Vol. III,
Issue #1 - March 2015
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**
The Billy Sample Challenge
**
Comments from the Boys, Part II
(In this final part of our report
we hear from Billy and Bryan
about their thoughts and feelings on how their teams
performed and their experiences on this special day)
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An Introduction:
As is my style as the editor of the Ultimate Strat Baseball
Newsletter, I try to ask some very good questions to help our readers
have a sense of what it is like to be an ex-major leaguer
playing Strat for the 1st time, or how a very
successful Strat Manager deals with playing an ex-ball player. So after Billy and Bryan
finished this epic series, I sent to both them a few questions
via email. Not only so I could give a full report on how
the day went, but since I wasn't present either I was curious
what happened as well from their own perceptives.
Also, after
Billy left for the day, I had a chance to speak on the phone to
both Bryan and Marc, and boy were they both excited!! I mean Billy
was being Billy and if you read our previous interviews with
him (through the newsletter), he not not only is an ex-baseball player but he
has been a
sportscaster and now he is a movie producer as well. What a great life
he leads aye? Anyway, part of this persona by Billy was being
carried over into this day but I wanted to have these two
players tell us
what really happened too ... so enjoy - Wolfman.
Interview with Billy Sample
Wolfman:
Well, now we have a chance to interview the manager of the 1983
Texas Rangers, Billy Sample - lets get his side of how his
experience went playing strat-o-matic baseball for the first
time. Thank you Billy for helping us to make this most
interesting day.
Billy:
Well, Wolfman, at the beginning I told Bryan that the Rangers
from my era played well against the Red Sox and in one series in
Arlington, we (our pitching staff and #1 league defense) shut
out the Sox in a three game series. Our Strat-o-matic three game
series was held at Fenway Park, and was fairly low scoring, with
at least five good pitching performances. I had our real
All-star pitcher start game one, Rick Honeycutt, followed by
Charlie Hough and Jon Matlack, with Danny Darwin and Dave
Schmidt coming out of the bullpen, with Schmidt picking up the
save in the deciding Game 3.
Here we see Bryan
explaining to Billy how the X-readings on the Pitcher's card are
linked
to a special fielding chart. Bryan did an absolutely
amazing job to make sure Billy
was well versed in all the rules so he would have a equal chance
to be successful.
Wolfman:
Billy, did you do any preliminary preparation for your
series against Bryan. Were you able to study ahead of time the cards we sent
you of the 1983 Texas Rangers of which you were a member? Or did
you just learn the game from Bryan and begin to play?
Billy:
Marc, Bryan and
Bryan's friend Ken, were very helpful with the nuances and
intricacies of the game. I had a working concept of the
structure, but hadn't played a board baseball game since playing
with my New
York City cousin Stan, when we were teenagers. The day before
our contest, I worked on a number of lineups, and settled on
three, and in each of my mock lineups I was leading off and
Buddy Bell was batting third.
I announced to the audience that in 1983 I happened to bat in
all nine spots of the American League order, hmm, I wonder how
many players have done that during the course of a season? I
know there are a few players who have played all nine positions,
but to bat in all nine spots in the order seems fairly easy, but
maybe not?
Wolfman:
I understand Billy you were kind of doing a play by play
during the games? You were a sports announcer before right?
For Bryan and Marc, they said it added so much to the day's
activities, what inspired you to do this?
Billy:
Ha-ha ... well, they were
nice to humor me, I think I would have called a better game from
the broadcast booth, had two other people played the game. I
even started to signing O' Canada, but I guess I'll wait for the
1983 Blue Jays, no, that's okay, I hit the Red Sox better than
the Blue Jays. I had broadcasted for a
number of entities during my thirty-five year baseball journey;
the Braves radio and television, Seattle Mariners
television, Angels radio, CBS radio and MLB.com Internet radio,
among other broadcast-journalistic sites.
This picture of
Billy answers the question, how serious would an ex-Major
Leaguer take playing
Strat-o-matic, even if it means using a team he was a member of.
