Dugout Dynasty is a web-based baseball management simulation that allows users to draft real players from over 150 years of history (1871–2025) and compete in a realistic, physics-driven league. Built on the custom Rhapsody PHP Framework, it combines deep statistical analysis with a modern, interactive frontend.
Dugout Dynasty answers the ultimate baseball question: How would Babe Ruth fare against modern pitching?
Using a custom simulation engine, the simulator adjusts historical stats to a neutral era, allowing players from the Deadball Era (1900s) to compete fairly against Steroid Era sluggers (1990s) and today's velocity kings.
- Historical Snake Draft: Build a 25-man roster from a pool of 20,000+ historical players.
- Era-Neutral Simulation: A custom algorithm normalizes player stats (AVG, HR, ERA, etc.) based on their specific historical season context.
- Live Game Management: Manage games pitch-by-pitch with a React-powered interface. Call for bunts, steals, hit-and-runs, or bullpen changes in real-time.
- Franchise Mode: Manage salary caps, set lineups/rotations, and compete in a 162-game season with playoffs.
- AI Personalities: CPU opponents have distinct archetypes (e.g., "Moneyball," "Small Ball," "Steinbrenner") that influence their drafting and in-game strategy.
This project demonstrates a full-stack implementation of a complex simulation engine.
- Backend: PHP 8.2+ (My Rhapsody MVC Framework https://github.com/arout77/)
- Frontend:
- Core: Twig Templating Engine
- Game Interface: React.js (via "Island Architecture") + Vite
- Styling: Tailwind CSS
- Database: MySQL 8.0 (PDO Abstraction Layer)
- Infrastructure: Docker / MAMP (Local Dev)
The heart of the application. It calculates the outcome of every at-bat using a modified Log5 probability formula
This ensures that a .400 hitter from 1920 doesn't automatically destroy a modern pitcher, as their stats are weighted against their respective league environments.
While the management dashboard uses server-side rendering (Twig) for SEO and performance, the live game interface injects a React application into the view. This allows for:
- Instant state updates (runners on base, score, count).
- Interactive SVG field rendering with dynamic player positioning.
- Seamless context switching between Batting and Pitching controls.
The app runs on a bespoke framework built from scratch, featuring:
- Service Container: Dependency injection for managing simulation services and database connections.
- Router: Custom regex-based routing with middleware support (Auth, CSRF).
- CLI Runner: A custom console application (
./rhapsody) for handling migrations, data imports, and schedule generation.
| Draft Room | Live Simulation | Dashboard |
|---|---|---|
| Draft historical legends against AI | Manage games pitch-by-pitch | Track standings and leaders |
- Advanced Bullpen Logic: Fatigue systems that degrade pitcher performance over high pitch counts.
- Trade Engine: CPU-to-User trade offers with logic to evaluate player value.
- Multiplayer Leagues: WebSocket implementation for live PvP drafting and games.
Built with ❤️ for baseball history and code.