Major League Baseball’s “Opening Day” is now twice
the fun. We witness the actual major league
baseball games, and soon after they finish, late
that evening we get to play our 1st games of the new
service by SOM called “Baseball Daily”.
“Man-o-Man”. We can play the season as we go along
now, how about this? Who will be on my team’s (the MLB team I follow) roster? What will the cards look
like? How will the players and their cards evolve?
Holy moly – this is a lot to consider now!
I recently took some time to go visit Strat-o-matic
in Glen Head, N.Y. Not an easy jaunt fighting
traffic to get there from New Jersey and going
through numerous tolls. However, what was so special
about this visit is I had a chance to speak with Hal
Richman himself about Strat-o-matic and this radical
innovation.
As an old time gamer since about 1976, I still have
the same passion for the game and the cards as I
always have. Each year, when I have a chance to
meet Hal, as I have done since I was a young school
kid; the deep respect I have for him and the
positive feelings that come up, have always remained the
same. I’m still in awe of the man now as I was back
then. When I have shook Mr. Richman’s hands, I feel
like I have experienced a national treasure. To my
humble eyes, he represents “baseball royalty”. I
believe Hal Richman is truly baseball royalty in the
mindset of many folks as well.
The creation of Strat-o-matic and all the
innovations that have been added to the baseball
game are well documented. The impact of this
sports table game upon the generations of sports
writers, sport personalities and athletes is also
well documented. USBN has featured some of these
athletes who played the game of baseball and either
heard of SOM or played it. The Richman
factor, in my mind, has definitely shaped what
baseball knows about itself in the modern era. This
game with its realistic play and strategies speaks
volumes as it has had an affect upon real-life
baseball general mangers. These GMs who have built upon their
own principals of strategy would say that Strat-o-matic was at the heart or root of
their
strategies and how to build their teams. With GM’s like Billy Beane being
popularized via the film “Moneyball”, in a way the
film acknowledged
somewhat this influence from the SOM game. One key
strategy Mr. Beane uses that links up with SOM is on-base
percentage (OBP) which no other GM considered before
till Mr. Beane did it and showed that this view
works. This method
of OBP to be used for team building may have seeped
its way into the professional management culture. If this is true, then
we know today this impact has been tremendous as all
the Major League teams take note. No
doubt, Hal Richman’s innovations are directly
related to all of this.
I was introduced to Strat by my Junior High School
Science teacher, Mr. Firestone, in Hudde JHS in
Flatbush Brooklyn. He was the “Coolest” teacher
ever, with the coolest last name too. He actually
did a baseball draft in our classroom. After he
shared with us about SOM, I went and figured out my
own baseball game that was based on the varying
dice rolls. When I showed it to Mr. Firestone, he
laughed and said “it was pretty cool but there is no
comparison Marc, you need try this game (SOM) and
you will know why!”
I knew as a 12 year old kid who first braved the NY
City subways on a “day off” from school that I
should venture over to Brentano’s books in Manhattan
to get that game my teacher recommended -- this was
definitely something special for me and a memorable
day.
What memories I have of these early days -- my amazing
adventures on the subways and the diesel trains to go
to Glen Head (NY) via the Long Island Railroad (L.I.R.R.)
taking all the money I could muster together. This
money came from my allowance, shoe shine earnings,
newspaper deliveries, and money earned delivering
mattresses and furniture for my families’ Brooklyn
store; all just to pay for my train to go to Glen
Head, NY and to buy accessories for the game.
It took forever it seemed to get there
as we passed a lot of green land and trees of which
this is something Brooklyn boys don’t see much of.
Then, Stepping off the L.I.R.R. diesel passenger
train and walking across the street to enter the
“place”. Being welcomed by the staff and then
...to buy some new teams, seasons, dice, splits,
additional players, roster sheets, and anything else
I could afford.
It was a special opportunity to meet Hal and James
Williams, who worked there at the time, and I even
remember seeing Steve B. (Barkan) at the window or
sometimes just inside the office. These visits
were the
“Best Times” of my life. And, the SOM family
working there was so nice to me, always. I
shall never forget the time when my pal Larry and I
took the L.I.R.R. over there and met with James Williams and
then asked
him if they had any old roster sheets? James went
through his whole desk and some other places and
eventually found a couple of old ones (1974, 76, 77)
that I could use. I still have them.
