Vol. IV, Issue #5 - July 2016

** Interview with Mark Simons (Commish of 4 Leagues) **

(We are lucky to find a Commissioner who represents a single league to talk with us but
this month, Mark Simons talks to us about the four leagues he runs ... watch out!!)

(Notes from the Wolfman:  I found Mark as I have found quite a few league commissioners on StratDraft, where a league can announce when they have an opening.  But then Mark told me that he is the commissioner of not one league but four leagues, so I thought this might be one cool dude to speak to.  I think you will enjoy to meet Mark with all his experiences and insights about how to setup a league - so here we go with his interview ....)

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Wolfman:  I would like to welcome to our newsletter Mark Simons, who is actually the commissioner of a number of leagues which he calls his kids. Of course, he is proud of all of them.　 So we will ask Mark to discuss each one and their history as well as how the heck can one person have the time to run four leagues at once!!

Mark, thanks for spending time with us here at the Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter.

Mark:  Thanks Wolfman, I’m honored to be interviewed.

Wolfman:  Mark, I normally ask some personal questions first to give our members a chance to meet you as a person and know a little bit more about your background before we talk about Strat. So first, which part of the world do you live in right now and is this where you grew up?

Mark:  I currently l live in Phoenix, Arizona, but I was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My wife and I moved here two years ago, and wish we had done it sooner! The weather in Wisconsin is brutal. Of course it is because of how brutal the winters are in Wisconsin that allowed me to hunker down and play Strat-O-Matic when I was a kid.

Wolfman:  When you were younger - did you actually play baseball and if so what was your
best position?

Mark:  I did, I loved playing baseball growing up. Never made it past high school baseball, but my best position was left field. Once I learned I wasn’t good enough to play beyond that level, I played endless hours of "Strikeout" which involved throwing a tennis ball against our garage and going one on one with a neighbor friend of mine. We used to have to pick a team and then put together a lineup, and bat either left handed or right handed depending on the batting order. Burned my rotator cuff out, but man did we have fun.

Wolfman:  What about which MLB team did you root for when you were younger and are
you still a fan of this team? Are there any ball players you really followed or were your favorites?

Here we see Mark with the Legendary Great, The Rickey Henderson

Mark:  Yes, my favorite team was the Oakland A’s. Even though I grew up in Milwaukee, the Brewers were kind of boring and bad, and the A’s were bright and exciting and they were winning, so I picked the A’s at an early age. I absolutely loved those uniforms. My first favorite player was Joe Rudi. But as I got older, especially in 1979 when I would get home from school to see how badly the A’s lost the night before (we received the afternoon paper in those days), I started to see the name R. Henderson in the box score. My dad took me to an A’s game in September of that year, and I got to see him in person, and Rickey Henderson became my all time favorite player. The A’s were terrible that year, and I lived and died on every game, and Rickey was the one guy that I loved. I was also fortunate that three years later, I was at County Stadium when he tied Lou Brock’s record and then the next night broke his record (for stolen bases in a year). I still have pictures from those games.

I’ve also developed a great memorabilia collection from Rickey, including the jersey he wore in 1982 when he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, to the last jersey and cleats he wore as a professional when he was playing with the San Diego Surf!

Wolfman:  How did you hear about SOM Baseball? When did you first begin to play the game?

Mark:  I first heard about SOM when I was in 7th grade, we could choose an elective class for one period each semester, and I saw on the program this Strat-O-Matic Baseball class! I signed up, I had never heard about the game, but we had a teacher who taught us how to play, and then he allowed us to draft a stock team! He would do the scouting for all of the teams and tell you what the strengths of each team were, but we then got to choose which team we wanted. I was never able to get those 73 or 74 A’s teams! But once I learned how to play the game, pretty soon I had my own game, and was playing non-stop either solo or in a small league. We had four guys who would play religiously in 1978 – 79. Since the A’s were terrible, I ended up with the 78 Padres since they had Gene Tenace and Rollie Fingers!

Wolfman:  What is your history participating in leagues (face-to-face or computer based)?
Have you ever played in any tournaments?

Mark:  I went away from SOM once I went to college, but I still had all of my old teams. It was probably back in 1999 when I got back to playing on the computer, and I first started with another game (not strat), it was fun, but I missed playing the actual game since it was just a sim game. I then started playing the Sporting News SOM game, but again, I missed playing it live. Finally I went and purchased the SOM computer game and started looking for leagues. My first league was CCRBA, with Scott Campbell as the commissioner, and once I started I was hooked. The second league I joined, which I still am a member of was "When It Was A Game" (WIWAG). This league started playing with the 1946 season, and is now in the 1973 season.

