A really fun way of playing baseball with no set teams. You need
about 5-10 players to play a good game of scrub.
How to play scrub:
There are probably many variations so I will simply explain the way I
have always played it. I assume the reader already knows the basic
rules of baseball.
I have always played the game with a softball.
To start, two people are batters, one is the pitcher, and the rest are
fielders. If you have, say, 7 people, you might have a catcher,
"first fielder" (usually someone on first base), "second fielder" and
"third fielder." There are no rules for where the fielders play, you just go
where you think you can help out the most.
The first batter steps up to the plate and bats, and the game proceeds with
the same basic rules as regular baseball, except that the object of the
game for the first batter is to make it around the bases and
home on the second batter's hit. So, he usually must be very daring
in stealing bases and taking chances so that
he gets home on the next batter's hit. A batter is called "out," if he doesn't
make it home by the next batter's hit, or for any other regular baseball reason
(like a caught fly ball, out at first, tagged out, or if the
second batter hits a fly ball that is caught and the first batter does not make it
back to his base.) If there is a baserunner, and the other batter is called out,
(eg. out at first base) then the baserunner does not still have to make it home
on that hit because at that moment the catcher becomes batter. As long as there is
a batter to hit you home, you are safe on the bases.
If a batter is called "out," then he becomes the "third fielder" (or whatever,
depending on how many people are playing), the "third fielder" becomes "second fielder,"
second becomes first, first becomes pitcher, pitcher becomes catcher, and the
catcher becomes the new batter. In this way, everyone gets to be up to bat, and there
is at most one player waiting to bat who is not part of the action. There is no
score, because being up to bat and staying up is enough of a reward. The elimination
of score also lets people enjoy the game and try to do funny crazy things without
having teammates being critical because of a fear of losing. For those
of us with big egos (eg. myself), relax, by the end of the game everyone will
know who is the best player.
The way I have played it, there are no strikes or
balls. The pitcher will try to give good
pitches that will be hit so she can get up to bat quicker. If she doesn't, and
there is a baserunner, the baserunner will most likely steal second, then steal third, and from
third base it is usually amusingly easy to make it home. Sometimes it happens that
there are two really good batters who are up and they seem to stay up forever. Usually
one of the batters can gain great popularity with the fielders by
intentionally bunting the ball and making it hard for the baserunner to make it home.
Little things like this personalize the game and make it great fun for family get-togethers.
There are many parts of the game I have not explained in full detail. If you are
wondering "Are we allowed to ..." and it makes the game more fun, then, of course, play the game that way. Just play!
The game ends when it is too dark to see the ball.