Vol. III, Issue #4 - December 2015

** Another Article from the SOM Review, 1973,
Battle of the Sexes, Part II
Chevrette vs. The Wolfman **

      (Returning to this Epic Battle which we shared last month, here
we go again, another series between Chevrette and the Wolfman
as we switched teams, could Chevrette be Victorious this time??)
 

(Wolfman's Comments: As I shared before in the first part of this article (last month in our November issue) from these very early days of my life with strat, Donna and I switched teams as she took the 1971 NL Allstars and I took the 1971 AL Allstars.  In this case, the article was written by Donna, to give her perspective on the series we played.  I won't say any more and let you read Donna's report from the June 1973 issue of the Strat-o-matic Review, to see how it all turned out.)

Special Request:  Do we have any female readers who are members of our newsletter, or do we have any woman strat players who are reading our publication?  If so, do you have any special stories or experiences linked to playing Strat-o-matic Baseball.  If so, and you would be open to share, could you email us - thanks!

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Chevrette vs Wolfman Shapiro
( Part II, Play-by-mail, early 1973 )
 

Devoted exclusively to the Strat-o-matic game fans, with the consent of the Strat-o-matic Game Co..

STRAT-O-MATIC REVIEW Vol.. III-4 June 1973  40¢

Battle of Sexes II
BY DONNA CHEVRETTE

If you read the April issue of the Review, my name, along with Rick Shapiro's, should be familiar. For those of you who really have no idea at all what I'm referring to, I'll explain.

In April's issue, there was an article by Rick Shapiro about a 17-game baseball series which he and I played by mail. I managed a 1971 American League all-star team and Rick a National League. Well, to make a long story short, I lost the series, 9-8 Close, but you really couldn't tell who was the better manager. So, Rick and I decided to switch teams. It would again be a 17-game series, with four-game sets alternating between Skokie, IL [Rick's hometown] and Plainfield, CT [my hometown]. Since, I would be managing the N.L. all-stars, this would really tell who the better manager was.

Before I tell you how this second series came out, let me tell you a little bit about my playing SOM. I have been playing for approximately a year and-a-half. Except for the first few games, I have played almost exclusively solitaire. This has made me unhappy, not being able to play SOM with any female (or male) companion in my area. I wrote the Review asking if there were any gals out there who played SOM. Not one replied. Obviously there are no other female subscribers to the Review.

But Rick did answer my S.O.S. signal and suggested we play an SOM series by mail. I gladly accepted his offer. He explained to me how to play by mail and, because his instructions were so clear, I had no trouble whatsoever. But I don't think I'm ready for any mail leagues just yet, however.

Series two started with the first four games being played in Plainfield. Telling myself, I'm bound to win this series--it will be easy--I soon found out there would be no room for overconfidence. Rick's A.L. won the first two games by scores of 2-1 and 4-1. That brought me back to my senses.

I came down From cloud nine long enough to win the next two games, 4-1 and 2-0. In the next four games (at Skokie) the teams split again, tying the series at four games each. It was starting to look like a replay of the first series. Back in Plainfield, my N.L. really put on a show and beat the A.L. three games to one. So, now there were only five games to go, possibly, and my N.L. team was leading in games, 7-5, needing only two more victories to win the series.

Aha! I've won the series, I thought. Rick will never be able to win four out of five games. I was going to win a series from (as Rick would say] an experienced pro in Strato.

Confident again, I returned to cloud nine and waited for Rick's results from Skokie. Well, sly old Rick returned the results and cleverly placed game No. 16 on top for me to see. My N.L. had won that game, 11-0. It was deceiving--the A.L. had won the other three games! I stared in disbelief. A playoff would be necessary. Again I realized this series really wouldn't close the issue as to who was the better manager, but maybe I could at least win it.

I played the playoff game in Plainfield late in the evening at 10:30. Every move I made was an important one, so the game lasted until 11:15. The starting pitchers were Vida Blue for the A.L. and John Cumberland for the N.L. I took an early 1-0 lead on a surprise squeeze play by Bud Harrelson in second inning. Cumberland was breezing along and more and more it looked like it would be the only run of the game. Blue was take early for a pinch-hitter.

