Rules for Commons Baseball

Getting Started

New to Commons Baseball? Here's the absolute simplest version to get your first game going:

  1. Find a friend: Commons Baseball is a head-to-head game, so you need to find someone to play with.
  2. Grab 60 cards each: Each player needs 50 batters and 10 pitchers (any baseball cards with stats on the back will work for now)
  3. Find a die: Just one standard six-sided die
  4. Decide who's home team: Rock-paper-scissors works great!
  5. Play 9 innings: Take turns pitching and batting, rolling the die to see what happens

That's it! You can start playing right now and learn the finer details as you go. The rest of this guide will teach you everything you need to know to play like a pro.

What You Need

Image: A typical game setup showing cards, a single die, and baseball gods cards laid out on a table

  • Baseball Cards: Any cards with player statistics on the back (see "Legal Cards" section below)
  • One Six-Sided Die: That's right, just one! The suspense is part of the fun
  • Baseball Gods Cards: Print these from the website or make your own - you'll need Hit, Out, Advance, and Challenge cards
  • Optional: The Commons Baseball app or Excel workbook to convert card stats into dice roll probabilities (download from commonsbaseball.com), needed if you haven't already got the probabilities printed on the cards

Building Your Roster (Your "Deck")

Before you play, each player needs to build their roster. Think of this like building a deck in a card game - you're choosing which players will be on your team.

Roster Requirements:

  • 60 total players: 50 batters and 10 pitchers
  • Pitcher Restrictions: Maximum of 4 relievers (pitchers who averaged 3 or fewer innings per game during the card season). The rest must be starting pitchers.
  • Set Your Order: Arrange batters and pitchers in whatever order you like - this is your lineup!
  • One Card Per Player: You can't have multiple cards of the same player, even from different years

Image: Example showing a mix of high-ranked (9-10) and low-ranked (1-3) player cards to illustrate the salary cap system

The Salary Cap - Keep It Fair (and Fun!)

Here's where Commons Baseball gets interesting. Every player in MLB history is ranked from 1 to 10 based on their stats for each season. Hall-of-fame caliber years get a 10, terrible seasons get a 1, and most players fall somewhere in between.

Your entire 60-player roster must total 300 points or less (averaging 5 per player). Want to include that Randy Johnson 10-ranked card? Great! But you'll need to balance it out with some lower-ranked commons to stay under the cap.

Why? This is the heart of the game's philosophy - it gives those dusty common cards a chance to shine. Instead of just stacking your roster with all-stars, you need to be creative and strategic. You'll find yourself appreciating players you never knew existed!

Understanding Card Seasons

Quick note on card years: A 1983 Topps card typically shows a player's stats from the 1982 season. Most cards represent the previous year's performance. Commons Baseball uses only the statistics from that specific "card season" - ignore career totals or other years shown on the card.

There are some cards that are reprints of older historic cards - these are perfectly legal to use in Commons Baseball, provided all the stats are printed on the card. That replica 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle? Go ahead and use it - even if it were printed in 2025 you will use the 1951 stats!

Legal Cards

Any card can be used in Commons Baseball as long as it meets these requirements:

Pitcher Cards Must Include:

  • ERA (Earned Run Average)
  • Innings Pitched
  • Handedness (Left or Right)
  • Walks

Batter Cards Must Include:

  • Batting Average
  • Doubles, Triples, Home Runs
  • Handedness (Left, Right, or Both)
  • At Bats
  • Optional: Stolen Bases (since a lot of old cards don't have this stat, it's not required)

Not Valid: Special cards like commemoratives, some all-star cards, or checklists, etc. If it has stats on the back, it's valid. No stats? Sorry, gotta find another card!

Converting Cards to Dice Probabilities

Image: A player card back showing original stats, alongside a probability sheet with dice roll thresholds (OUT, HIT, BB, 1B, 2B, 3B, HR)

Before using a card in Commons Baseball, you need to convert the stats on the back into dice roll probabilities. Don't worry - it's easier than it sounds!

