But I’ve sat with people in the bleachers who played exactly this game. The key is, the ball almost NEVER ends up on the top of the mound, so….much drinking ensues!

I’ve seen it played 1,000 different ways but here is how we play:

Ump Rolls Ball on Grass – 2 Drinks
Ump Rolls Ball on Dirt – 5 Drinks
Ump Throws Ball to Pitcher – 10 Drinks
Ump Rolls Ball, Ball is Touching Rubber – Finish Drink

…although I’ve always heard it referred to as “mound ball”.

My preference is for what we call “hit cup”. That’s where you put a dollar in a cup and if the batter makes an out, you pass it to the next participant who then puts in another dollar, and so on. When a batter gets a hit, the person holding the cup gets the money. It certainly makes the official scorer’s decisions more interesting.

Since our tickets are in row 1, we will often throw a peanut on the ground in the aisle. We then cheer for it to be kicked to one side or the other. Occasionally when someone drops a mustard packet, we predict whether it will squish to the right or to the left when someone steps on it (not that we would ever purposely drop a mustard packet, because that can ruin a shoe, etc)

actually the SI Vault. from the Scorecard section, October 13, 1997.

Of all the low moments in the Chicago White Sox’ 1997 season, one was particularly disturbing to Doug Rader, the Chicago third base coach who resigned last week. Rader recalls a mid-August home game when Sox vice chairman Eddie Einhorn phoned the dugout from a team box to—we are not making this up—dictate that a Chicago pitcher leave the ball on the mound rather than the infield grass at the end of the inning. Einhorn, a part-owner of the club, had made a small bet with a buddy that that was where the ball would end up. “It was the seventh or eighth inning of a game we’re trying to win, and a game we didn’t win,” Rader told the Chicago Tribune. “But after the game [Einhorn] came down and was laughing about it.”

Einhorn was not available for comment, but according to White Sox publicist Scott Reifert, Einhorn “realizes it was inappropriate, and it won’t happen again.”

I remember when that first came out. Doug Rader went up several notches in my Respect poll when I read that.

ballhawk you rock ! I dont ever remember hearing that story !

my friends and I noticed the producers penchant for constantly showing us Tony LaRussa during cardinal games. He’d be in the dugout contemplating making a pitching change just to get the 2nd strike on a batter or whatever. Everytime they showed TLR you would take a drink. Everytime they showed Dusty, you would top-off, refill your drink. Any mention of how TLR and Dusty are good friends but this rivalry has taken its toll on that friendship and you finished whatever was in your cup.

inning ending DP lottery buys a round

lottery for first BB by a Cub pitcher buys a round

buy a round for each Cub run (could be cheap or expensive)

I had no idea these baseball-oriented drinking games existed. The only one I ever played with any regularity was quarters.

My group plays the dollar game at every Cub game. Pretty simple, one guy starts and puts a dollar in the cup. Pass the cup on outs, next guy puts dollar in. Clean the cup on base hits and pass to the next guy. Put and extra dollar in for a DP. Everyone pays the holder an extra dollar on HR. We’ll play some side bets like attendance game or whatever sounds good. Keeps everyone in the game and we actually have to pull for an opponent to get a hit but hope the next guy can hit into a DP. We had a game recently when Z and the other starter went like 5 hitless innings. The guy holding the cup won like $30. We had to put in an excessive celebration rule!

But we just play when the Cubs are at bat. Whats the fun in cheering for the other team?