Trying to import certain historical players

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

I've been trying to import at least two historical black players, but am currently having some trouble with doing so. For instance, I'd like to import Jose Mendez from 1907 and Bill Foster from 1923, but my game won't let me for some reason or reasons, and I'm getting a little bit frustrated at the current time, because it's not letting me import them, at least. Do any of you have any suggestions that might help me get them and/or other non-MLB historical players into at least one of my saved game universes? Please advise, if and when you like and can. Thank you in advance. Clovidequano Dovatha out.

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by Clovidequano Dovatha

I've been trying to import at least two historical black players, but am currently having some trouble with doing so. For instance, I'd like to import Jose Mendez from 1907 and Bill Foster from 1923, but my game won't let me for some reason or reasons, and I'm getting a little bit frustrated at the current time, because it's not letting me import them, at least. Do any of you have any suggestions that might help me get them and/or other non-MLB historical players into at least one of my saved game universes? Please advise, if and when you like and can. Thank you in advance. Clovidequano Dovatha out.

What database have you tried importing them from? They are only in the historical_minor_database, so they must be imported from there. Consult the MiLB master.csv file and make sure you copy their IDs exactly otherwise they will not import correctly. I believe you might also have to check a box that says "Include Player(s) in the minor league database" in order to import them properly, as well as ensuring that you have the year that you want them imported for (which you have indicated in your post). Make sure you also line up what to base your current ratings on (Real or Neutralized Stats), what to base your potential ratings on (there are four different options), what to base your fielding ratings on (three different options), and what to base your pitcher stamina on (three different options as well) with how you have those categories set up in your game. I think that's all, and I hope this works. Let us know.

[mitchkenn]

actionjackson good write up! Covers it very well!

jose mendez (according to the files from the game that i have, he pitched from 1902-1926.)
his id in the game is

mendez049jos

Bill Foster (also listed as Willie Foster) pitched 1923-1937 and his player ID for the game (in 18) is:

foster049wil

i've uploaded a .csv file for all the Negro League players that were in OOTP 18. (got it in a post by Sprtize, and of course i can't find the original post right off.) The player ID's are the ones this version of the game uses. hope this helps.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

The Bill Foster I want to import is this one: https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=foster002bil and the Jose Mendez I want is this one: https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=mendez005jos. As for others, I'm not sure who else I'd like to import at the moment, in terms of possible Negro or Minor League-type historical players at the moment, at least, I think. As I said, I'd like to import them when they are early in their careers, at least in terms of their likely ages, if possible. Please advise as soon as possible. Thank you for your help so far. Dovatha out.

P.S. Seems BB-Ref has them listed differently than the OOTP game does, for some reason. Wonder why. Don't they use the same Lahman ID's or something? Just wondering, that's all. Dovatha out.

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by Clovidequano Dovatha

The Bill Foster I want to import is this one: https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=foster002bil and the Jose Mendez I want is this one: https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=mendez005jos. As for others, I'm not sure who else I'd like to import at the moment, in terms of possible Negro or Minor League-type historical players at the moment, at least, I think. As I said, I'd like to import them when they are early in their careers, at least in terms of their likely ages, if possible. Please advise as soon as possible. Thank you for your help so far. Dovatha out.

As mitchkenn indicated above, Bill Foster's ID is foster049wil. He will come in as Willie Foster, but trust us, that is the guy you're looking for because Willie Foster (as he is known in this database for some reason) was born on June 12, 1904 in Calvert, TX. I highly doubt that there are two William Fosters who wound up playing baseball who were born in Calvert, TX on June 12, 1904, so that's your man. You want to bring him in in 1922 because the draft is always the year before the debut, and he debuted in 1923. Jose Mendez' ID is mendez049jos. You want to bring him in in 1906 because he debuted in 1907. Make sure you follow my other instructions above, or the import will not work.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Well, I'm working on a quickstart, or trying to, with certain teams with historical names, and seeing as certain teams won't be able to fit certain players on them with the setup I have in mind now, I'm trying to assign certain players to certain teams, if there isn't likely room for them on certain other rosters. Similar to the idea of creating all-time greats-themed teams like there is now present as a quickstart, already, but with some of my own personal changes to certain teams. I'm trying to do this so that there is hopefully a much better balance of talent for certain leagues' players in the setup in question here.

For instance, the Yankees, to name just one team I'm talking about here, have had more than 25-40 excellent players in their franchise history, dating back to the Baltimore days, of course. And seeing as I wasn't going to be able to possibly include several of them on their all-time roster for the purpose of this idea, I've put some of their good, if not great, players, at least, on other teams for this setup. Of course, the Yankees aren't the only team with too many players to fit on their starting roster for this setup, for obvious reasons. I am a fan of the Cardinals, and I have assigned some of their historically good or great players, like Bobby Wallace and Jack Rothrock, who played for them as well, once upon a time, if memory serves, to the Arizona Diamondbacks in my aforementioned setup. Danny Cox, Fernando Vina, Ted Breitenstein, and Jesse Burkett, for example, have already been placed on a New Jersey-based team in this setup that I'm currently working on, come to think of it.

