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Box Score Guessing Game Rules and Rating System Explained

Braves Box Score Guessing Game

Our box score guessing game, is pretty simple, but if you're new to baseball stats or the idea of the game we've laid out the rules pretty clearly below. 

Objective: Guess the correct baseball player based on the statistics shown in the table.

  1. Start the Game: When the game loads, statistics of a particular baseball player are displayed in a table format. The name of the player is hidden and is the target of your guess.
  2. Make a Guess: Enter the name of who you think the player is into the text input field provided. The name must be from a pre-populated list of player names associated with the team.
  3. Submit Your Guess: Click on the 'Guess' button to submit your answer.
  4. Feedback: After each guess, feedback will appear below the guess form:
    • Correct Guess: If the guess is correct, a message will congratulate you and indicate how many guesses it took.
    • Incorrect Guess: If the guess is wrong, you will be prompted to try again, and the number of attempts will be displayed.
    • Invalid Entry: If the name entered isn't in the list, you'll be asked to submit a valid player name.
  5. Repeat: Continue guessing until the correct name is entered. The count of guesses resets with each new game session.

How The Ratings System Works

Given everyone on the site, and presumably in the world, are long Braves fans we came up with a unique rating system for the different Box Score games. Our system categorizes each question about Atlanta Braves players into three levels of difficulty: Easy, Medium, and Hard.

  • Easy: These questions involve players who are well-known due to their long tenures with the Braves and recent activity with the team. These are players most fans will recognize easily.
  • Medium: These questions are more challenging, featuring players who either had moderately long careers with the Braves or played more recently but for shorter periods.
  • Hard: The most challenging questions, reserved for players who had brief stints with the Braves or whose careers with the team are not recent. These might include lesser-known or older players.

The system operates on two main criteria to determine the difficulty level of each trivia question about a player:

  1. Years Played (Tenure): The total number of years a player was part of the Braves. This influences how memorable and significant a player is likely to be among fans.
  2. Recency of Play: How recently the player was active on the Braves roster. More recent players are likely to be fresher in the minds of fans. 

With that in mind we can then create thresholds for the game where a player falls into one of the three categories. 

  • Thresholds:

    • Recency Threshold: This is set to 10 years. Players who played within the last 10 years are considered recent and thus more likely to be remembered.
    • Years Played Threshold: Set at 5 years. Players with at least 5 years on the team are deemed to have had significant tenures.

  • Difficulty Assignment:

    • Easy: Players who both played for the Braves for more than 5 years and whose last active year was within the last 10 years fall into this category. They are familiar due to their longevity and recent presence.
    • Medium: Players who either played for the Braves for 5 years or less, or whose last active year was more than 10 years ago, but not both. This middle ground covers players who might be somewhat familiar due to either a notable though brief stint or a longer tenure that ended longer ago.
    • Hard: Players who played for the Braves for less than 5 years and whose last year on the team was more than 10 years ago. These players are likely to be the least familiar to the average fan, representing the most challenging questions.

Let's try an example. Consider a player like Chipper Jones (ever heard of him?!) who had a 19-year career with the Braves and last played in 2012. Under our system:

  • Years Since Last Played: 2023 - 2012 = 11 years
  • Years Played: 19 years

Although Chipper Jones last played 11 years ago, slightly over the recency threshold, his long career (well over 5 years) with the Braves still places him in the "Easy" category. 

Legend for the Baseball Statistics Table

In case you're new to box scores, let's break down what each column in the table means. Below is a snippet example of a certain pitcher who played for the Braves for a period of time. One thing to notice is that the table is different for pitchers vs hitters. However, some stats apply to every player. 

