Championship Baseball

Championship Baseball Rulebook

Table of Contents

Object
Contents
How to Set Up the Game
How to Play the Game
Dice Roll Combinations: Possible Actions
- Moving 'Round the Bases
- Other actions on the dice roll key
How to Win the Game
Game Play Hints
Reference Charts
- Baserunning charts
- Dice roll code

Object

Just as in Major League Baseball, score the most runs in 9 innings of play.

30 Topps® baseball cards
gameboard with 3-D stadium and scoreboard
6 scoring disks with plastic fasteners
12 player pawns with pawn stands
4 markers
2 dice

How to Set Up the Game

Choose your team: divide the 30 Topps® baseball cards into 15 American League players and 15 National League players. The American League team is designated by the blue AL symbol on the front of the card; the National League team is designated by the red NL symbol. You will manage one league, your opponent the other. Each of you rolls the dice. Whoever rolls the highest picks the league of his or her choice.

The high roller will be the Visiting Team, at bat first when the game begins; the low roller is the Home Team, in the field at the start of the game.

Player pawns: punch out the 12 player pawns from the cardboard platform, fold them on their score lines and insert them into the 12 plastic pawn stands. The 3 pawns with the tan background are Runner pawns and are controlled by the team at bat; the 9 pawns with the green background are Fielding pawns and are controlled by the team in the field.
Markers: punch out four markers from the token sheet. Three of the markers are pictured with a player figure on one side and either the #1, 2 or 3 on the other side. These are called Hit markers and are used by the team at bat; the one crossed bats marker is a "leadoff batter" marker and will later be used by the team in the field.
Assembly of the stadium and scoreboard: two 3-dimensional stadium parts must be assembled and attached to the scoreboard. Then six scoring disks must be fastened to the scoreboard to keep a tally of runs scored, outs made and innings played. It should only take you a few minutes to put your ball park together. HINT: the box bottom of your game shows the fully assembled ball park, so take a look at it before you start the assembly!

A. Punch out the two stadium parts and the scoreboard from the parts sheet. Punch out the areas marked "PUNCH," windows of the scoreboard and any other die cut areas.

B. Fold the left stadium on its score lines in the direction shown by the arrows in Figure 1. If folded correctly, the bleachers will be slanted back and the bleacher wall will be straight up. Then fold the right stadium in the same manner.

[Source note: in the scan, the phrases "arrows in Figure 1. If folded correctly, the bleachers will be slanted" (step B) and "as shown in Figure 3. Then fasten the right disks in holes 2 and 4" (step E) carry a printed strike-through line. They are transcribed here as legible text, unchanged.]

Figure 1 (stadium folding diagram) labels: Fold Side Panel Back; Bleacher Wall; Fold Top Panel Back; Fold This Panel Straight Down; Bleachers; Fold Back.

C. To assemble the left stadium, first insert TABS G and F into the matching letter slots of its side panel. Then slide TAB E into slot E of its side panel. Now attach the left stadium to the scoreboard by inserting its TABS A, B, C and D into matching letter slots of the scoreboard.

Game set-up is now complete and you and your opponent are ready to "play ball." Have fun!

How to Play the Game

Picking your lineup

As the managers, you and your opponent must pick your batting order before the game begins. Each of you selects a 9-man team which includes: 1 pitcher, 1 catcher, 1 first baseman, 1 second baseman, 1 third baseman, 1 shortstop, 3 outfielders, plus 1 designated hitter that bats for the pitcher.

HINT: study a player's batting average and overall performance at the plate to decide whether he should be in your lineup. All the information you need to make your decision is right on the back of a player's card with up-to-date statistics. Some managers place their powerful hitters in the middle of the lineup; others spread them over the lineup... the decision is yours!

In Figure 4, for example, look at Wade Boggs' stats, compared to George Brett's stats when deciding which one will be your third baseman. Note Boggs' average is higher than Brett's but Brett's slugging percentage is higher than Boggs'. Who do you want to cover the "hot corner"?