Yes, I know that some of the assignments of players may not be logical, at least to a degree, but I'm trying to work with hundreds, if not thousands, of players from baseball history between 1871 and 2016 or 2017, and I've been trying to plan this sort of thing out for years, even since before I ever got OOTP 18 and Franchise Hockey 3 last year. I don't know just how everything will play, but I'm trying to basically set things up so that at least at first, all my imported real players are as young as possible, in as many cases as possible, and to that end, I have even imported them at younger ages than they were when they actually debuted in MLB's history, if and when I thought it appropriate enough and possible enough to do so.

I hope to see a longer career for people like Gehrig and Clemente, for example, who had their careers often cut short due to tragic circumstances, no matter what those might be. I haven't yet added Thurman Munson, for example, but every year, I plan to perhaps add at least a few more real historical players to the mix manually, if not many, per season.

Thank you all for your time and attention and advice here, and I'll try to keep it in mind and not forget it at all, if and whenever possible, in the future. Dovatha out.

P.S. I'll be importing each of these players periodically as free agents, or have, before ultimately assigning them to certain teams as needed and/or desired, most likely, with few, if any, potential exceptions. At least at the start of things, anyway, that is, for the ones that I've chosen so far, at least. Dovatha out.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Is there a way I could, for instance, perhaps create a text file in Notepad, and use that to import everyone at once that I would like to import into a particular game, so that I might be able to save some time with having to import each historical player I want into a game manually, one player at a time? It might help me greatly with trying to set up the world setup for that particular saved game, at least, I think, at the very least. Somehow, everything seems to be messing up somewhere along the ways, while I'm trying to set this up as a possible quickstart or template or something, for some yet-unknown reason or reasons.

Also, I should probably mention I might need suggestions on additional players and/or parks, at least, if not help with logos and jerseys and caps, for certain teams I have in mind for this setup. Would you people like to see who I have in mind for many of the players and/or managers I might have in mind for certain teams related to this project I'm trying to get right and all, or not? If so, please let me know if and when you like and can. Thank you for your time and attention and advice, then, everyone, if you choose to give it, et cetera. Dovatha out.

[mitchkenn]

yes, you can create a text file to import more than one player.
you will need the player ID followed by a coma and then a space and then the year you want him to import. i believe you can only import players for one year at a time, but i am not certain, as i've never tried to do anything but the one year.
you will need to say if they are for the draft or FA. Everything is pretty much the same as regular one player import, except you leave the top line blank, put the year you want the players in the second line, be certain of your data base and be certain to check the box for minor leagues as well. Then you click on the line that says something about text file. (i'm not at my game computer, so the verbiage escapes me at the moment.) You need to save the text file to your computer before you try to import and then use that location when it asks you where the text file is located. Below is a very small sample of what you need and what the text file would look like.

foster049wil, 1922
mendez049jos, 1922

good luck.

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by mitchkenn

yes, you can create a text file to import more than one player.
you will need the player ID followed by a coma and then a space and then the year you want him to import. i believe you can only import players for one year at a time, but i am not certain, as i've never tried to do anything but the one year.
you will need to say if they are for the draft or FA. Everything is pretty much the same as regular one player import, except you leave the top line blank, put the year you want the players in the second line, be certain of your data base and be certain to check the box for minor leagues as well. Then you click on the line that says something about text file. (i'm not at my game computer, so the verbiage escapes me at the moment.) You need to save the text file to your computer before you try to import and then use that location when it asks you where the text file is located. Below is a very small sample of what you need and what the text file would look like.

foster049wil, 1922
mendez049jos, 1922

good luck.

Excellent writeup, except that you'd want to bring Mendez in circa 1906, when he's still a whippersnapper.

EDIT: I may be wrong on this as I've never done it, but if you want the 18-year old Mendez, I would think bringing in 1906 Mendez would do the trick. I always import one at a time, so I don't get confused.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

So if I wanted to do a mass import of players at one time, I could create a Notepad-type text file, for instance, as long as I had the IDs of the players in question and the years I might have in mind for each of them? I'd have to put each player's ID, et cetera, on one line, with appropriate team abbreviations for them, one player to a line, if I read you correctly enough here?

Also, do you know how to assign stadiums to teams besides the default ones, upon game setup, for example? I'm wondering because when I always create teams with certain nicknames, like the Tigers, for example, it always puts them in Comerica Park, even if I have the Hanshin Tigers from Japan in a league, for example. All Giants teams seem to end up in the AT&T Park, and Royals teams in Kauffman, when they shouldn't logically end up there, of course.

Please reply as soon as possible to this. Thank you. Dovatha out.

[scott1964]

Ballplayer Austin

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Not helpful, Scott1964. I asked some serious questions, and would prefer that there be no replies that aren't going to be potentially helpful to me or anyone else having troubles with setting up various leagues and/or associations of their own for various saved games of theirs here. Please don't mess around here in my thread here. Anyone else with suggestions on how I can do what I want and or need to do here? Please advise asap. Thanks. Dovatha out.

