PointsBall™
Make baseball exciting again.
A model for increasing the watchability of baseball games, especially those that are potentially long and boring. Making the outcome of games a variable that is difficult to predict.
Two elements:
- Dynamic Run Counts: runs are worth more the further you are from scoring at the beginning of the bat.
- after crossing home plate, a runner earns one point for each new base they touch as a result of the current bat
- score from 3rd? 1pt; from 2nd? 2pt; 1st? 3pt; a homerun is worth 4pt
- a Grand Slam is no longer worth 4pt, but 10pt(!) (4+3+2+1)
- teams are rewarded for more work (running)
- a home run is now worth more than a sacrifice fly which brings in a runner on 3rd base
- Inning Factor: a multiplier is applied to runs scored within a given inning to assign greater value to runs scored later in the game.
- a home run in the 1st inning becomes worth less than one in the 9th
- under current scoring rules, a home run in the 1st would be worth 1pt, while in the 9th it would be worth 9pt(!)
- combined with my #1 idea above, a home run in the 1st would be worth 4pt, while in the 9th it would be worth 36pt(!) (4x9)
- this rule/scoring change could make for some wild game decisions and come from behind game-changing wins
Each element could be implemented independently from the other, or together.
A work in progress.
History
Some loose thoughts on how the initial idea for PointsBall™ came to be.
- 2022 attended lots of local baseball; season tickets
- 2023 continued watching local ball; some road games
- I enjoy the social aspect of sports but I could care less about baseball iteslf because it's standstill boring and often won/lost by individual players
- football (soccer) may be one of the perfect games; the length is always know, always more than enough action; pitch (field) could be shortened to increase excitement