Issue #6 - October 2013


** Interview with Bud Podrazik  **
      (interview conducted by Wolfman, Bud is a gifted artist who created the Strat-o-matic Fanatic Logo and is a good friend of John Dewan. Bud participated in the 1980
National Convention we held at Northwestern University in Evanston
and I had brief contact with him previously.)

(Notes from the Wolfman:  We all have our unique stories linked to Strat-o-matic, and
Bud is no different except that he is also a very good artist. He plays in the SOM face-to-face baseball league which John Dewan told us about in his interview.  So as we try to share in issue different angles around the people linked to the game we love and how it has affected their lives, I thought it would be interesting to also speak to Bud and have him share his special Strat experiences with our members. So Bud, we welcome you to the Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter.)
 

Wolfman:  Bud, thanks very much for allowing us to do this interview with you. It interesting to hear from former Strat friends you have met in the past and see how they are doing after so many years later ... as well as to gain some new insights into your friend, the legendary John Dewan. But first ... Bud, have you always been interested in Baseball since you were young? Bud: I knew the very basics of baseball when I was young (three strikes and you're out, four balls for a walk, doubles are two bases, etc.), I enjoyed it, but it never really became a focus of mine until I turned sixteen. Wolfman:  Did you root for the Cubs or White Sox? Bud: I spent the first nine years of my life living in my grandfather's two-flat in Bridgeport, which was about a mile-and-a-half from the original Comiskey Park. If fact, the last summer I lived there, 1960, you could hear the roaring thunder of the exploding scoreboard in our backyard!

Naturally, it was a White Sox household as far as my Dad was concerned (My mother never showed any interest in baseball). Upstairs, my Aunt Julia and Uncle Wally were divided; she was the South Side rooter and he was a Cubs fan. I always rooted for both teams, siding with the Sox when they tangled with each other.  

My true interest in baseball came about when I was 16. Our local television station in Chicago, WGN-TV, was running syndicated reruns of The Mickey Mouse Club, and I'd run home as fast as I could to catch the animated cartoons at the end of the show - part of my interest in cartooning (which we'll cover later).

Well, this particular summer, 1968, was the year of the pitcher - when no one knew how to score - and the broadcasted Cubs games would often go into extra innings until somebody finally achieved home plate. Jimmy Dodd and the Mouseketeers weren't going to show up until the game was over, so I started watching the ends of the Cub games while waiting. Two things got me hooked. First was Jack Brickhouse's enthusiastic broadcasting. I finally started getting curious about the nuances of the game. 

As an example: Why was the lead runner out on the throw from third to second without having been tagged (I didn't know what a force was)? The other thing that caught my attention was a described "skinny" (not by my standards) first baseman named Ernie Banks, who picked this time to start running off a string of home runs. He slapped them so effortlessly that I thought there was still hope for me as a power hitter!

One of my biggest regrets in life was not knowing just how big a baseball fan my father Ed actually was. He had passed away the year before, in 1967, at the age of 52 -  way too soon.  Ten years later, I was rummaging through a box of old newspapers in our basement that he had saved for the World War II headlines (he had served in the Pacific). At the time, I was going to look through them for the styling and detailing of older comic strips. To my surprise, dad also had saved the entire newspapers for five of the six 1959 White Sox-Dodgers World Series, articles about great moments in the game (The Merkle Boner, the 1924 Series, Ruth's 60th homer, etc.), the headlines of Rogers Hornsby's passing - just a lot of baseball stuff. Wish I had developed the passion earlier; he would have LOVED Strat-O-Matic Baseball.    

Wolfman:  Who were some of your favorite MLB players you followed when you were young?

Bud: Ernie Banks still remains my favorite all-time player. Pete Ward also comes to mind (I tended to pay attention to the power hitters, at first) Also, Hoyt Wilhelm, Wilbur Wood, Fergie Jenkins, Billy Williams, Walter "No Neck" Williams, Ron Santo.

Wolfman:  Did you play baseball and if so what was your position?