Billy brought with him his
Macintosh notebook computer, so he could look up real-life
matchups of the players from
the 1983 season. This should have been a sign to Bryan
what was in store for him this day!
Wolfman:
Also I heard from the guys you were going on the internet
while you were playing to look at
stats of certain players as well - what comment can you make
about this strategy tactic?
Billy:
I wanted to
look up a couple of match-ups, who did well against whom, that
might affect my batting order or who may or may not start in one
of the games.
Wolfman:
To achieve your victory in the series, were there any key
strategies you used? How did your ball player Billy Sample, a
younger version of yourself do in this series?
Billy:
The games were very similar to many games during the course of
the baseball season, they were well pitched and because of that,
the balance of the games hinged on each and every pitch or in
this case, each and
every roll of the dice.
Game Two was a Charlie Hough
complete game shutout, it was 4-0 ... game one, Honeycutt left
with the lead but the bases were loaded, Darwin struck out
Rice, but Armas got the game winning extra base hit. Dave Schmidt picked up the deciding out (in game 3), but had the
drive to center had been further, we could have had a totally
different outcome.
The average time of game was about thirty minutes, and that
includes the extra time for my acquaintance to
the different rules and rolls of the dice. I remember how my
cousin had leagues, and team vs. team schedules;
and though it seemed time consuming to me, it didn't seem quite
so consuming during our contest, and when the game was on the
line, it was interesting to see how Bryan and I ratcheted up the
intensity.
Ha, the ballplayer Billy Sample on the card was about the same as
the real one, can you please get a clutch hit?
Well, he did well enough to stay in the lineup and make a
contribution, scored a run or two. Well, we won
two out of three, now time to go to New York and face Guidry.
It was a nice afternoon, and the two of Bryan's children who
were at home, were very sweet and mannered.
Wolfman:
While I am here
Billy, can you give share with our readers an update on your
movie called "Reunion 108", which you acted in and wrote the
script for it? I know I have already seen it advertised on
Amazon now.
Here we see the
front and back cover of the DVD of Billy's new movie called
"Reunion 108" where he
was one of the actors as well as the scriptwriter. Of
course the movie has to do with Baseball but also
as the cover shows it is a
SINister
Comedy as well. It is good to see that Billy has been able
to
branch out in other fields of endeavors since the end of his
playing days - the movie is listed on Amazon.
Billy:
My baseball clubhouse
movie, Reunion 108 is indeed on Amazon as a DVD. It'll be on
Instant Downloads too, but I'm not sure of the exact timing at
the moment. Now, keep in mind that it's an R rated movie, from
my screenplay that took top honors at the Hoboken Film Festival
a few years ago. Ha, about sixty percent of the movies are R
rated and yet, I feel the need to tell people, that mine is R
rated ... Reunion 108 has Facebook and IMDb pages and if you
like it, feel free to express that, and rate it high! :-) Best
of health,
Billy
(NOTE: if you might like to
get your copy {not too expensive} of this movie by Billy, it is
available at Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TJIUHBQ )
Wolfman:
Thank you once
again Billy - so whenever you are ready to play again, after
your victory, we will see if another one of our members has the
courage to face the new king of "Strat-o-matic" Baseball. All
the best and good luck with your film, I know I am very curious
to see it.
Well as you know now, by
this part of this report, Bryan didn't have an easy day against
Mr. Billy
Sample. Here we see more of the action of the day. On the left
Bryan is studying his scoresheet to see
if he can overcome Billy's strategy while Bryan's friend Ken is
watching the games from the sidelines.
Comments from Bryan Swank
Wolfman:
Now lets talk with Bryan and get his impressions of this
historic day - when an ex-Major Leaguer accepted our challenge,
who had never played Strat before to go from an active player to
the manager of his old teammates.