  • Year: The year or season the statistics apply to.
  • Age: The player's age during the specified season.
  • Tm (Team): The abbreviation for the Major League Baseball team, e.g., HOU for Houston Astros, ATL for Atlanta Braves.
  • Lg (League): The league in which the team plays, e.g., NL (National League), AL (American League).
  • Awards: Notations such as AS (All-Star), CYA (Cy Young Award placement), and MVP (Most Valuable Player placement) indicate the pitcher's achievements for that year.
Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF ERA+ FIP WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9 SO/W Awards
1995 23 HOU NL 0 0 .000 4.00 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 1.000 9.0 0.0 9.0 9.0 1.00
1996 24 HOU NL 3 3 .500 2.31 11 0 0 0 0 0 11.2 7 3 3 1 11 2 12 0 0 1 50 0 0 1.543 5.4 0.8 8.5 9.3 1.09
1997 25 HOU NL 4 1 .800 2.70 10 1 2 0 1 0 16.2 14 6 5 1 21 1 18 0 0 1 71 0 0 2.100 7.6 0.5 11.3 9.7 0.86
1998 26 HOU NL 4 3 .571 2.70 26 4 3 0 0 0 30.0 19 9 9 1 16 2 25 0 1 0 124 0 0 1.167 5.7 0.3 4.8 7.5 1.56
1999 27 HOU NL 4 1 .800 1.57 66 0 55 0 0 0 74.2 35 14 13 6 23 1 121 0 1 0 286 0 0 .777 4.2 0.7 2.8 14.6 5.26 AS,CYA-4,MVP-16
2000 28 HOU NL 4 6 .400 1.58 70 0 65 0 0 0 76.2 40 14 14 5 19 1 85 0 0 0 287 0 0 .775 4.7 0.6 2.2 10.0 4.47
2001 29 HOU NL 2 5 .286 2.73 60 0 57 0 0 0 66.0 47 21 20 4 27 2 83 0 1 0 251 0 0 1.121 6.4 0.5 3.7 11.3 3.07 AS
2002 30 HOU NL 4 2 .667 2.52 70 0 61 0 0 0 75.0 51 21 ER HR BB 27 88 1 0 2 289 0 0 .973 6.1 HR9 3.2 10.6 4.00
2003 31 HOU NL 4 1 .800 2.48 54 0 48 0 0 0 65.1 43 18 ER HR BB 29 72 0 0 2 251 0 0 1.103 5.9 HR9 4.0 9.9 2.48 AS,MVP-23
2004 32 PHI NL 4 0 1.000 2.42 45 0 34 0 0 0 48.1 27 13 ER HR BB 18 50 1 0 1 182 0 0 .845 5.0 HR9 3.3 9.3 2.78
2005 33 PHI NL 4 3 .571 1.51 45 0 34 0 0 0 47.2 25 9 ER HR BB 21 50 0 0 1 297 0 0 .837 4.7 HR9 3.9 9.4 2.38 AS
2006 34 NYM NL 3 2 .600 2.24 70 0 59 0 0 0 70.0 50 20 ER HR BB 13 64 0 0 2 269 0 0 .900 6.4 HR9 1.7 8.2 4.92 CYA-6
2007 35 NYM NL 3 0 1.000 2.63 60 0 53 0 0 0 72.1 45 18 ER HR BB 12 54 0 0 1 280 0 0 .789 5.6 HR9 1.5 6.7 4.50 AS

Beginning with the year, below is a full legend for what each column in the table for the pitcher above means.