Figure 4 shows the back of two sample Topps player cards: Wade Boggs (Boston Red Sox) and George Brett (Kansas City Royals), each with a 1983 Batting Record, and the "Code for Batting Records" key.

Code for batting records:

Code	Meaning
G	Games played
AB	Times at bat
R	Runs scored
H	Hits
2B	Doubles
3B	Triples
HR	Home runs
RBI	Runs batted in
SB	Stolen bases
SLG	Slugging percentage (total bases ÷ total at bats)
BB	Base on balls
SO	Strikeouts

Lining up the cards: once you and your opponent pick your 9-man teams (actually 10 cards counting the designated hitter), line them up, side by side, left to right, the far left card being the top of the batting order. The cards should be placed with the stat-side-down as shown in Figure 5. The designated hitter is placed right on top of your pitcher card.

Substitutions to your lineup: any time during the game, a manager may substitute any player for another player as long as this substitute plays the same position as the man he is replacing. Just announce your change aloud to your opponent when you substitute. Once a player is removed from the game, he cannot reenter the lineup and play again during the game.

The game begins

Now that the lineups are finalized, the game begins!

Here's what happens. Do the following actions in the order in which they appear. The below 5-part sequence is repeated for each player that comes to bat:

At bat: the manager at-bat does the following:

places the card of the scheduled batter stat-side-up on the home plate square of the gameboard. See Figure 5, below, for position.
places a hit marker, number-side-down, on top of the at-bat player's card. The number of the chosen hit marker, either "1," "2" or "3," indicates where in the infield or outfield, your batter will try to hit the ball.

In-The-Field: the manager in-the-field now does the following:

places the nine fielding player pawns in their designated fielding positions on the gameboard. First place the pitcher on the pitcher's mound and the catcher behind the plate, as shown in Figure 5. You have options on placement of your other fielders! Each of the infield and outfield player pawns can be placed on either space "1," "2" or "3" in the area of their fielding positions. For example, you could place your center fielder in "1" position in center field and your left fielder in "2" position in left field and so on. A sample set-up of fielder pawns is shown in Figure 5. IMPORTANT: the numbered position you place a fielder in indicates where you think a hit ball will travel to.

At-bat: once the fielder pawns are positioned, the at-bat manager does the following:

rolls the dice. The dice roll combination tossed indicates the action of the batter.
checks the result of the toss on the dice roll key that appears on the stat-side of the batter's card and announces the action. For example, if Bill Madlock was up and you tossed a "1" and "5," he would hit a fly ball into left field, a possible double. HINT: the dice roll key is set up to read low number die first and then high number die next.

Figure 6 shows the stat-side of a sample Topps card, Bill Madlock (Pittsburgh Pirates), 1983 Batting Record. Its dice roll key lists the following outcomes, in the printed order (top to bottom, column by column). Each outcome is printed beside a pair of die-face pictograms; the pictograms are not reproduced in this text.

Column 1: OUT; FLY RF; RA1 / OUT; FLY RF / FLY LF; SINGLE; RA2 / GB TH INF SINGLE / FLY LF; DOUBLE / GB 3RD; SINGLE / OUT; FLY LF; RA1

Column 2: OUT; POP FOUL 3RD / GB 2ND; SINGLE / OUT; GB 3RD; DP / STRIKEOUT / OUT; LD 3RD / OUT; FLY LF / OUT; GB 1ST

Column 3: FLY RF; SINGLE; RA2 / OUT; GB 3RD; RA1 / FLY CF; SINGLE / GB SS; SINGLE / OUT; GB 1ST; RA1 / FLY RF; SINGLE / HOME RUN

Gap: each outcome's die-pair pictogram (which two dice faces trigger it) is not transcribed. The pictograms are not reproducible as text, and the page 7 dice roll code gives only abbreviations, not the pair mapping. The outcome list above is complete as printed; the pairing of each outcome with its dice faces must be read from the card scan.

NOTE: the dice roll combinations are based on the actual batting average and plate performance of the player and thus are unique from player to player. For example, the number of dice roll combinations indicating possible hits are more frequent on a stronger-hitting player's card than a weaker-hitting player's card.

