Fast Inning Baseball

Fast Inning Baseball Rulebook

Table of Contents

Introduction
- Dice & Charts
- Other Materials
Game Concepts
Game Day! - Generating game results
Pitcher Rules
Cross-Era Play
- Normalized FIB Teams
- Other FIB Teams
Gameplay Clarifications
Team Creation
Player Qualities

Introduction

Dice & Charts

You will need to have three 6-sided dice of various colors and a "decider die" to play FIB. You can borrow a decider die from a PLAAY Games title, or you can simply use a 6-sided die where an odd roll is a "bullet" and an even roll is a "blank". These instructions will assume you have the following dice colors: black, white, red, and a decider die of any color.

The Game Book is the heart of FIB and contains all the necessary charts to play the game. It ensures that the season you are playing feels right with regards to runs, home runs, and errors. When playing games with the teams that have been normalized for cross-era play, you will want to use the Game Book for the 1972-1993 era. Game Books, Seasons, and other Team Collections can be purchased at https://3d6-gaming.store/.

Each Game Book has 4 pages of Game Day content, not including the cover page. Pages 1 and 2 are the Game Day charts & Mini-Charts, page 3 is the Extra Innings chart, and page 4 has the Game Day Drama! Charts. Each chart has a different method of reading the dice.

Note: the charts themselves (Game Day charts, Mini-Charts, Extra Innings chart and Game Day Drama! charts) are printed in the separately sold Game Book and are not reproduced in this document. The Game Day procedure and the team-building rules below are transcribed from the instructions as printed.

Game Day Charts: Roll the black, white, and red dice and the decider die. Read the three numerical dice in ascending order - lowest to highest. (For example, a roll of a black 3, white 2, and red 1 would be a result of 1-2-3.)
Mini-Charts: These are the Runs Score!, Big Inning!, Home Run!, Clutch AB, Fielder Finder, and Hits charts. Roll the black and white dice, and the decider die if needed. Read the black die as the tens place, and the white die as the ones place. (For example, a roll of a black 3 and a white 2 would be a result of 32.)

Note: If you are tracking hits per inning, then when rolling on any of the scoring charts, roll the red die along with the black and white dice. You can use the red die to determine the number of hits during the inning on the Hits chart.
Game Day Drama! & Extra Innings Charts: Roll the black and white dice together, reading them in ascending order. (For example, a roll of a black 3 and white 2 would be a result of 2-3.)

Other Materials

Team Cards: Individual team cards with cutlines. Formatted for 2x2 perforated card stock. To use the various "Finder" columns, roll the black and white dice. Read the black die as the tens place, and the white die as the ones place. (For example, a roll of a black 1 and a white 2 would be a result of 12.)
Scoresheet: Includes space to track pitcher information and other game notes. There is a scratch-pad section for ticking off hits and errors as the game progresses. There is an enhanced scoresheet available for tracking additional information about the hitters and fielders.

Pitching abbreviations used on the scoresheets include GR (Pitcher Grade), ST (Pitcher Stamina), vP (Pitcher Quality Versus Power), IP (innings pitched this game), and W/L/S (to designate the pitchers game decision).

Batting abbreviations used include HR (Home runs), CL (Clutch Hits from the Clutch AB! chart), KH (Key Hits for Runs Score! results), WG (Web Gems), and E (Errors).

Game Concepts

Team and Player Qualities

FIB measures the ability of both teams and players with "qualities". A lack of a quality in a category means that the team or player's performance will not be significantly impacted by that attribute one way or another. This is referred to as being "neutral" in that category.

HIGH scoring/LOW scoring (Teams): Primary quality that represents the ability of a team score runs.
STRONG/WEAK (Teams) & TOUGH/SHAKY (Pitchers): Represents the ability of a team to hit home runs or of a pitcher to prevent them.
SOLID/POROUS: Represents a team's propensity to commit errors.
FLASHY: If a team's fielding quality is also underlined (e.g. SOLID•) then they are known for "flashing the leather" and making run-saving, "web gem" plays in the field. This is referred to as being flashy. When a game chart checks for the underlined fielding quality it is written as "Fielding team flashy?". This means that the fielding quality (SOLID/POROUS/neutral) doesn't matter, only that it is underlined.
Hitter's Park/Pitcher's Park (Ballpark Type): Represents how a ballpark plays with regards to giving up or preventing home runs. A Pitcher's Park will surrender less home runs.

