Vol. IV, Issue #2 - February 2016
**
Welcome to USBN as the
New Cards & Computer Game are now Out!!
**
Comments from the Wolfman about
this current issue as we begin our fourth
year (2016) of publication with a new year of excitement. As we
provide for our
readers
the most unique and interesting aspects of Strat-o-matic Baseball
with links
to Major League Baseball. Time to meet some of the most interesting people who
are connected to
the game we love -
2016 is
gonna be a big ride with all the
new products and services that Strat-o-matic is offering - stay tuned -
from your staff at the Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter ....
Its
time again dear members, to share with you the latest news and
updates around the game we love, SOM Baseball. So did you
have a chance to be at "Opening Day" at the Game Company this
year? According to our "Johnny on the Spot", who was
present with his side companion, our newsletter team was there along
with about 200 other folks. And as we have done for the past two
years, we have begun to share videos from this glorious day along
with some reports we received from two buddies from Texas who went (one
of this gentlemen coincidentally won his league and we interviewed
him as well). Thus,
the joy of getting the new computer game (with its updates) and
the cards is what February is normally all about.
In
addition,
within this
issue of our newsletter,
we have updates from some of
our contributing writers, an old friend revisits with us, there are
details of a new partnership we are forming with the Strat
Tournament Player's Club and other assorted interesting news and
stories that we always share and will continue to share. So, for many of you (who
write to us and let us know how much you appreciate the newsletter and can't
wait to go through the next one), here it is with all the
goodies attached to it. Take your time to go over and
peruse all that we are
offering to us this month.
Plus, also check out the new videos we
continue to add to our USBN Youtube channel. There is even one from your (I hope you would say, "easy going
and fun-loving") editor. Those of you who knew me from my
early days (back in the '70s and 80's) might be surprised (as we
change physically over time) ... but
it was time for me to come out of hiding behind my pen to make a
more public appearance. (The early feedback I received from this
video was encouraging so I dare say I will appear more in this
genre.)
February
is always a most interesting time in a SOM Gamer's life - with
all the new teams that come out ... thus necessitating the need to immediately
study all the new cards, so we can be fully prepared for our new leagues and
tournaments. But this year of course, its going to be a
bit different as
now we have also Baseball Daily.
So how will this new way to play
the game we love, affect our lives. We definitely plan
this year to give a close attention to this new so-called add-on and if any of our
members (you actually can't start to play it till after the MLB
season officially starts on April 4th) become involved with
this form of SOM Baseball, we would love to hear from you what
your experiences are.
As I stated last month, its time for my Cubbies to
have a chance at the whole ball of wax, although I believe the
Royals are still the favorite to win the WS again. Then I
know in March, after we all have a chance to review these new
cards spending endless hours of delight (or dismay if some of
your players didn't get such a great card) we will be ready for
March when most leagues begin (or do their drafts) and key tournaments
start up especially with the Strat Tournament Players Club.
Ok, very
good, it all sounds great but what exactly do we have for you in
this next exciting issue of the Ultimate Strat Baseball
Newsletter, is always the question on our reader's mind?
Willie
Mays Aikens, a coach for the Kansas City Royals, and very proud
of what the young players have done on the MLB franchise that
has adopted and honored this slugger from the 80's, shares with
us his thoughts and feelings about the world champion Royals and
does a follow up on some questions we asked him back in his
earlier interview in 2014. Our good friend
Marc Pelletier is back to continue the next part of his article
to discuss his system for picking players in Baseball 365 in the
20XX leagues, with this time focusing upon how to evaluate the pitchers
as he offers his very
insightful statistical analysis and formulas. For March, he
and I expect to discuss his system in more detail as I will be entering a
2015 card based league on-line in Baseball 365 guided by his system
for which
players to choose to build my team, that should be quite interesting.
(Note, as I did with Bruce Foster last year for the All-Time
Greats leagues ...)
We hear
again from Wass, with his new column, "Strat Wise", as he
focuses on comments linked to "Opening Day", his
recommendation of the top 20 cards in the 2015 cardset and
shares about the new videos
we have posted for you on the USBN Channel on Youtube which is becoming
quite popular for us. We have a new periodic section of the newsletter
now known as "The Chuck Stop", where contributing writer Chuck Tinkler's articles will be featured. He continues to share with
us in this issue the next part about the so-called "Strat Master"
he met. Rick Lackey, who is one of the two travelers from
Texas to NYC to go to "Opening Day" where he shares with us his experiences also is interviewed
as the reigning champ of NASOMA, the baseball league we spoke to
its commissioner last December, Glenn Wheeler. Rick tells us how
he was able to win the league and about his strategies.
Also, in
this
issue, we report on some new agreements we have made with the Strat Tournament Player's Club (STPC). For those unfamiliar with
this club, they provide elite tournaments all over the U.S. and
in Canada, offering face-to-face tournaments using the 2015 cards to
draft a team, plus two type of on-line tournaments. First,
we introduce the two STPC roving reporters, who have agreed to
send us each month reports on what is happening in the STPC
World (M. Crowley and J. Cattin). Next we share an
explanation of the experimental tournament we are working with
this group to offer in the near future (we still
seek 3 more volunteers from our membership to join), you can read
how this on-line tournament will be setup and the special
opportunity our members have to learn from their best and most
successful gamers. You will find on
our SOM Baseball & MLB News page these special announcements.
Also on this page is where Rick
and his friend Derek's reports about Opening Day can be found plus
we speak to an old friend, Bud Podrazik who wrote a special song for the 50th Anniversay of SOM. This song is now also on our USBN Video
Channel. And lastly to round out our links with STPC, we
interview Jim Gary, the West Region Councilor - who also
happened to be the "Points" National Champ for STPC in 2015.
