Issue #1, January 2013, Part II
**
George "Shotgun" Shuba and the Metaphysics of Strat-o-Matic
**
(by Michael McLaughlin,
moderator/administrator of the Stratomatic Baseball Villague
forum)
(Note from the Wolfman:
- We want to welcome our first contribution from the Stratomatic
Baseball Village team to our newsletter. Again Michael and his
partner Ken {the owner} were one of the first to support our
newsletter before the first issue came out. Plus Ken helped us
to design our invitation page, of which the newsletter format
comes from. So here is an example o the articles that Michael
writes and we hope to share with you some more in the future.)
-------------
Michael's request how to represent himself pictorally
-- to share his essence as a writer ...
Shotgun Shuba lives. Well,
of course
he does. He's still alive in real life, and I hope, as I'm
certain we all do, he enjoys another twenty years
of great health.
Now going on 88 years of age, George Shuba
has his own web-site, still does public speaking
engagements, and has quietly acquired a measure of fame far
exceeding his playing abilities. Not bad at all for a bit
player on some great Dodger teams of yore. Blessed with the
nickname "Shotgun" during his playing days because of the
power of the line drives off his bat, this reserve
outfielder for the Dodgers would be the essence of the
definition of the term "non-descript" if not for two singular
career achievements.
One was a pinch-hit homerun off Allie
Reynolds in the 1953 World Series, the first ever for a
National Leaguer, and the other, far more importantly, was
his impromptu gesture of equality to
Jackie Robinson
in the form of a famous handshake he offered Robinson when
they were in the minor leagues together that was captured on
film for posterity. Talk about making the most of
journeyman status! But that's not the George Shuba I'm
talking about.
No, the George Shuba I'm alluding to is a Strat-o-Matic card
with red print from my 1953 Dodgers. To me, he personifies
all that is magical about this wonderful hobby we all share.
In the late-spring of 1968 a good friend of mine received a
very special birthday present. It was the Strat-o-matic
Baseball Old-Timers set. The original, the classic, and I'm
certain, a very special memory for many of us older players.
He introduced me to the game one rainy afternoon soon
afterwards, on his grandmother's dining room table, and I
was hooked before I rolled the dice...just looking at the
cards was enough. Now I know that there's nothing
particularly shocking about that either. Most of you could
probably see that observation coming your way as clearly as
a 39 mile per hour Doyle Alexander change-up.
I
started softening up my mother immediately. My birthday came
and went, but it was Christmas I had really set my heart
on. But as the holidays approach and the gifts gradually
started making their way under the tree, a few at a time, I
started to have my doubts. There was nothing there remotely
shaped like the box. I remember wondering if I
hadn't lobbied hard enough, hadn't somehow communicated my
desire blatantly enough, and decided, no, I had given it my
best shot.
If she hadn't taken the bait there was nothing to
be done. I dropped a few hints and my heart sank further
when her response was a curt "don't pester me anymore."
Knowing my mom, that wasn't a fortuitous sign either. All
hope seemed lost and I gave it up. It just wasn't going to
happen, and, of course, I was penniless after choosing to
blow my allowance on candy and comic books every week
instead of being sensible and saving it. I wasn't buying
anything.
Then the miracle happened. I
dragged myself downstairs to the living room on Christmas
morning and presto! there it was, front and center. The
box. Mom had come through after all! My parents took
pity on me. They could have waited, but here it came, first
off the pile, being held out by my dad with mom beaming by
his side. As I reached out a horrible thought flashed
through my mind; mom was notoriously cheap, and if memory
serves me right a complete game set was somewhere in the
vicinity of $13-$14, plus shipping - This was a lot
of money in 1968 middle America, even for a Christmas
present (Yikes, what if it was only a selector
set?). Seconds later all was settled. That box weighed a
ton. Being that heavy it just had to be the full
set, and it was. Several minutes passed by in a slow
tortuous procession, and finally after a hurried and cursory
opening of everything else with my name on it I took my
treasure and raced for the kitchen table, and Nirvana.
Something similar has happened to all
of us at one time or another, it's our common bond. Not just
playing the game, but possessing it, and in turn being
possessed by it as well. That's what I'm
talking about here, our shared reality that isn't real at all.
Take a second if you will and think about Strat-o-Matic, and its
unique nature. What we're really experiencing is a mutual
relationship of contradictory elements set in motion by our own
cognition. Truly, it is
metaphysical,
beyond explanation, this delightful link to the capricious
universal law of cause and effect, shaped and made real through
the medium of combined thought and action. Alive versus
inanimate, immutable - yet ever changing, comforting in its
familiarity and yet continuously re-inventing itself every nine
innings or so in startling fashion, Strat-o-Matic has taught us
well to never take it for granted.
