Batting a Sacrifice

Though not exactly like the sacrifice bunt in baseball, there is a kind of sacrifice play in Kardball, in which a batter intentionally makes an out in order to give his team an advantage.

Forcing the Ace

Since it's not quite as predictable as the play it's named after, perhaps a better name would be "forcing the Ace." Preferably while there are still no outs, a batter matches a pitch card exactly, seeking either of two outcomes: either he scores a home run, or he forces the defense to play an Ace.  Getting rid of that Ace puts the next two batters in an excellent position to score.

Getting dealt even one Ace on defense is statistically unlikely. (Although we've seen outfields that were dealt two or more Aces, it's rare.)  So it will take another swing at a home run for the table to know for sure if there's another Ace lurking in the outfield. 

Once the offense realizes there are no Aces in the field, the home run derby begins. It will take some smart pitching and a fair amount of luck to stop a scoring rally.

Sacrifice Early

The ideal time to sacrifice is before the first out. If the first batter forces an Ace, you can still survive yet another sacrifice (if necessary) to get the defensive guard down. In fact, a good sacrifice strategy would be to sac early and sac often: the longer you let the Pitcher draw cards, the more chances he gets to pull another Ace.

No Fighting the "Force"

While there are cases in which the defense might intentionally give up a base hit in order to conserve a strategic outfield card, this is no such case.  Playing the Ace is a no-brainer, and that's that.

And that fact means that a well-executed sacrifice is one of the best angles a team has for driving runs off the luck of the deal.  The odds suggest the defense won't have more than one Ace at the first batter-up. One or two quick swings at a matching pitch card takes the upper hand. Ace or no Ace, the longer an inning drags on against a wily defense, the more their skill can influence the flow.

Sneak Preview: Kardball for iPhone

You're in the waiting room at your urologist's office. A rerun of Oprah is on the television. You are surrounded by issues of TIME, Entertainment Weekly, and Smithsonian that are at least a month old.

What are you supposed to do? Read the Cialis leaflets? Post a "check in" to your Facebook status?

There's an App for This

Fortunately for you, our developers have been working on Kardball for iPhone for months. Yes, that's right, a Kardball so advanced that it can be run on a computer that's the size of a deck of cards.

This exciting solo Kardball game features live motion pitching and batting, scorekeeping, and more.  For your eyes only, we present this rare peek at the Kardball of the future.

Now there's a way to pass the time while ur waiting for ur specialist to examine you. This game is so lifelike, you'll be tempted to spit and scratch yourself ... but hey, be careful, they might diagnose you with something!

Kardball for iPhone, like regular Kardball, will be free to play. Watch for announcements here on the Kardball Klatsch when this app is available in the App Store!

Thinking Too Hard

Some batters display it by biting their lip.  For others, it's their jaw going slack.  For others, it's nervously tapping their Pabst Blue Ribbon as they stare at their cards like they were UFO's.

The psychological dimension is so important in Kardball.

Assume It's Indecision ...

As a batter, you don't discard just any card for no particular reason. Naturally, you're inclined to dump the card you think is least likely to produce a hit.  Most people seem to drop their high cards first and hold onto anything below a seven.

So this look of concentration on a batter's face might mean they're assessing which card is of least potential value for the pitch that's coming next ...


Or Another Indecision ...

If a batter is holding an Ace, he realizes he can play it against any pitch.  So this type of hesitation involves assessing which card is the right pitch.  While the batter stares blankly at the nine you just chucked out, he's trying to noodle how many nines have already been played, or if you're likely to have one on your side.

Punish a Batter's Indecision

If you've been pitching even cards, and you detect a little too much mental activity in your batter, he might be sitting on a deuce.  Pitch odd for strike three.

But if you've been pitching odd cards to a lot of hemming and hawing, you should strongly suspect the batter has an ace in the hole.  Pitch whatever card you've got a twin for on defense, and it's an easy out.