Semi (•) Qualities

Qualities with a bullet (•) after them are referred to as SEMI-qualities and require a roll of a decider die to determine if they are activated. A bullet (•) on the decider die activates the quality, while a blank does not.

EXAMPLE: You are playing a game with 1980 San Diego who have a SEMI-LOW scoring quality (written as LOW• on the team card). During gameplay, you get a result that asks if the team is LOW scoring. You must roll a decider die to determine if San Diego is LOW this inning or not. Note that no matter the result, this quality check is only valid for this single check. If the same question is asked later in the game, you must perform the check again.

Individual Grades

Pitcher Grade: Represents the run prevention of starting pitchers, the combined bullpen (excluding the closer), and closer. This is represented by the GR column on the team cards.
Clutch Grade: Represents the ability of a hitter to knock in runs in a clutch at-bat with runners in scoring position. This is represented by the CL column on the team cards.

Game Day! - Generating game results

Method of play

Each half-inning of play will follow the same procedure, using the FIB Game Day charts.

Roll 3d6 and read the dice in ascending order. (E.g. a roll of 3-1-6, would be read as "1-3-6"). We recommend also rolling the decider die in case it is needed.
Find the row with the matching sequence and read across from left to right. For rolls with a lead die of 1, 2, or 3, there are two columns of results. You may be given an immediate result or you may be asked a question about a team's qualities or some other information. If a quality check is required, refer to the team card to see if the team or player has that quality.
- If the answer to a question in the first column is "yes", then use the result in that column to complete the inning.
- If the answer to a question is "no", then move to the second column and use that result to complete the inning.
Capture the result on the scoresheet and proceed with the next half-inning.

Game Day Chart Organization

The Game Day charts are organized to speed up play and provide immediate drama with each die roll.

Lead Die "1": These are the results that allow the pitcher to influence the outcome of the inning. Teams with a B-grade or better pitcher will look to roll a lead-die 1 as much as possible.
Lead Die "2": Most Home Run results will come from this section that favors STRONG teams and penalizes WEAK teams.
Lead Die "3": This is where the fielding rating of teams will factor into the outcome, although all teams are going to make an error from time to time no matter how good they may be.
Lead Die "4" through "6": When you roll this result, there is no need to consult the chart, as there are runners in scoring position and it's time for a Clutch AB!

Inning Results

Game Day Drama: A Game Day Drama! result will require a re-roll on the Game Day Drama! chart. These charts require that you roll two dice and read them in ascending order.
No Runs: No runs score and the inning is over. Some No Runs results will indicate the number of hits in the inning. No superscript indicator means that there were no hits in the inning.
Error (•) = 1-run: There has been an error in the inning and there is the possibility of a single run scoring as well. If the Decider Die is a "Bullet" then one run scores on one hit and one error, and the inning ends. Otherwise, no runs score on no hits and one error, and the inning ends.
Home Run!: Roll on the Home Run! chart to determine the number of runs scored. Refer to the hits table to determine the number of hits. To determine the batter who hit the home run, roll on the "HR" column of the team card. If the result is "Other", it means that a less-used player hit the home run. This is useful for season replays where you want to keep accurate stats for the Highlight Hitters on the team card. Feel free to re-roll if this accuracy isn't important for the game you are playing.
Clutch AB!: First, roll on the "CL" column of the team card to determine the "highlight hitter" for this half-inning. Next, refer to the Clutch AB! chart and cross reference the Pitcher and Highlight Hitter grades to determine the target roll for the hitter for them to come through in the clutch! Roll 2d6, and if the result is equal-to or higher than the target, then Runs Score! Otherwise, no runs score on one hit, and the inning is over. See chart for additional narrative.
Runs Score!: Follow the instructions on the Runs Score! chart in the game book. First, determine which column to roll on by checking the team's scoring quality (LOW, neutral, or HIGH). Next, roll 2d6 where the black die is the tens place, and the white die is the ones place. For example, if you roll a black 4 and a white 3, that is read as "43". You can also roll on the optional Hits chart to determine the number of hits in the inning. It is recommended that you roll 3 dice at once (black, white, red) where the black and white dice determine the number of runs scored, and the red die determines the number of hits. The inning is over once the number of runs is determined. Note that on a successful roll of 66, the result is a Big Inning! Proceed to Big Inning! Table.

