The Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter - Issue #2, Tom Swank Interview via his son Bryan

Issue #2, February - March 2013

** Interview with Bryan Swank about his father, Tom Swank **
(conducted by Marc Wasserman with questions from the Wolfman)

Introduction from the Wolfman

In the book "Strat-o-matic Fanatics" by Glenn Guzzo he had a chance to speak to Tom Swank's son Bryan to talk about his father. Mr. Guzzo called Tom Swank, "The Missionary" or the true (first) Strat-o-matic Ambassador as he tried to introduce this game we love to everyone he met and also came up with some of the most amazing ways to play a league or do a tournament. There actually is a tournament that is still run that is named after Mr. Swank. Until I spoke to Marc (we call him "Wass", in the CBA), about Tom Swank and then read about him in Guzzo's book, I didn't realize how special Mr. Swank was and what impact he had upon the game.

Unfortunately Tom Swank died of cancer in 2004 but on his last days he was still trying to organize more game play. Wass told me he was in touch with Bryan Swank, Tom's son and asked me to come up with some questions which I emailed him. Bryan lives in Caldwell, NJ and Wass describes him as an astute, avid Strat-o-matic League participant (I would guess from what his father taught him) as well as a new father within the past few months. Wass thinks Tom Swank was around 61 when he died.

So this interview is a combination of those questions and Wass making contact with Mr. Swank, who graciously allowed us to talk with him so we could learn more about his father. Part of what this newsletter is about is to tell the personal story of the people who play SOM Baseball. We each have our own stories to tell and through our love and dedication to this game is why it is great. It is like we are all a part of a special journey that Hal Richman started in 1960 and we are passengers on this ship, each co-creating the journey to be linked to Major League Baseball (in the U.S. and now Japan too) and have a chance to be our own manager.

We hope you enjoy this interview, as we share another part of Strat-o-matic History. And special thanks to my special friend Wass for making this interview happen.

Wolfman Shapiro

Bryan and his Dad enjoying a special moment

Question: Bryan, we want to express great gratitude for this chance to interview you, to learn more about your dad. Not just for his love of start-o-matic but also to give our readers an idea about him as a person too.

According to the book by Glenn Guzzo about Strat-o-matic your father first play the game in the early 1960's is this correct, what do you know about this time for your father?

Bryan: I wasn't born yet but it is true. I'm not sure if it was the first or second year (that the game came out), but from that point on, he had every card, every set. My dad played in the early play by mail leagues with people such as Larry King, Andy Kennedy, John Babbitt.

When he first started he would try and get anyone he could to just sit down and play the game. He would recruit guys off the the street (chuckle). Just anyone, paperboy, nephews, guys around the corner, just anyone he could get interested.

Question: Was your father a baseball fan at this early age? Did he have a favorite team he rooted for? Did he ever play baseball in real life?

Bryan: My dad was in his 20's during the early 60's a die hard Brooklyn Dodgers fan. When they left he became a fan of any team. He tried following the Mets but couldn't get into it. He hated the Yankees, hated the. Yankees "The G*#$Da**& Yankees!". He respected 'em but hated them!, lol.

Every year then (he would wear) a different baseball hat, he would root for a different team each year. In '79 he took the Pirates black pill box hat. He liked Alan Trammell and Lou Whitakers with their 1 ratings up the middle for Detroit, then that was his team. He always knew they'd be great defensively. He always said that his teams should be strong up the middle. He didn't need any draft guides. He wrote all his his notes and numbers on his cards.

My dad played some softball. He was too nervous to play in organized game. He was a a good fielder, and good hitter too. Could hit far. Big hands to grip the bat. They called him "Satch".

Question: Now Bryan, we know many people who play Strat-o-matic, even we play strat-o-matic and we think its a great sports table and computer game but what was there about this game that had your father so passionate about the game?

Bryan: My dad had a love of mathematics. He loved the numbers and was always thinking about ratios and probabilities. He thought of the dice as if they were magic. This is probably why he never played the lottery (chuckle).

When he played Strat-o-matic he could visualize the game unfold, this is what he told me. He also wondered what it would be like if guys from different eras played against each other. When he was a kid this was the main argument on the street. Who was better player? Was it Duke (Snider), Mickey (Mantle), Joe D (Dimaggio) or Willie (Mays). With Strat he had the opportunity to pit his heroes against other great players like Babe Ruth, and others.

Question: Was there a special MLB team that he loved over all others? Did you father win league or tournament championships?

Bryan: My father used to prefer the best teams. He even tried to determine the greatest team of all time. Since he had all the cards, he staged tournaments. He would actually play the teams against each other, 162 games to see who was the best. He would play teams like the '72 Reds or the '75 Reds, against other teams. Many, many games. When it all came down it, I think it was the '72 Reds.

He once played the top 20 best Yankee teams of all time, including the 27 Yanks in a season tournament. The 1939 Yankees emerged as the best of the lot...amazing. He would try and draft great players on a team. With a laugh,

(From Wass: Bryan recalls that his dad would have a team with like 25 different George Brett cards from different years. Then play that team against another team of all George Brett cards from a different seasons to see which Brett was better. No mention if Ken Brett pitched to the Georges however!)

One year he went through baseball encyclopedia, and created the best of the the Johnson's against the best of the Jone's, lol. He identified all the cuban teams, all the American teams, but used to complain there wasn't enough black catchers. His father said "I can't use Manny Sanguillen, he's from Panama", thus he was disappointed. Tom used to research all the players hometowns, and profiles and write them on the cards too.