Option 1: Use the App or Website - The Commons Baseball app (or Excel workbook from commonsbaseball.com) does the math for you. Just input the stats and print out probability sheets. If you're using the app, you can keep track of your roster and view the dice roll probabilities there without needing to print anything out.

Option 2: Print Labels - The app can generate Avery 5160 address labels that you can stick directly onto penny sleeves.

Option 3: Print and Insert - Print probability sheets and insert them into penny sleeves along with the cards.

How Dice Rolls Work

Each card gets thresholds that look like 4-digit numbers (read left to right or top to bottom). You roll one die at a time, only as many times as needed to determine the outcome - maximum of 4 rolls per play.

Why one die? It's not really slower than using 4 dice at once, plus the suspense of rolling multiple times is way more fun! You'll be on the edge of your seat waiting to see if that fourth digit gives you a home run, or if it's a double off the wall.

Game Setup

Step 1: Grab Your Baseball Gods

Each player starts with these special cards:

  • 3 Hit cards - Automatically get a single without rolling
  • 3 Out cards - Automatically get an out without rolling
  • 3 Advance cards - Move a runner one extra base
  • 2 Challenge cards - Cancel an opponent's Hit or Out card

Image: All baseball gods cards laid out - 3 Hits, 3 Outs, 3 Advances, 2 Challenges, plus the 2 Super Gods cards in the center

Step 2: Decide Home and Visiting Teams

Rock-paper-scissors is our official recommendation. Winner gets to choose!

Step 3: Play Ball!

The visiting team bats first (top of the 1st inning), and the home team pitches. Let's go!

Game Structure - How It Works

A game consists of 9 innings (or more if tied). Each inning has two halves:

  • Top of the inning: Visiting team bats, home team pitches
  • Bottom of the inning: Home team bats, visiting team pitches

Each half-inning continues until the batting team gets 3 outs. Then it's the other team's turn.

Special Rule: If the home team is winning after the top of the 9th inning, the bottom of the 9th is not played - game over, just like real baseball!

Selecting Pitchers Each Inning

At the start of each inning, both teams grab their next pitcher from their ordered roster. Important rules:

  • Each pitcher can only throw a maximum of one inning (get 3 outs)
  • You can skip a pitcher and use the next one in your list, but the skipped pitcher is discarded and unavailable for the rest of the game
  • Be careful in close games - if you run out of pitchers, bad things happen (see "Running Out of Players" below)

The Turn Sequence - This Is Where the Magic Happens

Each time a pitcher throws to a batter, it's called a turn. Every turn has two phases: pitching and batting. Here's the complete sequence:

Image: Flow chart showing the turn sequence from defensive baseball gods through pitch to batting phase

Phase 1: Before the Pitch (Defensive Options)

  1. Pitcher's Team: Play a Baseball Gods Card?
    • You can play an "Out" or "2 Out" (super god) card
    • If you don't play a card, continue to step 2
  2. Batter's Team: Challenge?
    • If an "Out" card was played, you can play a "Challenge" card to cancel it
    • The "2 Out" super god cannot be challenged
    • If not challenged, the out(s) happen and the turn ends

Phase 2: The Pitch

  1. Pitcher's Team: Deliver the Pitch
    • Intentional Walk: You can choose to walk the batter without rolling
    • Roll to Pitch: Roll the die and check the pitcher card thresholds

Four Possible Pitch Outcomes:

  • Automatic Out: Roll is higher than the "OUT" threshold on pitcher card → Batter is out, turn ends
  • Automatic Hit: Roll is higher than the "HIT" threshold on pitcher card → Batter gets a single, turn ends
  • Walk: Roll is lower than the "BB" threshold on pitcher card → Batter walks to first base, turn ends
  • Pitch Delivered: None of the above → Continue to batting phase

Phase 3: Batting Phase (If Pitch Was Delivered)

