Baseball (or in some early editions, "Batter-Up Baseball") is a card game simulating the sport of baseball, played with special cards and a diagram of a baseball diamond. The game was created by Ed-u-Cards Manufacturing Corporation, New York.
Two outs, a full count, one RBI, and the bases are loaded: a standard deck (circa 1957) with the original diamond diagram.
A typical deck from the late 1950s or early 1960s consists of:
10 balls
10 strikes
2 foul balls
2 fly outs
1 foul out
2 singles
2 doubles
1 triple
1 home run
1 balk
1 stolen base
1 hit-by-pitcher
Early "Batter-Up Baseball" deck, c. 1949, with instruction sheet/diamond diagram
Earlier decks omitted the balk, stolen base, and hit-by-pitcher, in favor of an additional ball, an additional double play, and an additional single.
"Mets" Special Edition deck from the early 1960s
In some editions from the 1960s, strikes and outs are color-coded orange, balls green, and all cards that advance a runner, blue, while in late-1950s editions, strikes and outs are green, balls blue, and cards advancing a runner, red. The cards are illustrated with line drawings of the action represented by the card; in the 1960s, a New York Mets edition included Mr. Met as the principal figure in the illustrations, and a Mets logo as the back design.
The play
The game is playable by any arbitrary number of players (the box stating that it "can be played by 1 to 9 players"). The cards are not dealt; instead, whichever player is "at bat" turns over cards from a freshly shuffled deck until put out three times, following the actions named on the cards:
Strikes are collected, with three strikes becoming an out (and clearing any collected balls).
Balls are collected, with four balls becoming a walk (and clearing any collected strikes).
Outs are collected (with each out clearing strikes and balls) until the third out ends the player's turn. If the out is marked "double play at first," and a double play at first is possible, then it counts as a double play.
Base hits, walks, and hit-by-pitcher are placed on the diamond diagram, with any cards already on the diagram advancing appropriately. A base hit clears the balls and strikes.
Balks and stolen bases advance runners according to the instructions on the card, and actual baseball rules.
An inning consists of each player getting a turn "at bat" for three outs; a game consists of nine innings. Scoring is as in an actual baseball game.
Availability
This game had a limited print run, but decks of varying vintage can be found online. Or one could improvise a deck from the same "VisEd" cards traditionally used in the game of 1000 Blank White Cards.
Baseball statistics play an important role in evaluating the progress of a player or team.
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which he is not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out at the next base, but the official scorer rules on the question of credit or blame for the advance under Rule 10.
Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two opposing teams who take turns batting and fielding. The game proceeds when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball which a player on the batting team tries to hit with a bat. The objective of the offensive team is to hit the ball into the field of play, allowing its players to run the bases, having them advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called "runs". The objective of the defensive team is to prevent batters from becoming runners, and to prevent runners' advance around the bases. A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate. The team that scores the most runs by the end of the game is the winner.
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a field that has base lengths of 60 feet, a pitcher's mound that ranges from 35–43 feet away from home plate, and a homerun fence that is 220 feet away from home plate. It was invented in 1887 in Chicago, Illinois, United States as an indoor game. The game moves at a faster pace than traditional baseball. There is less time for the base runner to get to first while the opponent fields the ball; yet, the fielder has less time to field the ball while the opponent is running down to first base. The name "softball" was given to the game in 1932, because the ball used to be soft; however, in modern-day usage, the balls are hard.
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his/her turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher is also called upon to master many other skills in order to field the position well. The role of the catcher is similar to that of the wicket-keeper in cricket, but in cricket, wicketkeepers are increasingly known for their batting abilities.
In baseball, a foul ball is a batted ball that:
In baseball, an out occurs when the umpire rules a batter or baserunner out for one of the reasons given below. When three outs are recorded in an inning, a team's half of the inning, ends.
The rules of baseball differ slightly from league to league, but in general share the same basic game play.
A hit and run is a high risk, high reward offensive strategy used in baseball. It uses a stolen base attempt to try to place the defending infielders out of position for an attempted base hit.
Baseball scorekeeping is the practice of recording the details of a baseball game as it unfolds. Professional baseball leagues hire official scorers to keep an official record of each game, but many fans keep score as well for their own enjoyment. Scorekeeping is usually done on a printed scorecard and, while official scorers must adhere precisely to one of the few different scorekeeping notations, most fans exercise some amount of creativity and adopt their own symbols and styles.
All Star Baseball is one of the two most popular baseball board games of the last sixty years, and has been honored as one of the fifty most influential American board games of all time. It was manufactured by Cadaco-Ellis and designed by baseball player Ethan Allen.
The Knickerbocker Rules are a set of baseball rules formalized by William R. Wheaton and William H. Tucker of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club in 1845. They have previously been considered to be the basis for the rules of the modern game, although this is disputed. The rules are informally known as the "New York style" of baseball, as opposed to other variants such as the "Massachusetts Game" and "Philadelphia town ball".
Dartball is a game in which darts are thrown at a large wooden or homasote board that resembles a baseball field with colored areas which denote bases. Dartball uses baseball-like rules and scoring.
Statis Pro Baseball was a strategic baseball simulation board game. It was created by Jim Barnes in 1970, named after a daily newspaper column he wrote for an Iowa morning newspaper, and published by Avalon Hill in 1978, and new player cards were made for each new season until 1992. A licensing dispute with Major League Baseball led Avalon Hill to cease production of new cards. The game, however, came with instructions for players to create their own cards, so each year many people produce their own player cards, and some even sell them online.
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