by ACCOLADE
Designed by Bob Whitehead
The American game of baseball evolved from the English game of “rounders” in Hoboken, New Jersey on June 19, 1846.
The game is played with two teams of nine men each. The “home” team will initially take positions in the field while the other “visiting” team is “at bat”. The field positions are shown on next pagein the diagram below.
The objective of baseball is for one team to score more points than the other team by the end of the game. A point is scored only by the team “at bat” advancing a player around the bases (in sequence) and back to “home plate”.
When the team “at bat” collects 3 “outs” (explained below) then they take their positions in the field and the field team takes its turn “at bat”. When both teams have each finished their turns at bat (by getting 3 outs), it is the end of an “inning”. The “top” and “bottom” of an inning are terms relating to whether the 1st or 2nd team are at bat. There are nine innings in a ball game. If the score is tied (even) at the end of the ninth inning, additional complete innings will be played until one team is ahead of the other at the end of an inning.
The pitcher throws (pitches) the baseball to the catcher standing behind home plate. The batter standing at home plate attempts to hit the ball with his bat (a wooden or metal club). If the ball crosses home plate in an area in which the batter could have hit it (in the strike zone crossing in front of the batter between his knees and armpits) the umpire (standing behind the catcher) calls a “strike”, otherwise it is judged to be a “ball”. If the batter swings at the ball (and misses) regardless of where it crosses home plate, it is also counted as a strike. When a batter has accumulated 3 strikes, he is “out” and the next person on his team comes up to bat. If the batter swings and hits the ball with his bat, it is considered a fair or foul ball depending on whether it lands within the field or outside the lines passing through home and 1st base or home and 3rd base. If either a fair or foul ball (flyball) is caught in the air by a member of the team in the field before it touches the ground, the player at bat is “out”. A foul ball is counted as a strike only if the batter had less than two strikes against him. In other words, a foul ball will never be counted as a third strike causing the batter to be “out” ... and he will remain at bat for the next pitch. If a batter gets 4 “balls” before accumulating 3 strikes, he then “walks” to 1st base.
If the batter hits the ball into the field, he will run to 1st base and if possible, onto 2nd base, 3rd base, and home plate. He will attempt to run (in sequence) to the furthest base without being “thrown” or “tagged” out by members of the fielding team. A home run is when the batter is able to run around all the bases back to home plate. This is most easily accomplished by hitting the ball over the fence behind the outfield.
If the 1st baseman of the fielding team gets the ball and touches 1st base, the runner is “out”. Since you can’t have two players (from the team at bat) on the same base at the same time, a player on 1st base, must try to run to 2nd base when the ball is hit. If the fielding team is able to throw the ball to the 2nd baseman and he touches the base while holding the ball, the runner being forced to 2nd base is considered “thrown out”. The 2nd baseman can throw to 1st base in an attempt fo throw out the runner (batter). This same principal applies also to third base, and home plate. If a runner chooses to attempt to run to next base, without being forced, then he maybe tagged out by a member of the fielding team who touches him with the hand which holds the ball. The runner may try to return to the base he just left, but is only “safe” from being tagged out while part of his body (foot, hand, etc.) is touching a base. A runner may not advance to the next base if a flyball is caught unless he goes back and touches the base he was leaving. Stealing a base is when a runner attempts to run to the next base while the ball is being pitched.
Welcome to the most realistic baseball game ever designed. Step up to the plate and try to knock that ball out of the park. You can choose to bunt, steal a base, and control base running. When your team is in the field, you can control the type and location of pitch as well as the fielders.
Set up system and switch on as described in your instruction manual. Insert disc and type: RUN “DISC” and press ENTER. The program will now load and run.
Set up system and switch on as described in your instruction manual. Place the cassette in the Datacorder. If necessary, rewind the tape and press the STOP/EJECT key once. If you have a disc drive, key in the following:- ¦ TAPE then press ENTER. (the ¦ character is on the key next to P). Press the CTRL key and keeping it down, press the small ENTER key. Press PLAY on your Datacorder, followed by any key except ESC, CAPS LOCK, SHIFT or CTRL. The game will now load and run.
Turn on the computer, and select 48K mode by pressing cursor up (the key to the right of the space bar) followed by ENTER. The copyright sign will appear.
Press J “ ”, and the words LOAD “ ” will appear on the screen. Press ENTER, and the screen should go blank. Place the rewound tape in the datacorder, and press PLAY. After a short while, the edge of the screen will change colour, and some writing will appear at the top of the screen. The program will then start to load and run. These instructions are for the Spectrum 128K machines only. If you are running this software on the Spectrum 48K, follow the loading instructions in the manual.
