BALL PARK TESTIMONIALS

One:

Here's why I've been quite stuck on this game: 

1. Rich variety of results, each with different consequences for baserunner advancement. For instance, a batter may fly out by hitting a popout to an outfielder, a short fly (that could fall in for a Texas Leaguer), a medium fly, a Long Fly or Liner (which could leave the yard or fall in for a hit), a drive that is caught, or a deep fly. Singles can be an infield hit, a sharp single, a Texas Leaguer, a regular single or a long single. 

2. The baserunning system. I feel that baserunner advancement is an aspect glossed over by some games, but Ball Park gives it a thorough treatment, yielding realistic and some very interesting and unique results.

3. Interaction of fielding skill with ballpark effects for singles and errors as well as extra-base hits and HRs. Poor fielders will cause more damage in parks with a higher doubles or error factor.

4. Controls for players with stats that cannot be fully reflected by the normal results on the cards. Yeah it requires an extra die-roll, but it is well worth it, IMO, to capture these extreme performers.

5. The large menu of strategic options. These can easily be omitted, and probably should be when one is learning the game. But once one has delved into the game sufficiently, these strategic options add a rich and realistic dimension that also give each game played its own 'personality.'

6. Runner On/None On splits. At first, I wasn't sure what to make of this, but after playing a number of games this distinction adds a different dynamic to the game which you wouldn't quite achieve with a game that represents average probabilities regardless of the base situation. I found that by having to be cognizant of the base situation for each at bat, it actually helps me "keep my head in the game."

7. Playability. The game does take some getting used to, primarily because it does things a little differently than some other games. Nor does it have some of the cosmetic features, like color coded results, etc. that enhance playability in other games. But once you become comfortable with the symbols and the use of the charts, the game plays pretty quickly and smoothly.

8. Accuracy. I haven't amassed enough empirical evidence to make any definitive proclamations on this, but I have checked some of the stats that result primarily from either the batter's or pitcher's card and thus are easily verified. But my results, and those of others undertaking replays, seem good so far.

9. Mr. Sidman has been great about answering my many questions about the game.

E.S. - Champaign, Illinois

Two:

After reading so much great stuff about this game while never having heard about it until this past summer, I must admit I was skeptical at first. I guess I was ingrained with the axiom "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!" I have played a myriad of table top sports games with baseball being the preeminent choice. As such, I thought I had seen all the contenders as well as pretenders when it came to table top baseball games. Wow, was I ever wrong! 

Here are some of the features I have found in Ball Park Baseball that I haven't found in other games:

- A game where minute details are expected to be replicated (i.e. the "Silva" effect for control pitchers, or a 1968 Dick McAuliffe who never hit into a double play that whole season (with most other games McAuliffe's performance is impossible to achieve...in fact, he won't come close).

- A game that shows ground ball versus fly ball tendencies. With the recent era of left handed specialists to face one batter in a key point late in the game, the lefty-righty factor makes a big difference to me to assure realism.

- A game with good roster size. No, I'm not looking for everyone that participated in a game to be carded (although wouldn't that John Paciorek perfect 1.000 batting average in three at bats for the Houston Colt .45's of 1963 be interesting!). Ball Park has just the right amount of players to fit my taste.

- A game that has cards that are easy to read while being sturdy at the same time! I really like the Ball Park cards as they are very easy to read. They're also very durable and aren't the least bit susceptible to bending. The added feature of color coding each team adds a colorful ambience as the two combating teams are laid out on the game table. 

- A game that presents on base decisions suuch as whether or not to hold a runner on first base, infield positioning, "guessing a play and then calling for a pitch out or pick off" and, on the offensive side having a game that allows for a realistic approach towards steal attempts, sacrificing, hit and run, suicide squeeze, base running advancements, etc.

- A game that has ball park effects but doesn't make them so complicated as to be a hindrance with the game flow. With Ball Park, 6 different type balls in play are referred to the park chart and the play is quickly resolved by referring to the fielders rating (and possibly negating a result if there is a control factor that comes into play).

- A game that offers a myriad of past seasons. Enough said, Ball Park has every major league team from 1901 to the present! No other game can make that claim.

Ball Park has provided me with all of these things and is everything that it is advertised as being. With too many games, there isn't a lot of difference between men on base or with the bases empty as the individual game engines control the base running, or just isn't realistic. With runners on base in Ball Park the managerial decisions on base running, bunting, hit and run, and steal attempts are very well handled, perhaps better than any other table top game. The varying hits and to which field gives me a true visual of how risky it would be to try to advance a runner, say, from 1st to third. A sharp single to left would be suicide for that guy to try to go first to third, however, a long single to right makes it a no brainer that the runner will glide into third easily.

I've been playing table top baseball games since the early 1960's and I have to admit, that Ball Park captures so many finer points of baseball to a T! Their breakout of separate ratings between no one on base versus men on base help ensure those clutch performances by certain players: hitters and pitchers alike. This game is, indeed, a true treasure.

B.P. - Newton, New Jersey

Three:

I've been playing table-top baseball games for a number of years. During that time I was always looking for that one game that could provide me with additional strategy options and a tad more detail while still maintaining a large semblance of realism. By the same token, I didn't want any of those added elements if it meant getting into something that was complex, or had no fun factor.

One glorious day in June of 2006 I happened to stumble upon such a game. That was when I was first introduced to Ball Park Baseball and the honeymoon has never ended. Ball Park Baseball has given me everything I've ever wanted in a table-top game and more.

What I've come to appreciate about this game, more so than any other, is how visual it is. The game presents you with batter, pitcher, fielder and ball park all playing their own distinctive roles in providing this visual concept. Batters will hit everything from texas leaguers that may fall aimlessly in no-mans land between converging infielders and outfielders, sharp singles that are hit so crisply and directly at an outfielder that the base runner is fortunate to reach the next base, never mind even thinking to advance an extra one, or a long single into the gap in left center as the center fielder and left fielder converge on it, hastily trying to run it down before the batter can round first and stretch a one base hit into two. These are just a few small samplings of the different variety of hits that this game will provide you with.

On defense you can try to get by with a poor gardener in the late going and hope that nothing is hit to him, or you can be pro-active by lifting his superior bat, and replacing it with someone who is more reliable in tracking down fly balls in that spacious cavern they call center field. Rest assured, whatever you do, or don't do, can and likely will have a bearing on the eventual outcome.

The ball park itself will also present you with its own real life intangibles. Depending on your style of team you may not find the "friendly confines" of Wrigley Field to be all that friendly. If your outfielders are sure-handed, but slow, you'll dread playing in all that open space in Coors Field as yet another otherwise catch-able ball finds the grass.

 Lastly, but most importantly is the base running system. It's a system that is second to none and is the real centerpiece of this great game. Having good speed on the base paths will certainly go a long way in winning games. But if you don't manage that speed you'll soon find yourself running into outs and getting nothing out of a potential big inning. Conversely, if you have a slug on the base paths and need a late run, you'd better hope that he's not in front of your speed merchants, or you had better get him out of there. There are three base running modes; Normal, Wait and See and Holding. Depending on the game situation you will have to manage these and hope you had the foresight to select the right one.

As previously stated, Ball Park Baseball has given me everything I have ever wanted in a table-top baseball game. My sole regret is that it took me so long to find it, but now that I have, I'm making up for lost time.

T.M. - Vancouver, British Columbia