Bud: I played catch with a neighbor and got involved with "Fast Pitching" when I was 11. That's what we called the game where you drew a strike zone box with chalk on a brick wall and made boundaries for extra base hits (I believe the interview with John Dewan covered this pretty well). At this point in time, I was living a couple of blocks from an industrial area, so there were a lot of factory walls to pitch against. Our favorite spot was a carpet factory - a real "pitcher's park". You were always hitting into the wind, so, when they would occasionally park a semi-trailer parallel to the opposite wall, we would adjust the rules and use that as our 'Fenway Green Monster" to get some cheaper homers and increase the offense in our games.

A lot of me not being involved with sports early on stemmed from being severely underweight as a kid and having a health issue that didn't clear itself up until I was well into my teens. When I began playing regular baseball or softball on the field, I was always thrown into the outfield, where my bad depth perception and a rotten throwing arm didn't help matters any. Later, I would be moved into the infield. I was best at second base or at first. I was good at getting on-base in softball...could motor down the line pretty fast. It also helped being a left-handed batter.

Wolfman:  Bud, I understand you are also an artist, that you created the SOM Fanatic logo for the game company - tell us, have you always been artistic? When did you become interested to do graphic art and know you had this gift?

Bud: Since the time I drew a perfect Mickey Mouse freehand when I was 4 years old on the chalkboard by our kitchen - without copying anything - I knew I wanted to be a cartoonist. Art was my first obsession before baseball. I drew on any piece of paper or cardboard I could get my hands on as a youngster. I received my Bachelor Of Arts in Art from Saint Xavier College (now Saint Xavier University), and have done freelance illustrations on the side while working in the retail trade selling artist and drafting materials. Over the years I have also attempted submitting comic strips for syndication. I recently finished illustrating a book for an author on Buddhism ("Zen Unleashed: Everyday Buddhist Wisdom From Man's Best Friend" by Tim Macejak, Beaver's Pond Press - if you'll forgive the plug). It uses dog illustrations and haiku poetry to teach the basic principles. Currently, I've been finishing up the art on a children's book of sorts I've written in the hopes of future publication. 

Wolfman:  We will come back to how you did the design for the SOM Fanatic logo. Bud, how did you find Strat-o-matic? Was this the first baseball game you played?  What is your story about how this game came into your life?

Bud: A neighbor kid on my block had the APBA game, and was really good at it, since he'd been playing it since, well, forever, and had memorized all of their charts. At that point I only knew the basics of the game, and the numbers on the APBA cards were all Greek to me. Since I didn't follow the MLB players, he'd give me mighty teams of the 1960's, like the Washington Senators, while he would "struggle" with the lowly Los Angeles Dodgers or  the New York Yankees. I was so naive then. That was my first baseball table game experience.

Strat-O-Matic baseball entered my life as, again, the result of my pursuit of the arts. Like many kids my age, I was buying DC and Marvel comic books, getting into the superhero wave. Marvel had been running the game ads for years, so they were always staring back at me. When I grew interested in the sport, I cut out the coupon (making sure it was from a book where I wouldn't damage the art, naturally) and mailed it in. I remember having a difficult time trying to convince my mother that this wasn't a "flash in the pan " fad purchase in trying to get the money order I needed, and repeatedly hammed home the company's "money back guarantee" to her. It was probably one of the greatest sales pitches I'd ever make in my life. I remember the game arriving on a Tuesday, August 11th, while my brother Mark and I were watching the Cubs-Reds game in our living room. After the game was over, we opened it up and played The 1967 Red Sox (me) and the 1967 Cardinals (Mark), where I lost 10-1. I do remember Carl Yastrzemski doubling in my only run.   

Wolfman: What is there about the SOM Baseball game that you like and appreciate?

Bud: The layout of the individual cards, for one. I mentioned the lack of information on the APBA card - as well as esoteric data. I can guarantee that no gamer is interested in the player's height and city of origin when devising his strategies. With Strat-O-Matic, the card is straight-forward. You KNOW just looking at a Babe Ruth's or a Frank Thomas' card that they are power hitters with the ability to draw bases on balls. The cards are aesthetically pleasing, too (again, the artist in me). Plus, stolen bases don't just "show up" - another feature that annoyed me in the other game play. With the development of advanced and super-advanced play, I truly appreciate all the little idiosyncrasies of the game and each player's given ability.

Wolfman: Bud, when I lived in Chicago back in the 70's or early 80's when did we meet?