Pitcher Rules

Pitcher Fatigue and Usage (Starting Pitchers & Closers)

All pitchers have a STamina rating that governs their usage in FIB. The ST value is the number of innings a pitcher should stay in the game, assuming the bulleted rules below do not apply. Feel free to add your own fatigue and usage rules as you see fit.

Pitching Grades follow this 7-step scale: A+, A, B+, B, C, D, F.

Great Start Rule: A starting pitcher who has given up 1 run or less after their ST inning is complete is awarded one more inning at their full GR. This allows pitchers with a better grade than the bullpen to extend their appearance.
Starter/Closer Fatigue Rule: For every inning past their ST inning, reduce a pitchers grade by 2-steps. For example, a pitcher with a GR of A+ and ST of 7 will drop to a B+ if they continue to pitch in the eighth inning. If they try to extend to the ninth inning, their GR will drop to a C. This applies to closers too, so a closer with a GR of A+ and ST of 1 will drop to a B+ if they continue to pitch a second inning.
6-Run Early Exit Rule: A starting pitcher who has given up 6 runs prior to their ST inning may be removed early for the bullpen.
OPTIONAL: Starter Variability: Before the game, roll one d6 for each starting pitcher. On a roll of "1", the starter is one grade lower this game. (e.g. an A pitcher will be a B+) On a roll of "6", they are one grade higher. (e.g. a C pither will be a B). No adjustment for rolls of 2 through 5.

The Bullpen

Individual bullpen pitchers, with the exception of the designated closer if one exists for the team, are not represented in FIB. Instead, the bullpen is abstracted using the combined ratings of all pitchers with a relief pitcher role. As such, there is no ST rating for the pitchers in the bullpen. It is assumed that they are cycled in and out of the game as needed to stay fresh. Ignore fatigue rules when the bullpen is in the game.

Make the decision to change pitchers before rolling for an inning result. The only exception are Clutch AB! results. You may make a change immediately after this result is rolled.

If the closer enters the game, but then exits before the game ends, you may go back to "The Bullpen" for the remainder of the game.

There may be instances where the Bullpen Grade is better than the Closer grade. It is still expected that the Closer is used in "save situations" if they are available for the game (see pitcher rest rules) in order to preserve the statistical accuracy of the game engine. A save situation is when the closer's team is winning by three or fewer runs or the potential tying run is either on base, at bat, or on deck.

There may be instances where a team has no designated closer. In this case, you should continue to use the bullpen rating even if you would expect a closer to come into the game.

Pitcher Rest Rules

You are free to develop your own rules but in general:

Starting pitchers should rest a minimum of 3-days before their next start. If they must start with less than 3-days rest, reduce their GR by 1-step and their ST by 2.
Closers may pitch in 3 consecutive games assuming they do not exceed their ST in either of the first 2 games. Once they pitch in a game where they exceed their ST rating or once they pitch in 3 consecutive games, they are required to rest for one game.

Advanced Bullpen Rules

FIB was designed to produce realistic results with a single abstracted bullpen grade to be used for as long as the bullpen is in the game. However, some gamers may wish to add more variability to bullpen appearances. Here are some advanced mechanisms that stay within the spirit of the game.

