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Historical Wizard
Historical Leagues are those based on historical Major League Baseball data. This option is most commonly used by players who prefer to do historical simulations. See here for more information on what Historical Leagues are.
There are six steps in the Historical League Creation Wizard. For more detail on any of the historical options in the wizard, see the manual page about setting up historical leagues in advanced mode.
First, choose the season you wish to begin with. Seasons are grouped into eras such as the Deadball Era, based on similarities in styles of play. When you choose a season, a recap of the season will appear below the selected year.
Use the "Import complete history" check box to indicate whether or not you want to import the complete history prior to the selected year. For example, if you select 1977 and check the box, your leaderboards will appear exactly as the leaderboards appeared in 1977. If you do not select the check box, it will be as if your league had no history prior to 1977. (Importing the full history can take some time on slower machines.)
Next, choose how OOTP should optimize player ratings. You can optimize for career play or for single-season replay. If you're interested in starting in a certain year and playing forward for many years, choose "Career Play." If you just want to do a replay of a single season, choose "Single-Season Replay."
In the Advanced Options, the following options exist:
When you are done, click Next Step.
First, select a League Nation. Each league must have a home nation. OOTP comes with a list of every nation in the world today. However, for those who want to create a totally fictional world, the nations used in the game are customizable. See Nations, Cities, and Player Origins for more information on customizing nations. Nation selection affects the nationality of players and personnel in the league but has no other impact. For example, creating a U.S. league won't automatically create 'better players' because the level of baseball is higher in the U.S. than in other countries.
Use the rest of the page to customize your League Name, League Abbreviation, and customize the subleagues, abbreviations, and any team names and nicknames. You can click the Randomize Cities or Randomize Nickname buttons at any time to have the computer recreate all team names and nicknames. These names and abbreviations are used extensively in the game in reports and news articles, so be sure to pick something you like. See League Name Setup for more important information about league name setup.
When you are done, click Next Step.
Just check the box for each level of minor leagues that you want to have in your league. If you choose not to have minor leagues, your league will use a reserve roster, described in more detail in this section.
If you want to have a more complicated minor league structure, such as one in which there are multiple leagues at Triple-A level, you can drop into Advanced Mode.
For the bottom part of the page, decide whether you would like to require full minor league rosters. If you do require full rosters, most historical databases do not have enough information about minor leaguers to fill all roster spots. Therefore, the game will create fictional players to fill those slots. If you choose this option, you will also have the ability to block these fictional players from ever reaching the major leagues. Many historical OOTP players do this so that fictional players do not replace real historical players on major league rosters.
When you are done, click Next Step.
First, define whether you want the game to recalcuate player ratings before each season, based on their real-life statistics.
Next, decide whether you want to automatically expand the league and hold an expansion draft.
Finally, decide whether you want to enable the automatic import of financial settings.
When you are done, click Next Step.
First, decide which of your players and coaches should receive fictional pictures, using the top two drop-downs. (In historical leagues, the default is NOT to use fictional faces.)
Next, specify when you want the game to create player pictures. You can have them created at the time players are created, or on demand.
Next, define when pictures should be updated to reflect changes, such as to account for aging or team changes.
Finally, choose the type of pictures you want to use. You can choose from Normal (full color), Black and White, or Sepia.
For more detailed information about fictional picture options, see Fictional Picture Options.
When you are done, click Next Step.
First, select a name, nationality, and birth date for your manager.
Next, select a team to manage. During league creation, you can choose to manage any team in your league. You can choose to start unemployed, but be careful - once you start the game, you are at the mercy of team owners, who might not want to hire a greenhorn like you! Read more about human manager identities in OOTP for more information.
Next, decide whether or not to play in Commissioner Mode. If the Play in Commissioner Mode check box is selected, this manager is also the commissioner and has the ability to interact with the game in many ways that managers can't.
Finally, enter a name for your saved game, and select a starting year for your game.
When you are done, click Start Game! OOTP will process all the information you have selected and drop you onto the Manager Home page. If you want to add more leagues into this world, you can do so through the Game Setup option (OOTP Menu >> Game Setup).
There are six steps in the Historical League Creation Wizard. For more detail on any of the historical options in the wizard, see the manual page about setting up historical leagues in advanced mode.
Step 1 - Historical Import Settings
In Step 1 of the Historical League Creation Wizard, you tell OOTP where to find your historical database, define which historical year you want to play, and set a number of factors that impact the ratings of imported players.First, choose the season you wish to begin with. Seasons are grouped into eras such as the Deadball Era, based on similarities in styles of play. When you choose a season, a recap of the season will appear below the selected year.
Use the "Import complete history" check box to indicate whether or not you want to import the complete history prior to the selected year. For example, if you select 1977 and check the box, your leaderboards will appear exactly as the leaderboards appeared in 1977. If you do not select the check box, it will be as if your league had no history prior to 1977. (Importing the full history can take some time on slower machines.)
Next, choose how OOTP should optimize player ratings. You can optimize for career play or for single-season replay. If you're interested in starting in a certain year and playing forward for many years, choose "Career Play." If you just want to do a replay of a single season, choose "Single-Season Replay."
Advanced Options
If you would like greater control over the way OOTP handles your historical league, click the Advanced Options button to see more detailed settings:In the Advanced Options, the following options exist:
| Option | Description |
| Select Path to Database | Browse to find the path where the historical database you wish to use is located. Locate the primary database file for your historical database. To use either one of the two built-in historical databases provided by OOTP (Lahman, or stat-neutralized Lahman), choose the file historical_database.odb. In default installations, this file can be found in OOTP Baseballstats directory. This should be the default directory on this screen, so in all likelihood you're already in the right place. If you are using another historical database, you should select the file from that database called master.csv. |
| Base Current Ratings on... | This option basically allows you to choose between the pure Lahman statistical database, and Garlon and Spritze's neutralized database. There are two options in this drop-down, used to determine the current ratings assigned to imported players.