To restart the game, press ESC.
To restart the game, press BREAK (CAPS shift with SPACE).
Once the game is loaded, you may use the menu to select a variety of game option combinations such as Home/Visitor, which team (if any) the computer will play (for a one-player game), and whether you want a designated hitter (DH). Each player can either use the keyboard or joysticks by selecting the redefine keys option, and selecting their desired keys or moving their joystick, to the prompts.
Note: The program will work with Kempston, Interface II, & Protek joysticks. Or the Sinclair joystick when operated on a Sinclair 128K Plus 2.
The three screens displayed during Hardball are: The Manager’s Decision Screen, the Pitcher/Batter screen, and the Field View.
The game begins with the Manager’s Decision screen. It will also appear if a player presses the SPACE key on the keyboard any time during the Pitcher screen. In this Manager’s screen, pressing the SPACE key will “Playball” (starting the game action or continuing where you left off). This screen will display a selected line-up for both teams. “✓” will indicate who is at bat and there will also be an indication of who is on which base (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) and their batting average. Pitchers are denoted by a P and the displayed values are the pitchers’ earned runs average.
Either player can then press his fire button to bring up a full line up which also displays the team positions and which hand they bat/pitch with (Right, Left or Switch). Below the roster will be the management decision options which can be selected by moving left to select SUBSTITUTE or right to select EXCHANGE. He can select the player to be substituted or exchanged by moving up and down the roster (the selected player being displayed with inverted colours).
To substitute a player move to the appropriate entry in the roster and move left. You can then scroll the list of players on the bench up or down within a 3-line window at the bottom of the screen by moving up or down. Then select the desired player to come onto the field by pressing the fire button. Note: Once a player is substituted out (after the first pitch), he can’t return to the field and doesn’t go to the bench list. The new player coming onto the field will replace him at his current position. Moving left or right will return to the roster.
To exchange positions choose the entry in a manner similar to that defined above for “substitution”. Then move up or down to select the 2nd player, and press fire to exchange their positions. If you select a player in a position for which he is not suited, then an appropriate message (“out of position!”) will be displayed later. There will also be a likelihood of poor pitching. Likewise to the substitution, moving left or right will return to the roster menu.
The player playing the pitching team can also select the Intentional Walk option on his management screen by pressing fire.
Remember, press SPACE key to start (or continue) play of the game.
Play begins with the pitcher’s screen depicting the pitcher, batter, and umpire. Using the controls, the player representing the pitcher (field team) may select a type of pitch as displayed on the bottom of the screen. He must select one of four choices displayed out of the following eight pitching types:
Note: Even if no options are desired, this player must press and release his fire button while the controls are in a neutral position for the game to continue. His options will also appear at the top of the screen and will including bunt or base stealing (if appropriate).
Note: If you tell a runner to steal a base and the batter doesn’t hit the ball, then the catcher will attempt to throw the lead runner out.
Once both players have made their selections, a new set of choices are presented at the top of the screen. The pitcher will be able to select the position of the pitch (i.e. high, inside, etc.) and his wind-up will begin once the fire button is released. The batter will be able to select his corresponding location of swing with his controls and, by pressing the fire button, swing.
When the ball is hit, action will flip to the field view screen. The receiving fielder will be identified by flashing. The player may use his controls to position the fielder (Back, Left, Forward, Right) to catch the ball. Once the ball is caught, he is presented choices as to where to throw the ball (2nd, 3rd, HOME or 1st).
Nine Pitching Zones Over Home Plate:
2 1 2 X = always a strike
1 X 1 1 = high probability of being a strike
2 1 2 2 = low probability of being astrike
As a pitcher gets tired, the probability of throwing a strike goes down.
Certain pitchers will be stronger in some pitching types. If pitch is not in the strike zone, the batter can swing but can’t hit the ball. When the ball is hit, the fielding screen is displayed and (unless it is a foul ball) when the play is completed, the Manager’s Decision screen will be displayed momentarily before returning to the pitching/batting screen.
When bunting with 2 strikes against you, if the ball goes foul, it is considered your 3rd strike.
Runners have the option of running to the next base after a hit.
“Manufactured in the U.K. under licence from Accolade and Amstrad Consumer Electronics PLC & Advance Software Promotions Ltd.”
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