Here is the card of Babe Ruth. The left columns on each side of the card would be the results against a left handed pitcher, while the numbers in the right hand columns are used when facing a right hander. Now, if we look at it closely, we can see that he has a homerun on #34 and #19 against left handers, and on #34 and #28 against right handers. This fits in closely with his lifetime homerun average of about 1 homerun for every 11.77 at bats!
The pitcher's cards are a bit more difficult to decipher. Basically, the only actual pitcher's statistics which are included on the card are his strikeouts and walks (per nine innings). However, since the hitters have strikeouts on their cards also, this strikeout number is about 10-15 percent lower than his actual career average because a hitter will strike himself out occasionally (a strikeout on the hitter's card). So to compensate, the pitcher's strikeout percentage is lower than his true average.
To create a pitcher's card which corresponds to his career effectiveness, the pitcher's card has a certain amount of "automatic outs" included, besides his strikeouts. These "outs" are either groundouts or flyouts, depending on what kind of pitcher he was. A Nolan Ryan has more flyouts as his "automatic outs" than a Christy Mathewson, who had more groundouts due to his style of pitching.
To give us an idea of how this works, one of the greatest pitchers of all time, Walter Johnson, has about a 29 percent chance of getting an "automatic out". This means that the hitter does not even get a chance to use the statistics of his card. The effectiveness of Walter Johnson would have overwhelmed him in this at bat. But a weaker pitcher, such as someone like Vida Blue, only has about a 13 percent chance of getting an "automatic out". This translates out to mean that a hitter facing Vida Blue gets more than twice as many chances to get a hit than the one facing Walter Johnson! The means a higher ERA for Vida Blue and more losses for him and his team!
Tweaking The Game
One thing which we had noticed over the years of playing this game, and was alluded to in the "Rule Book" section, is the fact that inevitably, the game is dominated by the pitchers. To help alleviate this, we have tried certain ploys help create more offense. The main thing we did was to create a way for more errors to be committed. This did allow more runs to score, without effecting a pitcher's ERA. The other idea was to tweak the hitters batting averages a little higher. Although this has just recently been done (we haven't even played a full season yet) we figured it should help to increase offensive production and therefore produce more runs. Since this effort has not been put through the test of playing many seasons, we will just have to wait and see how this pans out over the long run.
Conclusion
Although we do not play this game as frequently as we have in the past, it will always be the game of games which I have enjoyed playing for more than 2 decades. I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys more of the strategy and statistical part of baseball, and not the "action" of an arcade type of game.
Miscellaneous
Listed below are various files that I have created for my Superstar Baseball League.
Dice Odds For Hitter's Card
Below I have made a chart showing the odds of rolling a certain number on the card. Every number is represented. In fact, I have layed out the chart just like a card used in the game. I have highlighted the "best odds" on the card. If you want to build your own player, you would need to find out his statistics from a baseball encyclopedia and then plug in the numbers on the card until his "average" is achieved.
This card can also be used simply to see what the odds are of rolling any number . It is broken down into three type of information. The actual odds (e.g., rolling a 12 has 1 in 54 chances of being rolled). The percentage of times this number comes up (e.g., 1 in 54 comes up 1.9% of the time or .019) and how many different ways there are to roll this number based on the the fact that the black die has one "1", two "2's" and three "3's", and the two white dice can come up in different ways to reach a number. (E.g., 1 in 54 has only four chances of being rolled.)
I have more information concerning on the link above (Hitter's Card)
Career Hitters Charts
In the Career Hits Chart (below), I have included individual years averages and then at the bottom, the player's total career stats. I have also included the players batting average when all instances of being put out automatically by the pitcher's card have been left out. I have labeled this his adjusted batting average. The reason I did this was to see how well the players card actually did completely on his own rolls. For example, if we go to the Career Hits section at the bottom of the page, we will see that Hank Aaron has a career B.A. of .217. If we move over to his adjusted B.A. (where the pitcher's automatic outs are subtracted from his total outs) we see his batting average moves up to .296. This is still below he true career average, so he is underachieving. If we look at Lou Gehrig 's card, we see his career B.A. is .241, but his adjusted batting average is .347. This is better. At least he is hitting the ball with a good average when he gets to roll the dice. Now Ty Cobb is hitting .291 and his adjusted average is .410! Now that's great. Also, Rogers Hornsby is performing up to snuff also. His career average is .293 and his adjusted average is .399. So as we can see, the pitcher's cards play a huge roll in the hitters performance. However some hitters are still performing below their averages. We have thought about adjusting players cards to increase their averages, but we have never gotten around to doing this.