Bullpen Variability: Before bringing in the bullpen, roll one d6. On a roll of "1", the bullpen is one grade lower for their appearance this game. (e.g. an A Bullpen will be a B+) On a roll of "6", they are one grade higher. (e.g. a C Bullpen will be a B). No adjustment for rolls of 2 through 5.
Elevated Bullpen Variability: Repeat the process above after each consecutive 2 bullpen innings. (e.g. if the bullpen enters the game in inning 6, repeat the process before the start of inning 8)
Bullpen Fatigue: This rule was developed to prevent bullpens from keeping their grade deep into extra innings. Once the bullpen has pitched 6 innings their grade is reduced by one step in each subsequent inning.

Cross-Era Play

Normalized FIB Teams

You can purchase teams from the "FIB Cross Era Collection" that have been normalized for cross-era play. Use the 1972-1993 Game Book when playing games with these teams. Normalized teams have this symbol on their card: (a pair of opposing arrows icon; the icon is not reproduced here)

Other FIB Teams

If using non-normalized teams from other seasons or collections, you can make the following changes to Pitcher Grades, while still using the 1972-1993 Game Book to play the game. If a year isn't represented below, then no change is required.

Cross-Era Normalization Changes to Pitcher Grades

Year	1908	1904-1907, 1909-1910, 1915-1918, 1967-1968	1925, 1929-1930, 1934-1938, 1949-1950, 1999-2000
Change	Reduce by two grades	Reduce by one grade	Increase by one grade

Gameplay Clarifications

Determining Key Hitter for Runs Score! Results

The "CL Finder" ranges can be used when there is a Runs Score! result and you want to identify the batter who had the "key hit" in the inning for narrative purposes.

Determining Defensive Player for Errors or Web Gems

Use the "Fielder Finder" on page 2 of the Game Day Charts if you want to track defensive highlights and lowlights. The game designer acknowledges that the term "web gem" only entered baseball lexicon in the 21st century, and apologizes to anyone offended by its use in the 20th century Game Day Charts.

Repeat Highlight Hitter in Consecutive Innings

In the event that you roll for the same Highlight Hitter in consecutive innings (for either Clutch or HR results), feel free to re-roll for a new hitter.

Determining HR's occurring during a Big or Epic Inning

Big & Epic innings (6 to 14 runs) do not include specific HR narrative. If you want to introduce this possibility, we suggesting starting with a decider die roll to answer the question "Was at least one HR hit?" If the answer is yes, then use the Home Run! Table to determine how many runs were scored from the HR, or if there were multiple HR's.

Rare Home Run Hitters

A side effect of the HR hitter finder process is that batters with only 1 or 2 home-runs in a season won't qualify to hit a HR in FIB. To address that, feel free to assign home runs from the Drama charts to these batters.

Starting Pitcher Finder

Finder ranges for starting pitchers are included on the team cards in the event you want to choose a random starter for a game.

Extra Innings

Switch to the Extra Innings chart when the game goes into extra innings. For seasons 2020 and later, the extra innings chart takes into account the elevated probability that a team will score due to the automatic runner on second base.

Extra runs for the home team at the end of the game

In the event that a result gives the home team more runs than is necessary, only award the required number of runs for the home team to win by 1 run. This does not apply to Home Run! results.

Team Creation

Team Qualities

With the exception of the special "Exceptional Defense" quality, all team qualities are generated by comparing each team to the rest of the league. This comparison is a multi-step process, and follows the same formula. It's important to rate teams against other in their league only, even in seasons where there is inter-league play.

BALLPARK Quality: The ballpark quality for a team is derived from the number of HR's hit in that team's home stadium that season. For teams that split time in multiple stadiums, use the total HR's hit in all of them. You can find the data for this quality on the batting/league splits page of baseball-reference.com for the league that season.
SCORING Quality: The scoring quality for a team is derived from their runs per game (R/G) average that season. You can find the data for this quality on the standard batting page of baseball-reference.com for the league that season.
POWER Quality: The power quality for a team is derived from the number of HR's they hit that season. You can find the data for this quality on the standard batting page of baseball-reference.com for the league that season.
DEFENSE Quality: The defense quality for a team is derived from the number of errors they committed that season. You can find the data for this quality on the standard fielding page of baseball-reference.com for the league that season.
Flashy Defense Quality: The flashy defense quality for a team is derived from their Rtot/yr rating for that season. You can find the data for this quality on the standard fielding page of baseball-reference.com for the league that season. A team is awarded this quality, represented with an underline beneath their DEFENSE quality, if their Rtot/yr rating is 3 or higher.