  • W (Wins): The number of games the pitcher has won.
  • L (Losses): The number of games the pitcher has lost.
  • W-L% (Win-Loss Percentage): The pitcher's winning percentage is calculated as Wins / (Wins + Losses).
  • ERA (Earned Run Average): The average number of earned runs a pitcher allows per nine innings pitched. Calculated as (Earned Runs / Innings Pitched) * 9.
  • G (Games): The total number of games in which the pitcher appeared.
  • GS (Games Started): The number of games in which the pitcher was the starting pitcher.
  • GF (Games Finished): The number of games the pitcher was the last pitcher.
  • CG (Complete Games): The number of games in which the pitcher recorded all outs (usually 27 in a nine-inning game).
  • SHO (Shutouts): The number of complete games pitched without allowing any runs.
  • SV (Saves): The number of games where the pitcher enters under certain conditions and maintains his team's lead until the end of the game.
  • IP (Innings Pitched): The total innings the pitcher has pitched. Baseball typically records this in thirds of an inning (.1 or .2 to represent one or two outs, respectively).
  • H (Hits): The total number of hits allowed by the pitcher.
  • R (Runs): The total number of runs scored against the pitcher, including both earned and unearned runs.
  • ER (Earned Runs): The number of runs that resulted from actions the pitcher was directly responsible for, excluding errors.
  • HR (Home Runs): The total number of home runs allowed by the pitcher.
  • BB (Base on Balls or Walks): The total number of walks the pitcher has issued.
  • IBB (Intentional Base on Balls): The number of times a pitcher intentionally walked a batter.
  • SO (Strikeouts): The total number of batters the pitcher struck out.
  • HBP (Hit By Pitch): The number of batters hit by a pitch thrown by the pitcher.
  • BK (Balks): The number of balks (illegal motions that may deceive the runner) made by the pitcher.
  • WP (Wild Pitches): The number of pitches that are too difficult for the catcher to control effectively, allowing runners to advance.
  • BF (Batters Faced): The total number of batters who have completed at-bats against the pitcher.
  • ERA+ (Adjusted ERA): Earned Run Average normalized across the entire league, adjusted for the pitcher's ballpark. 100 is average, above 100 is above average, and below 100 is below average.
  • FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching): An estimate of a pitcher's ERA based on strikeouts, unintentional walks, hit-by-pitches, and home runs allowed, assuming league average results on balls in play.
  • WHIP (Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched): The number of base runners a pitcher has allowed per inning pitched.
  • H9 (Hits per 9 innings): The average number of hits allowed by the pitcher per nine innings.
  • HR9 (Home Runs per 9 innings): The average number of home runs allowed by the pitcher per nine innings.
  • BB9 (Walks per 9 innings): The average number of walks issued by the pitcher per nine innings.
  • SO9 (Strikeouts per 9 innings): The average number of strikeouts recorded by the pitcher per nine innings.
  • SO/W (Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio): The ratio of strikeouts to walks.
Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
1988 22 ATL NL 16 64 58 8 13 4 0 0 2 0 2 4 5 .224 .274 .293 .567 61 17 1 0 2 0 0 4
1989 23 ATL NL 14 60 55 4 10 2 1 2 10 0 1 5 7 .182 .250 .364 .614 73 20 1 0 0 0 0 4/H
1990 24 ATL NL 102 266 239 22 54 13 0 0 21 0 1 21 22 .226 .286 .280 .567 54 67 6 0 4 2 3 54H/6
1991 25 ATL NL 136 308 269 36 63 11 2 2 23 1 2 29 27 .234 .305 .312 .617 70 84 9 0 6 4 2 *4H5
1992 26 ATL NL 155 491 427 38 97 7 4 6 26 0 3 50 39 .227 .307 .304 .611 70 130 9 0 12 2 11 *4H5
1993 27 ATL NL 151 569 493 52 124 19 2 7 49 1 2 65 50 .252 .335 .341 .676 82 168 21 0 5 6 13 *4/H
1994 28 ATL NL 104 394 350 40 103 15 0 3 31 0 3 38 37 .294 .363 .363 .726 89 127 11 0 6 0 12 *4/H
1995 29 ATL NL 116 453 399 42 101 16 5 5 38 2 2 44 40 .253 .325 .356 .681 78 142 17 0 7 3 4 *4/H
1996 30 ATL NL 135 562 498 64 127 17 0 5 37 5 2 53 48 .255 .323 .319 .642 68 159 9 0 5 6 1 *4/H
1997 31 ATL NL 109 397 351 33 86 17 1 2 26 2 0 33 51 .245 .306 .316 .622 63 111 10 0 8 5 2 4/H
1998 32 BOS AL 31 100 91 10 17 4 0 0 7 0 1 6 15 .187 .232 .231 .463 21 21 0 0 1 2 0 4

Beginning with the year, below is a full legend for what each column in the table above means. 

  • Year: The specific season these statistics apply to.
  • Age: The player's age during the specified season.
  • Tm (Team): The abbreviation for the Major League Baseball team the player was on.
  • Lg (League): The league (NL = National League, AL = American League) the team belongs to.
  • G (Games): The number of games the player appeared in.
  • PA (Plate Appearances): The number of times the player came up to bat, plus walks, hit by pitch, etc.
  • AB (At Bats): The number of official at bats.
  • R (Runs): The number of times the player scored.
  • H (Hits): The total number of hits.
  • 2B (Doubles): The number of hits that resulted in the player reaching second base.
  • 3B (Triples): The number of hits that resulted in the player reaching third base.
  • HR (Home Runs): The number of home runs.
  • RBI (Runs Batted In): The number of runners who scored due to the player's action, excluding themselves.
  • SB (Stolen Bases): The number of bases the player stole.
  • CS (Caught Stealing): The number of times the player was caught attempting to steal a base.
  • BB (Base on Balls/Walks): The number of times awarded first base due to four balls being pitched outside the strike zone.
  • SO (Strikeouts): The number of times the player was struck out.
  • BA (Batting Average): The ratio of the player's hits to their at bats.
  • OBP (On-base Percentage): Measures how frequently a player reaches base per plate appearance.
  • SLG (Slugging Percentage): Measures the power of a hitter by calculating total bases per at bat.
  • OPS (On-base Plus Slugging): A measure of the player's overall batting performance.
  • OPS+ (Adjusted On-base Plus Slugging): Adjusts OPS for the player's ballpark and the league average.
  • TB (Total Bases): The total of all bases gained from hits.
  • GDP (Grounded Into Double Plays): The number of times the player hit into a double play.
  • HBP (Hit By Pitch): The number of times the player was hit by a pitch.
  • SH (Sacrifice Hits): The number of sacrifice bunts.
  • SF (Sacrifice Flies): The number of sacrifice fly balls.
  • IBB (Intentional Walks/Base on Balls): The number of times the player was intentionally walked.
  • Pos (Position): The positions the player played that season.
  • Awards: Notable awards or honors the player received.