CANDYLAND AND BASEBALL.

CANDYLAND AND BASEBALL. There is a game in which random events toward the end of a game can have a major impact, and since for many it is the first game they play, it may shape their idea of what a good game is. Candyland is played by players drawing alternately from a pack of cards and moving their counters toward Candyland and victory, depending on what they draw. The cards usually call for a move of a few spaces, but random events are possible. If you draw the “Princess Lolly” card early in the game, you vault ahead a large number of spaces and take a commanding lead. At the end of a game, when you have almost won, if you draw the “Plumpy” card , you are moved back a large number of spaces, and your victory has turned into likely defeat. Taking Candyland as an analogy for baseball, in the late innings, the decisions of umpires are potential “Plumpy” cards for one team or another. The “Plumpy” card and the “Princess Lolly” card seem to add excitement to the game for the children who play Candyland, and it may be that the randomness introduced by the “human element” adds excitement to baseball for a number of people.