This was Jim's second time to speak to us and tell us how he was
so successful in tournaments last year.
Plus of course, we have our usual pages about key on-line SOM and MLB
resources and our recommended books page.
So dear readers you now have at your fingertips once again the next issue
of our on-line newsletter dedicated to SOM Baseball. We invite you to d
ig in - roam around,
sit down and take your shoes off as you take your time
to digest all the new information we have for you in
this issue. If you are enjoying our combination of reports,
articles and interviews including all the new videos we are sharing, please feel free to tell your all strat
buddies about us and as always, always, this newsletter is and will
forever be FREE.
Finally, as we have requested in the past few months, if any of
our members are able to help us with a small
donation,
we are very very appreciative as these funds are used to help us with the costs we have to
maintain the newsletter. However for those of you who do make a
contribution for the newsletter this month, there are
two special spreadsheets
I have personally created to prepare for the two leagues I am participating
in this year that I could send to you as a a gift in
appreciation.
Now,
I am
not allowed to sell these spreadsheets as all I did is take this
information which was given for free on the internet from
mlb.com and baseball-reference.com and re-organized it, which took
quite a
number of good hours. But in appreciation for your kind
donation, I am very happy to share these spreadsheets with you. What I have is, #1 - MLB.com's future
projections on over 800 players for 2016; and a spreadsheet with
all the minor league stats for all the Major League American
farm teams, as it shows every player who played for those teams.
For a donation of just $3 you can request either "2016
Predictions" or "Minor League Stats" which I will personally
attach your spreadsheet of choice to an email or for a $5
donation or more, I will email you both spreadsheets. Here
is how to get the spreadsheet(s) you wish:
As you
know on each page of the newsletter, we have a little area called "Support the
Cause" where we ask for your donations.
Just click on the "DONATE" button which takes you to paypal, and
if you do a $3 donation, write in the message to us which of the
two spreadsheets you wish. Obviously with a $5 (or more)
donation we know you want both. This is our way to thank
you for this help.
Note (our
monthly reminder): Once
again, if you have just joined us recently or haven't had a chance to
read all of our bulletins and prior newsletters (since January
of 2013), you can find
everything you desire by visiting our archive webpages at:
http://archive.aweber.com/stratbaseball
So here we are go
again,
as the MLB teams are begining their exhibtion season, many
SOM Baseball leagues have either begun or
are preparing for their spring draft with the new cards that are
here (even some retro leagues with the older sets or
with the Negro/Japanese players); therefore, we offer to you all our latest and greatest version
of the newsletter. We thank you
again for your kindness and support
and don't be shy to contact us if you have some suggestions how
to improve the newsletter or wish to become a contributor. Its all
good!!
To a glorious 2016, enjoy
your leagues, replays and touraments,
Wolfman Shapiro
on behalf of the team at USBN
PS -- Once
again, if you didn't receive the special file (excel spreadsheet) we
attached to our November 2015 issue of USBN, or is now a part of the
free gifts we offer to new members who sign up, (a
yearly spreadsheet we receive from
Bryan Kernal) that has the final 2015 MLB Stats of every player
who was active during the past season including their
lefty/righty splits and game positions, it is available below. Just click on the
link below and this spreadsheet will come up in your browser to be
downloaded to your computer:
http://www.ultimatestratbaseball.com/USBN-11-2015/2015FinalMLStats.xlsx
|
Support the Cause
If you are enjoying
the content and information our newsletter shares with you, why
not support us with your helpful contribution for our minor expenses
and time?
|
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 WILLIE MAYS AIKENS,
we return with our 2nd interview with ex-Major Leaguer, Willie
Mays Aikens, known for being a member of the KC Royals when they
went to the World Series with George Brett in the 1980's.
We ask Mr. Aiken some new questions and his experience as a
hitting coach for the players in the KC Royals minors.
♦
INTERVIEW with MARC PELLETIER,
we hear again from Marc about his special system for building
winning teams in Baseball 365 for leagues based on the 20XX
seasons. In this article he discusses how to pick the right
pitchers for your team. Next month in March, our editor
Wolfman Shapiro, will enter a 2015 based league using Marc's
system.
♦
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 his visit on "Opening
Day", the top 20 cards in the 2015 MLB set and some special
new videos on our Video Channel on Youtube.
♦
ARTICLE with CHUCK TINKLER
(Part III), a continuation
of the article by 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
the members of various Strat-o-matic Baseball Leagues that he
has discovered on the internet to talk about their experiences
with their league. This is the first time we get to speak to a
League Champion, from NASOMA, who we spoke to their commissioner
in our December 2015 issue.
To read his interview, click on the link below:
INTERVIEW with Rick
Lackey, NASOMA 2015 Champ, P-I (F2F/Netplay/Computer)
♦
SOM/MAJOR
LEAGUE BASEBALL WORLD NEWS with WOLFMAN SHAPIRO
, editor of "The Ultimate Strat Newsletter"
shares two live reports from Strat-o-matic's Opening Day on
February 12th, and introduces you to the Strat Tournament
Players Club (STPC) Reporters who starting in March will be
sharing with us the latest news and insights from this year's
series of grueling and testing tournaments this year. Also
STPC and this newsletter are announcing a test tournament you
can join us - we are seeking members to help us. To read
more, visit this latest version of our newsy page.
♦
INTERVIEW with Jim Gary, he is the head of the West
Region of the Strat Tournament Player's Club (STPC) and is on
their council. This is our second time to speak to Jim. For 2015
he was the points champion of the club so we inquiry to the keys
to his success. It is our goal in this year to interview all the
STPC council members as well as begin to share reports of what
is happening in their world.
♦
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.
Contact Us for Questions or Submissions:
Wolfman Shapiro
co-Founder/Editor, the
Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter
email:
wolfman@ultimatestratbaseball.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)