I also joined when I was in Milwaukee, the best face to face league, called Madison-Milwaukee Baseball Association (MMBA). This league has been around since 2001, and is a 20 person face to face league that have rosters and a salary cap, as well as a deep minor league roster (each team has a 60 person roster). They have a June amateur draft, as well as an elaborate draft day which is held at Miller Park in February once the SOM cards are released. They play a 39 game schedule, over a 13 week period of time starting in late February and ending in June. It is super competitive and a ton of fun, and it is one of the things I really miss about Milwaukee.

I recently was able to connect with four other guys in the Phoenix area, and we too have started a small league. We play every Thursday night and we each took two stock teams (I of course took the 73 A’s and the 90’s A’s). We play super advanced, and it is a blast as well. I have not participated in the STAR Tournaments (note: now called STPC), asthey always happen to fall during Spring Training here in Arizona, and my wife and I would rather go to live baseball games in March!

Wolfman:  Now as I understand it, you are the commissioner of the following four leagues:
Charles O. Finley (est. 1970);　 Marvin Miller (est. 1980);　 Camelot (est. 1962) and the Bud Selig league (est. 2000).  Can you tell us briefly how each of these leagues came into existence and
their history and why you selected these names for that specific league?

Mark:  Yes, the first league I started was COF (Charles O. Finley) and that was in 2007. My inspiration was Alan Boodman’s Smiley League which I’m a member. I wanted to start a stock league similar to how Alan’s is set up, but without losing players to free agency. So using Scott Campbell’s constitution (I think it is the best format for any league to use), I created COF. I figured I had to name it after the A's incredible owner Charlie Finley, who I don’t believe gets the credit he deserves in baseball. He was the one that back in the 60’s started talking about Interleague Play, Night baseball for the playoffs, the designated hitter, ballpark promotions, colorful uniforms, etc.

I then created the Marvin Miller (MM) league which is named after another person who I felt changed baseball, and is a personal inspiration for me. This one was started with the 1980’s cards and had the same rules as COF. Camelot came next, starting with the 1962 season, right during the "Age of Camelot" with the Kennedy administration. The last one I created was the Bud Selig  (BS) League, where we started playing in 2000, right during the height of steroid usage, and under the nose of Bud Selig.

Wolfman:  What are the names of the teams you manage in each league? Also do you always try to build the same type of team or do you experiment with the idea to manage four different teams?

Mark:  I manage the Oakland/Kansas City A’s in each of the leagues. For me, I like to build the team by getting as many of the original players that were on those teams as I can. But I really try to build my teams through starting pitching and strong defense up the middle, especially at SS & 2b. With the 1962 A’s it has been a great challenge, but now I’m starting to see those pieces that made the 70’s A’s so strong with Campaneris, Bando, Jackson and Hunter now on the team.

Wolfman:  Can you describe the structure of your leagues and how the playoffs work? Are they all computer leagues, any retro leagues, face-to-face, etc ...

Mark:  Yes, each of my leagues are computer only leagues. We play vs. a CM each week, Netplay isn’t required until the playoffs. During the week, teams play either 3 or 4 road games, they send their results to the league, and then we have a deadline for new CMs to be posted for the upcoming week. I import those CMs and send out the Playball file each week. Guys don’t have to wait for a CM to play, they play once the file comes out. It makes it much easier than having to wait for your opponent to send a CM, I manage all of that so that all guys have to do is play.

The playoffs for COF & MM are the four division winners and then a seven game series to get to the WS. In Camelot, we take the top two in each league for a 7 game series then the WS. In Bud Selig, we have three divisions, so we have a five game LDS with a wild card, then a 7 game LCS before the WS.

Wolfman:  You said all the leagues work basically the same, so how do you create your teams - can you please discuss the rules of your leagues and how you build you team (players you keep from year to year and your draft and trades).

Mark:  So in the inaugural year of the league for COF we started with 20 teams, and the four teams that weren’t picked were then disbanded and the players were drafted during an expansion draft. For MM we started with 22 teams, and cut four, Camelot started with 16, and we cut four, and for BS, we started with 24 and cut 6 teams. With the franchises that were eliminated they could never be used in the future, so those rookies for those teams were always going to be free agents each year (like not using the Mets in Camelot, Tom Seaver was a rookie free agent and not eligible to be claimed).