DONNA CHEVRETTE, SCOREBOARD Rick Shapiro Wins Again

Then, in the seventh inning, Cumberland served up a souvenir for the bleacher fans to Sal Bando. The game was tied! I began to worry how the N.L. could get another run off the A.L. relief pitching--instead of that, I should have been worrying about Cumberland.  In the same inning Cookie Rojas hit another home run--off Cumberland's card --and the A.L. relief pitching held up and the game went on to a 2-1 ending. Once again I was ousted in the last game. I still can't believe it.

The SOM games I played with Rick were great Fun. I know with the right team I can beat anyone who plays Strato-- yes, anyone.

After all I did spot Willie Mays' card and, as Rick said, "He's just impossible to keep off base." Mays, of course was voted the MVP of the series.

So guys, there are some womenfolk out there who like baseball and would probably like to play Strat-O-Matic. All you have to do is look a little harder.

 

(Wolfman's Note:  Well the second series went down to an extra game again which my younger self was victorious again.  However, Donna did prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt that the ladies can play the game we love with the same passion and desire as the gents.  We did have a few female participants in the National Conventions of the past too.  So don't be surprised dear members when a female gamer wins a key tournament or league - it is gonna happen if we don't see a female President of the U.S. first!!)
 

Battle of the Sexes, Part I
Chevrette vs Shapiro, early 1973

(click above)

 

 

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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)
 

♦  RETURN TO NEWSLETTER MAIN PAGE

♦  INTERVIEW with MARC PELLETIER, another well known and successful strat baseball gamer in the on-line version of the baseball game offers us insights from his genius.

♦  STRAT WISE with MARC WASSERMAN -- commissioner of the Cyber Baseball Association (CBA) continues his new column sharing various perspectives on SOM Baseball. In this issue he discusses about the Miscellaneous Rules in the computer game (to use or not to use), some special new videos on our Video Channel on Youtube, the fielding ratings given out by the game company and more.

♦  ARTICLE with DOUG BRUNET, another member of our newsletter shares his thoughts about the game of baseball and its connections with Strat-o-matic as well as his philosophies of how to succeed in your game play. Doug is a member of the CBA Council, a computer baseball league.

♦  ARTICLE with CHUCK TINKLER (Part II) , a continuation of the articleby Chuck, one of our members sharing about a real Strat Master that he met in his early days of playing Strat-o-matic

♦  SOM BASEBALL LEAGUE REPORT with WOLFMAN SHAPIRO -- the editor of "The Ultimate Strat Newsletter" and 2012 CBA Champion, the "Wolfman" puts out a call to commissioners of various Strat-o-matic Baseball Leagues that he discovers on the internet and shares two more replies he received from these leagues to be interviewed and tell their stories! This is the second part of this report.  To read the individual interview, click on the links below or start with Part III and follow the in-page link to read the second interview as well:

INTERVIEW with Glenn Wheeler, NASOMA, P-III (F2F/Netplay/Computer)
INTERVIEW with BOB COLLEARY, BVL + BFL, P-IV (Computer)
 

♦  SOM/MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL WORLD NEWS with WOLFMAN SHAPIRO , editor of "The Ultimate Strat Newsletter" shares about the 2015 Baseball Fielding Rating File released by the Game Company, revisits the status of what 2016 MLB projections are already available to obtain and study and shares about some of the new videos that are available on the Ultimate Strat Baseball Channel on Youtube - more good stuff is on this page - head over there NOW!

♦  REPORT with TOM NAHIGIAN (1961 cards) Personal friend of the Wolfman, known in Guzzo's book as "The Collector", returns and we take a peak at some of the early strat cards printed from 1961 from the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

♦  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 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 Baseball Game and Game Company's history.  We have a special arrangement with Acta Sports, who is a publisher of a number of great baseball books (including Bill James Handbooks) to offer for our members a 10% discount. We will continue to add more books to this page in the future as we uncover other gems our members should know about.

 

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