News Story needs to be rephrased

[Eugene Church]

#1
Eugene Langston dazzled the Tycobbian Association in 2008. He piled up win after win, totaling 20 wins to be exact. He gassed 170 batters, walked 64 and settled the season with a 3.23 ERA. These numbers, paired with 17 quality starts and 2 shutouts made him a logical choice for Golden Arm Award
honors.

"settled the season" makes no sense to me.

"finished the season"..."completed the season"..."ended the season"...all would be preferred and make better sense.

#2
A good season has become great for Cold Creek Catamounts pitcher Ashlin MacGorry! A 19-6, 1.75 season has brought MacGorry the 2008 Ruthlandian Association Golden Arm Award. MacGorry had 23 quality starts in 28 games started with a 0.80 WHIP.

"1.75 ERA" would be better.

I would also say "a very good season".

#3
12-2 is not an acceptable year.
McPhail is having an acceptable year thus far. The 29-year-old has won 12 and lost 2, recorded 142 strikeouts and 40 bases on balls in 150.2 innings with a 3.17 ERA. Opponents have hit .258 against him.

We need to reword and make them generic..."So far this season, the 29-year old McPhail has won 12 and lost 2.

[PotatoPeeler]

So why don't you do it then? All this stuff is able to be edited, right?

[Raidergoo]

Originally Posted by PotatoPeeler

So why don't you do it then? All this stuff is able to be edited, right?

I think EC's intention is to get the master english.xml edited.

[PotatoPeeler]

Ahh.. I see.

[M's rule]

Originally Posted by Raidergoo

I think EC's intention is to get the master english.xml edited.

Right you are again, Rgoo.

For those of you scoring at home, here’s an update of how I changed the database to address some of Eugene’s concerns.

Text object 1498 (Eugene's #1):
(a few small changes; probably best to replace the entire entry or, if you like, examine the text carefully and key in the changes you see)

[%personlink] dazzled the [%subleaguename] in [%leagueyear]. He piled up win after win, totaling [%pitching w] victories. He struck out [%pitching k] batters, walked [%pitching bb], and ended the season with a [%pitching era] ERA. These numbers, paired with [%pitching qs word] and [%pitching sho word], made him a logical choice for [%pitcheraward] honors.

Text object 1481 (Eugene's #2):
(inserted the phrase ERA; no other changes)

A good season has become great for [%teamlink nick] pitcher [%personlink]! A [%pitching w]-[%pitching l], [%pitching era] ERA season has brought [%personlink L] the [%leagueyear] [%subleaguename] [%pitcheraward]. [%personname l] had [%pitching qs word] in [%pitching gs word] with a [%pitching whip] WHIP.

I haven’t done anything about Eugene’s two observations concerning inaccurate adjectives. I don’t think this is a rampant problem in the database, because I did manage to address a lot of these problems before the latest release of the XML file. If a particular word or turn of phrase bothers you, search for it and swap it out for something more to your liking.

It’s my hope that for 2007, the text team will be able to use conditions to tailor messages about a player’s performance so that they do provide proper descriptors when the situation calls for them. For instance, if a guy wins Pitcher of the Year with an ERA under 2.00, it'd be nice if the news article referred to that stat as "phenomenal" (or whatever). Conversely, if a message displays a .230 batting average among someone's season stats, it'd be nice if the text didn't refer to that as "respectable" or something more complimentary.

What do I mean by a condition? If you want to know more, download Steve’s XML Cheat Sheet (see the sticky) and check it out.