When I teach mahjong to beginners who like baseball, I often use baseball analogies to explain things.
Such situations may not happen very often, but I've experienced them a few times.
At the time, I tried to explain it in a rather forced way, but I realized it might not be so far off the mark as I thought, so I decided to write an article about it.
Winning rate and batting average
Just as it's difficult to always get a hit in baseball, it's difficult to always win at mahjong.
In baseball, a batting average of .300 is considered top-notch, but in mahjong, I think a batting average of around 25% is considered high.
However, in mahjong, you can increase your winning rate at the expense of your discard rate, so simply having a high rate isn't necessarily a good thing.
Wouldn't you say that a win rate minus a discard rate of 10 or more is a good result?
Dora and Runner
I feel like this is already starting to sound like a stretch, but the relationship between Dora and Runner is similar.
In baseball, if you hit the ball with many runners on base, you'll score a lot of runs.
In Mahjong, you can score high points by having many Dora tiles when you win.
When there are many runners on base, the pitcher (or defensive team) becomes more cautious.
Throwing an unexpectedly easy pitch would be a gamble.
However, if you only focus on defense, you might give up walks, which could lead to even more dangerous situations.
In mahjong, too, you have no choice but to be cautious when your opponent has a ready hand with many dora tiles.
However, if you only play defensively, your opponent might easily draw the winning tile.
However, even if you attack boldly, you risk suffering painful damage yourself.
I feel like these aspects are somewhat similar.
Orix and defense
As you can see from the fact that there are almost no errors in professional baseball defense, it's not unreasonable to aim for 100% in defense.
In mahjong, even when you decide to fold completely, you might occasionally make mistakes, but you must fold 100% of the time.
Hits and winning hands aren't something you can do frequently, but the fact that you have to aim for 100% in defense makes them somewhat similar.
Round and out count
In baseball, the probability of scoring decreases as the game progresses from no outs to one out to two outs.
In mahjong, as the game progresses, the chances of winning decrease significantly.
Just as a baseball team often can't score with two outs despite having runners on base, in mahjong, even if you have many dora tiles, the chances of winning decrease towards the end of the game.
Being early in the game means there are many opportunities to draw tiles, and also a chance that someone might discard a winning tile.
Having a three-way wait in the first six rounds feels like having a runner on third base with no outs.
Station and inning
The relationship between the station and the inning seems to apply to many sports as well.
If you score runs early and take the lead, you'll have more options for strategy, giving you an advantage in the game.
The one doing the chasing has no choice but to score points, no matter what, but the one being chased can employ various strategies, such as trying to eliminate opportunities by calling a quick win or putting pressure on the opponent by declaring a reach.
And as the game nears its end, the opportunities to score decrease in both baseball and mahjong.
In mahjong, the player in the lead has an advantage in advancing the game; similarly, in baseball, the player in the lead has an advantage in advancing the innings.
summary
While this may seem like a stretch, I believe baseball and mahjong have a lot in common.
I think that people with baseball experience and those with mahjong experience might find it surprisingly enjoyable to try playing or watching each other's sport.
Summary of articles related to the Chunichi Dragons
野球のOPS(出塁率+長打率)のような考え方を麻雀にも取り入れて、牌譜屋の成績から総合力を数値化できないか試した記事を書きました。この記事の延長線上のような話です。