Controversial Plays In Diamond Mind Baseball
Stuff you might overlook
Controversial Plays in Diamond Mind Baseball
If you play a lot of Diamond Mind Baseball, and if you play really quickly, you’ll wind up missing out on a lot of good play by play.
In fact, it’s one of the few baseball games I’ve seen that introduces actual controversy in its play results.
Below are a few examples I’ve collected.
Arguing Balls and Strikes
Regulars on the Diamond Mind Baseball forums know that the play-by-play is a bit too eager to point out bad ball and strike calls. Here’s an example:
This isn’t exactly a rare call, by the way. Here’s another example:
Every now and then, though, the players wind up mad because of awful calls:
That one is pretty common — I see it every few games or so. Here’s one that’s a little bit more rarer:
And, of course, there’s always a chance that a player will get tossed from the game for arguing:
Sometimes they’re more direct about it:
And sometimes it’s the catcher who gets into it:
I haven’t had anybody tossed from the game for arguing balls and strikes quite yet, but I’m sure it’s coming.
Fair or Foul?
This one is common:
I’ve got another example, in fact:
Here’s another foul ball play by play pattern that you see pretty frequently:
I’m not sure if it’s programmed this way or not, but it feels like this one only comes up in clutch situations with a big power hitter at the plate.
Sometimes it’s called a fair ball, by the way:
I think they do that just to keep you on your toes.
Missed Calls
Sometimes it’s just a missed call. For instance:
Now, that’s a judgment call, though it did lead to a run for the Reds. But how about this one?
See — this is where Diamond Mind Baseball is simply different. The umpires in Diamond Mind occasionally forget what the rules of the game are. I mean, how do you miss a call when the guy is that far out of the baseline?
Occasionally it results in an argument:
And sometimes it seems that the announcer wants to go argue:
In fact, the arguing sometimes happens on a meaningless throw to first that doesn’t even show up in the boxscore:
Subtle Controversy
Not all controversies are obvious. Check this one out:
Yeah, I’d say that granting time right before the bad throw to first is pretty sketchy.
How about this one?
That’s not interference?
There’s also this:
Okay — so the throw beat the runner and the catch was made… but there was “no control?” What’s that supposed to mean?
This one, of course, is a little more blatant:
Home Run Controversy
Finally — and certainly rare for 1949 — you get plays like this one:
Now, I’m not certain that it’s an argument about whether the ball was fair, or whether it passed some boundary to be officially ruled a home run. At any rate, it sure was controversial — and Joe Gordon seems to have gotten away with one.