Tag: baseball

I have Crunched the Numbers #MLB 2019

Update! This is a report! Yes, things are quiet, too quiet, in baseball land. Here at RallyBird HQ, I have converted the MLB 2019 season team performance into the exquisitely simple terms that RallyBird Baseball Board Game requires.

The crunched data looks like lists with notations! Not ready to step out and see the world, quite!

I need to make it pretty in a document, still. When ready, this is the version that will ship as printed paper with the Add-On Kit.  Customers who buy this will be able to download the 2018 season (and the 2019 season again) as PDFs from the merchant website.

It’s interesting to skinny dip in the pond of data and see how the range of baseball behavior has changed over the two seasons.

Here’s the unboxing video for the Add-On Kit which includes some long, emotional, lingering glances at the 2018 data and rules.

#Unboxing the Add-On Kit for the #RallyBird #Baseball Board Game

This kit is an add-on to the RallyBird Baseball board game. You cannot play with out the base game, which provides a baseball contest between teams of equal potential. This kit provides way to match up teams of different ability–different mixes of strengths and weakness. It does so in two ways. Here’s what it includes:

  1. The Easy Advanced Game… Coach Defense Cards that change the array of Glove values of the standard RallyBird Baseball Board Game. For  comparison, the standard game gives both players the same starting Glove values. This advanced game gives each player a different set of values–all with the same sum. I think this implies different strengths and weakness, different risks and benefits, and different strategies–all for you to discover. This does not add more than a minute to game play time. The rules fit on 1 page!
  2. Big League Teams… tiles and data. This includes 30 team tiles in red (Visitor) and blue (Home). It also includes data for the 2018 season. I intend to provide the 2019 season as well as a free download for owners of the kit. Unlike the Easy Advance Game, with which this does not mix, it offers variation of offense and defense for individual teams–in simple RallyBird Baseball game terms. The rules are on 1 page, with an example of play on a second page, and team data on 2 more pages.
  3. 24 new Glove tiles, 12 for each side. In support of the two add-ons above, this supports both the variable defenses of the Easy Advanced Game and the Big League Teams rules. The regular RallyBird Board Game does not include enough tiles to support either set of rules, so you need these to play.

These materials fit inside the regular RallyBird Baseball game box. You don’t have to pay for an extra box, nor grant it more shelf space.

Store: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/rallybird-baseball-add-on:-big-league-teams-coach-cards

As you can see I tried to make the video interesting and on point. When I finish cogitating the 2019 season data I’ll probably replace this video with a revised version.

Thank you!

Update: The Add-On Kit now comes with the 2019 team data. The 2018 season is available as a free PDF after you purchase the game. Thank you!

Toward a New #Baseball Vernacular

iu-1.pngThis is a small step I offer generously.

You probably know that 3 balls, 2 strikes (3-2) has a name, Full Count. I approve this. The other ball-strike combinations do not have names. People have to take the trouble of articulating all the syllables and straightforward mathematics of the numbers of balls and numbers of strikes. They don’t just have to do this for clarity. There is no other method! Numbers are good, please understand me, but what about descriptive, colorful words like Full Count? Nope, there’s no other method.

Well, friends, now there is. Here’s the basic idea, based on what the numbers look like in a family-friendly world:

3 = popper (looks like part of a popcorn)
2 = duck
1 = stick
0 = egg

so, this isn’t too difficult…

0-0 = “We got eggs.”

0-1 = “An egg and a stick.”

1-0 = “A stick and an egg.”

0-2 = “An egg and a duck.”

2-0 = “Duck and an egg.”

2-2 = “Double ducks.”

1-1 = “Two sticks,” or “a fence.”

2-1 = “Duck and a stick.”

1-2 = “Stick and a duck.”

3-1 = “Popper and a stick.”

3-2 = “Popper and a duck” which could be shortened to “Papa duck.”

However, I still accept “Full count”. You’re welcome.

A linguistic anthropological baseball report follows! I have actually tried to use this new lingo around people I know during baseball games — with zero success, snears and rejection. It’s up to you now. You. There are only so many ideas I can come with and implement–some of the implementation I need to share with you. Good luck! It’s yoeman’s work.

Play Example: Intentional Walk (Optional Rule in the #RallyBirdBaseball Board Game & Anywhere, #Controversial #Baseball)! My Opponent is #Schiller, Poet of Freedom. Runners in Scoring Position! Two Outs! #IBB #Controversy #Beethovens9th #RISP

Does it profit defense to give a free base to the opponent in order to face a weaker batter? The RallyBird Baseball Board Game tries to make this a difficult, meaningful decision by a simple mechanic. This is an optional rule you can find on the last page of the current rule booklet (Oct 2019) available here as a free pdf.