Field and lineup set-up (Figure 5)

Figure 5 is a diagram of the assembled gameboard with the fielders and batter in position. Its labels are:

Fielding positions: 3rd Baseman, Left Fielder, Shortstop, Center Fielder, Pitcher, 2nd Baseman, Right Fielder, 1st Baseman, Catcher.
Pitcher's Mound (the pitcher is placed on the mound).
Batter's Card With Hit Marker (placed on the home plate square).
1st Batter In Lineup and 9th Batter In Lineup (the batting-order cards laid out on the left and right of the field, stat-side-down).
Designated Hitter Card On Top Of Pitcher Card (on each side of the field).

Dice Roll Combinations: Possible Actions

A code to the abbreviations used on the dice roll key can be found on page 4. Here are the possible actions and how to react to them.

OUTS: in the key, outs are any action that says "OUT" or "STRIKEOUT." When the batter makes an out, his card is removed from home plate and the next player in the lineup comes to bat. Keep track of the number of outs by turning the "out" scoring disk. When the team at bat makes three outs, they take the field and the fielding team is then at bat. IMPORTANT: when your team takes the field, place the leadoff batter (crossed bats) marker on top of the player's card who will be up next when you're at bat again!

POSSIBLE HITS: in the key, possible hits are those actions that say what kind of hit it is (FLY or GROUND BALL); where it was hit (name of fielding position, LEFT FIELD, SHORTSTOP, etc); and what base the runner advances to (SINGLE, DOUBLE, TRIPLE). For example, FLY RF; SINGLE.

When a possible hit is announced, the manager of the fielding team announces what number space (either "1," "2" or "3") the fielder in the action is on. The at-bat manager flips up the hit marker of the batter, and if the numbers match, the ball was caught and it is an out; if the numbers do not match, it is a hit and the at-bat manager advances a runner pawn to the base designated in the action. See "Moving 'Round The Bases," below, for more details.

GUARANTEED HITS: in the key, guaranteed hits are those actions marked as either (1) ground ball through infield, a definite single (GB TH INF SINGLE); or (2) Texas League single (TEX LEAGUE SINGLE). Such actions do not need a comparison of hit markers and fielding positions. They are guaranteed hits. The at-bat manager immediately advances a runner to first base when such an action is tossed. See "Moving 'Round The Bases," below, for more details.

(3) Another guaranteed hit is a HOME RUN. No comparison of hit markers or field positions is necessary when a home run is tossed. The at-bat manager moves a runner around the bases to score a run. Of course, any men on base also score when a home run is hit.

VERY IMPORTANT: when a player's time at bat is over, his card is returned to the lineup in its proper position. The cards for players that got on base should be returned stat-side-up to the lineup; the cards for any players that are not on base should be returned stat-side-down. Stat-side-up cards remind you which player is on base, which is important information in stealing and tag-up situations. See "Stealing and Tagging Up," below, for more details.

Moving 'Round the Bases

If the batter gets a hit, the at-bat manager moves a runner pawn to the designated base assigned in the dice roll combination. For example, in the action GB 2ND; SINGLE, if the ground ball was not caught by the second baseman, the at-bat manager would move a runner pawn to first base on the gameboard.

Here are some basic baserunning rules:

The at-bat manager always moves a runner pawn to the designated base assigned in the dice roll combination.
If there are players on bases when a hit is made, they all advance the same number of bases the batter is moved. For example, if you have men on second and third, and your batter hits a single, the man on third comes home to score a run and the man on second advances to third. The at-bat manager is always responsible for moving the runner pawns to their proper bases. IMPORTANT: sometimes a dice roll combination directs all runners to advance two bases... indicated by the symbol RA2. This direction always accompanies a single (for example, FLY RF; SINGLE; RA2). If an RA2 is tossed, all base runners advance two bases rather than one base. For example, in an RA2 situation, if you had a man on first and the batter hit a single, your first base runner would go to third rather than stop at second.
Extra bases and stealing: a batter can try to stretch a hit to advance to the next base. For example, try to make a double out of a designated single. The base-advanced-to must be unoccupied and the at-bat manager must announce his or her decision to try for the extra base as soon as the batter gets the hit.

