In 2004, I set out to design a quick play game that would accurately reproduce major league baseball 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, and achieved team win-loss, team runs scored and pitchers runs allowed similar to their real-life results. I realize that we all play these games to relax, so I wanted to avoid any system that required pre-game calculations and complex charts.

I feel the current version of Fastscore Baseball meets and exceeds these goals. While the basic ratings system was developed in 2004, I gradually developed a series of spreadsheets that fine-tuned the accuracy of the ratings. This programming allows hundreds of simulated seasons to be run, ensuring the accuracy of each Fastscore season. I have found that each team’s strength of schedule can greatly impact the team’s ratings, and the tweaks I perform based on the simulations are critical to getting the accuracy correct.

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 or differently sized 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 team’s that won more games than expected based on their runs scored/allowed.

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 compliment to detailed, play by play games. If you are enjoying a single team replay, play 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 minutes! Remember, we’ve done all the legwork by performing all of the calculations for you!

Coming Soon

Stay tuned, we’re launching something awesome. Don’t miss the big reveal!

Fastscore offers great value for the gamer. Each Fastscore decade set includes multiple seasons for one low price (more than half-off compared to individual seasons)! Every season from 1950 to the current day is currently rated, as well as some of the pre-1950’s seasons. So, grab your favorite beverage, take out Fastscore Baseball and replay 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!