Career Pitchers Charts
I have a chart that tracked how well the pitcher's did with their own outs on their cards. These are their own Automatic Outs (AO's). To give you an idea of what I mean, take Walter Johnson. Of all of the starters in our league, he was the very best a rolling an Automatic Out against a batter. For every 3.35 times the dice were rolled for him, he recorded an automatic out. These did not include defensive outs which used the DR rating of the team, these were strictly outs as listed on his card. The worst pitcher was Steve Carlton. He only rolled an automatic out every 7.83 times. This means that for every eight batters that came up, his card only got one of them out. The rest of the batters got to use their card to try and get a hit.
You may also sign my guest book. Do both, I would love to hear from you!
The game that lets YOU manage
great stars of different eras from
out of the past ... to see how they would
perform against each other.
Just Imagine! All-Star games that would pit all the greatest stars - not just those of any one year - against each other in games real-life managers just dream of. Here, with Superstar Baseball, you actually get that opportunity.
Immortal stars such as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Rogers Hornsby, Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Bob Feller, Hank Aaron, Dizzy Dean, Walter Johnson, Jimmie Foxx, Christy Mathewson, Lou Gehrig, Yogi Berra, Roberto Clemente, Mel Ott, Pee Wee Reese, Brooks Robinson, Tris Speaker, Honus Wagner, even Cy Young ... many, many more -- yours to match up in dreams that, once and for all, might settle the question of who was really the greatest players of all time by position.
Players Will Perform as in Real Life
SUPERSTAR BASEBALL is an exciting game of baseball strategy and tactics keyed to the actual performance records of the games greatest players. Sports Illustrated Magazine has compiled the actual pitching, hitting, running and fielding statistics on enough superstars to make four complete teams ... and then some! These records have been computer analyzed and converted into easy-to-use individual Player Cards, one for each star. As such, each player should play up to his real-life potential. But, it is left to your managerial "genius" to make it happen.
Solitaire & Head-to-Head
YOU are the manager. YOU choose the lineups! YOU call the shots! Play a full 9-innings in just 30 minutes ... in a game that's equally exciting solitaire as going head-to-head against your best friend.
The possibilities are unlimited -- match the greatest American Leaguers against the greatest National Leaguers ... or, the best of the old-timers against latter-day stars ... or, pit all the home run kings against the pitching immortals from out of the Hall of Fame. You name it, this game will produce it for you with a lifetime of authentic baseball action.
For Ages 12 & Up
Not a computer freak or electronic gadget, SUPERSTAR BASEBALL is a strategy game complete with everything you need to get into playing immediately. Great for any number, one or more ... ages 12 and up.
The Avalon Hill Game Company
Baltimore, Maryland 21214
(from the back of the game box)
Our Superstar Baseball
Game History
I ordered this board game from Sports Illustrated magazine, back in 1975. Actually, the name of the game that I bought was called "Pennant Race", and, if memory serves me correctly, the cover of that box had Dave Kingman swinging a bat, and the box itself was rather long and flat. (The game was initially produced by Sports Illustrated, but the Avalon Hill Game Co. eventually took over the production of the game.) Anyway, the game was advertised in their magazine, along with a few other sport's board games (Bowl Bound - College Football, Paydirt - NFL, etc.). But, since my interest is more in baseball, I ordered this game first. The game was fun to play and two of my brothers (Joe and John) and I, and a friend of ours (Eddie), would play the game constantly. I eventually bought Paydirt and we played that also, but the baseball game is the one that we really enjoyed playing. Because we enjoyed playing this game so much, we decided to draft our own teams and form a league. This was in 1976.
There were 96 players in the original game, but almost as soon as I bought the first game, a set of supplementary players became available, mostly more modern day players (circa 1970's) which I ordered also. With these new players included, each of us (owners) was able to draft 25 men to a team. It was sometime in this time frame that the game changed from the long box to the "Bookshelf" box that Avalon Hill is famous for.
I found more information about the evolution of the game, from Randy Cox's web page. He gives a nice history of the changes of the game from the manufacturer.
We created a 60 game schedule, which means each team would play each other team 20 times. Most of the time, we would meet at my parents house (my brother, John, and I were still living at home), and once in awhile, we would go over Joe's house to play. As a general rule, whenever we would get together, we would try and get in a couple of games apiece. Sometimes more. We usually met about once a week. At this rate, a season usually would last about 4-5 months.