He won one year in one league with a team called the North Bears back in '82. That was in my current league which is called the Tri-State League which he adored. However, he was in many leagues. He didn't always win, but he would compete anyway. Once he had Pete Filson toss a no-no. But of course, there weren't too many No No's thrown in leagues back then, or now. My father called him "Pete No-hit Filson" from then on. Also, loved Kirby Puckett my dad did.

Question: Did you father ever talk about some key or secret strategy he would use with his teams when he competed.

Bryan: Strategy wise, dad would always say "look at the card, look at the card". One year we had a 5 year league with players that played every year from 77-82. The first year was '77. I had Cecil Cooper and Tony Perez as 1B, but because I like Cecil Cooper so much, he yelled at me to use Perez even though I loved Cooper. He said "If you don't listen to me, you'll never win. Use
Perez!".

He wasn't big on stealing, thus he would never steal with a guy who could hit. My father liked to swing away. If the guys was a hitter, then he wouldn't bunt as he never liked to take a bat out of a players hands (who could hit). He loved them Home Runs. He was very big on the ball park chart when it came out. He would draft guys from pitcher friendly parks, and stick 'em into hitter friendly parks. This all when the this chart first came out. Guys like Phil Bradley, Yount, Brett, Alvin Davis. My father knew his cards quit well.

These were from the 1972 card set (note the Sharperson is from 1992)
and his father has been marking his cards like this for ages
(Wolfman's Note - I saw championship players at the Star Tournaments do the
same). His favorites were George Brett & Phil Bradley (Bryan said with a laugh)

Question: How was your father's relationship with the game company and Mr. Richman. When did he first meet the creator of Strat-o-matic?

Bryan: Hal liked my dad and that's why he called him the "muffin man". He would go to each opening day and bring Hal (Richman) and the staff and whoever was there, muffins, toaster cakes or whatever. So Hal called him "Muffin Man" playfully. Dad simply loved the game, and that was more than enough for him.

Question: I recall reading in Mr. Guzzo book, that your mother had no lost love for Strat-o-matic, threw his game out once and that possibly due to his devotion to the game, was the main reason why they were divorced? Do you have any comments you wish to share on this part of your life and with your father?

Bryan: Strat was one of the things that got under her skin. The tourney's would go to 10-11 o'clock at night with the dice rolling and guys going in and out of the house after the games ended. With the going to the Fridge, the loud homerun calls and the strat action, yeah it would get on any mothers nerves, especially when she was trying to get the kids to bed, lol.

Question: Did you ever come to appreciate Strat-o-matic as much as your Dad?

Bryan: I joined Tri-State league in 2005 after my dad passed. I always played the game and played in various leagues with dad. I would play him games in the park like the 77 Dodgers vs '79 Expos. Strat has always been a part of my life.

Question: We understand there is a strat-o-matic tournament that was named after your father - what can you tell us about that? Also we have heard that your father would organize tournaments in a totally different way. For example, the players comprising the teams to compete in the tournament would be selected under strange and unusual circumstances. Is there anything you can share about this unusual strategy developed by your Dad?

Bryan: The Tri State League has created a trophy called the "Tom Swank Memorial Trophy" and its huge. My dad once ran a big tournament at the YMCA in Montclair, NJ where about 40 guys entered. At the end, in the finals it was the 1969 Mets vs. the 1970 Orioles. There were two kids at the tournament that day. Myself and Bob Pronguay another strat fanatic. Ultimately Bob, dad, and I wound up as the key members of the Tri-State Strat-o-matic League. Bob replaced my dad after he passed on. Currently the only player left in TriState league from my dads team, is on Bob Proguay's team, Johann Santana for 9 years!

The Tom Swank Memorial Trophy - Who Will Win it Next?

Wass .. thank you Brian for sharing about your father's life with us. I know we speak on behalf of many people in the SOM world who are forever grateful for all that your father did to enhance the enjoyment of others with Strat-o-matic Baseball and show us what is possible with this game.

(This interview was conducted with Bryan by Marc Wasserman on Tom's 70 birthday. Happy Birthday Tom! All the photos in this interview were supplied by Bryan.)

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

♦ STRAT THOUGHTS with BRUCE BUNDY, SOM Gamer, Creator of Baseball Card Formulas, Baseball Strategy Advisor, Beta Tester for the Game Company
(A new monthly column of "Strat Thoughts" from the mind of legendary Bruce Bundy)

♦ ARTICLE with "REZZDOGG", Owner/Moderator of Stratomatic Baseball Village
(This Article is entitled "Fathers and Sons: Diamonds are Forever".)

♦ INTERVIEW with DAN PATTERSON, Founder of Strat-o-matic Fan Forum
(This forum covers all of the sports games offered by Strat-o-matic)

♦ 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 discusses how to deal with challenges from league members when there are heated disagreements or communication breaks down.

♦ 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 second national Strat-o-matic Convention in 1973 held in Brooklyn, NY and co-sponsored by the Game Company and the Strat-o-matic Review. Wolfman will be taking us through the first nine conventions going through 1980 of which he was present at each one. From 1974-1980 Wolfman along with his friends from Chicago held these conventions in Illionies. We will continue to share one new convention in each future issue till all of these early ones are shared.

♦ SOM BASEBALL CARDS QUIZ - our test of your knowledge of the SOM Baseball Cards, questions and answers provided by Marc Wasserman. In this issue we give the answers to Quiz #1, interview our first winner (Art) and have two new questions to ask for Quiz #2. Who will be our next winner?

♦ RECOMMEND ON-LINE SOM RESOURCES -- Those On-line Strat-o-matic and Baseball related websites that offer amazing information, special tools and products to improve your game play that we recommend and which we have had personal contact with and agree with our idea 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.

Wolfman Shapiro
Founder/Editor, the Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter

email: wolfmanshapiro@gmail.com
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twitter: @StratBaseball4U