An on-base player can also try to advance to another base by stealing. Again, the base-to-be-stolen must be unoccupied and the at-bat manager announces which player is trying to steal what base. Stealing is an option open to any on-base runner.

Here's how to try for the extra base or how to steal:

A. The at-bat manager rolls one die.

B. The number on the die is added to the speed factor of the base runner. The total will determine whether your runner is safe or out! The speed factor is located on the stat-side of the card and is marked as follows, S = (a number, either 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4).

C. What the total means:

if you are trying to stretch a single into a double or trying to steal second, and the total = 6 or more, the extra base is yours; if the total is less than 6, your runner is out.
if you are trying to stretch a double into a triple or trying to steal third, and the total = 7 or more, the extra base is yours; if the total is less than 7, your runner is out.
if you are trying to stretch a triple into a home run, and the total = 9 or more, your runner is safe and he comes home to score a run; if the total is less than 9, your runner is out.

For example, take a look at Robin Yount's card, below:

Figure (Robin Yount card): ROBIN YOUNT, Milwaukee Brewers, 1983 Batting Record; stat-side speed factor S = 2 and power factor P = 3.

If Yount was trying to steal second, and you rolled a "4," "5" or "6," he would advance to second because he has a speed factor of "2"; but if Yount was trying to steal third, and you rolled a "4," "3," "2" or "1," Yount would be out!

PLEASE NOTE: a base runner can take only one extra base per time at bat but he can try to steal any unoccupied bases.

Tagging Up: if a fly ball is hit to the outfield and is designated as a definite out on the dice roll key (for example, OUT; FLY RF), any player on base can tag up and attempt to advance one base (if such a base is unoccupied). Your runner's success depends on his own speed factor and the batter's power factor.

Here's how to tag up:

A. The at-bat manager rolls one die.

B. The number on the die is added to the speed factor of the runner and the power factor of the batter. The total will determine whether your runner is safe or out! The power factor is located on the stat-side of the batter's card and is marked as follows, P = (a number, either 1, 2 or 3).

C. What the total means:

If you're tagging up and running from third to home, and the total = 9 or more, your runner is safe... he comes home and scores; if the total is less than 9, your runner is out.
If you're tagging up and running from second to third, and the total = 10 or more, your runner is safe at third; if the total is less than 10, your runner is out.
If you're tagging up and running from first to second, and the total = 11 or more, your runner is safe at second; if the total is less than 11, your runner is out.

For example, take a look at Ozzie Smith's card and Steve Sax's stats, below:

Figure 7 shows the stat-side of a sample Topps card, Ozzie Smith (St. Louis Cardinals), 1983 Batting Record. Its dice roll key lists the following outcomes, in the printed order. Each outcome is printed beside a pair of die-face pictograms; the pictograms are not reproduced in this text (see the gap note under Figure 6).

Column 1: OUT; FLY LF; RA1 / OUT; FLY RF / WALK / GB TH INF SINGLE / FLY LF; SINGLE; RA2 / OUT; LD 1ST; RA1 / OUT; INFIELD FLY

Column 2: OUT; POP FOUL 1ST / GB SS; SINGLE / OUT; FLY RF / FLY LF; TRIPLE / OUT; LD P / OUT; FLY LF / FLY LF; DOUBLE

Column 3: OUT; FLY CF / OUT; GB 2ND, DP / SAC BUNT OR WALK / GB 3RD; SINGLE / OUT; GB 1ST; RA1 / STRIKEOUT / HOME RUN

Figure (Steve Sax card): STEVE SAX, Los Angeles Dodgers, 1983 Batting Record; stat-side speed factor S = 4 and power factor P = 0.

