Making My Own Dice Baseball Game
The idea of creating simulation baseball games based on playing dice is an old one. There are some versions that date from the 19th century. There are many different versions currently on the market. The basic idea is that the outcome of every plate appearance is determined by a roll of dice.
I wanted to try my hand and devise my own version.
My goal was two-fold. I wanted to create a dice baseball game that’s reasonably accurate to real baseball but also easy to play.
There are games on the market that are mind-numbingly complex, and in my opinion, not very fun. YouTube has some videos of people playing these games, and you’d think it’s someone doing their taxes. I didn’t want that.
My first goal was to use the “craps” version of dice. By that, I mean you simply throw two dice and add the results together. Just like craps. Other games are based on certain dice combinations. For example, a 1 and a 4 means this or a 2 and a 5 means that. That’s another thing I didn’t want.
I wanted something easy. Roll dice and boom, see the play. No charts or forms. Nothing to look up and no extra dice.
I also wanted a higher number to mean a better the result. That makes the game simple and intuitive.
With that being said, here’s my version. This is the outcome for each roll of the dice.
| Dice Roll | Outcome |
| 2 | Walk |
| 3 | Walk |
| 4 | GDP |
| 5 | Pop Up |
| 6 | Strikeout |
| 7 | Ground Out |
| 8 | Sac Fly |
| 9 | Single |
| 10 | Single+ |
| 11 | Double |
| 12 | Home Run |
Now for some explanation. The Sac Fly is only in play when there’s a runner on third with less than two outs. The other runners do not advance. If no one’s on third, then it’s a regular deep fly.
The GDP is only a double play when there’s a man on first with less than two outs. The other runners advance. If no one’s on first, then it’s a regular ground out and the other runners do not advance.
With the regular single, the runners on base advance one base. With the single-plus, runners on base advance two bases. With a double, runners on base advance two bases.
You may have noticed a few quirks in my version. For example, there are no triples. Sorry, but they’re just too rare in modern baseball.
I also didn’t have any sac bunts. Those don’t happen very often in real baseball and when they do, it’s usually the pitcher in the batter’s box. There are also no errors, and I didn’t include stolen bases. If you want to add them, knock yourself out.
Now for some basic stats. Rolling two six-sided dice gives you 36 different outcomes. Here are the probabilities for each roll:
Eddy Elfenbein is a Washington, DC-based speaker, portfolio manager and editor of the blog Crossing Wall Street. His