Bryan, thanks again for being our representative to accept the
"Billy Sample Challenge". So how were you feeling this morning
knowing that a real life ballplayer, who no doubt you have
played with his card would be arriving at your home? Bryan -
were nervous at all before or during your playing of the games?
What was Billy like in person?
Bryan:
Wolfman, first let me start by thanking you and Marc for this
grand oppurtunity. it was an elating experience. At first I was
anxious due to a circle of uncertainty regarding the event, but
it was eventually handled with ease and joy! The minute
Billy walked up the stairs to my door at 1135 AM, I knew that not only was he a man of his word
that could be counted upon but the warmth that he emanated was
immediately comforting for me. I almost felt ill prepared due to
the fact that my SOM experience has been limited to that of the
computer game. With that being said however, it was not a
crutch. Billy embraced and enhanced the experience from the
start. He was ready and eager to learn and compete.
Wolfman:
Bryan did Billy pick up the game quite quickly? After he
started to play did he make any managerial moves that surprised
you or were unexpected? The type of moves that helped him to
Victory?
Bryan:
He had a bag with goodies, his posters and a movie box but he
also brought a laptop with him to research his own history
against certain pitchers like Bob Ojeda and Luis Aponte whom he
was 1 for 4 against. Billy said that they played Boston well in
83, usually better at Arlington (TX) except this series was held
exclusively at Fenway.
Billy tended to use a
conservative approach to the game as he didn't do any stealing,
and more was waiting for the big hit. He did bunt once with
himself, the ultimate sacrifice, which turned out that he bunted
for a hit on a low dice roll. Billy won the series 2-1 with game
2 being a shutout by the knuckleballer Charlie Hough. He seldom
used his bullpen but did peruse his reliever cards as if to warm
them up, as he pulled these cards on the side.
His aspect as a former
player was that he was quite knowledgeable and savvy. He played,
in my opinion from a realistic standpoint compared to a Strat
one, meaning that he questioned me when I pinch hit for Yaz with
Dave Stapleton to get a better righty-lefty matchup even though
in fact that this might not ever happen in real life. We
had lots of laughs over these impunity's of the game during our
play. Once the game was explained to Billy he was a fast
learner, looking at his own cards and relishing in rolling the
dice. He did get several good rolls too (which always helps).
Billy strategized in game 3
the best I feel, when he sat Jim Sundberg at catcher for seldom
used Bobby Johnson. It paid off big as Bobby hit the go ahead HR
in game 3 to ice it for the visiting Rangers. He exploited
the match up against lefty John Tudor as Bobby killed lefties.
Billy explained to me that he was an AL guy and even brought a
Texas Ranger jersey, number five, his number to wear for photos.
I underestimated Billy's competitive nature and did not realize
how well he would do at this game. However I felt that I
honorably lost to an honorable man.
Wolfman:
What kind of comments was Billy making during the games? When
Marc called me to give a progress report while the two of you
were playing, I heard a lot of conversation going on between
both of you? In my brief exchanges with Billy, he sounds
like he is quiet a funny guy?
Bryan:
Throughout his stay from 11:35 AM to 4:15 PM, he told us several
stories and described the personalities of the players he knew
well. He showed his admiration for his teammates George
Wright, Buddy Bell and Mickey Rivers, even imitating Mickey
Rivers' voice as well as George Foster for more laughs. Billy not only played the game but even did play by play for each
inning doing his own home run calls for his team and mine.
Wolfman:
Bryan, how did Billy use his own card - did the Strat version of
Billy's 1983 season, have success in your series?
Bryan:
He joked as he lead off first game and went 0 for 4 and joked
how he didn't hit in the clutch. He told us that he had batted
everywhere in lineup that year and then batted second game 2 in
respect for Mickey Rivers. Then in game 3 he was back to
leadoff. Throughout this series he spoke with great affection
and affinity for his teammates, it was easy to see how he
revered and respected them.
Wolfman:
Finally Bryan, what was your final impression of this day?
Will you cherish or remember it from now on as to what had happened here
for you?
