Cardboard Baseball

To play you will need at least two decks of standard playing cards with Jokers

Since the late 1970’s, I have loved baseball cards. To me, baseball cards were made to be played with. I’m not talking about the card in the spoke bicycle trick, trading with friends or the various flipping games that exist. Instead, I always wanted the cards to come to life and play real baseball. Somehow I needed those statistics on the back of the cards to become a portal in to a statistically-driven baseball universe. For decades I looked at the back of cards of my cardboard heroes and tried to squeeze out a baseball simulation using dice, stickers, playing cards, etc. I tried every imaginable combination to make my cards come to life using the stats on their cards, but nothing ever held my interest for too long.

Fast forward to the early spring of 2011; Almost thirty years after buying my first pack of cards and after well over forty attempts to make my own baseball card game, the cardboard Gods finally granted me my wish. I created a baseball game that was first and foremost fun and secondly statistically “in the ballpark” and finally, able to be played with almost any baseball card from 1970-present.

So often games claim to be baseball card games but they veer way off course when you actually read the directions. My creation, “Cardboard Baseball” uses actual baseball cards and the actual statistics from the back of these cards. It is a true baseball simulation that uses baseball cards! It is my humble belief that there is not a better game out there for baseball card lovers looking for a fun baseball game in which they can use their card collection to play.

If you are looking for pinpoint statistical accuracy in a baseball simulation, there are other fine offerings on the market. On the other hand, I promise you that your 2011 David Eckstein card will not lead your league in homeruns and that your 1979 Ron Guidry card will be the ace of your staff. After all, the stats on the back of a player's baseball card don't lie!

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t state the obvious… The above 4 paragraphs are essentially the initial design premise of the game. And were to serve as the Introduction to the game, however, as I’ve put this together and had input from a couple of good friends, it has truly evolved into more than I had originally intended.

Baseball cards don’t contain fielding stats, but with the creation of a web site to generate ratings, or explaining how to rate your own players, fielding became a reality in the game. Detailed runner advancement, sacrifice bunts, and so much more were added to the design that it has truly become a full-fledged simulation, without sacrificing the original intent, which was to have a game engine that would bring baseball cards to life.

Cardboard Baseball is truly a unique game (there isn’t another on the market like it) that “feels” like baseball. I hope that you find the game as fun to play as I do. There are truly no limits with Cardboard Baseball. You can create or recreate any baseball team, player or league that your heart desires.

The game is played with two or more decks of standard playing cards with Jokers. (For those wondering, while my other offering "The Baseball Card Game", also uses playing cards, this is a completely different engine. It shares nothing in common with that particular game).

The game features a unique batter-pitcher interface in which every at-bat starts with the pitcher. Anything that can happen on the real baseball diamond can occur in Cardboard Baseball. And best of all, you can can rate any season, player or team that your heart desires. If you have the stats, you can create ANY League with Cardboard Baseball. And if that isn't enough, we will have an exclusive web site available to those that purchase the game which will allow you to print any professional player, team, or season from 1872 through 2010. (The web site will be active August 19, 2011) What other game allows you to do that?

Step into the dugout today with Cardboard Baseball!