BASEBALL MULTIPLICATION

Materials:
  • 2, 3, or 4 six-sided dice or a number card deck
  • baseball diamond
  • 4 pennies
  • scoreboard
  • a multiplication table or a calculator
Number of Players:

Two (2)
Directions:
  1. Draw a baseball diamond and make a scoreboard.
Sample Drawings:

  1. Players take turns being the "pitcher" and the "batter."
  2. At the start of the inning, the batter puts a penny on home plate.
  3. The pitcher rolls the dice or draws cards from the number card deck. The batter multiplies the numbers and tells the answer.  The pitcher checks the answer in a multiplication tale or on a calculator.  If the answer is wrong, the play is an out.
  4. If the answer is correct, the batter looks it up in a Hitting Table.  If the product earns a hit, the batter moves all the pennies on base the number of bases shown below.  If the play is not a hit, it is an out.
Single 1 base
Double 2 bases
Triple 3 bases
Home Run 4 bases or across home plate
  1. A run is scored  each time a penny crosses home plate.
  2. A player remains the batter for 3 outs.  Then players switch roles.  The inning is over when both players have made 3 outs.
  3. After making the third out, a batter records the number of runs scored in that inning on the scoreboard.
  4. The player who has more runs at the end of 4 innings wins the game.  If the game is tied at the end of 4 innings, play continues into extra innings until one player wins.
  5. If, at the end of the first half of the last inning, the second player is ahead, there is no need to play the second half of the inning.  The player who is ahead wins.

Game with Factors 1 to 6:

Follow the basic rules.  At each turn, the pitcher rolls 2 dice.  The batter multiplies the 2 numbers that come up and looks up the product in the Hitting Table at the right.
HITTING TABLE
Factors 1 to 6
1 to 9 = Out
10 to 18 = Single (1 base)
20 to 28 = Double (2 bases)
30 to 35 = Triple (3 bases)
36 = Home Run (4 bases)

Game with Factors 1 to 10:

Follow the basic rules.  Use a number card deck with 4 each of the numbers 1 to 10 instead of dice.  At each turn, draw 2 cards from the deck and find the product of the numbers.  Use the Hitting Table at the right to find out how to move the pennies.
HITTING TABLE
Factors 1 to 10
1 to 21 = Out
24 to 45 = Single (1 base)
48 to 70 = Double (2 bases)
72 to 81 = Triple (3 bases)
90 or 100 = Home Run (4 bases)

Game with Factors 2 to 12:

Follow the basic rules.  At each turn, the pitcher rolls 4 dice.  Separate them into 2 pairs.  Add the numbers in each pair and multiply the sums.  Use the Hitting Table at the right.

For example, suppose you roll a 1, 2, 3, and 5.  You could add pairs in different ways and multiply as follows:

1+2 = 3 1+3 = 4 1+5 = 6
3+5 = 8 2+5 = 7 2+3 = 5
3*8 = 24 4*7 = 28 6*5 = 30
Out Single Single
How you pair the numbers can determine the kind of hit you get, or whether you get an out.
HITTING TABLE
Factors 2 to 12
1 to 21 = Out
24 to 45 = Single (1 base)
48 to 70 = Double (2 bases)
72 to 81 = Triple (3 bases)
90 or 100 = Home Run (4 bases)

Three Factors Game:

The pitcher rolls 3 dice.  The batter multiplies the 3 numbers and uses the Hitting Table to the right to determine hits and outs.
HITTING TABLE
Three Factors
1 to 54 = Out
60 to 90 = Single (1 base)
96 to 120 = Double (2 bases)
125 to 150 = Triple (3 bases)
180 or 216 = Home Run (4 bases)

10s * 10s Game:

The rules for this game are the same as for the game with factors 2 to 12 with two exceptions:
  1. A sum 2 through 9 represents 10 through 90 respectively.  A sum 10 through 12 represents itself.

Examples: 

  • Roll 1, 2, 3, and 5.  Get sums 6 and 5.  Multiply 60 * 50.
  • Roll 3, 4, 6, and 6.  Get sums 12 and 7.  Multiply 12 * 70.
  1. Use the Hitting Table to the right.
HITTING TABLE
10s * 10s
100 to 2000 = Out
2100 to 4000 = Single (1 base)
4200 to 5400 = Double (2 bases)
5600 to 6400 = Triple (3 bases)
7200 or 8100 = Home Run (4 bases)

World Series:

Choose 2 teams of players as in real baseball.  Make up a batting order.  The first team to win 4 games wins the World Series.

For a shorter Series, play the best 3 out of 5 games.