“Harry’s Grandslam” is a board game created with baseball as its motif. The creator, “Harry Obst,” immigrated from Germany to the United States in 1957. After working as an interpreter, he attended his first Major League Baseball game in 1958, became deeply fascinated with baseball, and drew inspiration from a game against the Boston Red Sox. In 1962, he released a board game centered around baseball.
The game is easy to play, requiring only a basic understanding of the simple rules applied in baseball.
Game Components:
Primarily composed of cards, the board game allows players to set up a scoreboard just like in a real baseball stadium. The scoreboard can be manually rotated to display scores.
- Scoreboard: For inning and scorekeeping (up to 10 innings, scores up to 20 points)
- Diamond Baseball Board
- Baseball Cards (54 cards): Single, double, home run, strikeout, flyout, groundout, etc.
Gameplay:
The gameplay mirrors baseball entirely. Teams take turns attacking and defending, aiming to score more points to win.
Scoring and out counts are managed using “cards.”
- Before each inning, players are dealt three cards, and they play one card at a time to progress the game.
- When on the offense, players should ideally play cards that can score, but even if they only have out cards, they must play a card.
- After playing a card, players draw one card from the deck to replenish.
- Repeat the process alternately until the end of the 9 innings.
Special Cards: Relief Feature, Pinch Hitter
There are special cards, serving as wildcard-like cards, namely “Relief Pitcher” and “Pinch Hitter” cards.
Take one card secretly from the deck, place it face down, and then place the special card on top. You can use the hidden card at the desired moment. Think of these cards as executing relief pitching or pinch-hitting strategies.
You can find “Harry’s Grandslam” on eBay: Link