Even the "Safety Squeeze" rules from the Master Game don't make much sense. I realize they didn't have Retrosheet when APBA was designed. But it's Baseball 101 that the runner on 3rd tries to score on a "safety squeeze" if the batter gets the bunt down (e.g. in a baseball strategy book that I have from the 80s that was written for high school and college coaches). It's weird that APBA pretty much forces you to choose between a suicide squeeze or a super-conservative bunt that focuses on advancing the runner from 1st to 2nd and only sometimes scores the runner on 3rd.
I wish I was familiar with the APBA math as I am with Strat. We could probably come up with some better rules.
You could roughly cut the odds of getting hung out to dry in half by saying that a 13 is a foul strike (and re-roll) the first time you roll it. Most human players would probably call off the bunt after that first roll. But it could work for replayers.
The problem is that APBA doesn't let you differentiate between a suicide squeeze and a safety squeeze with a lone runner on 3rd, so I think you just need to make new tables. Or borrow a table from another game.
Yes. Foul strike on the first roll is a good solution. After that the defense would likely be wary anyway, pitching out or throwing a high (tough to bunt) strike. On the other hand, if it is an obvious bunt situation, the pitch out might come on the very first pitch. So maybe the play should stand as written.
For runners on 1st and 3rd you could adapt the "Safety Squeeze" rule from the APBA Master Game:
"When third base is occupied, the sacrifice bunt is automatically the squeeze play. EXCEPTION: with runners on first and third bases, there are rare instances when the offense may want to sacrifice the runner to second and hold the runner on third. This can be done by using the Runner on First Base Board and the sacrifice play result precisely as it is given there. The runner on third holds in all cases except on the following numbers, on which he scores: 11; fielding column three only on numbers 19, 20, 21 and 23; all fielding columns on numbers 36, 38 and 40. Should reference to the Rare Play board be made on any of the last three numbers then just rule a called strike and roll the dice again. Do not refer to the RP Board."
Even the "Safety Squeeze" rules from the Master Game don't make much sense. I realize they didn't have Retrosheet when APBA was designed. But it's Baseball 101 that the runner on 3rd tries to score on a "safety squeeze" if the batter gets the bunt down (e.g. in a baseball strategy book that I have from the 80s that was written for high school and college coaches). It's weird that APBA pretty much forces you to choose between a suicide squeeze or a super-conservative bunt that focuses on advancing the runner from 1st to 2nd and only sometimes scores the runner on 3rd.
I wish I was familiar with the APBA math as I am with Strat. We could probably come up with some better rules.
You could roughly cut the odds of getting hung out to dry in half by saying that a 13 is a foul strike (and re-roll) the first time you roll it. Most human players would probably call off the bunt after that first roll. But it could work for replayers.
The problem is that APBA doesn't let you differentiate between a suicide squeeze and a safety squeeze with a lone runner on 3rd, so I think you just need to make new tables. Or borrow a table from another game.
Yes. Foul strike on the first roll is a good solution. After that the defense would likely be wary anyway, pitching out or throwing a high (tough to bunt) strike. On the other hand, if it is an obvious bunt situation, the pitch out might come on the very first pitch. So maybe the play should stand as written.
Have you tried using the NPNG+ tables? They don't hang the runner out to dry on a '13'.
(https://nebula.wsimg.com/804d108d23bb1c2303114932306ad752?AccessKeyId=C85F65B031FB9E668BC1)
For runners on 1st and 3rd you could adapt the "Safety Squeeze" rule from the APBA Master Game:
"When third base is occupied, the sacrifice bunt is automatically the squeeze play. EXCEPTION: with runners on first and third bases, there are rare instances when the offense may want to sacrifice the runner to second and hold the runner on third. This can be done by using the Runner on First Base Board and the sacrifice play result precisely as it is given there. The runner on third holds in all cases except on the following numbers, on which he scores: 11; fielding column three only on numbers 19, 20, 21 and 23; all fielding columns on numbers 36, 38 and 40. Should reference to the Rare Play board be made on any of the last three numbers then just rule a called strike and roll the dice again. Do not refer to the RP Board."