Do you add Historical Players to your Fictional Leagues?

[dickysty]

I've been thinking about trying it, but I'm not really sure, convince me.

What is the criteria that you choose?

Different generation, Dead Ball
pitchers in modern day leagues?

Only a few players?

Specialty type players?

Historical Players that you just like?

Unique historical players?

Historical players that had their careers cut short?

[boshk]

Originally Posted by dickysty

I've been thinking about trying it, but I'm not really sure, convince me.

What is the criteria that you choose?

Different generation, Dead Ball
pitchers in modern day leagues?

Only a few players?

Specialty type players?

Historical Players that you just like?

Unique historical players?

Historical players that had their careers cut short?

i used to import only good players, and players with neat names. but over the past, maybe 10-15, seasons i have imported every player born in the year i import (age 15 into my high school feeder.) its alot of work, but its fun to see guys who only played a few years get a second chance. i also tried to research for some stats for some negro leaguers like josh gibson,.. he ended up hitting .266 with 278 home runs over 14 seasons.

babe ruth was a hitter his whole carrer (although i made a doppleganger who was a pitcher who didnt fare so well as a minor league journeyman with under 400 major league innings pitched,) he ended up with 1043 home runs and a .320 average.

also, they play along game generated players along with some custom players i make here and there for fun.

another fun fact is when moonlight graham (who ironically played 2 major league games with no at bats) retired, i made him a trainer.

[Curve Ball Dave]

Originally Posted by dickysty

I've been thinking about trying it, but I'm not really sure, convince me.

What is the criteria that you choose?

Different generation, Dead Ball
pitchers in modern day leagues?

Only a few players?

Specialty type players?

Historical Players that you just like?

Unique historical players?

Historical players that had their careers cut short?

All of the above, there is no one criterion.

My starting left fielder is HOFer Al Simmons. He's won two batting titles and a Gold Glove for me in three seasons, and is about to get a contract for over $20 million in arbitration. Here are his numbers so far.

[DreamTeams]

I do import a couple of historical players every offseason, but then I clone them (deleting the original) so I get zero stats and change their names to fictional names. Next, I edit their service years to zero (and edit their birth days) so they start out as rookies and stick them on a team as though they were discovered. It's just a faster way for me to introduce custom fictional players into the league. This way I can have as many Babe Ruth types as I want, although I've kept his type to a modest 1, so far. Loads of fun to watch these guys compete as fictionals.

[Murcer]

Originally Posted by DreamTeams

I do import a couple of historical players every offseason, but then I clone them (deleting the original) so I get zero stats and change their names to fictional names. Next, I edit their service years to zero (and edit their birth days) so they start out as rookies and stick them on a team as though they were discovered. It's just a faster way for me to introduce custom fictional players into the league.

Interesting! Do you find that these guys typically become stars?

[Chicagofan76]

In the league I am playing right now, my ABF league I have some notables. Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige (#2 all time in wins & K's behind me) Harold Baines, Lance Johnson, Ozzie Guillen, Ichiro, Andre Dawson, Babe Ruth (below) The Indy League has others like Rogers Hornsby, Maddux, Shoeless Joe.

In my Endor League On High Heat I had added historical players starting in 2026, which is known as The Clone Wars era. I would create an historical player and add him to the worst team from the previous season. When I get to 2026 in my OOTP version I will add them to the draft. Each yr 1 historical great will come in starting with Babe Ruth. So it won't always be the worst team that will draft these guys. I would love to have teams make bids on who would get a chance to sign him ala Hideki Irabu, but I havent worked out the details yet.

The other thing I have started to do, depending on the league is take someone I know or a former player in my Endor league and match them up with an historical player. Markus is Greg Maddux in 1986 just changed the info. Andreas is Graig Nettles. Kev24Fan is Eddie Collins (His favorite player) My nephew is a Cubs fan and when I orig had him in my league he played 3B so I am going to use either Santo or A-Ram as the base for him


The only thing I havent figured out is when I import a player from a yr other then his rookie season is how not to have stats from prior to the season of import. see example.