  1. Batter's Team: Attempt to Steal?
    • Only if there's a runner on first and the next base is open
    • Roll the die - check steal thresholds on the back of the runner's card
    • If the runner is out on a steal with 2 outs already, the inning ends but the batter stays in the lineup for next inning
  2. Batter's Team: Pinch Hit?
    • Only for batters who played for multiple teams in the card season (both teams' stats shown on card back)
    • Discard the current batter and replace with any remaining batter from your roster
    • Use sparingly - you can run out of batters!
  3. Batter's Team: Play an Offensive Baseball Gods Card?
    • Play a "Hit" card for an automatic single
    • Or play a "Double" super god card for an automatic double
  4. Pitcher's Team: Challenge?
    • If a "Hit" card was played, you can play a "Challenge" card to cancel it
    • The "Double" super god cannot be challenged
    • If not challenged, the hit happens and go to step 10
  5. Batter's Team: Swing for the Fences?
    • Declare before rolling - any hit that's 2B or better becomes a home run!
    • But any roll that would have been a single becomes an out instead
    • High risk, high reward!
  6. Batter's Team: Roll to Swing (or Bunt)
    • Bunt: Advance all runners (except for runner on third - no suicide squeeze plays here!) one base, add one out, turn ends
    • Swing: Roll the die and check the batter card thresholds

Image: Close-up of a batter card back showing the thresholds for 1B, 2B, 3B, and HR

Five Possible Swing Outcomes:

  • Single: Roll is ≥ 1B threshold but < 2B threshold
  • Double: Roll is ≥ 2B threshold but < 3B threshold
  • Triple: Roll is ≥ 3B threshold but < HR threshold
  • Home Run: Roll is ≥ HR threshold
  • Out: Roll is below 1B threshold

Phase 4: After the Hit

  1. Batter's Team: Advance Runners?
    • Runners automatically advance as far as needed to vacate their base for the runner behind them
    • Play "Advance" cards to move runners one additional base
    • One advance card per runner (but you can use multiple cards if you have multiple runners)
    • Cannot use advance cards on the batter who just hit

Turn Complete! Move to the next batter and start a new turn. When 3 outs are recorded, the half-inning is over.

Baseball Gods Cards - Your Secret Weapons

These cards are your strategic tools to change the game when you need it most. Use them wisely - once they're gone, they're gone!

Regular Baseball Gods (You Start With These)

  • Hit Card (3 total): Automatically gives the batter a single without rolling. The pitch still must be delivered first (so the pitcher could still walk or automatically get the batter out).
  • Out Card (3 total): Automatically gets the batter out without the pitcher needing to deliver a pitch. Can be challenged by the batting team.
  • Advance Card (3 total): Advances one baserunner one additional base after a hit. Cannot be challenged. Cannot be used on the batter.
  • Challenge Card (2 total): Cancels an opponent's Hit or Out card. If challenged, play proceeds normally with dice rolls. The challenged player cannot immediately play another baseball gods card.

Image: The two Super Gods cards - "Double" and "2 Outs" - displayed prominently

Super Gods - The Nuclear Options

There are two special cards that change everything:

  • Double Super God: Automatic double for the batter. Cannot be challenged.
  • 2 Outs Super God: Automatic 2 outs (current batter + next batter). Cannot be challenged. If played when there are already 2 outs, only the current batter is out - extra outs don't carry over to the next inning.

The Catch: Super gods are not assigned to anyone at the start. They sit in the middle of the table. As soon as one player uses a super god, the other super god immediately goes to their opponent to use whenever they want. This creates a fascinating strategic balance - do you want to use your super god now, knowing your opponent will get theirs?

Understanding Pitcher Cards

Image: A pitcher card showing different thresholds for left-handed vs. right-handed batters

Pitcher cards work a little differently than batter cards. Here's what you need to know:

The 4.00 ERA Baseline

Commons Baseball treats an ERA of 4.00 as neutral (historically, the median ERA is about 4.17). This means:

  • Pitchers with ERA under 4.00: Have "OUT" thresholds (they're better at getting batters out)
  • Pitchers with ERA over 4.00: Have "HIT" thresholds (they give up more hits)
  • Pitchers close to 4.00: Might have OUT thresholds against lefties and HIT against righties

Left vs. Right Matters

Pitcher cards show different thresholds when facing left-handed vs. right-handed batters. This reflects real baseball, where pitchers typically have an advantage against same-handed batters (righty vs. righty, lefty vs. lefty).