The Original Owners
The original owners in 1976, and the name of their teams were:
John DeLallo Mets
Bill DeLallo Giants
Eddie Azevedo Yankees
Joe DeLallo Dodgers
The second year of the league, the Yankees were taken over by another friend of ours, Tom Winniford, and he renamed the team the Mariners. (The professional team was formed at about this time.)
Even though we had created a league, this didn't mean we would play a league season every year. Most of the time, there were many years between seasons. We played two years in a row, 1976-1977. Then there was a huge gap of 13 years before we played another season, in 1990. There were games being played in this period of inactivity, but just "pick up" games. No league games and no records being kept.
Sad to say, but all of the records for these first two years have been lost. However, there were a few statistics which we remembered from that era and are included in the official record books. Things such as Christy Mathewson's perfect game in 1976. Ted Williams' homerun totals for 1976-1977. Willie Mays' triples in a season, and Nap Lajoie's .300 batting average. Almost every other record has been lost.
Since 1990, and the advent of the computer age (I think the 286 was the computer then!), we have every statistic recorded. We also have every season's box scores in their own binder for quick reference.
The First Two Seasons
Basically, without any record books to refer to, I will simply say that the first two seasons of our "Superstar Baseball League" (SSBL) were extremely enjoyable. The Mets won the inaugural, 1976 season convincingly, posting a 38-22 record. The Dodgers came in second lace with a 30-30 record. The Giants ended up in third, going 28-32, and the Yankees came in last, with a record of 24-36
The second year was more competitive. Two teams, the Dodgers and Giants fought neck and neck all season. With six games left in the season, the Giants had a three game lead. But the Dodgers kept the pressure on, winning their last six games of the season. The Giants ended up going 3-3. Thus, at the end of the regular season, the Giants and Dodgers were tied at 35-25. In a one game playoff, The Giants ended up beating the Dodgers and winning the SSBL crown. The Mets ended up in third place with a 30-30 record, while the Mariners settled in the cellar with a record of 20-40.
The Rule Book
One thing which became apparent during the first two years of the league, was the need of some kind of rule book. Especially when it came to relief pitchers! We had a basic rule that there would be a four man rotation, that each starting pitcher needed at least a three game "rest" between starts. But the relievers had no such rule. A relief pitcher could be brought in anytime in as many games in a row as the manager wanted. Thus, a dominating relief pitcher, such as Lefty Grove, or Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander would be used constantly, without fear of their arms falling off! So we need some kind of rule stipulating how much and how often a relief pitcher could be used.
We also had other items which we wanted to add to the league. Pitchers dominated the league so much, that we decided we needed ways to add punch to the offensive side of the game. A few of the things we came up with were such as the "hit and run", team errors based on team defense (we called these x-chart errors), and a "home team" advantage. We had also planned on implementing a type of "pitcher fatigue factor", but we never got around to doing it. If we continue with the league, it will be given a high priority for implementation, along with a way to include injuries.
Since 1990
After the thirteen year layoff, we decided to get the league going again. But the owners decided that we should have a new draft, since another friend of ours, Jerry Meng, would take over the Mariners franchise and wanted to build his own team. (Besides, the Yankees/Mariners were perennial last place finishers!)
Now, since it had been so long since we had played consistently, we had forgotten the abilities of most of the ballplayers. So I took all of the cards and had them copied so that each manager/owner could have their own sheets to look over, in order to judge the player's "potential" ability.
The New Owners
The 1990 owners and their teams:
John DeLallo Timberwolves
Bill DeLallo Giants
Jerry Meng Yankees
Joe DeLallo All-Stars
The Draft
After every manager had the opportunity to re-learn who the better players were, we had our draft. The draft was held on Wednesday, July 4. (A commentary of the draft is available in the first edition of "The Sports Insider".) After the 3 hour draft, the owners sat back in their chairs with knots in their stomachs, wondering what kind of club they had put together!
1990 thru 1997
Listed here are some of the highlights of the seasons played, through the official newsletter of the SSBL, "The Sports Insider". These articles were written during the actual seasons being played. Generally, this newsletter came out 4-5 times during a season.
Expansion!