Bryan:
This experience was very valuable to me personally. Just the
exchange to have this face to face encounter with Billy could
never be replaced by a non-human one. We had great chemistry
amongst via the sharing of personal stories, the laughs and real
life talks. I would relish to engage in this experience any time
again in the future and would willingly accept a rematch God
willing. I thank Billy for this day and all those involved. The
timing was impeccable to coincide with Strat-o-matic's Opening
Day and the start of Spring Training -- Play Ball! Sincerely,
Bryan Swank
Wolfman:
We at the Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter would like to thank
you Bryan for helping us to setup this Historic Day - all the
best!!
**
The Billy Sample Challenge,
End of the day Photos
**
(Please find below so other
photos taken from this day's action, what a day, what a day!! )
I personally believe that
of all the photos Marc took, this one provides the true view of
who Billy is.
Now while he is about to sign the scoresheets for us, we don't
know if he is smiling due to the photo
being taken
or because he is delighted at his victory over Bryan or just
maybe, he had a great time playing
our Strat-o-matic Baseball game. In any case, Mr. Billy
Sample is a player to be reckoned with now!
Bryan really appreciated
that Billy was willing to sign
one of the photos of him, that Bryan had in his collection.
Another way for Bryan to remember this special day.
Here Billy is signing a
print of the cover of his new movie from the DVD. Some
people may think
that well known people or former sports players get tired of
giving their autographs, but I can tell you
as a published author who has signed his own share of books, it
is a great feeling to know that
others appreciate your efforts in life. Plus, it means a lot when
you get an autograph of a special
person like Billy that is done in person. This is an
experience that you never forget, thanks Billy!!
The last photo of the
day, as once again Strat-o-matic Baseball is a catalyst to bring
people together to
celebrate the game of baseball. We at the newsletter thank
Billy, Bryan and Marc for helping to make this
day happen with each of their unique personalities and
contributions. So now the Start World knows that
the ex-Major Leaguers can become very "bad-ass" SOM gamers as
well. Who knows, perhaps in the
future one of these elite athletes might win a World Strat-o-matic Baseball tournament!! Anyway,
it is clear in this photo, a close new brotherhood of friends
came together for a very enjoyable day!
The Billy Sample Challenge,
The Video
(In the section below are links to differents segments
of video that Marc took during the day to enhance your
experience of what took place during Billy's visit to Bryan's
home. Please note that we have our own channel on Youtube for the
newsletter, where this video is stored, the home page is listed
below if you might wish to see other great videos that we share
as well. Enjoy this look at what took place during the historic
series and a chance to meet Billy in a more personable way.)
Billy Sample Challenge, February 7th, Part
1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FHdvpRt9wQ
Billy Sample Challenge, February 7th, Part
2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC_FbUwSoRs
Billy Sample Challenge, February 7th, Part
3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opqMQP1REUQ
Billy Sample Challenge, February 7th, Part
4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRKbQsXbWLQ
Billy Sample Challenge, February 7th, Part
5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efXBqiJCe3Y
Billy Sample Challenge, February 7th, Part
6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qZaTTM9rfs
Ultimate Strat
Baseball Newsletter Youtube Video Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC93h4fGGI7ibBUuTxrwDrzw
**
The Billy Sample Challenge, The Report,
Part I
**
(Below are links to return back
to the other parts of this special report offered through the
Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter. If you enjoyed this report
and are not already a member of
our free newsletter dedicated to SOM & MLB Baseball, go to our
website below & sign up Now!)
We can just imagine from this photo as Bryan faces Billy, what
is on Bryan's mind as he tries to
figure out the next strategy Billy plans to do to win the day.
Billy was a fast learner how the game plays.
Part I:
Its
Billy's 1983 Rangers vs. Bryan's 1983 Red Sox
(summary of what
happened during the games, illustrated)
Introduction:
How this
Series All Began
(The Sequence of
Events which lead to the Series plus ....)
