Issue #6 - October 2013


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Comments from the Wolfman about Issue #6, as we approach the First Annual SOM On-line Baseball Convention & Hear from SOM

I never know for each issue of our newsletter, how it will go, who will be a part of it and if we can find new and exciting people to interview but I trust.  For this issue I am excited that finally we have a person from the Game Company talking to our members and also an old friend I knew back in Chicago (who actually John Dewan mentioned to me while we were talking about his interview, remember in the last issue) when I lived there in the late 70's and early 80's, who is one of the most creative people I know. He is the creator of the SOM Fanatic Logo and I am sure you will enjoying meeting him.  So when you have these type of people say "YES" to be a part of the newsletter along with our regular columns, I get very excited!! (How about you?)

I am sure for many of you, just as the Major Leagues have begun this week (the week of September 30th into early October) their playoffs that many of you in your leagues have your own playoffs going on.  Its the same in the league I am in (the CBA) as our Skokie Wolfmen actually beat my partner's Marc Wasserman's Brooklyn Superbras in the 1st round so far. And now, we face for the conference championship (in our bid to return to our world series for a 2nd year) our other columnist, the legendary Bruce Bundy with his Newton Bombs. In the November newsletter I will share a bit of what it is like to play Mr. Bundy, it should be a great series.

Anyway, I will go out on the limb and say I think we might see Detroit return to the real 2013 World Series and possibly face the LA Dodgers. However, as we saw last year, it doesn't matter what record one has during the season, its the team which has the momentum and their players are playing as a team that eventually wins it.

There is still other areas in the future we want to cover for the newsletter and also we are Always Open to Contributions from our Members too!!  In any case, it has been a fascinating journey and an honor to be your editor of this new on-line newsletter. We hope our readers have enjoyed the materials that have been shared so far. We of course thank all of the individuals who have agreed to being interviewed or written an article and we remain open to your suggestions about new areas to explore or write about.  We had no idea how the newsletter would go when we first started but every month we have new people subscribing as they hear about this project and we thank you all!!

Now at the end of this month (as we have rescheduled this event) we have our 1st Annual SOM On-line Baseball Convention. It has been an experiment and the convention has gone through a number of changes to find the right type of tournament to offer, which isn't easy to organize, will be a good challenge to our participants and provide a sense of what it was like to be present at the National Conventions from the 70's where a bunch of us linked to Chicago organized it. As you know, we have been reporting these former conventions in this newsletter - a recap of the reports from the SOM Review (BTW, if anyone is in touch with the editors from Kalamazoo, MI - we would like to speak with them, Del and Warren, if its possible).  We also wish to acknowledge Adam Rosen at the Strat-o-matic Game Company for sharing with others this week, about the convention via their on-line services.

Well dearest members, we have come up with the VERY BEST WAY to organize the Convention Tournament, it comes from our technical support chief Jack Frost. To the best of my memory, I believe a tournament has never ever been done following this method before, a unique way to do the tournament. We believe in our hearts, this new form of the tournament through the convention will become a yearly special event to help bring our SOM Baseball Community together. That convention will become an augment to what our partners in the Strat Alliance already offer (face-to-face and on-line tournaments via Star Tournaments and Pure Strat, thanks Bryan for your help with the convention website). An alternative for beginners and new baseball gamers to experience, to know the tournament experience and how it can help one in their game play and strategies by seeing how other games manage their teams.

So we make an impassionate appeal to our members, please help us bring forth this new version of the convention. We only need 16 participants to make it work fully. There is a page listed below in our issue 6 links that discusses the new and final format. With about 3 weeks to go, we are ready to see who will become the 1st SOM On-line Baseball Champion?  Will it be you?  We have also switched to using Netplay as the method to play the convention as was requested by those who registered. 