The anticipation of the
unknown is its signature feature, the fountain that
never seems to run dry. And at its core identity, despite all of
these variables, or, better yet, maybe because of them,
one constant stands out above the rest in contrast. It never
changes. Two teams of symbolic cards and a player from each of
them doing battle. One pitcher. One hitter. Three dice, with a
twenty-sider to settle all the issues, and a universe of
possibilities around the corner. The grand passion of conflict
combined with the infinite creation of constant change, set in
motion by the roll of the dice, and lent reality by our mind's
eye. And yet it has no substance. It's a miracle of sorts,
when you stop to consider it. In 1968 I had an inkling of this,
but it was just a feeling.
And into all this, unknown to me at the
time, came the most improbable of people to give the magic we
all feel with Strat-o-Matic definition. Shotgun Shuba.
George was my adopted favorite player
on that powerhouse Dodger squad, and eventually I had built a
team of subs around him, the Shuba Team was my name for it. The
roster varied, but George was always on it, I mean, after all,
it was his team Tragically, they were accidentally
thrown away by my girlfriend while I was serving in NATO in the
late 1970's. I was devastated to discover this, and when I
regained possession of my cards I pored through the teams
remaining, noting with dismay the cards lost, and the worst loss
of all was George Shuba.
I replaced them all with reissued
cards, but some of the magic was gone. Decades passed, and as
my collection grew those Oldtimers faded into insignificance. A
few years ago, while searching through my inventory, I came upon
those original cards and stopped what I was doing to shuffle
through them for a few moments. Suddenly there it was in my
hand again: the red George Shuba, the original, reappearing, as
if by a miracle. It was like reuniting with an old friend, and
although I know it wasn't magic that made that Shuba card turn
up unexpectedly decades later, there's a grain of doubt that
just won't go away. But the joy I felt drove home a point I've
never forgotten. I'd like to share it with you.
These pieces of paper with names on
them attach themselves to us, and they become an intimate part
of our lives. We get to know them as they catalogue their
accomplishments; we are thrilled with their great moments, and
we share their disappointments and frustrations, and their
memories. The George Shuba's of the world take on a reality of
their own over time. They become men. It's impossible to
describe to those not in the know, but I'd like to steal a
thought from Jim Bouton that I believe puts this, and the entire
Strat-o-Matic experience in perspective: we gamers spend a great
deal of our lives thinking that we're holding these cards in our
hands, and, as it turns out, it's really the other way around
all along. They're the ones holding us.
Shotgun Shuba lives.
(Final Notes:
If you
http://stratomaticbaseballvillage.lefora.com/
where he is a frequent contributor in this forum. Michael goes by the nickname of
67Mantle2-7, which one
would guess means on the 1967 Mickey Mantle Card, the
elementary version, 2-7 is a solid shot homerun and has
helped Michael in his game playing in some way. We all have
those special card numbers on our favorite players!)
Other Sections to view in this exciting issue :
(to view the interviews, articles and special sections click on
the links {underline} and this will take you to the appropriate
webpage)
♦
RETURN TO NEWSLETTER MAIN PAGE
♦
INTERVIEW with GLENN GUZZO author of "Strat-o-matic Fanatics",
SOM columnist.
(Part II of his amazing interview)
♦
COLUMN with MARC WASSERMAN--
commissioner of the Cyber Baseball Association (CBA) begins a
new column about what it is like to be a League Commissioner.
♦
COLUMN with WOLFMAN SHAPIRO --
editor of "The Ultimate Strat Newsletter" and 2012 CBA Champion.
Wolfman takes us back to the first national Strat-o-matic
Convention in 1972 as he was present. This column will be based
primarily upon the articles
from the Strat-o-matic Review that covered the national
Strat-o-matic conventions from 1972-1980
(including the ones organized by the Wolfman and his friends
from Chicago). We will continue to share one new convention in
this issue forward till all are shared.
♦
QUIZ
& POLL ABOUT THE SOM BASEBALL CARDS
submitted
originally by Marc Wasserman with a new poll from the Wolfman.
The quiz questions about the Baseball Cards and unique ones were
not answered before so we will try again before we give the
answers.
♦
RECOMMEND
ON-LINE SOM RESOURCES
-- other
on-line strat-o-matic websites that offer amazing information
(all sports), special tools and products to improve game play
which we have been in personal contact with and agree with our
idea to help cross promote each other.
Contact Us for Questions or Submissions:
Wolfman Shapiro
Founder/Editor, the
Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter
email:
wolfmanshapiro@gmail.com
facebook:
www.facebook.com/wolfman.shapiro
twitter:
@StratBaseball4U
To Sign Up and Become a Member of this Newsletter
http://www.UltimateStratBaseball.com
(this provides direct emails when our bulletins
and next
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