Note that if you are rating a team from a season where this data is not available, you may simply disregard the quality or use another metric like DefEff to identify the top 20 to 25% of league defenses that season.

Calculating and Assigning Team Qualities

Follow these steps for each of the following 3 categories: SCORING, POWER, and DEFENSE. Don't forget to also check to see if a team is flashy after determining their defensive quality.

Collect all team quality data for each team in the league.
Find the mean (average) of the population of numbers.
Find the standard deviation (STDEV.P) of the population of numbers.
Compare each team's value in a category to the following ranges:
- Range 1: Less than (Mean - (1.43 * STDEV.P))
- Range 2: Between (Mean - (1.43 * STDEV.P)) and (Mean - (.8 * STDEV.P))
- Range 3: Between (Mean - (.8 * STDEV.P)) and (Mean + (.8 * STDEV.P))
- Range 4: Between (Mean + (.8 * STDEV.P)) and (Mean + (1.43 * STDEV.P))
- Range 5: Greater than (Mean + (1.43 * STDEV.P))
Assign qualities to each team using the table below.

Calculating and Assigning Ballpark Quality

Use the same method as above for steps 1 through 3, but use the following ranges for step 4, and then assign qualities using the table below.

Range 1: Less than (Mean - (1.43 * STDEV.P))
Range 2: Between (Mean - (1.43 * STDEV.P)) and (Mean - (STDEV.P))
Range 3: Between (Mean - (STDEV.P)) and (Mean + (STDEV.P))
Range 4: Between (Mean + (STDEV.P)) and (Mean + (1.43 * STDEV.P))
Range 5: Greater than (Mean + (1.43 * STDEV.P))

Calculated Range

Quality	1	2	3	4	5
BALLPARK	Pitcher's Park	Pitcher's Park•	neutral	Hitter's Park•	Hitter's Park
SCORING	LOW	LOW•	neutral	HIGH•	HIGH
POWER	WEAK	WEAK•	neutral	STRONG•	STRONG
DEFENSE	SOLID	SOLID•	neutral	POROUS•	POROUS

Player Qualities

Starting Pitchers

FIB uses the primary starting pitchers for a historical team, denoted by the SP in the Pos column, as listed on baseball-reference.com's Team Pitching table.

Starting Pitchers Grade & Stamina

Their grade (GR) is derived from the pitchers WHIP statistic for the season. See table below. Their Stamina (ST) is calculated using the average innings pitched per appearance in the SP role - rounded to the nearest whole number. Make sure to remove RP appearances from this calculation so that you don't inflate or deflate the SP value.

WHIP	Grade
Less than 1.1	A+
1.1 to 1.19	A
1.2 to 1.29	B+
1.3 to 1.39	B
1.4 to 1.49	C
1.5 to 1.59	D
1.6 or higher	F

Starting Pitchers Rating Versus Power

A pitcher's ability to prevent home runs is captured by the vs PWR quality. First, find the HR/9 average for the league that season. This will be referred to as LHR/9. Next, find the HR/9 statistic for the pitcher. This will be referred to as PHR/9. Then use this chart to assign the appropriate vs PWR quality for each individual pitcher.

vs PWR Quality Table

PHR/9 is greater than (LHR/9+0.5)	PHR/9 is greater than (LHR/9+0.3) but less than (LHR/9+0.5)	PHR/9 is greater than (LHR/9-0.1) but less than (LHR/9+0.3)	PHR/9 is greater than (LHR/9-0.3) but less than (LHR/9-0.1)	PHR/9 is less than (LHR/9-0.3)
SHAKY	SHAKY•	neutral	TOUGH•	TOUGH

Starting Pitcher Finder Ranges

All finder ranges in FIB use a base-6 system. To assign the identified starting pitchers a finder range, first calculate the total number of games that they all started. Next, find each pitcher's percentage of that total. Finally, assign the range that matches that percentage.