If you wish to jump to read how the tournament is played - go to the page below or click on this link to go directly to the convention website page that describes it! Required: SOM Computer Game with Netplay, 2012 Rosters and a fast internet connection and you be there.  In any case, if our members can get the word out about the convention, we would be so grateful - just send them to: www.stratalliance.info

For this issue, our 6th, besides the new features and interviews we have again our monthly columns or articles including a return by our good friend Bruce Bundy and his next "Strat Thoughts"; Marc Wasserman with his "Commissioner's Corner"; and of course yours truly continuing with the next National Convention at the University of Illinois, the 6th edition held in 1977. Also I share the 3rd part of my report of my experiences at the June Pure Strat Skype Tournament as our Skokie Wolfmen qualified for the playoffs and faced in the first round the Pure Strat and Star manager who has the highest point count for victories in 2013  -- it was an amazing series.

Note (as always): Once again if you have joined us recently and haven't had a chance to read all of our bulletins and prior newsletters, you can find everything you desire by visiting our archive webpages at:

http://archive.aweber.com/stratbaseball

So again, we hope you enjoy this next issue of our newsletter and as we always do, wish you continued success and enjoyment with your game play, leagues, replays and tournaments. Thank you all for continued your interest and support. Feel free if you are inspired to contact us with your suggestions or requests for future issues or send to us your contributions!! So have fun in your exploration of issue #6! Below are links to the various articles, columns and interviews, thank you ........

Wolfman Shapiro
 
 

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Contained inside this exciting issue of Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter:
(to view the various interviews, articles, columns and special sections click on the links {underlined} and this will take you to the appropriate webpage)
 

♦  INTERVIEW with ADAM ROSEN, Marketing Director of Strat-o-matic

♦  INTERVIEW with BUD PODRAZIK, Graphic Artist of SOM Fanatic Logo

♦  STRAT THOUGHTS with BRUCE BUNDY, SOM Gamer, Creator of Baseball Card Formulas, Baseball Strategy Advisor, Beta Tester for the Game Company
(Continuation of his column of "Strat Thoughts", this time about Starters Usage)

♦  NEVER BEFORE HAS THIS TOURNAMENT BEEN OFFERED!! by the Strat Alliance
-- A complete discussion about the revolutionary new convention to be offered in
October offering a unique baseball tournament that has never been offered before organized by the Strat Alliance of Groups! Will you be the 1st Champion - this is an On-line Tournament using Netplay and the 2012 Roster - There is still Space for you to Join!!

♦  EARLY SOM CONVENTIONS COLUMN with WOLFMAN SHAPIRO -- editor of
"The Ultimate Strat Newsletter" and 2012 CBA Champion. Wolfman takes us back in
this article to the sixth national Strat-o-matic Convention in 1977 held in Champaign-Urbana, IL, at the University of Illinois as the Wolfman and his buddies organize their fourth convention. Wolfman will be our guide through the first nine conventions happening through 1980 of which he was present at each one. This particular column now moves into the 1974-1980 era when the conventions moved to Illinois. We will continue to share one new convention in each future issue till all of these early conventions are published. Also as an inspiration for the SOM On-line Baseball Convention this month.

♦  ARTICLES with LARRY BRAUS, newsletter assistant and contributor, three new articles covering Larry thoughts and experiences with Strat over the years.

♦  ARTICLE with WOLFMAN SHAPIRO, the Wolfman's performance during the playoffs of the Pure Strat June Skype Draft Tournament - Part Three of Three Parts (Playoff Game Reports)

♦  COMMISSIONER's CORNER with MARC WASSERMAN -- commissioner of the Cyber Baseball Association (CBA) continues his column about what it is like to be a League Commissioner. In this article he focuses upon his first of several parts to "Take A Closer Look at Your League - The Themes".

♦  RECOMMEND ON-LINE SOM RESOURCES -- On-line Strat-o-matic and Baseball related websites that offer amazing information, special tools and products to improve your game play that we strongly recommend. In most cases, we have had personal contact with these sources who agree with the principle to work together and help promote each other.

♦  BOOKS TO DIE FOR and Become a BASEBALL GURU -- This page is a new page we are adding for the newsletter that is specifically about special books we are finding that either will expand your insights about the game of Baseball, help you in the creation of your current league teams or with your replays and learn more about the Strat-o-matic Base Game and Game Company's history.  At the time of the release of this newsletter we have a special arrangement with Acta Sports to offer our members a 10% discount. We hope to add more books in the future.

 

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