Switch Hitters - Best of Both Worlds

Batters who hit both left and right automatically bat opposite to the pitcher's throwing hand. So a switch hitter always gets the platoon advantage - batting left against righties and right against lefties. Check the handedness on both cards to determine which thresholds to use!

Advanced Strategies

Swinging for the Fences

Image: Card layout showing how a "swing for fences" roll converts a double into a home run, but a single into an out

Any batter can choose to swing for the fences right before rolling for a hit. When you do:

  • The Good: Any hit that would be a 2B, 3B, or HR automatically becomes a home run
  • The Bad: Any roll that would have been a single (1B) is an automatic out instead

This is a high-risk, high-reward strategy. Use it when you need a big hit and are willing to gamble!

Pinch Hitting Strategy

Remember, pinch hitting is only available for players who played for multiple teams during the card season (you'll see stats for both teams on the card back). Some cards say "Now with Rangers" or similar text, but that's not always accurate - always check the stats!

When you pinch hit, you discard the current batter permanently and bring in any remaining batter from your roster. This is great in a pinch (pun intended), but be careful - if you burn through too many batters, you might run out!

When to Use Baseball Gods Cards

You only get a few of these, so use them strategically:

  • Hit Cards: Save for crucial moments with runners in scoring position, or when facing a dominant pitcher
  • Out Cards: Use against their best batters, or to stop a rally with runners on base
  • Advance Cards: Perfect for getting runners home from third, or advancing to scoring position
  • Challenge Cards: Only 2 of these! Save them for the most critical situations

Running Out of Players (Extra Innings)

Games can go into extra innings, and if they do, you might run out of pitchers or batters. Here's what happens:

Running Out of Pitchers

If you run out of pitchers (from going past 10 innings or skipping pitchers), your opponent chooses a pitcher from their own discard pile for you to use for the rest of the game. They'll pick a terrible one, of course - this is a big disadvantage!

Running Out of Batters

If you run out of batters (from pinch hitting too much), your opponent selects any batter who didn't score from their own team to be your batter for the rest of the game. Again, they'll pick a weak one. Moral of the story: don't burn through your roster!

Stealing Bases

If there's a runner on first base and the next base is open, the batting team can attempt a steal after the pitch is delivered (but before swinging).

  • Roll the die and check the back of the runner's card for steal thresholds
  • If successful, the runner advances to the next base
  • If unsuccessful, the runner is out
  • Special rule: If there are already 2 outs and the runner is caught stealing, the inning ends but the current batter remains in the lineup for the next inning

Bunting

Instead of swinging, a batter can choose to bunt. When bunting:

  • All runners advance one base
  • The batter is automatically out
  • Turn ends

Bunting is a strategic sacrifice play to move runners into scoring position.

Quick Reference - Turn Summary

Step Who Action
1 Pitcher Play Out/2Out card? (optional)
2 Batter Challenge? (optional)
3 Pitcher Roll to pitch or intentional walk
4 Batter Attempt steal? (optional, if runner on 1st)
5 Batter Pinch hit? (optional, if multi-team player)
6 Batter Play Hit/Double card? (optional)
7 Pitcher Challenge? (optional)
8 Batter Swing for fences? (optional)
9 Batter Roll to swing or bunt
10 Batter Play Advance cards? (optional, if hit)

Tips for Your First Game

  • Don't worry about perfection: Your first game will be messy and that's okay! Learn as you play.
  • Keep the turn sequence handy: Bookmark this page or print out the quick reference table above.
  • Save your baseball gods: New players tend to use them too early. Hold onto them for critical moments!
  • Track your outs: It's easy to lose count. Use coins, paper, or anything to mark how many outs you have.
  • Have fun with it: Narrate the plays, celebrate the home runs, groan at the strikeouts. This game is about bringing cards to life!

Ready to Play?

That's everything you need to know! Commons Baseball might seem complex at first, but after a few turns it becomes second nature. The beauty of the game is that it rewards strategic thinking while staying true to real baseball statistics.

Grab your cards, find an opponent (or play solo!), and most importantly - have fun bringing those commons back to life!

Play ball! ⚾