Rollin' the Bones

Just spent the past week having my nephew visit and teaching him Strat Baseball via the Cards and dice game. we're both avid Strat football players but he had never played the baseball game, and I myself hadn't played the C&D version since the late 90's. When I knew he was coming for the visit, I ordered a few teams from the current season, Mets,(both our favorites), Giants, Royals,Tigers, Pirates, Athletics, Cardinals and the Nationals. We wound up playing three 3 game series and 1 more game with him playing the Mets all 4 series and me taking the Nats, Royals, Giants and one game of the Pirates. Since it had been awhile for me, and he'd never played we started with modified super advanced rules ( no ballpark or clutch, individual Wild pitch, balk and pass balls, etc..) and gradually added things as we went along.
Had an absolute blast!! It's really brought a renewed appreciation for the game and helped me remember rules I had forgotten.

Some quick observations:

The Pitching for the teams I play was not good, especially the Pirates, just God awful starting pitching, that said when the dice are cold, any pitcher can look like Cy Young.

Defense is funny, him playing the Mets meant Murphy at 2b, a 4e19, and Tejeda at SS, a 3e12, for all 12 games. They made more plays than they gave up, not to say I'd want 4's up the middle at both positions for a whole season, but it didn't cost him as many hits/runs as I thought it would. Now it was a small sample, but was still eye opening. Outfield defense however, especially throwing arms came into play much MORE than I had remembered.

Anyway, if any of you haven't played the board game in a while, or hell even at all, I highly suggest pulling it out and giving it a go. It might open your eyes to how the game works and help with your online teams.

I'm so happy to hear your story, Ninersphan, on so many levels. And I agree 100% that you really have to play the board game with dice to remember what an ingenious game this is

In years when I didn't have the card set, I've actually printed out the cards for my online teams sometimes, to play test my teams during the preseason . Every time you play the board game, you get another new insight into the game, and into baseball itself.

So glad you're sharing this with the next generation!!

Geoff

Geoff,

It was really great fun, I wish my wife and/or daughter's were more into baseball as I'd love to play some C&D but alas, they aren't and playing solo doesn't hold much appeal to me.

My nephew knows baseball, he's umpired little league for the last 7 or 8 years ( he's 22), so the game came pretty easy to him, In fact, he was asking me things as soon as situations present themselves, like, playing the infield or corners in when I had a runner on third. So I explained what I remembered then we'd check the various rule sheets and make sure I got it right.
All that rule checking did lead me to have an appreciation though, of how hard it must be to code for HAL. Just accounting for all the nuances of sending a runner home after a clean double to CF moves him from first to third. Obviously there's the math element of run rating, plus outfielder's arm, but then, add in the possibility of cutting the throw off to catch the trail runner, or not sending him at all, because your best hitter is about to hit, there's way more to think about than just the percentage of being safe or out. The rules cover all those situations, but the decision is still up to the manager, and leaving that to HAL in our online games is really an amazing thing. It's also really no surprise he sometimes does things that leave us scratching out heads.

Geoff,

It was really great fun, I wish my wife and/or daughter's were more into baseball as I'd love to play some C&D but alas, they aren't and playing solo doesn't hold much appeal to me.

My nephew knows baseball, he's umpired little league for the last 7 or 8 years ( he's 22), so the game came pretty easy to him, In fact, he was asking me things as soon as situations present themselves, like, playing the infield or corners in when I had a runner on third. So I explained what I remembered then we'd check the various rule sheets and make sure I got it right.
All that rule checking did lead me to have an appreciation though, of how hard it must be to code for HAL. Just accounting for all the nuances of sending a runner home after a clean double to CF moves him from first to third. Obviously there's the math element of run rating, plus outfielder's arm, but then, add in the possibility of cutting the throw off to catch the trail runner, or not sending him at all, because your best hitter is about to hit, there's way more to think about than just the percentage of being safe or out. The rules cover all those situations, but the decision is still up to the manager, and leaving that to HAL in our online games is really an amazing thing. It's also really no surprise he sometimes does things that leave us scratching out heads.

I agree 100%. Baseball, more than any other sport, is similar to chess. There's a number of strategy decisions that depend on what the other manager might do. Even the theoretical concept of run production is so variable, and interactive with other variables. Whether you decide to take an extra base depends on who is coming up in the lineup. The idea of managing a bullpen would be a nightmare to program - and HAL does it fairly well most of the time.

This is truly an amazing game.

Like you, I play online far more than anything else - it just works for people with other things to do during the waking hours, and too few people to play cards and dice with!

Still, it's a great story! For me, it's when my brother comes into town, when we get out the cards and dice sometimes. My brother and I started playing at a very young age, clipping the advertisement out of the comic book. It's crazy to think how many hours my brother and I played strat over the years....