1998 brought expansion into the SSBL league. Bill DeLallo's son, Joseph, thought that he would like to play in the league and have his own team. He spoke and wrote to the other owners, including this letter here, to see what they felt about this possibility, and with positive feedback, went forward with assembling a team. Joseph's team is known as the Alpine Sailors and began league play in 1998. This team was created by Joseph researching the history books and finding players which weren't included in the original game. Players like Hack Wilson, Babe Hermann, Ed Ruelbach, and others. And then he completed his team by taking players which were left over from the original draft.
Joseph had gotten his feet wet in the league in 1994, when Jerry Meng moved out of the area. Jerry gave Joseph the authority to manage his team in his absence. Then, when John DeLallo moved away, and my brother Joe became too busy, Joseph and I decided that we would continue to play the games, trying to use the same strategies as those of the owner/managers who had moved, or no longer had the time. Even though this isn't the perfect solution to the game, it still allows us to have a season, using the teams which those owners drafted!
Owners as of 2002
Here are the current owners and their team names:
Bill DeLallo Giants
John DeLallo Sierra Timberwolves
Jerry Meng Yankees
Joe DeLallo All-Stars
Joseph DeLallo II Alpine Sailors
Some Of The Greatest Players Of All Time!
Some of the great players participating in this league are:
Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Willie Mays, Rogers Hornsby, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Nap Lajoie, Bill Dickey, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, Charlie Gehringer, Ed Walsh, Tris Speaker, Jackie Robinson, "Three Finger" Mordicai Brown, Al Simmons, Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Foxx, Hack Wilson, Ed Ruelbach, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Roy Campanella, Babe Hermann, Yogi Berra, Grover Cleveland 'Pete' Alexander, Harmon Killebrew, Lefty Grove, Mickey Cochrane, Frankie Frisch, Juan Marichal, Carl Hubbell, Cy Young, Stan Musial, Lou Gehrig, Bob Feller, Nolan Ryan, Billy Hermann, Rube Waddell, Gabby Hartnet, Willie McCovey... AND MANY MORE
The Game
Superstar Baseball is not a fancy computer game that we see nowadays. It is a simple board game that came out back in the 1970's.
The game consisted of a set of player cards that contained statistical information for each player. For example, the cards contained hits relative to the players batting average. With doubles, triples, homeruns, and strikeouts factored in relation to their actual statistics and whether or not they hit right handed of left handed. Also on the card was a listing of the person's defensive positions, defensive ability for each position, base running speed, and bunting ability. The game board itself contains most of the information needed to play the game. Kind of like having the instructions (directions) printed on the field. Most of the "results" of a play were listed here. (Base stealing, runners advancing, sacrifice bunts, fielder's choices, sacrifice flies, great defensive plays based on overall team defense, etc.)
This game did use dice, but not of the ordinary variety. Three dice are used, one black and two white. The black die has only three numbers on them. There is one 1, two 2's, and three 3's. (The black die numbers are counted in multiples of 10, so a "1" is actually a "10". A "2" is actually a "20" and a "3" is actually a "30".) So as we can see, since a die has only six sides, 3's should come up 50% of the time. 2's should come up 33% of the time and a 1 would show up 16.7% of the time.
The two white dice are very similar. Each one has a 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 on them. However, one of the die has a 5, and the other die has two 0's and no 5. The combined numbers on the white dice are added up, and then added to the number of the black die to reach a total. For example, if we rolled the dice and we had a "2" show up on the black die, and a "3" show up on one of the white die, and a "4" show up on the other white die, the total points for that roll of the dice would be "27". There are 30 numbers available, starting at "10" and going up to "39". This chart shows all of the dice combinations, including the total possible chances of this number showing up. The number in the "( )" is the amount of combinations available to get the "total" number on the dice. The percentage number shows the "average" this number would represent. The last number (the fraction), shows the actual possibilities of rolling a number.
To make a long story short, although there are 30 numbers available, there are 216 different combinations possible, using three dice, to arrive at these numbers! Now, since these dice are "weighted", certain types of numbers have a higher percentage of chance of showing up than other numbers. For example, since there is only one "1" on the black die, and only one of the white dice has a "5" on it, the chance of rolling a "19" (1 on the black die, 4 on one white die, and 5 on the other white die) is 1 in 216, or less than one half of 1 percent! (the worst odds in the house) Terrible homerun hitters have their homerun on this number! The best odds in the house is the combination equaling 34 or 35. These two dice combinations each have a 1 in 12 chance of showing up, or approximately 8.3 percent of the time each.
To look at it another way, if a player had hits on just these two numbers, his batting average would be about .166. If we let him have a hit on "19", his batting average would only go up to about .171. So a "19" is not too good of a number.