[boshk]

Originally Posted by Chicagofan76

The only thing I havent figured out is when I import a player from a yr other then his rookie season is how not to have stats from prior to the season of import. see example.

there is an option do import keeping his real stats or not. "keep this season's statistics in player career stats." but i import all my players into high school, so i dont know if it keeps his previous years stats in there. but you can export and re-import the stats and manually edit them out if you want to do it the hard way.... i had to do that once when i had a bunch of players with duplicate stat lines.

[smythejd]

Not too take this thread off topic (but I will) ...

But HOW DO YOU DO THIS?

I would love to do it... Could someone give detailed instructions?

Would greatly appreciate it...

[DreamTeams]

Originally Posted by Murcer

Interesting! Do you find that these guys typically become stars?

Typically they do. But, one of the reasons I import them is to give the league an instant shot of excitement. Another nice thing is that they fit in without overwhelming the league. Which sometimes happened when I used to create custom players from scratch. Now all I have to do is think about the type of player I want and then import him from historicals. Save me time, as well.

[boshk]

Originally Posted by smythejd

But HOW DO YOU DO THIS?.

do what? import historical players? go to the free agent screen and at the bottom there is a "import historical player" button. then you just need the player ID, its easy to find that on baseball-reference.com (http://www.baseball-reference.com/pl...auerjo01.shtml so his id would be mauerjo01. its the first 5 letters of the last name, and first 2 of the first and normally 01, but if there are multiple players with the same letters, there would be an 02, 03, etc.) or you can sift through the database i suppose. so you click on import player, find the historical_database.odb and put the player id in the screen with what year you would like to import him from (based on that players career, so if you want joe mauer at age 21, you import him in 2004) and a few other options, its that easy.

[Chicagofan76]

Originally Posted by smythejd

Not too take this thread off topic (but I will) ...

But HOW DO YOU DO THIS?

I would love to do it... Could someone give detailed instructions?

Would greatly appreciate it...

To Import historical players?
Go to baseball reference and look at the SHTML and see what the players "code" is for say Albert Pujols is would be pujolal01

Go to the free agent screen of your game or the Draft Pool. On the bottom there is Import Historical Player (I play in Commish mode, not sure if you have to be in Commish Mode)
Point to the historical_database.odb hit ok then put the SHTML line for whichever player you want. And whichever other options you want. hit ok/enter and viola you have Albert Pujols or whoever else.

Let me know if you need screenshots.

[Chicagofan76]

Originally Posted by boshk

there is an option do import keeping his real stats or not. "keep this season's statistics in player career stats." but i import all my players into high school, so i dont know if it keeps his previous years stats in there. but you can export and re-import the stats and manually edit them out if you want to do it the hard way.... i had to do that once when i had a bunch of players with duplicate stat lines.

I cant figure out a way to import a player after his rookie yr and not have his past stats in there. If you choose "keep this season's statistics in player career stats" all that does is show his season of import stats in with other yrs.
I did 4 tests on Albert Pujols. Import yr 2008 League yr 2010. each test import has his career stats up to 2007/2008. i did 1 Babe Ruth 1927 and it has his career stats up to 1927.
Export and reimport is too tedious for me.

[GiantYankee]

Originally Posted by dickysty

I've been thinking about trying it, but I'm not really sure, convince me.

What is the criteria that you choose?

Different generation, Dead Ball
pitchers in modern day leagues?

Only a few players?

Specialty type players?

Historical Players that you just like?

Unique historical players?

Historical players that had their careers cut short?

I couldn't play fictional leagues without this option. My current league is a historcial import of 1940s & 50 s & negro league players. I want to see these guys perform with Negro League players (esp the ones that didn't make it to MLB). I plan on having players from different eras playing against each other down the road (neutralized stats). Bob Gibson vs Babe Ruth; Sandy Koufax vs Albert Pujos....the matchups are endless.

[DreamTeams]

Originally Posted by Chicagofan76

I cant figure out a way to import a player after his rookie yr and not have his past stats in there. If you choose "keep this season's statistics in player career stats" all that does is show his season of import stats in with other yrs.
I did 4 tests on Albert Pujols. Import yr 2008 League yr 2010. each test import has his career stats up to 2007/2008. i did 1 Babe Ruth 1927 and it has his career stats up to 1927.
Export and reimport is too tedious for me.

