We’ve been discussing baseball basic game a lot recently. During the comment discussions, the Unusual Play Card and Error Chart have been brought up. I assumed a lot of APBA Baseball fans have used these modifications and if not, have at least heard of them.
Then again, there are a lot new APBA fans out there and others coming back to the game. Finally, I could be erroneous in my thinking. Perhaps the Unusual Play Card and its brother, the Error Chart may be popular in my neck of the APBA woods but not be as well known elsewhere. So I thought I’d pass both it on for everyone so could evaluate them and use them if they find them useful. Note: both of these modifications have been around for decades and I don’t know who was the original creator of either. If anyone knows, please inform me so I can give them credit.
Similar Purpose
The UPC and Error Chart both serve a similar purpose. While easy to implement, both serve to randomize result numbers that occur on players’ cards which mostly appear due the position that they position. For example, it addresses the question: “Is it right that a baserunner has a much higher chance to get caught stealing if a shortstop is at bat?”. It takes away the inherit unfairness that comes with the game.
With both modifications, it requires an extra dice roll every so often but not so much to extend the length game significantly.
I should say at this time that the cards displayed below and methods described are not canon. These are the cards that our league has used for used and I have used for replays. I’m sure there are variations that work just as well. If you like the concept but the rules or cards don’t quite work for you, feel free to change them. Better yet, let us know HOW you change them and why.
Unusual Play Card
The rules for the UPC modification are simple:
If bases are not empty and the offensive manager’s result (red number on the card) is a 23 or 36-41, the offensive manager rolls two dice again and refers to the UPC.
The result (again the red number) is the actual result number the offensive manager will use to refer to the boards.
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Unusual Play Card 11-38 31-37 51-36 12-39 32-39 52-39 13-37 33-38 53-37 14-39 34-39 54-39 15-36 35-36 55-36 16-40 36-40 56-40 21-41 41-41 61-41 22-36 42-40 62-37 23-23 43-23 63-23 24-40 44-36 64-40 25-36 45-37 65-40 26-40 46-40 66-38 |
Error Chart
The Error Chart works much in the same way.
If the offensive manager’s result (red number on the card) is a 15-21, the offensive manager rolls two dice again and refers to the Error Chart (the Error Chart is referred to with bases empty unlike the UPC).
The result (again the red number) is the actual result number the offensive manager will use to refer to the boards.
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Error Chart 11-20 31-18 51-18 12-21 32-16 52-21 13-17 33-20 53-17 14-19 34-15 54-15 15-20 35-18 55-20 16-19 36-18 56-19 21-15 41-21 61-18 22-20 42-18 62-18 23-17 43-16 63-16 24-15 44-20 64-18 25-20 45-17 65-21 26-16 46-19 66-20
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One drawback (because someone will bring it up if I don’t) is the 15. I’m sure APBA uses the 15 to increase HBP totals on batters and using the Error Chart will skew this a little.
All in all if you don’t mind rolling the dice a few more times per game, these two modifications are pretty decent if you’re looking to randomize those position-related numbers. I’d like to hear from others who have used similar modifications. Did they work for you??