On a dice roll of "1" and "2," Ozzie flies out to right field. If Steve Sax is on first base, he can tag up and try for second. Steve Sax's speed factor is strong... it is a 4. If you roll a "6," add Sax's 4 speed factor and Smith's weak power factor of "0" to the dice roll for a total of "10." Too bad, the total is not enough! You need "11" or more for your runner to be safe—Steve Sax is out! But if Sax was tagging up and running from second to third under the same circumstances as above, he would be safe with the total of "10."

PLEASE NOTE: a base runner can try to tag up and take one extra base for each flyout by subsequent batters.

RA1 symbol and tagging up: on many of the dice roll keys, the symbol RA1 appears after an OUT designation (for example, OUT; FLY CF; RA1). This indicates runners advance one base which means any player on base takes one extra base on the out. If a batter makes an out with an RA1 designation, the tagging up actions described above would not apply because the extra base is a given—so no totaling up dice roll, speed factor and power factor is needed! See page 4 for quick reference charts on taking extra bases by stretching a hit, stealing and tagging up.

Other actions on the dice roll key

Double Play: double play actions are marked on the key as DP. Double plays are always linked with another action, and that action is always an out situation in the infield (for example, OUT; GB 3RD, DP).

A double play can occur only with at least one runner on base. If the dice toss indicates a double play, then both the batter and one runner are out... counting as two outs. When more than one runner is on base, the runner that is out is the player on or closest to first base—all other runners are safe and will advance one base.

Sacrifice Or Walk: on the key, there is an option of taking either a sacrifice fly or a walk; and the option of taking a sacrifice bunt or a walk. In both situations, if you have a man on base and less than two outs, then you must take the sacrifice—in all other situations you must take the walk.

Walk: in a walk situation, the batter takes first base and runners advance one base only if forced.

Hit By A Pitch: this action is designated on the key as HBP. In this situation, the batter takes first base and runners advance one base only if forced.

Strikeout: in a strikeout, the batter is immediately out. No runners advance (but a runner can steal).

When the at-bat team makes three outs, they take the field and the in-the-field team comes to bat. You and your opponent will alternate your roles as at-bat manager and in-the-field manager each half inning of play!

How to Win the Game

The winner is the player whose team has scored the most runs after 9 innings of play (or after 5 or 7 innings—whatever is decided at the beginning of the game). Remember, both teams must come to bat the same number of times in the game—unless, of course, it is the last inning and the Visiting Team has already had its chance at bat and is behind in the score. In such a case, the Home Team wins the game but does not bat in the last inning.

Game Play Hints

Impossible plays: if the dice roll indicates an impossible play, such as a double play when there are no men on base, just disregard that part of the action.

Standard rules of baseball: in all play situations, "Championship Baseball" follows the standard rules of baseball first established by Abner Doubleday and refined many times since then. When in doubt, use Major League rules as your rules!

Scoring: have one player act as scorekeeper to keep track of how many outs, runs and innings by turning the appropriate scoring disks.

Reference Charts

Baserunning charts

The following charts for taking an extra base by stretching a hit, stealing and tagging up are shown below with their varying totals.

Extra base by tagging up: total the number of one die roll plus the runner's speed factor plus the batter's power factor.

Attempt	Total needed to take the extra base
Tagging up and running from third to home	9 or more
Tagging up and running from second to third	10 or more
Tagging up and running from first to second	11 or more

Extra base by stretching a hit: total the number of one die roll plus the runner's speed factor.

Attempt	Total needed to take the extra base
Stretching a single into a double	6 or more
Stretching a double into a triple	7 or more
Stretching a triple into a home run	9 or more

Extra base by stealing: total the number of one die roll plus the runner's speed factor.

Attempt	Total needed to take the extra base
Stealing second	6 or more
Stealing third	7 or more
Stealing home	9 or more

Dice roll code

Any abbreviation used in the dice roll key that might need further explanation can be found below:

Code	Meaning
P	Pitcher
C	Catcher
1st	First base
2nd	Second base
3rd	Third base
SS	Shortstop
LF	Left field
CF	Center field
RF	Right field
GB	Ground ball
LD	Line drive
GB TH INF	Ground ball through the infield