Bud: Actually, we connected only once. I remember reading your articles in The Strat-O-Matic Review, and linked up when you sent out a mailer (I think) regarding a tournament at your home in Skokie (IL).

My memory of the tournament at your home itself is (a bit) hazy. I know I was eliminated immediately. My brother Mark made the final four before elimination.

Wolfman: Did you know Bob Anderson who also lived on the southside of Chicago who helped organize our SOM Conventions?

Bud: I'm sure I must have met him at the 1980 Convention, the only one I ever attended.

Wolfman: Bud, when we were interviewing John Dewan, he told us that you were a good friend of his, and that he attended the 1980 SOM Convention at Northwestern with you. Further he said that you are in his current baseball league too. How did you first meet John?

Bud: I met John in 1972 as part of a Catholic youth group. On a retreat with the group in early 1973, I happened to reveal my Strat-O-Matic hobby in conversation, and discovered that John and another person there were also fanatics for the game.  

Wolfman: What can you tell us about the league you are in with John and his son?

Bud: The league was started July 11, 1976, on the spur of the moment, by John, my brother, Mark, and, after a bit of prodding, me, around a ping-pong table in our basement. I was reluctant to get involved because I had tried a mail order league and a hands-on league that disintegrated within a year. I had no idea then we'd be still going strong in this one 37 years later. The IDHABTD League (originally called the "I Don't Have Anything Better To Do" League by Mark - I changed the title to "I'll Dabble Happily At Baseball 'Til Doomsday" League because I got used to the anagram) plays a 72 game season with seven drafted teams involved. Players are limited to 50% of their innings pitched and at bat usage.  

Wolfman: Is your brother in this league?

Bud: Mark started out in the league, playing for about four or five years before leaving.

Wolfman: How has your team done?

Bud: Make that teams - two of them are mine. In the previous 36 years, I've won only one pennant - finishing close a half-dozen times - so, in other words, the standard Chicago baseball team pace. I seem to have bad luck with high-end draft picks. For example, on the day I drafted Dickie Thon of the Houston Astros, I proudly proclaimed that I was set at shortstop for the next ten years. He broke his leg the next day.

Wolfman: Is John difficult to beat since he understands the stats so much?

Extremely. John gets more out of a mediocre player card than anyone I've ever met...great "platoonist", to invent a word.

Wolfman: What do you remember from the convention at Northwestern University in Evanston in 1980?

Bud: Quite a bit. My main team was the 1979 Milwaukee Brewers, with the 1976 Philadelphia Phillies as a backup (only used once). Sixteen teams made the playoff rounds, with only two teams unbeaten - me, at 5-0-1 (there were ties), and another player who was 6-0. I never faced my friend John Dewan in the tournament...always concluded that if I had, he'd have beaten me easily. I do remember one difficult round, where I had trouble scoring before my opponent and I switched teams. He had an Oakland A's team from the mid-70's - after Charlie Finley had gutted the franchise - and I remember playing lots of small ball (bunting, stealing with B and C stealers) to squeak out 5 runs to go ahead.

During the playoff rounds, I remember getting a three-homer game out of Gorman Thomas to bail me out...I think it was the semi-final game. In the final game match, against the 1978 Boston Red Sox, I remember having two 2-RBI results from rolling "groundball (A) +" with my opponent having the infield in. This was something that usually I'm always a victim on the other end of; it rarely went my way. Those four runs were the margin of victory in the tournament. Afterwards, I was in such shock from winning, I was compiling the final statistics, dictating them to my opponent while he was trying to shake my hand! I still have the trophy.

Wolfman: Ok Bud, lets go back to your graphic work, how did you do the design for the SOM Fanatic shirt, can you tell us this story? What happened and how did you have contact with the game company to make this logo happen?

(Note: The game company did a contest for the logo and asked from their customers if anyone was a gifted artist, to send in a drawing and the winner would get a prize.)