Each year the franchise could select one rookie that came to their team that year and protect him by giving up their first round pick. So for example, in 1967, Reggie Jackson was a rookie, so the A’s "claimed" him by giving up their first round pick. It allows for teams to still have some of those franchise faces years after we’ve started.

We have a UHOLH (usage rule) of 50% adjusted AB/IP (I add in 5% usage to the league file), also if you severely overuse a player you can lose him to free agency (this prevents guys from overusing players). Any player that is overused is also ineligible for the playoffs.

Wolfman:  Where do you find the time to be the commissioners for all these leagues - or have
you set them up in a way where your duties don't take so much time? Do you have other league officers to help you?

Mark:  Well, that is a good question. I’m very organized, so I have two leagues, Camelot and Bud Selig whose results are due by Friday by 10:00 pm, and then the CMs are due by 9:00 am on Saturday. For COF and MM, they are due by Saturday and the CMs due on Sunday, so I import all the results and then import the CMs and get them out religiously every Saturday and Sunday. Having the website helps with the organization, because all roster moves are entered on the site, and all CMs are posted there, so I don’t have to go looking for them each week. Because I want it done right, I pretty much do things solo.

I’ve had to drop out of other leagues as I’ve started each new league. I currently am only in two other leagues that I’m not the Commish, WIWAG and the Smiley League. Not having eight other leagues to play games helps. I always have to resist the urge to join a new league, I know I won’t have the time later and will regret it.

Wolfman:  I also noticed the website for all your leagues you use Nick Flory website, I know he supports quite a few leagues via his site, how do you know Mr. Flory?

Mark:  I don’t know where I would be without Nick’s website. I first joined a league that Nick is the Commissioner of, and I was so impressed I asked him about possibly hosting COF. Once he agreed, I then added Marvin Miller, and as Camelot and Bud Selig were born, he hosted them as well. I’m always a little nervous because Nick is such a great guy and rarely says no, that I don’t want to burn him out. He’s got a number of leagues that he supports, close to 90, and so I try to do as much as I can to help him out, because honestly, if he stops hosting sites, I’ll have to make a determination about how many leagues I can do.

Wolfman:  Mark, have you every been the champion of one of your leagues?  When you have done so, what type of team did you have or build that became this championship team?

Mark:  I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been a league champion a number of times. In COF I’ve won five titles, in MM I’ve won twice and then in my other leagues over the years I’ve won around five other titles. I’d say the common theme for all of those teams was great starting pitching, strong versatile bench and bullpen, solid defense and homerun power. Having a starting staff that can have three asterisk starters is key because you can maximize your bullpen usage if you only need three starters. This also allows you to have a bench to use for pinch hitting when faced with a tough left or right handed pitcher.

Wolfman:  How is the relationship of your members amongst each other in your leagues? Is there
one member who dominates the league and consistently wins championships -- or is it happening over various members?

Mark:  What I’ve seen is that the guys that enjoy the way I run the league, and it isn’t for everyone of course, tend to want to join our additional leagues when I have vacancies. If I look at my leagues, with the 86 teams in total, 63 of them are owned by guys who are in more than one of my leagues. I think if you ask the guys that are in multiple leagues, they would say there are things they appreciate.

First I’m very organized, and so the leagues run well because there is a set time for games to be played, CMs to be posted and the league file to be sent out. Guys can usually set their watch with these deadlines. Second, I’m consistent, the rules apply to everyone, which can irate some guys who would like for you to make an exception to them and under their unique circumstance. I don’t believe that is right, especially to the guys who follow the rules in the constitution. If I make an exception for one person, then I open the floodgates for more exceptions and then where does it stop?

Third, I have zero tolerance for unethical play, and have removed owners who I found restarting games, deleting plays or had such a consistently better road vs. home record than their team was expected to perform that it was clear something wasn’t right. Lastly, I think guys have fun, and they know the league will be there so that when they draft the player who won’t produce for another five years they don’t have to worry about the league folding before they make a run. COF is a great example; we’re already our the 15th season.

As far as champions, there is some diversity, but I do see some of the same names have very good teams, and I think they’d be willing to talk about how they build their teams. When I’m sending some of the same guys league trophies every year, I know they know how to build a team and enjoy the league because of it.

Wolfman:  When you have had a successful (playoff bound team) what were the keys to your
success with this team (or teams)? Is there special strategies you use to build your teams? And is there any special strategies you use when playing your games?

