Arm Rating Page 1 of 1 Arm Rating [Arm] An APBA rating measuring the throwing ability of a player. Range is from 20 to 40, higher being better. Affects the ability of a player, especially an outfielder, to obtain assists in throwing out advancing base runners. Runners attempting to advance extra bases against fielders with high arm ratings do so at their peril. mk:@MSITStore:C:\Program%20Files%20(x86)\APBA%20Games\Baseball\WinLM.chm... 5/12/2020 Batting Characteristic Page 1 of 1 Batting Characteristic [Plat] An APBA rating of a batter's hitting tendency. There are four types: SA Straight Away PL Pulls Left PR Pulls Right PB Pulls Both (a switch hitting pull hitter) The Platoon rating (Plat) will tend to effect the direction the ball will take when it is hit by the batter. For example, a PL batter may have a higher double play frequency, because he rarely hits balls into the hole between first and second base, and because he bats right, he has farther to go to reach first base and his momentum is not in that direction, as it is for a left-handed batter. See also Platoon Rating. mk:@MSITStore:C:\Program%20Files%20(x86)\APBA%20Games\Baseball\WinLM.chm... 5/12/2020 Batting Side Page 1 of 1 Batting Side [Bats or B] An APBA rating indicating how the player bats: L Left R Right B Both (a switch hitter) mk:@MSITStore:C:\Program%20Files%20(x86)\APBA%20Games\Baseball\WinLM.chm... 5/12/2020 Catcher's Passed Ball Rating Page 1 of 1 Catcher's Passed Ball Rating [PB] An APBA rating measuring the propensity of a catcher to commit a passed ball. Ranges from zero (0), which is very good, to three (3), which is poor. Appears in print thus: PB1. mk:@MSITStore:C:\Program%20Files%20(x86)\APBA%20Games\Baseball\WinLM.chm... 5/12/2020 Catcher's Throw Rating Page 1 of 1 Catcher's Throw Rating [Th] An APBA rating measuring a catcher's ability to throw out base stealers. Range is from -4 (worst) to +6 (best). Note that positive values carry no sign. Appears in print thus: Th+2, or Th-4. mk:@MSITStore:C:\Program%20Files%20(x86)\APBA%20Games\Baseball\WinLM.chm... 5/12/2020 Durability Page 1 of 1 Durability [SDur and RDur] Also known as Fatigue Rating, or Q-rating in the APBA Master Game (but bears only a limited relationship to A.I.M.). May appear in print as: e.g. Q2 or Q3*. An APBA rating measuring the ability of a pitcher to sustain a level of performance over time. The lower the value, the longer the pitcher will last. Note that durability, or fatigue, is quite different for a starter than it is for a reliever. Starters tend to experience no effects of fatigue until they have pitched at least six innings. Relievers may experience a reduction in ability after just two innings of work. Fatigue Rating as Starter SDur: ranges from 0 to 4. Fatigue Rating as Reliever RDur: ranges from 1* to 3*. Relief ratings are designated by the addition of an asterisk *. Bigs: Only rarely do starting pitchers receive ratings of 0 or 1. Such pitchers have in excess of 250 innings pitched in a season, and a relatively high total of complete games. The typical 7-8 innings-per-start pitcher will receive a 2. Spot starters typically are assigned a rating of 4. Relievers who pitch less than 1.5 innings per appearance will usually receive a 3 rating; however, total innings pitched in relief has a marked effect on rating; a season of over 90 innings pitched in relief will earn a 2, while 100 or more innings will gain a 1. Note that many pitchers who appeared in both a starting and a relieving capacity will receive dual durability ratings. mk:@MSITStore:C:\Program%20Files%20(x86)\APBA%20Games\Baseball\WinLM.chm... 5/12/2020 Fielding Ratings Page 1 of 1 Fielding Ratings [D] An APBA rating measuring the ability of a defensive player to field at his position. The rating is often combined with the rated Position, such as "SS-8." Different positions have differing ranges of fielding ability. Position Range Pitcher 1-2 Catcher 5-9 Firstbase 2-5 Secondbase 5-9 Thirdbase 3-6 Shortstop 6-10 Outfield 1-3 Higher is always better. Note that outfield positions are not differentiated. A player rated as an outfielder will perform the same in left, center, or right field (however, see Arm Ratings). The fielding rating affects both the tendency to commit errors as well as the ability of the fielder to "turn a play" such as a force out or double play. When NR appears in place of a fielding rating, it means that the player is not rated at that position. If a player is assigned a position at which he is not rated, his fielding