You have to clone him after you import. (Right click on the historical player and then click 'Clone'. This can be done at anytime, but best to do this right after you import and before you place him on a team to start his career in your league.) That will duplicate the historical player but get's rid of his previous years stats. (For example, you'll have two Babe Ruths sitting in free agency.) Now you can go ahead and delete the original imported historical player. (Not sure which one is the original? No problem, just open his profile and see if he has any previous years stats. If he does then he's the one you delete.) Next, if you want your cloned historical to start out as a rookie you'll have to edit all of his service years catagories (3 of them) to 0 and then remember to edit his age to your liking. That'll do it. Now you have an imported historical, without previous stats, as your base to keep as is or edit/customize further.

[tkirch]

I have a fictional league with high school and college feeders. I import historical figures at age 15 into high school and age 18 into college and then I get stats from those years get to watch them grow up and then go into the draft. I select a few each year I put into the feeders.

[GiantYankee]

Originally Posted by tkirch

I have a fictional league with high school and college feeders. I import historical figures at age 15 into high school and age 18 into college and then I get stats from those years get to watch them grow up and then go into the draft. I select a few each year I put into the feeders.

I love doing this too.

[Goodsox]

I like to play a fictional league for about 10 years or so and then start adding in 1-4 historical players per year. I either add them to the worst teams in the league to help them out a bit or just add them to free agency and see where they end up. My biggest problem is I find myself always drawn to getting these guys since I know who they are and I have to stop myself from signing or trading for them.

[dickysty]

Originally Posted by DreamTeams

You have to clone him after you import. (Right click on the historical player and then click 'Clone'. This can be done at anytime, but best to do this right after you import and before you place him on a team to start his career in your league.) That will duplicate the historical player but get's rid of his previous years stats. (For example, you'll have two Babe Ruths sitting in free agency.) Now you can go ahead and delete the original imported historical player. (Not sure which one is the original? No problem, just open his profile and see if he has any previous years stats. If he does then he's the one you delete.) Next, if you want your cloned historical to start out as a rookie you'll have to edit all of his service years catagories (3 of them) to 0 and then remember to edit his age to your liking. That'll do it. Now you have an imported historical, without previous stats, as your base to keep as is or edit/customize further.

Now you have thinking about trying this!

The different ways you can play OOTP seem just endless sometimes. The biggest problem for me is just STICKING TO ONE LEAGUE.

I love this idea.

Thanks guys for your suggestions and ideas, just great fun!

[Chicagofan76]

Originally Posted by DreamTeams

You have to clone him after you import. (Right click on the historical player and then click 'Clone'. This can be done at anytime, but best to do this right after you import and before you place him on a team to start his career in your league.) That will duplicate the historical player but get's rid of his previous years stats. (For example, you'll have two Babe Ruths sitting in free agency.) Now you can go ahead and delete the original imported historical player. (Not sure which one is the original? No problem, just open his profile and see if he has any previous years stats. If he does then he's the one you delete.) Next, if you want your cloned historical to start out as a rookie you'll have to edit all of his service years catagories (3 of them) to 0 and then remember to edit his age to your liking. That'll do it. Now you have an imported historical, without previous stats, as your base to keep as is or edit/customize further.

thanx I never thought of trying that. But will the clone still follow the path of the original roughly? I created Carlton Fisk 1981 renamed him to Donny Druzbik but I want him to hit like Fisk did with the ChiSox, not be as random. Example I created Maddux and changed his name/info to Markus so far through 2 1/2 seasons he isnt all that far off of Maddux 1986-1988, which means the next season he should be a contender for the POTY. Would the clone still do that?

[DreamTeams]

Not quite sure. But, here are two samples from my current test league. You can check out their stats. But, keep in mind that I've tweaked my league totals to my liking...

Johnny Olson = Babe Ruth (Past 8 seasons)
Carr Feranadez = Jimmy Foxx (Past 5 seasons)