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| Base Potential Ratings on... | There are four options in this drop-down, used to determine the potential ratings assigned to imported players.
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| Base Fielding Ratings on... | This option allows you to base the fielding ratings of imported players on the selected season, a three-year period, or the player's entire career. |
| Base Pitcher Stamina Ratings on... | This option allows you to base the pitcher stamina ratings of imported players on the selected season, a three-year period, or the player's entire career. |
| Generate random L/R splits | Historical databases do not usually include data on how hitters performed specifically against right-handed or left-handed pitchers. If you select this option, a right-handed hitter will generally have better ratings against a left-handed pitcher. If you leave this unchecked, players will generally hit equally against all pitchers. |
| Adjust Hitters with Fewer than X At-Bats | This setting forces the game to adjust the batting ratings for players who did not play very much in the selected season. For example, this would prevent a player who hit .500, but in limited at-bats, from being rated very highly by making them closer to the league average. By default, players with fewer than 200 at-bats will be adjusted. |
| Weaken Hitters with Fewer than X At-Bats | Similar to the prior setting, this setting forces the game to severely reduce the batting ratings for players who had a very low number of at-bats in the selected season, reducing their hits, HRs, etc. By default this is set to 50 at-bats. |
| Adjust Pitchers with Fewer than X Innings | This setting forces the game to adjust the pitching ratings for players who did not play very much in the selected season. For example, this would prevent a player who pitched well, but in just 5 innings of play, from being rated very highly by making them closer to the league average. By default, players with fewer than 25 innings pitched will be adjusted. |
| Weaken Pitchers with Fewer than X Innings | Similar to the prior setting, this setting forces the game to severely reduce the pitching ratings for players who had a very low number of innings pitched in the selected season, reducing strikeouts, etc. By default this is set to 10 innings. |
Step 2 - League Nation and Names
In Step 2 of the Historical League Creation Wizard, you define the league nation for your league and customize the names of your leagues, subleagues, divisions, teams, and nicknames.First, select a League Nation. Each league must have a home nation. OOTP comes with a list of every nation in the world today. However, for those who want to create a totally fictional world, the nations used in the game are customizable. See Nations, Cities, and Player Origins for more information on customizing nations. Nation selection affects the nationality of players and personnel in the league but has no other impact. For example, creating a U.S. league won't automatically create 'better players' because the level of baseball is higher in the U.S. than in other countries.
Use the rest of the page to customize your League Name, League Abbreviation, and customize the subleagues, abbreviations, and any team names and nicknames. You can click the Randomize Cities or Randomize Nickname buttons at any time to have the computer recreate all team names and nicknames. These names and abbreviations are used extensively in the game in reports and news articles, so be sure to pick something you like. See League Name Setup for more important information about league name setup.
When you are done, click Next Step.
Step 3 - Minor Leagues
In Step 3 of the Historical League Creation Wizard, you define your minor leagues and some roster settings.Just check the box for each level of minor leagues that you want to have in your league. If you choose not to have minor leagues, your league will use a reserve roster, described in more detail in this section.
If you want to have a more complicated minor league structure, such as one in which there are multiple leagues at Triple-A level, you can drop into Advanced Mode.
For the bottom part of the page, decide whether you would like to require full minor league rosters. If you do require full rosters, most historical databases do not have enough information about minor leaguers to fill all roster spots. Therefore, the game will create fictional players to fill those slots. If you choose this option, you will also have the ability to block these fictional players from ever reaching the major leagues. Many historical OOTP players do this so that fictional players do not replace real historical players on major league rosters.
When you are done, click Next Step.
Step 4 - Recalculation and Expansion Settings
In Step 4 of the Historical League Creation Wizard, you define a few more settings specific to historical leagues.First, define whether you want the game to recalcuate player ratings before each season, based on their real-life statistics.
Next, decide whether you want to automatically expand the league and hold an expansion draft.
Finally, decide whether you want to enable the automatic import of financial settings.
When you are done, click Next Step.
Step 5 - FaceGen
In Step 5 of the Historical League Creation Wizard, you define settings for the fictional face generator for your league.First, decide which of your players and coaches should receive fictional pictures, using the top two drop-downs. (In historical leagues, the default is NOT to use fictional faces.)
Next, specify when you want the game to create player pictures. You can have them created at the time players are created, or on demand.
Next, define when pictures should be updated to reflect changes, such as to account for aging or team changes.
Finally, choose the type of pictures you want to use. You can choose from Normal (full color), Black and White, or Sepia.
For more detailed information about fictional picture options, see Fictional Picture Options.
When you are done, click Next Step.
Step 6 - Manager Settings
In Step 6 of the Historical League Creation Wizard, you define your manager identity and a name and starting year for your file.First, select a name, nationality, and birth date for your manager.
Next, select a team to manage. During league creation, you can choose to manage any team in your league. You can choose to start unemployed, but be careful - once you start the game, you are at the mercy of team owners, who might not want to hire a greenhorn like you! Read more about human manager identities in OOTP for more information.
Next, decide whether or not to play in Commissioner Mode. If the Play in Commissioner Mode check box is selected, this manager is also the commissioner and has the ability to interact with the game in many ways that managers can't.
Finally, enter a name for your saved game, and select a starting year for your game.
When you are done, click Start Game! OOTP will process all the information you have selected and drop you onto the Manager Home page. If you want to add more leagues into this world, you can do so through the Game Setup option (OOTP Menu >> Game Setup).