ability will be exceptionally bad. However, players rated at either one of 2B or SS but not the other can play the other at a reduced, but not disastrous, level of ability. mk:@MSITStore:C:\Program%20Files%20(x86)\APBA%20Games\Baseball\WinLM.chm... 5/12/2020 Hit & Run Ability Page 1 of 1 Hit & Run Ability [H&R] An APBA rating indicating the relative ability of a batter to perform his role properly when the manager calls for the hit & run play. Range is from 1 to 5, or sometimes blank (0). A higher rating is better. Average rating is 2; a few players each season rate a 3. Higher than 3 is very rare. Performing the role properly is considered to be a matter of making contact, and ideally hitting the ball through a vacated defensive position. When the batter fails to make contact, a stolen base attempt results. mk:@MSITStore:C:\Program%20Files%20(x86)\APBA%20Games\Baseball\WinLM.chm... 5/12/2020 Injury Rating Page 1 of 1 Injury Rating [Inj] Sometimes referred to as the "J-rating." An APBA rating denoting the propensity for injury of a player. Higher ratings tend to result in longer duration injuries. The ratings are: 0 steel 1 durable 2 average 3 injury prone 4 fragile The ratings are broadly based upon game appearances during the course of a season. Of course, many factors besides injury account for games not played. For example, catchers miss games because they are given time off due to the rigors of their position, not so much due to injury. Yet most catchers will receive at best a J-2 rating. mk:@MSITStore:C:\Program%20Files%20(x86)\APBA%20Games\Baseball\WinLM.chm... 5/12/2020 Platoon Rating Page 1 of 1 Platoon Rating [Platoon] An APBA rating, this is a component of the Batting Characteristic (which see). The rating ranges from zero (no effect) to 5 (significant effect). The value is the amount by which the pitcher's grade is increased when facing a batter hitting from the same side as the pitcher throws. When the batter and pitcher do not match up (right vs. left or left vs. right) then the platoon rating has no effect. The effect of the platoon penalty on a batter is generally assumed to be about 4% of his batting average per penalty point. Thus a right-handed, .300 batter with an SA-1 rating facing a RHP would lose about 0.012 from his batting average. A .280 hitter with a platoon penalty of 3 would hit about .245. Also see Platoon Factor Effect in the context of the Pankin Optimizer. The batting characteristics are usually combined in print, such as SA-3 or PB-0. Note that switch hitters are always assigned platoon ratings of 0. The assignment of platoon ratings by APBA has been a source of considerable controversy, because the rating can only confer a disadvantage on the batter, never an advantage. Furthermore, switch hitters do often perform differently depending on which side of the plate they are hitting from, yet they all receive a 0 rating. In the past, the higher ratings were assigned to players who tended to be platooned by their managers. More recently, many full-time players have received platoon penalties as high as the maximum 5 if they tended to hit noticeably less well against pitchers who matched up positively against them. Beginning with the 1993 season, Master Game symbols for platoon factors began to reflect adjustments for both pitching sides. The ratings conferred both penalties and advantages, and were not limited to the 5 point maximum still in effect in the computer version of APBA. The computer versions of APBA Baseball have not yet implemented these new platoon factors. mk:@MSITStore:C:\Program%20Files%20(x86)\APBA%20Games\Baseball\WinLM.chm... 5/12/2020 Positions Page 1 of 1 Positions [Pos] Those positions which defensive players take on the field, as well as the designation of the designated hitter. Fielding positions can also be identified by number. P 1 Pitcher C 2 Catcher 1B 3 Firstbaseman 2B 4 Secondbaseman 3B 5 Thirdbaseman SS 6 Shortstop OF 7 Outfielder DH Designated Hitter Note that Baseball does not differentiate outfield positions for fielding ratings, although StatMaster tracks outfield defensive performance by specific field, thus: LF 7 Left fielder CF 8 Center fielder RF 9 Right fielder In assigning players to lineups, outfielders must be assigned specific field locations. Players may be rated at more than one position. If so, they will have a "primary position" which is the position they will be normally identified as playing, with their other positions also indicated on the Player Report and the team Roster Report.