Mark:  For me, having strong starters is critical, but also having a great pen too, especially one that can match up against some of the cards that are out there is important. What I’ve seen is that when Hal plays, if you have a deep bullpen, he isn’t as active as I would be, in terms of bringing in one pitcher to face one hitter, so I’m very aggressive with my bullpen. Having a great deep bench is also critical so that you can bring in that left handed slugger off the bench to face that 9R right handed killer. Being able to have guys who can play multiple positions and not being afraid to pinch hit for someone who has a bad match-up is key.

Wolfman:  We always ask those we interview if they have any tips or advice for our members that could help them with success with their game playing?

Mark:  I’d say look for flexibility in your roster, look for those guys who have in some cases mutant cards that will be great off the bench as a pinch hitter, or someone who destroys LH pitching that you can use to get on base. I also would say, draft guys that you liked growing up, it makes it a lot more enjoyable if you’ve got guys you like. Most of all, have fun. This is a game after all, and those guys that play for blood tend to wear out everyone else, and aren’t usually long for league play.

Wolfman:  Have you ever tried to play in the on-line baseball leagues that Strat-o-matic offers, other leagues (face-to-face or via the internet)?

Mark:  I have played in a few of them, but really miss the thrill of playing the game yourself. For our playoffs we require Netplay, so I get to enjoy that, and I love that challenge. Especially with a really good strat player who makes as many moves as I do, it is like a great game of chess.

Wolfman:  What do you like about each of the leagues you run? What is the key for the longevity of your leagues? As I see two of the leagues have been around for quite some time, one over 25 years!

Mark:  In WIWAG, which has been playing since the 1946 season, and we’re now in 1973, there was a great core that started the league, and I’ve just maintained it. I was the commish for this league from 1956 to 1973, and I am stepping down from that role at the end of the year. I think the key thing is to get the right guys who love strat to be a part of it, and then to make sure that they can depend on you as the commish to do the right thing. With COF, MM, CBL and BS, guys know how I run leagues, and appreciate that if they ask a question, I’m going to respond in a timely manner.

I would also say, that having run five leagues, you also get a few detractors. I’ve had to move on from a couple of owners not because I felt they were cheating, but because they were not a good fit for the league. Either they were worried that everyone was cheating them, or they took it so seriously that every rule had to be analyzed to see where they could find a loophole. Of course those I’ve kicked out for cheating will always bad mouth me, but I just consider the source. I just know my leagues are better having made these hard decisions.

Wolfman:  Have you had any special experiences (certain games that stand out in your mind that you played or series you played) being a manager in one of your leagues that were amazing
or very unusual games, or something you are proud of? Maybe some key trade you made ...

Mark:  When I won my first title in WIWAG in 1970 that was a thrill. I had been a member since the 1952 season, and in 1958 I was one out away from winning the title when Frank Torre hit a two run walk off homer in the 9th inning of the 7th game to lose the WS, this crushed me. I had to do a serious rebuild, so winning that first title was great. But I think the most memorable has to be the 1971 World Series, where the A’s were going for their second title, and having Catfish Hunter throw a no-hitter in game five to capture the title was the most enjoyable.

I’ve only experienced one time where I hit four homeruns in a game, and have had several no-hitters (a few of them via Netplay), but I’ve never had a perfect game. That would be the Holy Grail for me with SOM.

Wolfman:  Why do you personally like playing SOM - did you try other baseball games like SOM?

Mark:  You can’t beat the realism. When you look at the season stats and compare them to real life, it is amazing to see how much they line up. I’m married to SOM, so I can’t see myself trying another baseball game other than SOM. Thank you Hal!

Wolfman:  Finally is there anything else you would like to share with our members that I didn't ask you before that you think is important to let them know about?

Mark:  I would just say that if someone is interested in joining one of my leagues, please contact me. I can let you know about upcoming vacancies and hopefully match someone up with the team that they root for. My goal in keeping members is to find them a team that they like, because it means they’ll stick around during the rough times of a rebuild project.

Wolfman:  So thanks Mark for spending time with us. Good Luck in the current seasons in your leagues with more exciting seasons ahead.

And if a member of the newsletter wanted to contact you or had some questions for you, is this possible and if so what is the best way to do it?

Mark:  Best way is by email: mjsimons21@gmail.com

Wolfman:  Can we share your league websites with us so our members can read about your leagues?

Mark:  Yes!!

Charles O. Finley
http://flory.net/cof/index.php

Marvin Miller
http://flory.net/mml/index.php

Camelot
http://flory.net/camelot/index.php

Bud Selig
http://flory.net/selig/index.php

Wolfman:  All the best and thank you!!

Mark:  Thank you! This was a treat. Great questions.