Baseball

Also Known as...

Beer Baseball

Similar to...

Players
4+

Equipment

Ping Pong Balls (usually 38 mm or 40 mm table tennis balls, Quarters can also be used), Table (The game is usually played on either a ping pong table or a folding banquet table), 8+ Cups (usually 16 ounce disposable plastic cups with ridge-lines which can be used precisely to measure the amount of beer to be poured into the cup), Booze (Usually inexpensive light beer, because of the large quantities may be consumed during the course of several games).

Setup

The berebones typically consists of two teams of even numbers (It can be played with an odd number of players so long as the teams are comparable in drinking ability), one team on each side of a table, and four cups lined up in a straight line on each side and touching so that each cup is one cup's diameter closer to the person "at bat.". The Cups represent the bases with the last cup (Homerun) at the edge of the table.
The cup closest to the opposing team (Single) is 1/4 full, the second cup (Double) is 1/2 full, the third cup (Tripple) is 3/4 full and the final cup nearest the edge (Homerun) is full. It is common to have a glass of water with the purpose of cleaning the ball between throws.

GamePlay

Players from the Batting team (The first to shoot) take shoot a ping-pong ball across a table with the intent of landing the ball in one of several cups of beer on the other end. When a ball lands in a cup, the defending team must drink all of the beer inside that cup and all the cups below it (if the second cup is hit (Double), The second and first cup must be drank. The cups are then refilled to the appropriate level and placed back on the table.

The batting team shoots the ball until they accumulate three outs. Outs come from Striking Out (missing the cups), being caught out , or being thrown out stealing. Each player gets three attempts (strikes) to get a hit (make the ball in one of those cups). A miss is one strike. The opposing team can field the batter out by catching a foul ball (which can occur when a ball bounces off a cup and the opposing team catches it).

When a player makes a cup they are considered "On base" and are referred to as a "Base Runner". A base runner advances to the base of the cup made during his "at bat". A single puts him on first base, a double onto second base, and so on. The runner can advance by the at bat player hitting the ball which moves him the corresponding number of bases (If a player is "On First Base" and the Batter makes the ball in the Second cup, The Runner advances to Third while the Batter advances to Second).
If a person shoots out of order and is caught, the person(s) that was skipped is out.
At this point the other team begins to shoot, It is the bottom of the inning (Like Major League Baseball). The team with the greatest score after nine innings is considered the winner.

Picking Teams: If teams need to be picked, each team begins with two captains who pick their team in an alternating fashion. The captain who picks second then chooses whether to be home (shoot second) or away (shoot first)

(Variation A) - Stealing

Players 6+

14 Cups Total (16 including water cups), 7 per team, 4 for the bases, and an additional 3 on each side of the table representing bases for baserunners to be used as Flip Cup.
This variation adds a second way to advance the runner, by stealing. It is probably more common than the original at this point.

A Steal attempt is a game of flip cup against a person from the other team, "a catcher". If the person on base wishes to steal a base, they begin to play single cup flip cup. If the person on base wins they advance, if they lose they are "out", and are off the bases and an out is recorded. The person may not steal until the opposing team has set and refilled their cups, an attempt to steal before this is done is considered void and must be returned to the original base. If the catcher touches their cup before the base runner touches theirs this is a balk and the base runner advances one base. Once the runner's cup lifts the table they have committed to the steal.
The person catching must rotate by inning and no one can catch a second time until everyone has caught once

(Variation B) - Little League

"little league rules" is when the game is over after six innings. .

(Variation C) - Racks

Instead of a Line of cups, a Rack is used. The first (single) row is 1 cup, the second (Double) row is 2 cups, the third row (triple) is 3 cups, and the fourth (home run) is 4 cups. Pour a corresponding amount of beer into each stack of cups. Each team goes through their rotation and tries to make the ball into one of the stacks. If they make it, the other team drinks and refills the stack. If they miss, it counts as an out. Each team gets 3 outs an inning. All other rules are the same.

(Variation D) - Shot Glasses and Quarters

Set up the four shot glasses in a straight line going away from home base (the shooter). Fill them with booze. The rules are the same as the Original game except the only outs are strikouts.

(Variation E) Oposite

In this variation the shooting team drinks. For example shooter makes the ball into a cup/shot glass (gets a hit), he must drink the contents of the cups/shot glasses behind the one he made. For example, if he hits a single, he must drink the remaining three cups/shot glasses full of beer. If he hits a triple, he only has to drink one. If he gets an out, he must drink all four.

The opposite team must drink for each run the other team scores.

(Variation F) Miss Outs and Rim Strikes

If you miss the cups completely its an out, and if you hit the rim its a strike. If you hit the rim and a player of the other team catches the ball before it hits anything else its an out.

(Variation G) Race all advances

In order to advance, even the batter must race (Play flip cup) an oposing player. To make this easier, the batter has the typical 1/4 (First Base), 1/2 (Second Base), 3/4 (Third Base), and Full (Home Run) cups. The defender has full cups. Flip cup begins when the batter grabs their cup. If the offense player wins, they get the base. If the defense player wins, its an out. The defending player's cups are refilled after every advance or out.

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