Issue #6 - October 2013
**
We bring back my old friend Larry to Share More Insights
**
(by Larry Braus, newsletter assistant and
contributor)
WOLFMAN:
Larry and I go way back to the 1970's,
when we played together in various leagues around Chicago. Also
Larry did attend our early conventions as well and became part
of the extended SOM family who would visit with others during
those weekends of tournaments.
If you
recall Larry's first article back in January he also has had
contact with John Kreuz who started the Table Baseball
Association (TBA) tournaments (actually Larry introduced me to
John once when I was living in Chicago) and has had contact with
various people in the Star Tournaments as well. So besides being
a die hard White Sox fan, even though he lives in Florida now,
my good friend Larry always has something to share about
Strat-o-matic.
So I thought for this month we would bring Larry back and share
a few small articles he sent me. But one thing I would say
about Larry is he is a straight shooter and he tells you his
mind even if its not popular. We try through the newsletter to
offer all types of perspectives on the game we love and I really
was hoping we might see more articles from our members. So use
this one from Larry as an invitation if you have something
special to say or share, why not throw it in our direction and
let us take a peek.
In the
three articles below, Lar as I call him will discuss with you,
"Who are We?", "Larry's ideas on how to build a team" and what
he calls the "Money Factor" which might be a bit juicy but I am
sure for many of us we have tried to find a way to balance the
joy of playing Strat and competing verse a type of financial
reward.
So Larry
Braus, welcome back to the "Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter"!
Who are we?
Now there is a loaded
question.
Who are the people attracted to SOM games, and why do we play?
In over 35 years of play I have seen many players- mostly in the
Chicago area. And I have found we fit quite neatly into a few
basic groups.
1.
Replay fans - These are the people the game is
designed for. Their idea of fun is to replay a season at the
helm of their favorite team and duplicate the teams performance
as closely as possible. The computer game is a great thing for
them, as an evening of 10-15 games is reasonably easy to do,
without all the shuffling of cards and line-ups to handle. These
people rarely venture out into the competitive strat world,
happy to just run their favorite teams in their favorite eras.
2.
Numbers people: These hardly notice the name on
the top of the card. They count points for hits and double-plays
on hitters and pitchers. These are the guys in the local league
who show up on draft day with a copy of the latest “Bill James”
style publication and thought “Moneyball” was a better movie
than “Citizen Kane”. Math is their “black art”; they are the
“Sith Lords” of strat. (ok, fine. I have it in for these guys
because I stink at math.). In your local continuous league they
form no attachments to players or their core teams. It’s all
about the “point count”. Tournament strat is full of numbers
people, who love the game for its ability to reproduce results.
I have found many poker players in this crowd.
3.
Baseball people: Fans, many of whom played
baseball as a child or still play. They watch the game on TV,
and will almost always have a game on while they play. In your
local league they are the ones who can evaluate talent well and
use that skill to build teams that win just on die rolls,
because good ballplayers generate good strat cards from year to
year. These are your “horse traders” who make smart picks and
trades. On draft day they have the scouting magazines and
Baseball Prospectus, wringing their hands and giving an evil
laugh after each pick at the draft table. The running battles
between them and the numbers people who pick the old guy with
the good card are the stuff of classic strat legend.
These are usually the most consistent winners of the local
leagues- as they pick and retain good players.
Some people do fit into more than 1 category and many of us
develop traits of all 3 after years of play. I’m a baseball fan
who played in my youth, but I also count points from
time-to-time and have done a few replays. Most of us can look at
the strat players we know and fit them into at least 1 of these
3 categories.
===============
Team
Construction
In any strat endeavor- but particularly in a tourney
environment- roster construction is a key to success. 25 spots
to fill, and not a whole lot of room for error. Every pick must
have a designed purpose. For me, there are a few variables that
go into that decision.
The bullpen: 6 minimum. 4 right, 2 left. 1 closer,
1 back-up closer for when inning limits restrict the first and a
couple for middle-innings. Ideally someone who can go 3 innings
before POW.
Starters: 4 or 5 depending on the rules. Some like
to keep a 5th for certain match-ups. I am not beyond taking a
S/R and dropping them into the rotation from time to time, but I
am not a believer in having more starters than required in a
tourney setting. I have always been a fan of strong starting
pitching that you can consistently get 6 innings minimum from.
