Bad Diamond Mind Baseball Play By Play

Play by play text that should be changed

Bad Diamond Mind Baseball Play By Play

I’ve gone on and on over the past few months about how good the play by play is in Diamond Mind Baseball.

It really is probably the game’s biggest selling point these days. Sure, the game lacks a “chalkboard” animation system like Action PC Baseball. Sure, it doesn’t have 3D stadiums and animations like OOTP. Sure, it doesn’t have an open game engine like Replay. But it’s got great play by play — much better than anybody else in the market.

Sometimes, though, the play by play isn’t quite all that great.

Now, I’ll admit, some of these accounts are based on pet peeves of mine. For example, most people wouldn’t find anything wrong with this one:

It looks fine, right? It’s harmless, yes — unless you’re trying to create play by play while you read the text quickly. I wish it would just be called a ball, instead of having to read about how it’s not a strike first.

That’s kind of a finicky example, I know. I think this one is a big more egregious:

This is a triple down the line, sure. But which line? It’s kind of hard to visualize the play when you don’t even know the general direction the ball was hit in.

It’s not just triples that are affected, either:

Admittedly, this is a bit rare.

Sometimes the play by play doesn’t quite match up right with the action. Take this, for instance:

I’m still trying to figure out how Bill Rigney only managed a single on a ball that was rolling for a bit in right center field.

This description has the opposite effect:

Maybe Wally was arguing so fiercely that he forgot to pick up the ball and throw it in? It’s hard to tell.

This is another one of my pet peeves:

Striking out a guy for the last out of the game is a pretty big accomplishment. It seems so strange to follow that up by noting that the pitcher has walked two and struck out two.

Sometimes the physics seem impossible. Check this one out:

I can’t remember if it was off the glove of the second baseman or the pitcher. Either way, I’m trying to figure out how the ball “caromed” off a fielder’s glove back towards the plate without anybody touching it. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a play like that.

This one makes a little more sense:

Well, it kind of makes sense. But it hit the glove, then his “body,” and then went into center field? Sounds like something from a sci fi baseball video game.

This one is also awkward:

I think it means that Werle tried to flip it quickly behind his back to first. However, it reads like Werle decided to take time out in the middle of the play to practice his gymnastic floor routine.

Sometimes the play by play generator purposely gets things wrong. It’s fun when it happens — but it can also be really misleading:

It’s not every day you mistake a popup to second base for a home run.

Sometimes the players can’t seen to make up their minds:

I mean, Rizzuto must not have gone far down the baseline to decide to return to first, right? I’m having a hard time visualizing this, though, since Goldsberry is the first baseman. He couldn’t have gone far to get the ball if Phil decided to go back to the bag, right? Again, it’s really hard to visualize.

Here’s a similar example:

Again — it’s confusing to have a runner go back to the bag where the fielder has the ball.

And this one is “exciting,” I suppose:

I mean, I know Hudson made a bad throw to first and that Robinson saved it. That’s obvious. But there really has to be some better way to describe this out. Did Robinson stretch to make it? Did he come off the bag and tag the batter? How bad was the throw?

Occasionally the ambiguity in the play by play leads to confusion, like this one:

It’s taken me a few readings to realize that Stephens caught the ball before it hit the ground. It would have been nice to mention that fact.

Sometimes ambiguous play by play can cause you to make the wrong decision as manager:

I’ve naturally got to assume that a “checked-swing roller toward second” is likely a double play ball. Sure, the runners were off with the pitch — but that doesn’t necessarily mean a double play is impossible in Diamond Mind Baseball. It would be nice to get a little bit more of a clue in the play by play that you’re choosing between an out at home and an out at first, not an out at home and a double play.

Finally, as rare as it may be, sometimes you find things that are simply mistakes:

I don’t remember if I pushed “y” or “n.” Either way — it’s bizarre to have Sisler hold at first and then go for second. Maybe he would have been safe if he had been going all the way?