Baseball in the Age of Radio

About Baseball in the Age of Radio

Old Time Baseball simulates the great game of baseball as it was played and enjoyed during the golden age of radio. This free app - free of ads, free of in app purchases, and free to install - is a product of the long, cold winter between the end of the post season and the start of spring training. After listening to countless broadcasts from the 1930s through to the 1970s that are available in the public domain, I decided to create a baseball simulator that could recreate the game as it was experienced by fans during that radio dominated era. This simulation contains no ads, no in app purchases, collects no data, and costs nothing to install. I do hope that it eases your longing for baseball during the baseball-less nights of winter.

The Old Time Baseball simulator is unique in its presentation of the game by a radio announcer. There are no graphics except an old style scoreboard that shows balls and strikes, runners on base, the score, and inning of play. Your team is directed with simple controls that set strategy, otherwise allowing player skill and chance to decide the ultimate outcome of a game. Alternatively, you may match two teams controlled by the computer and listen to the game as it unfolds.

The genuine sound of baseball on the radio cannot be mimicked without advertisements between innings. These have been selected from jingles on my home team broadcasts, ads from old time radio shows, internet archives of radio advertisements, and some outright fabrications.

The announcer's voice is supplied by the text to speech capability of your android phone. By changing the default voice in your text to speech settings you will change the voice of the announcer. A more rapidly speaking announcer speeds up the pace of the game; this can be adjusted in your smartphone's voice to text settings.

Game play is deceptively uncomplicated. The defensive side selects a pitch and fielder disposition, or makes a pick off attempt. A fast ball pitch will be in the strike zone, but it is likely to be put into play. A breaking pitch off the plate is more likely to be a ball, but the batter may be fooled into swinging. A breaking pitch over the plate is more likely to be a strike, but the batter may be fooled into letting it go. A pitch out is more likely to get the base stealer than a pick off, but you give up a ball in the process. Batting averages, on base percentages, and earned run averages are calculated from outcomes in game play and, as such, accurately reflect the probabilities of a turn at the bat. Pick your strategy accordingly.

The offensive side may choose to swing, take a pitch, or you may let the batter decide. If there is a chance for an extra base, you may send the runner or play it safe. Stealing second and stealing third are self explanatory. A runner that hugs the base can't be picked off but is at a disadvantage when trying to advance. If a bunt is called for, the batter attempts a bunt rather than a swing.

The league is brand new when you install the app, without a game having been played. As games are played, players will reveal their talents or lack thereof. You may rebrand your team to reset a poor win-loss record, and you may release poorly performing players. The AI uses a stochastic optimization algorithm to make decisions with no more information than you have as a player. As such, AI decisions reflect genuine probabilities of the outcome of a play that you can exploit for strategic advantage with some experience and careful attention to detail.

Some features of the app are

(1) No internet required. It may be played offline.
(2) No ads.
(3) No in app purchases.
(4) Its free!