Plus, since I am in a minority in that opinion, strong starters
last longer in the drafts and one of my rules has always been
take what the draft gives you. In a league setting inning limits
are also a consideration, of course.
Bench: Your starting line-up will determine your
bench. How many platoons do you have? How many defensive
replacements will you need? How many players with bad injury
rolls do you have? (This is one that figures into my personal
card ranking system that I think many of us overlook).
After filling those needs you will have 1 or 2 spots open for
pinch hitting. If you have a solid line-up, you can take less
bench players and expand your bullpen. Don’t take a second
player at a position where they will never play, no matter how
much of a bargain they are. It is most often a wasted roster
spot. Of course, this advice is less strict in a league
environment, where trading is a factor. But only slightly less-
as your trade value will lessen if it is obvious the player is
of little use to you. Funny how the rest of your league will
only be interested in the one of the 2 players you want to keep.
There is no one “secret sauce” for winning strat. A lot of
factors go in, and a touch of luck never hurts. But, as with
many things in life- you control what you can and put yourself
in a position to win as often as possible- and only then do you
“roll the dice”.
===============
The Money
Factor
I have long wondered about
the impact of large cash prizes on competitive strat. Whether
it’s at the local league level or the tourney level, it changes
the feel of the games when a significant amount is on the line.
The games take on less of a social aspect, and I believe much of
the spirit is lost.
All manner of doors are opened, from cheating (rigged equipment,
intentional result mis-reads) to collusion (“trade-buddies”) -
and the difficulty of proving the charges make them all the more
damaging.
I myself have long valued the social aspect of Strat- or any
other gaming for that matter. Much like fishing- a bad day of
Strat is better than a good day of many other things for me.
Another loss is the lack of interest many top players have in
“talking shop”. They all fear giving insight into how they play
will weaken their position and cost them “$”, so there is little
talk of theory or strategy- which I believe discourages the
newer players, who we so desperately need at this time.
I may be in a minority on this, but my competitive nature causes
me to play just as serious in a “meaningless” game as one for a
prize. Tourney Strat is hard work, but I would put in just as
much effort for a trophy as for a cash prize.
On the pro-cash side, you have the “Gordon Geko” principle of
“What is worth doing is worth doing for money”. It heightens
interest and in many leagues guarantees season completion. And
for a touring tournament it is crucial in getting people to
travel to a location. A top player can count on getting at least
most of their expenses covered with a moderately successful
weekend. Sometimes a tourney can have a “pro poker” feel to it
when many of the area top players are assembled.
There is still much to be said for the simple pleasure of
gaming. If I had my way nothing over $100 would ever be awarded.
Strat is not gambling- like poker- it is gaming. That is the
root and where many of our players lie.
(Note from the
Wolfman:
Related to our newsletter, as we
stated in the beginning we do not necessarily take any one
position but try to share with our readers different
perspectives. The issue about money linked to the purity of
gaming for gaming sake will always be a debatable issue. In the
early days of the conventions, the expense of traveling was
reasonable, so we also didn't charge much to participate in the
conventions. Today however, as we have been told by our partners
for the upcoming convention, the travel expenses is cutting down
attendance at their tournaments so if a person can enjoy the
competitive atmosphere of a tournament and get their expenses
back or more is helpful. We, meaning our team at the
newsletter involved in creating what we hope will be the next
version of the conventions, even though they are on-line and
people who have to travel to participate, will become another
option for any person to experience the higher level of play
that a tournament can offer. We are so grateful that our
partners, so far, for the Star Alliance, Star Tournaments and
Pure Strat who already are offering on-line tournaments, now
being followed by SOM Tours, have decided to support our new
adventure. In any case, we hope the articles here
submitted by Larry offer to our members inspiration to also send
us your stories or special experiences to. As each of us has our
own unique story to tell. )
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)
♦
RETURN TO NEWSLETTER MAIN PAGE
♦
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.
♦
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.
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
issues come out)
To
Learn more about the SOM On-line Baseball Convention
(sponsored by the Strat Alliance, October 2013)
http://www.stratalliance.info
