Description of the Game
Ball Park Baseball™ is a board game played by rival managers (and general managers). They
make decisions about the play of the game just like their counterparts in major league baseball. The
excitement of the game brings with it situations that are authentic in every way. While the game is easy
to play, it is intricate in design. To be a consistent winner takes more than average knowledge of the
game. It requires intelligent play and an appreciation of the many factors that make for success. Ball
Park Baseball™ is a game of skill, not chance. Baseball players have finely tuned abilities; the parks
in which they play exhibit their individual characteristics; strategy, timing and good choices are ever
important.
This game is played according to the rules of baseball. The action is based upon the generation of
random numbers, with numbers 1-25 controlled normally by the batters and numbers 26-50 by the
pitchers. There are six components of the game.
1. Players Cards -- represent the individual baseball players in all of their various skills for one particular
season of major league baseball. Each team has its batters and pitchers, including the total number of
games-in-the-field, pinch hit or pinch running appearances and designated hitter games for batters, and
games and innings pitched for pitchers. For playing a shortened season, play-offs or a World Series,
consult the Play Book for how to compute allowable games for batters or innings for pitcher.
The top section of the Batters' Card gives the name of the player, his team, the year, whether he bats
left-handed (L), right-handed (R) or is a switch-hitter (S), games in field (GIF), pinch-hit or run
appearances (PH-PR), designated hitter games (DH), his batting average (BA), slugging average (SA)
and on-base average (OBA), his fielding ability at different positions (F), the rating of his arm (A) if an
outfielder or catcher, his base running (BR) and stolen base (SB) speed, whether he is a good bunter
(Bunt), and his handling (H) and passed ball rating (PB) if a catcher.
The top section of the Pitchers' Card gives information about whether the pitcher throws left- or righthanded
and if he is a 9-inning, 7-inning or 5-inning pitcher (R9, R7, R5 or L9, L7, L5), how well he holds
runners on base (Hold: 2, for example), his fielding ability (F), won-loss record (W-L) and earned run
average for that year (ERA), his team, the year, and if he is a knuckle ball pitcher.
The bottom section of the Batters' and Pitchers' Cards contains information about those outcomes
controlled on the opposite card by the batters and pitchers, respectively.
The meaning of the symbols located next to numbers 1-50 on the Batters' and Pitchers' Cards:
K |
Strike out |
IH |
Infield hit |
.. |
See top center of Park Chart |
W |
Walk |
SS |
Sharp single |
2B |
Double
|
HB |
Hit batsman |
TL |
Texas leaguer |
2B* |
Long double |
WP |
Wild pitch |
1B |
Single |
3B |
Triple |
2BE |
Two-base error |
1B* |
Long single |
HR |
Home run |
GB |
Ground ball: ground out or force out, often a double play | ||||
DP |
Double play: automatic double play or ground out as with GB | ||||
GO |
Ground out: ground out or force out, seldom a double play | ||||
DG |
Deep grounder: ground out, often with runners advancing on play | ||||
PO |
Pop out: a short, easily caught fly ball, to infielder or outfielder | ||||
MF |
Medium fly: medium range fly ball to outfielder, always caught | ||||
DF |
Deep fly: a deep fly ball to oufield, always caught | ||||
For each of the following symbols, generate another random number and consult Park Chart:
PU |
Pop up: a fly ball to infielder, sometimes misplayed |
T |
Tap: tricky grounder to infielder, sometimes misplayed |
SM |
Smash: difficult chance hit in air to infielder, sometimes misplayed |
H |
Hard one: very difficult chance to infielder, often misplayed |
SF |
Short fly: shallow fly ball to outfielder, sometimes misplayed |
D |
Drive: ball hit in gap or down the line to outfielder, sometimes misplayed |
L |
Liner: long fly ball to outfielder, possible home run, hit or out |
The one special case result is:
1B? = Either 1B or PO depending on situation (see bottom right section of Pitcher's card)
The numbers adjacent to the symbols (GB6 or SF8, for example) indicate the fielder to whom ball was hit; thus
1 |
Pitcher |
4 |
Second baseman |
7 |
Left fielder |
2 |
Catcher |
5 |
Third baseman |
8 |
Center fielder |
3 |
First baseman |
6 |
Shortstop |
9 |
Right fielder |
Not obvious perhaps, but quite important, the Players' Cards identify that part of the field where the
pitchers induce the ball to be hit or the area where batters hit the ball, the ratio of ground balls to fly balls
for pitchers and batters, the left-right bias in batting and slugging average of pitchers and batters, and
how well they both do with none-on as against with runners on.
2. Park Charts -- give chance play outcomes (PU, T, SM, H, SF, D, L) when fielder to whom ball is hit is
playing at his normal depth. Each Park Chart has its own infield and outfield characteristics in the batting
average, errors and extra base hits (including home runs) it yields, rain outs or rain delays, and in the
number of playable pop ups.
3. The Play Book -- contains five categories of information on the play of the game, to wit: a) advancing
of runners (which deals with runners on base and how they fare); b) strategy (which deals with offensive
and defensive strategy); c) information about fielders and pitchers (which describes how players may be
employed during play and the penalties when they are used differently); d) special rules (which explain
the control of outcomes on the opposite cards, what certain symbols mean, which way switch-hitters bat,
how rain outs occur, the use of pinch-hitters and pinch-runners and play between teams from different
eras and games allowed in shortened season or series); e) x-y-z;pop-up chance plays (which test the
range and error factors of fielders).
4. Strategy Cards -- give each of the initiatives the offensive manager may take in calling strategy ( take
a pitch, no strategy, safe bunt, suicide squeeze bunt, hit-and-run, steal of one or several runners, and
double steal) by placing the appropriate card face down on the table, to which the defensive manager
must respond (with no strategy, pitch out, pick off or by moving his fielders around).
5. Score sheets -- provide a place to keep a running account of the game, with a new one being used for
each game played.
6. Random number generators -- are the means by which the ball is put into play for each situation.
Two possible random number generators are a pair of ten-sided dice whose numbers yield 1-50
outcomes (with a roll of 3 zeros = 50) and a calculator programmed to produce numbers 1-50 randomly
upon command.