players you want on the teams you want through the draft, but any

players not drafted on the teams you alter will now be gone and the 

players you draft that were not on the teams you alter will still be

on their original teams.  If your league doesn't allow you to have

reserves or injuries roster replacements, this doesn't matter at all,

so you can actually save yourself a great deal of time if this is the

case by drafting this way.

 

Hopefully the above information can make it so you can effectively play

EWB in Window 95/98/2000/XP.

 

Part IX Passwords 

 

Without the right batch file, EWB requires passwords in order to play.

 

They are as follows, with the second number being one to try if the

first number doesn't work (my printed wheel is hard to read in spots,

and I have the batch file so these aren't tested yet). This might not

be all of them, but should be enough to get you playing.  Also, you can

download the wheel for these from:

 

http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~ply9686/games/ewbpics.html

 

Baltimore Stadium, J-83

 

Dugout:      1255

Upper Deck:  8882

Right Field: 10002 

Reserved:    83289

Grandstand:  74791

Lower Deck:  64314

Left Field:  530977

Luxury Box:  401361 

Bleacher:    483897

 

Candlestick Park, T-16

 

Dugout:      6168

Upper Deck:  6154

Right Field: 44638 (44680)

Reserved:    66694

Grandstand:  37820

Lower Deck:  60454

Left Field:  320527

Luxury Box:  113086 (could be off)

Bleacher:    538435 (598435)

 

Dodger Stadium, W-95

 

Dugout:      3229

Upper Deck:  1234

Right Field: 32012 (38012)

Reserved:    84131

Grandstand:  40824

Lower Deck:  87230

Left Field:  477766

Luxury Box:  686901 (636901)

Bleacher:    314756

 

Griffith Stadium, W-95

 

Dugout:      1255

Upper Deck:  8882

Right Field: 10002 

Reserved:    83289

Grandstand:  74791

Lower Deck:  64314

Left Field:  530977

Luxury Box:  401361 

Bleacher:    483897

 

Sportsman's Park, J-83

 

Dugout:      3229

Upper Deck:  1234

Right Field: 32012 (38012)

Reserved:    84131

Grandstand:  40824

Lower Deck:  87230

Left Field:  477766

Luxury Box:  686901 (636901)

Bleacher:    314756

 

Yankee Stadium, N-53

 

Dugout:      6168

Upper Deck:  6154

Right Field: 44638 (44680)

Reserved:    66694

Grandstand:  37820

Lower Deck:  60454

Left Field:  320527

Luxury Box:  113086 (could be off)

Bleacher:    538435 (598435)

 

Part X Terminology

 

Accumulated stats: As you play games, you can save stats if you wish.

As you save games, stats of your players accumulate based on their 

performance, giving them accumulated stats.

 

Commissioner's disk: This is additional software produced to be used

with EWB 1.5.  With the commissioner's disk, you have more options on

some things (such as variable for creating ball parks and displaying

stats).

 

Platoon:  To platoon players means that you have two players that start

at one position for your team based on what starting pitcher you face.

For instance, you might have a 1B who is really great against 

right-handed pitching, but is terrible against left-handed pitching. So

you get a second 1B player who hits well against left-handed pitching

to start against left-handed pitchers.  This is a platoon.  Generally

platoon players excel against either righties or lefties but are not

good against the other side.

 

Position Scarcity: Position scarcity is when there are less good

players at a position than there are teams drafting in a draft.  Often

this occurs at 2B, SS, and C.  The less good players per position, the

higher the position scarcity.

 

Real Stats: Real stats are their actual stats from real data, that are

not based on their performance in EWB, but rather on the data that is

entered in for them.

 

Split Stats: Split stats are their stats for VsL and VsR.  For hitters,

this means stats versus right and left handed pitchers, and vice versa

for pitchers.  This are often hard to find when making stats.

 

Stattool: See Commissioner's disk

 

Total Stats: These are just the players total stats, irrespective of

how they did versus right and left-handed opposition.

 

Weaver game: This is a simulated game where both teams are run by the 

computer.

 

Weaver wheel: This wheel has all the passwords you will need for EWB.

Download at:

 

http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~ply9686/games/ewbpics.html

 

Part XI Frequently Asked Questions

 

Q1. Where can I buy this game or stats?

 

A1. Unfortunately, no where, unless you find it by chance. You can,

however, find stats online at a few sites, which is legal to download

according to www.dombrower.com/EWBSupport/, a website owned by the

maker of the game.  

 

Q2. Stats, I need stats!  Where can I go?

 

A2. Good stats are by far the hardest thing to come by.  Here is some

help:

 

http://www.dombrower.com/EWBSupport/

http://computerbaseball.virtualave.net/stats/

 

Other stats and general downloads can be found at:

 

http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~ply9686/games/weaver.html

 

Q3. I tried playing this game and kept getting a "stats not found"

error when I tried to set path.  Why is this?

 

A3. Check the "Problems with Windows" section of this FAQ.  

 

Q4. How can you play this game, the graphics are so old looking?

 

A4. Die.

 

Q5. That game is so old!  Ha, ha, you still play it.

 

A5. See Answer 4.

 

Q6. Aaaagghhh!  I finally found this old game after many years but 

don't have the password wheel.  What can I do?

 

The wheel can be found at:

 

http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~ply9686/ewbpics.html

 

Also, there is a passwords section of this FAQ you can check out.

 

Q7. Is there a sequel to this game?

 

A7. Yes, Earl Weaver Baseball II.  It was not as popular as the 

original, and most people didn't like it nearly as much.  

 

Q8. Stats not found?  What the spank do you mean stats not found?

 

A8. Again, look at the "Problems with Windows" section of this FAQ.

 

Q9. You told me that this game would be fun, but it was so STUPID and

the graphics and sounds were all old and crappy.  I hate you.

 

A9. Refer to Answer 4.

 

Q10. Is there any way I can simulate games faster than actually having

them run at super speed?

 

A10. Yes, if you open the game in DOS.  Look at the DOS Instructions of

this site for more information.  There is a fast stats mode, and ways

to skip several games in a row....still too long for simualation, but

better than the alternative.

 

 

Part XII Copyright

 

Feel free to post this on your site, in part or whole, as long as you 

give credit to Demystifier (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).  Please don't

link to the text file on GameFAQs, however.  

 

Part XIII Acknowledgements

 

I would like to thank Eddie Dombrower for making such a great game, 

Electronic Arts for producing it, Earl Weaver for being such a 

fiery and great manager who lent his name to the game, and my older

brothers who introduced me to EWB when I was around 10, as well as my

friends who have played in leagues against me over the years (even

though we haven't had any leagues in a few years now).

 

Part XIV Version History

 

Version 1.00 (2/11/2003)

 

- Primary FAQ completed, with limited terminology section. Posted the 

  bulk of everything that will ever be posted on this FAQ