[micropterus58]

To import players create a txt file using Notepad. I suggest you create a file for each team and import one team at a time. Then verify that the team is populated correctly. It's very easy to make a mistake. For the Yankees expand on the following example.

jeterde01, 1999,nyy
mantlmi01, 1957,nyy
gehrilo01, 1927,nyy

The nyy follows the abbreviation used on the league & teams settings page. This is the destination team so you can assign players to any team you wish. Select the year you want. You may have to use multiple databases to import the mix of players.Negro League players may not be in the historical database.

I also found that the IDs for Foster and Mendez are different than previous posts.

foster002bil
mendez005jos

If you use the current MLB setup and delete all players and any leagues you don't want, the teams will have their current stadium assigned.

[mitchkenn]

Originally Posted by micropterus58

.Negro League players may not be in the historical database.

Negro League Players are in the minor league database, which is why you need to check that box on the import page.

[mitchkenn]

Originally Posted by micropterus58

To import players create a txt file using Notepad. I suggest you create a file for each team and import one team at a time. Then verify that the team is populated correctly. It's very easy to make a mistake. For the Yankees expand on the following example.

jeterde01, 1999,nyy
mantlmi01, 1957,nyy
gehrilo01, 1927,nyy

The nyy follows the abbreviation used on the league & teams settings page. This is the destination team so you can assign players to any team you wish. Select the year you want. You may have to use multiple databases to import the mix of players.Negro League players may not be in the historical database.

I also found that the IDs for Foster and Mendez are different than previous posts.

foster002bil
mendez005jos

If you use the current MLB setup and delete all players and any leagues you don't want, the teams will have their current stadium assigned.

great write up.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

What about historical Japanese players from ***, for instance? Where might their proper IDs be found if not on Baseball Reference dot com? Just wondering, that's all.

If I can ever get this game world in mind set up properly, I hope I can get it done sufficiently well by the All-Star Break, at the very latest, but preferably as soon as possible, of course. I not only want to have either one 32-team MLB league setup or one setup with two sets of MLB teams that includes two expansion teams with sixteen teams per aforementioned setup, but also a North American Baseball Association, and at least one or two other starting league setups, before I tell the computer to start the game, et cetera, with this planned game setup.

Is there perhaps a way to move cities from one nation to another, as well, in this game, and assign them to other nations other than the standard default nations? Seeing as there isn't actually an existing nation called Palestine around now, at least, is there a way I could assign the locations listed for that non-existent nation to Israel, Jordan, Egypt, or any other nearby nation, for example? Or if I wanted to assign places like those in Guam or Puerto Rico, for example, to the United States? Just wondering, that's all. Please advise, if and when you like. Thank you for your help and attention and advice, and hopefully I'll eventually get this right. Dovatha out.

[mitchkenn]

i do not know if the Japanese are currently in the MiLB database that comes with the game. However, Spritze data base, has some included. It's in the mods forum.

here's a link to the forum containing a link to the files.....
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...&postcount=990

IF you use this (there in no minor league list, it includes MLB, MiLB,Negro Leagues, Japanese Leagues) be certain to point to it when you try to import players. You might also want to rename it before you place it in game folders, so it doesn't confuse itself with the original from the game and overwrite that one. (i just opened it in a different folder, renamed it Spritze database, then moved it by hand to the correct folder.) Very early in the post (it's 5 or 6 pages long) he explains how to use it. you'll probably need to do a little searching to find the exact post it's in.

hope this helps.

[Spritze]

Originally Posted by mitchkenn

i do not know if the Japanese are currently in the MiLB database that comes with the game. Not In However, Spritze data base, has some included. It's in the mods forum.

every Japanese and Korean player 1930 through 2014 is included in the Spritze database

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

So if I were to download that database or whatever it is in ZIP format, what folder would you perhaps recommend I put it in, at least at first, if at all possible, et cetera? Please advise. Thanks for your time, and help, and advice. Dovatha out.

[mitchkenn]

Originally Posted by Clovidequano Dovatha

So if I were to download that database or whatever it is in ZIP format, what folder would you perhaps recommend I put it in, at least at first, if at all possible, et cetera? Please advise. Thanks for your time, and help, and advice. Dovatha out.

i put all the files i get from OOTP (or related to it) in my Documents folder, which has the saved games and other data,
i created a new folder, calling it Spritze data. Downloaded the file there, and unzipped it there. Once it is unzipped, i renamed it historical_database_Spritze.odb . Then i click "copy" and find the OOTP game folder (on my copmuter it is C:\Documents\Out of the Park Developments\OOTP Baseball 18\stats) and paste it there. That way, any updates to the game do not erase Sprtize dB, only updates the game's database.
Once you get to importing players, you need to be certain which database you select and where it is located. Chosing the wrong one will most likely result in not getting the players you seek.
Pretty much after that, it's a matter of trial and error until you get the method and path perfected. (i would create a test league, one that you can dispose of if something goes wrong and then try everything you want to do in that. Once you get it all like you want, you can delete that game and then make your real league. Keep a copy of stuff like logos and anything else you don't want to recreate in a 2nd folder . It may help to take notes on what you try and if it works or not. It's a pain, but in the long run, a time and sanity saver.)
Hope this helps some.