But meeting Hal was always the highlight. It was a
pretty rough time for some of my pals in Midwood and
Flatbush back in the 70’s, but luckily, I always had
my athletics and Strat-o-matic to keep me going and
to stay out of trouble. I could have
been easily swayed otherwise you know. That inner
nerd inside of me won out over less sensible things though, and Hal Richman, the founder of
Strat-O-Matic, whom I interviewed this month,
perhaps made that all possible. I thoroughly enjoyed
my time with him during our chat. (Note – this is
the video interview we shared with our members on
Easter that is on the USBN Youtube Video Channel.)
Fast forward to 2016 and I still get chills when I
get the chance to meet Hal or share some friendly
conversation with him. To interview him for others
is truly a privilege that I am most happy to share.
I know many of you have not met him yet, but I hope
that I can get you as close as possible through my
conversation I had with him, to make it seem as if
you were there too. He really is as sincere, warm,
friendly and engaging as he appears in the
interview. I did ask him about the most recent
innovations done by Strat-O-Matic and what he sees
in their future. We talked about the influence and
significance that Strat-O-Matic has had upon
baseball strategy and statistical analysis. We
discussed the innovative research done for the Negro
League Project, (which has produced the computer
rosters of such) and a few other things.
In another video on our Youtube channel, you will
meet some of the Strat-O-Matic key players at the
game company headquarters. With the talented
young people working the company, it has helped them
to become a vibrant energetic company which is
keeping them on top right now. We have met
Adam Richman before during an earlier interview, one
of this new
breed of SOM employees (and Hal’s son). This time,
we meet John Garcia. John’s interview is quite
interesting as he discusses his various duties at
the game company. The interview with Adam Rosen is
also very cool. Adam brings life to the company by
utilizing all the special on-line tools we have and
has really put SOM into the modern age. His media
and social media accessibility has definitely taken
the game company to the next level. His special
skills with on-line information sharing have brought in many new fans,
and he really keeps us quite well informed. We love
his Twitter previews of the new baseball card
ratings. We also love his videos along with his
social media reach outs. It is very easy to
reach Adam and he is always open to talk with anyone if you have some
new ideas, suggestions
or feedback for the company. Give Adam R. a shout
if you want an ear at Strat-o-matic. I might also
mention, Adam is also a pretty good sportscaster!
J
As Wolfman mentioned in our earlier bulletin, there
are a number of new videos we have added to our
Youtube Video channel. Below you will a list of the
new videos, with a direct link to watch them and a
short description. If you are truly enjoying our
collection of video presentation, why not “LIKE” our
channel.
----------------------
Strat-o-matic Game Company Interviews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpZGDwQ-Nkg
(this is the
most recent interview I had with Mr. Richman as I
discussed in this column, 8 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHaPvRnnBHI
(an interview
with John Garcia and Adam Rosen, key members of the
SOM Staff, 2-1/2 minutes)
Strat-o-matic Strategy Videos by Earl Shamblin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dD6sq6okug
(How to doing
stealing using the Super Advance SOM Baseball Game
5+ minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBXsbnHDSFQ
(A Pitcher's
Point of weakness is discussed in this video from
the Super Advance Game, 4 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa3D8JU2taQ
(How to read the
X-Fielding Charts Results in the Super Advance Game,
3 minutes)
(Special thanks to Earl Shamblin for sharing his
strategy videos on the USBN Youtube Channel)
Interview with your editor, the Wolfman
(in case you
missed this first video interview with the Wolfman,
he talks about some of his past experiences playing
Strat and where he sees our newsletter headed in
2016 ...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIABEklS3Wo
(Note:
-- if
you wish to view the full range of special videos we
are sharing on our very popular Youtube video
channel for Ultimate Strat Baseball, the trailer for
SOM Opening Day had over 1000 views, as an example,
feel free to visit us at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC93h4fGGI7ibBUuTxrwDrzw
)
----------------------
As always, your feedback is very welcome, feel free
to email your comments to:
marc.wass@ultimatestratbaseball.com
Peace, and health to all.
