A Fourth Out?

There are four basic "kinds" of outs in Baseball: batters can make strike outs or fly outs, and baserunners can be caught by force outs or tag outs.  And for each of those basic kinds, there are variations.  At the most fundamental level, an out is an out, but if you study baseball scoring you'll discover all the interesting and complicated ways in which different kinds of outs can affect a player's record.

Just Three Outs

There are just three "kinds" of outs in Kardball: batters can make strike outs or "fielded outs" (when the complementary card is played after a pitch is batted), and baserunners can be tagged out (when a matching card is played during a live infield play).

It still takes new Kardball players a game or two to catch on to these rules: complementary card gets a batter out, matching card gets a baserunner out.  At this point, the game seems complete enough. However ... is there a place for another out?

Fielder's Choice Out: A Proposal

Suppose a ten is pitched and a five is batted.  The defense does not have a two, so the five is safe on third base (because the batted card is a three or higher).

Now suppose a Queen is pitched to the next batter, and a three is batted.  If the defense can play a four, they can put the batter out — and if they have a five, they can also tag the runner out, making a double play.

But let's suppose the defense does not have a four to get the batter out, but they do have a five.  The defense plays the five and the base runner is out, but the batter is safe on third base.  It's a lot like the classic fielder's choice.  (Except they didn't really have a choice, because they didn't have a four!)

What We Expect

One question we have is: would this fielder's choice out make it easier or harder for Kardball players to catch on to the infielding part of the game?  We expect rookies to start throwing tag cards down when there is no ball in play, for instance on the first strike pitched to the next batter. 

Picture this: a five card is standing on third; batter up, a Queen is pitched; batter takes a strike; a rookie fielder drops his five card thinking he is putting out the runner.  Sorry, that won't work — either the runner has to attempt to steal (on a five or a ten pitch), or the batter has to bat something to get a ball in play.  Then your tag out is a possibility.

Now you tell us if you think this would make the Kardball defense too strong in a game that already has approximately the right amount of scoreless innings ...