About FastScore
Baseball Replay Game
In 2004, I set out to design a quick
play game that would generate the score of a baseball game with a few rolls of
the dice. The task was clear; I wanted to design a game that incorporated ease
of play, a simple ratings system and simple charts. I realize that we all play
these games to relax, so I wanted to avoid any system that required complicated
mental gymnastics.
I feel the current version of Fastscore Baseball meets and exceeds these goals.
While the basic ratings system was developed in 2004, over the past few years
I’ve been working on perfecting the ratings methodology, and I gradually
developed a series of spreadsheets that fine-tune the accuracy of the ratings.
This programming allows hundreds of simulated seasons to be run, ensuring the
accuracy of each Fastscore season.
Although the ratings seem simple, there is a great deal of background
information packed into each rating. You may find two pitchers with similar
win-loss percentages or ERA who have different ratings. That is because our
ratings system is based primarily on total runs average, not earned run average.
In addition, a pitcher’s innings pitched per game is important and the bullpen’s
skill is factored into each starting pitcher’s rating. A pitcher with many
complete games did not rely on his bullpen as much as someone who typically went
only 6 innings per start, and the pitcher’s ratings will reflect the quality of
the bullpen appropriately.
And the best part: we’ve included the as-played schedule with starting pitchers
for each season! And we didn’t stop there- we know that your time is valuable,
so we’ve calculated the final team ratings for each game on the schedule- taking
into account the starting pitcher’s rating- so you don’t have to do the
calculations yourself. Just sit back, roll the dice and mark down the score of
the game.
Fastscore Baseball is played using two differently colored 6-sided dice. Each
team has three ratings- an offensive, defensive and clutch rating. Better
ratings are color coded in green
while worse ratings are color coded in red.
Higher offense ratings represent teams with punishing offenses. Lower defense
ratings represent teams that give up fewer runs. Higher clutch ratings represent
better team performance in close games.
If you play Fastscore as a stand-alone game, you can finish a season replay in a
few hours! You can also use Fastscore Baseball as a complement to detailed, play
by play games like Replay Baseball. If you are enjoying a single team replay,
play your favorite team’s games with Replay while playing out the other games on
the schedule with Fastscore, and see how your team is doing in the standings! A
full day’s worth of games can be completed in a minute! Remember, we’ve done all
the legwork by performing all of the calculations for you!
Fastscore offers great value for the gamer. Each Fastscore set includes multiple
seasons for one low price! We intend to rate every season from 1950 to the
current day, and may venture back to the other seasons of yesteryear.
Each season includes:
Scoring Charts
-One single-page chart
-One two-sided chart for two-page printing
(same chart data, in two formats for printing)
Team Ratings Chart
Starting Pitchers Ratings
As-Played Schedule with starting pitchers and pre-calculated game ratings
for each team
So, grab
your favorite beverage, take out Fastscore Baseball and play out a season replay
of your favorite season. You’ll see Fastscore Baseball teams and pitchers
perform similar to their real-life counterparts. And you’ll finish so quickly,
you might decide to replay the season again and again!
—Brian Davis