Bullpen

FIB uses all the primary relief pitchers for a historical team, denoted by the RP in the Pos column, as listed on baseball-reference.com's Team Pitching table to derive the single aggregated grade for the bullpen. Note that there is no finder range for the bullpen.

Bullpen Grade

First, calculate the total number of innings that all identified RP's pitched in relief. Second, for each pitcher, divide their individual IP by the total number you just calculated. This will give you the weighted percentage for that pitcher. Third, for each pitcher, multiply their WHIP by their weighted percentage. Finally, add all of their adjusted WHIP values together for the final bullpen WHIP value. Use the same table above from the Starting Pitchers Grade section to assign the bullpen grade. Remember that there is no stamina rating for the bullpen.

Bullpen Rating Versus Power

First, calculate the weighted HR/9 statistic for the bullpen, using the same method used above for the bullpen grade. When you have this weighted average for the bullpen pitchers, use the same vs PWR Quality Table above to determine this quality for the bullpen.

Closers

If baseball-reference.com denotes a closer for the team, their position will be labeled CL. To assign a closer a grade, stamina rating, and vs PWR quality, use the all the same procedures as you would for a starting pitcher. Note that there is no finder range for the closer.

Highlight Hitters

FIB uses the primary position players for a historical team, denoted by the first 8 or 9 players listed on the Team Batting table on baseball-reference.com's team page. For leagues that did not employ a DH, leave the 9th spot blank.

Highlight Hitters Clutch Rating

A batter's clutch (CL) grade is derived from his Clutch rating listed on the Team Batting/Detailed Stats/Team Win Probability table. See table below to assign the grade.

CLUTCH	Grade
Greater than 1.9	A+
1.0 to 1.9	A
0.5 to 0.9	B+
-0.4 to 0.4	B
-0.5 to -0.9	C
-1.0 to -1.9	D
Less than -1.9	F

Note that the Baseball Reference Clutch rating can penalize power hitters with very good batting averages. For that reason, if any hitters with a batting average of .300 or more and 20+ HR's receive a Clutch Grade of C, D, or F, we raise their grade to a B. Also, if any hitters with a batting average of .280 or more and 20+ HR's receive a Clutch Grade of D, or F, we raise their grade to a C.

For seasons where Clutch rating information isn't available, you can use OPS+ which is a more readily available statistic. OPS+ doesn't encapsulate the spirit of the Clutch mechanism perfectly, but is a reasonable substitute.

OPS+	Grade
Greater than 149	A+
130 to 149	A
110 to 129	B+
90 to 109	B
70 to 89	C
50 to 69	D
Lower than 50	F

It's important to note that this highlight hitter Clutch grade exists to provide additional narrative and does not significantly impact the integrity of the scoring engine. As such, other methods for determining the clutch grade may be used. Ideally, the highlight hitter aggregate average for a team should be "B" for average teams, "C" for below-average teams, and "B+" for above-average teams - although this is NOT a hard rule, just a guideline.

Highlight Hitter Clutch Finder Ranges

To assign each hitter a Clutch finder range, first calculate the total number of RBI's for each identified hitter. Next, find each hitters percentage of that total. Finally, assign the range that matches that percentage.

Highlight Hitter Home Run Finder Ranges

To assign each hitter a Home Run finder range, first find the total number of HR's for the team. Next, find each identified hitters percentage of that total. Finally, assign the range that matches that percentage. Note that there will likely be a percentage left over for non-highlighted hitters.

The closing "Final Thoughts" section of the document (acknowledgments, contact details, and recommendations of other products) is omitted as credits and attribution.