College softball board game

[Nimrod]

So, I’ve invented a board game that simulates college softball. It’s just a hobby, not trying to sell anything. The game plays kinda like Strat-O-Matic or APBA if anybody ever played those games. Roll dice, get the result of the play.

I just set up a Twitter site (link below) in case anyone wants to check it out. I’m currently playing a tournament of the best teams of the past decade. Smart money is on 2013 Oklahoma, fwiw. But they’ve got to get by Haeger of Florida in the next round.

https://twitter.com/road_okc

I’d like to think some of the players and teams would be interested in following simulations like that, but it might be too ‘’out in left field’’ and nerdy. Lots of board/computer games for MLB, NBA,NFL, etc., but not many for women’s sports and none to my knowledge on college softball. Great thing about softball is that the history is recent, meaning it’s realistic to research. NCAA does a great job w/ stats.

I have created over 40 teams since 1997, so if anyone has a dream matchup request, I can play a game a report back. I have the single best team from almost every school that made the WCWS since around 1997. For a few schools, like UCLA, Arizona, Oklahoma, Florida, I have a couple of their teams since they had so many. I’ve got most of the great players – Mendoza, Watley, Osterman, Abbott, Lawrie, Chamberlain, Romero, etc. The game can be a great way to learn about the best teams & players. I've enjoyed that part of it.

 

[JayIndy]

Nice! I made a dice game kind of like this last year.

 

[Nimrod]

Cool! You think like I do, I guess. I watch sports and then think of how it comes down to probabilities and dice rolls.

Like your field and the beads. I got my daughter to play my game with me, and she loved the cards and dice, but then she claimed she needed a field and some tokens to keep up with outs and baserunners, else it wasn't a ''board'' game. Astute observation. I still haven't solved the problem. Colored beads might do the trick. Blue for UCLA, orange for Tennessee.

 

[Lobster Birch]

Cool I’ll check it out when I have a chance. I love sports simulations. I’ve written a basketball one and a football one in BASIC.

 

[YOCOACH]

Wow....y'all have way too much time on your hands...JK It actually sounds like a lot of fun! When you get the final finished product done, please post pics, rules and such so we can make our own version.

 

[Nimrod]

It's what happens when DD retires from softball. So much time on my hands that I actually cut the grass now.

 

[Nimrod]

My 'Team of the Decade' tournament is finished, and 2018 Florida State was the winner. Probably not the decade's best team, but all those champions are pretty good, so that's why you roll the dice.

Posted all the games on Twitter: https://twitter.com/road_okc

The tournament batting average was .213, which was well below what I was shooting for. Teams hit .244 in the WCWS from 2010 to 2019. So I might need to recalibrate.

Here's an amazing stat: If the WCWS batting average was .244 in 2010-19, what would you guess that it was in 2000-09?

No, you're way off. Incredibly, it was .201! In 1990-99, it was .211. What caused that? Maybe FPF's threads on turning the barrel. In any event, I think I enjoy today's game better.

As far as my game goes, I didn't ''normalize'' the stats to one era. I took them at face value, adjusted only for strength of schedule. That means earlier teams will score less, but prevent less. So I fear that if I play a 2000-09 tournament, the batting average might be .175. More experimenting to come.