Bud: I read about the contest and immediately envisioned a crazed fanatic with bloodshot eyes (from playing all night), rolling dice and simultaneously playing all three board games - baseball, football, basketball - at the same time. Kind of a "Tex Avery" image (my favorite animated cartoon producer). In fact, I stole a gag from one of Avery's shorts involving road signs. The original artwork in the background had papers on the bulletin boards saying "Stats", "More Stats", 'Still More Stats", and "Yes...You Guessed It". The lettering on the art said "Strat-O-Matic Forever" I sent in the original art, stupidly not making a photostat copy of it for myself, feeling that it wasn't going to win (a mistake I've never made since regarding my illustrations).

I was working on some freelance project well into the night, sleeping in late that Tuesday morning (my day off) so, when the phone call from James Williams at SOM rang in early that morning to announce I'd won, I thought my mother was just playing a joke on me and was on the other end of the phone.

Wolfman: For each person we interview, we always ask if you have any special strategies or tips you use when you play with your teams in your baseball league or in tournaments you wish to share with our members? Or conversely, is there anything that you have learned from John Dewan by being in his league for some many years?

Bud: Strat-O-Matic taught me the importance of defense up the middle in baseball, and speed - not just power - when designing an offense. My association with John (and the writings of Bill James) educated me in the significance of on-base percentage. Also, make sure enough of your regular position players are balanced (batting left or right) so you're not platooning to death and using up your bench. I used to drive John crazy with lots of switch-hitters. As far as strategy is concerned, I've eased up on trying to always throw out lead runners, hitting the cutoff man, conceding a few runs. One has to have faith in their offense to get them back into the game. 

Wolfman: Is there anything else you would like to share that we didn't ask so far - like any special experiences you have had with the game that stand out, special people you met or a great
story linked to your time with SOM baseball?

Bud: I've met and chatted with writer Bob Vandenberg, whose "'59 Summer of The Sox" is a staple on my bookshelf. It turns out that he's a SOM Fanatic, too. Through John Dewan, I've had the pleasure of meeting Bill James. At the 50th Anniversary Strat-O-Matic Convention in New York, I was privileged to meet and talk with Hal Richman, the genius behind the board game. The atmosphere of the convention so inspired me, that I went home and wrote "The Strat-O-Matic Baseball Rally" song, (acoustic guitar is my third passion), copyrighting the song, text and video. My wife, Marge, put the rally song on YouTube. It's passed 1,700 hits!

(-- note from the Wolfman: - so I looked up Bud's song on Youtube and found it, he created it for the 50th Anniversary -- what is interesting is that I also am a musician who plays an acoustic 12 string guitar and write songs, I even sang an ad-lib song at the 2nd National Convention in 1973 in Brooklyn done jointly by the Game Co. and the SOM Review and like Bud I am left handed but play the guitar right handed ... its a really great song, very clever lyrics and a nice melody - it really shows how creative Bud is as an artist and musician -- I am sure you will like the song, to view it go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcBqCteJndo
(c) the music by Bud Podrazik, with permission from Bud to share with our members.)

Regarding the game itself, I've had the usual fanatic moments: no-hitters, (first one was the '67 A's' Chuck Dobson), 4-homer games and such. I've replayed a few White Sox seasons with a ringer (my personalized SOM card) in the lineup. My most recent project, played on-and-of over the last year, was a "Quantum Leap" tournament, named after the television show from the 90's. For this, I looked at all my old SOM sets, typed up charts for as many different ballparks as I could find, and fixed it so I'd roll a 20-sided die to determine the ballpark chart, month, park, and weather conditions for each game. Every contest would take place in a different random park - the two teams facing each other would have to adapt to win.

Then I took the 2011 Hall of Fame and Heroes sets, divided them the best and fairest competitive way I could, and structured them into the original 16 teams from the early 1900's,  playing them against each other in a best-of-seven matchup, with the finalists playing a best-of-nine contest. Initially, because of the talent pool, I had been reluctant to do this tournament, because I figured the Yankees and Giants would mercilessly pulverize everybody else. To my bewilderment, both those teams were eliminated in the first round! Virtually all the series went seven games. The Chicago White Sox went on to beat the Brooklyn-Los Angeles Dodgers in seven for the finale, with the MVP of the tournament, Frank Thomas, lining a home run off Don Newcombe in the top of the 15th inning (the visiting Sox had come back from behind with two outs in the ninth - three straight pinch hits). The last game was played at Bennett Park.

Wolfman: Thanks Bud for answering these questions. Have a great day!