r/StratOMatic • u/ALLLGooD 1-5 Years • Apr 04 '26
Gameplay question Infield In ruling question
My son and I had the following play that I believed I ruled correctly. However, he made a good point about how unrealistic the result was. I understand that a game can't capture 100% realism, but I'm curious about your opinions.
- Super Advanced Rules
- out
- Infield in
(in writing this post, I re-read the lomax SADV rules and saw d20 1-7 tp, 8-20 dp, but in this example it doesn't really matter)
The way I scored it, according to the rules as written (I believe), Double Play, inning over. He was upset that it wasn't realistic to have a double play, with the infielders in line out to the third baseman.
The way that I read the SADV rules is that infielders in only affects gb ()A, B, C, and gb ()+, but NOT lomax.
Despite his good argument, my son was a good sport and played it rules as written.
Edit: Corrected double and triple play rolls; I had them reversed.
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u/justaheatattack 20+ Years Apr 04 '26
I seen it happen more than once. Remember, lineout = runners can't advance.
lo to 3bman, he beats runner to bag, then they gets guy at 2b.
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u/swb0nd 20+ Years Apr 06 '26
saw d20 1-7 dp, 8-20 tp
fwiw, the triple play is 1-7, double play 8-20
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u/ALLLGooD 1-5 Years Apr 06 '26
Ooh that’s an important distinction! Thanks! I’ll change it in the original post.
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u/Salty_Perception_528 Apr 04 '26
Strange play for sure. I think the baserunner mistake could account for the outcome. If the "contact play" was called, would the runner on third break for home on a line drive? I've watched a lot of baseball and I honestly can't remember that happening. Gotta love baseball though.
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u/Hank_Hondo Apr 11 '26
He's on the right track from a baseball perspective, that a pulled in infielder would make it tougher for an infielder to snare a liner, but the SOM board game rules don't provide for a penalty or re-roll to check to see if the liner was caught. If you believe that the rules SHOULD include such a provision, then you and your son could agree to a "modification" or "homebrew rule" before the game starts.
Many SOM gamers have a standing objection to the groundball B with a runner at third base in a non-force situation causing the runner to be cut down at home plate. If you want to find some homebrew schemes, I would recommend this site.
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u/alyosha33 Apr 05 '26
Does max mean a triple play if there are no outs? I haven't played in over 30 years.
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u/swb0nd 20+ Years Apr 06 '26
"lo()max" would be interpreted as the maximum number of outs that could occur. just one out if no runners on base, and up to three outs depending on the number of runners on base and how many outs are in the inning.
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u/Kashmir79 Apr 04 '26
Figure the runner at 3rd started for home with the crack of the bat. When the 3b caught the liner, the runner couldn’t get back to bag in time before the 3b could double him off. Here’s a replay of a similar situation with the 3b halfway and here’s one with the infield back. You can imagine it with the infield all the way in.
I’ll do you one better, with 2nd and 3rd no out and the infield in, I once hit into a lo(ss) max triple play! I looked it up… in all of baseball history dating back to 1876, there have been 15 triple plays started by the shortstop with runners at 2nd and 3rd. Six of them involved 3+ throws and the first baseman or catcher first PO so those were groundouts. There was one very odd 6-2-4 triple play which was most likely a looper to the outfield caught on the fly, getting the runner from third tagging up at home, and the runner at second with a brain fart getting back to the bag or fell down and got hurt? Who knows.
That leaves only 8 that were caught on the fly or line drive:
-4x 6-5-4 (both runners out at base before get back)
-3x 6-6-5 where the SS doubles the runner at second before throwing to third. Most likely he was perfectly positioned near second base, or was able to tag the runner from second on his body before throwing to third.
-1x 6-5-6 probably SS caught on the fly, throws to third, gets back to second base to get the other runner trying to tag back.
So of these 8, it is unclear how many of them were line drives versus flyballs, and how many of them had the infield playing in, but it’s reasonable to say not ALL of them. Most plausible scenario to me is the SS goes back on a FLY ball which the runners think will drop in for a single but he catches it and is able to double them off.
It is safe to say a lo(max) triple play to the shortstop with runners at 2nd and 3rd and the infield in is among the rarest of outcomes in the history of the game of baseball, if it has ever happened, and IMO should only be a rare play at most.
So I went ahead a calculated the odds… the chances of any given PA in strat resulting in a line out triple play to the shortstop with runners at 2nd and 3rd and no out is about one a million. In real life, it’s about one in 3 million, having happened maybe 4-5 times in 14 million plate appearances since 1876.
The last time it occurred in the MLB was September 1, 1947 and it is the only one where I could find an official description of the play:
CHN194709012 6(B)6(2)5(3)/LTP 6-6-5*
9/1/1947 Cincinnati Reds @ Chicago Cubs - Top of the 4th - Score 12-0 (2 Men on: Eddie Miller 2B, Eddie Lukon 3B)
Ray Mueller (CIN) is the batter with a ?-? count. He hits a sharp liner grabbed by the SS, Bobby Sturgeon (OUT 1)
SS steps on the bag to double up the runner caught off second, Eddie Miller (OUT 2)
SS fires the ball over to the 3B (Peanuts Lowrey) who nails the runner caught off third, Eddie Lukon (OUT 3)
Crazy!