By Glenn Guzzo
The long-awaited set of Negro League baseball stars is expected to be available by November, Strat-O-Matic announced.
Though there have been postponements before, the company indicated that it is timing the release to coincide with the unveiling of its new Web site design at www.strat-o-matic.com.
That suggests the Negro Leagues set is well in hand. It also suggests the significance of this set to the game company and especially to Strat-O-Matic creator Hal Richman, who had long wanted to re-create the Negro Leagues, but lacked the stats and research to merit the Strat-O-Matic brand.
Now, thanks to years of research by Strat-gamer Scott Simkus, SOM is ready to unveil what may be its most historically significant sports simulation.
Simkus, the consultant on the project, contributed 3,000 rare Negro League box scores, plus expertise gained in years’ worth of passionate research into the stars banned from Major League baseball prior to the sport’s formal integration in 1947.
In addition to timing the Negro Leagues release with the attention-getting Web site redesign, Strat-O-Matic will include with each card-set order a special booklet profiling each of the players in the set. That’s a tribute to the players, but also an education for gamers about stars who played in relative obscurity from the 1910s through the 1940s.
Strat-O-Matic’s roster of 108 cards includes 103 players (five two-way players have separate batting and pitching cards), 23 of whom already have been inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
This set will be such a natural companion to SOM’s Hall of Fame 2000 set that the game company will offer a combination purchase. With the HOF 2000 set’s 192 cards, that makes 300 in all, including 212 Hall of Famers. (The Negro Leagues set may be purchased separately, of course.)
The computer roster will require Version 14 of the CD-ROM Baseball game.
The Negro Leagues roster includes the legends – Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell and Buck Leonard – of course.
It includes superstars in Baseball’s Hall of Fame who are a half-step below the name-recognition of those legends – players like Oscar Charleston, Willie Wells, Pop Lloyd and Bullet Joe Rogan.
Also included are recent HOF inductees, like catcher Biz Mackey, outfielder Pete Hill and power-hitting first baseman Mule Suttles.
Additional inclusions are nearly Hall-worthy stars like infielder John Beckwith and pitcher Chet Brewer. And a HOF finalist who became more famous for his contributions after his playing career, Buck O’Neill.
An unusual addition is five players who will receive separate cards as pitcher and batters: pitcher/outfielder John Donaldson, pitcher/infielder Jose Mendez, pitcher/catcher Double Duty Radcliffe, pitcher/outfielder Bullet Joe Rogan and the ultimate utility man, Cuban pitcher/outfielder/infielder Martin DiHigo.
According to Simkus, the players may be grouped into four, 27-card teams, perhaps according to their experience with such storied franchises as the Kansas City Monarchs and Chicago American Giants.
Here’s the lineup (* indicates the player is in the Hall of Fame)
|
STRAT-O-MATIC NEGRO LEAGUE ALL-STARS (103 Players, 108 cards)
|
||||
|
PLAYER
|
Primary TEAM
|
POS A
|
POS B
|
POS C
|
|
Allen, Newt
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
2b
|
3b
|
ss
|
|
Bankhead, Sam
|
Pittsburgh Crawfords
|
ss
|
cf
|
2b
|
|
Baro, Bernardo
|
Cuban Stars
|
lf
|
cf
|
|
|
Beckwith, John
|
Baltimore Black Sox
|
3b
|
ss
|
c
|
|
Bell, Cool Papa*
|
St. Louis Stars
|
cf
|
lf
|
1b
|
|
Bell, William
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
P
|
|
|
|
Benjamin, Jerry
|
Homestead Grays
|
cf
|
|
|
|
Blackwell, Charles
|
St. Louis Stars
|
lf
|
rf
|
cf
|
|
Brewer, Chet
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
P
|
|
|
|
Brown, Dave
|
Chicago American Giants
|
P
|
|
|
|
Brown, Larry
|
Memphis Red Sox
|
c
|
|
|
|
Brown, Ray*
|
Homestead Grays
|
P
|
|
|
|
Brown, Willard*
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
cf
|
lf
|
ss
|
|
Byrd, Bill
|
Baltimore Elite Giants
|
P
|
|
|
|
Cannady, Rev
|
New York Black Yankees
|
2b
|
3b
|
ss
|
|
Carr, Tank
|
Hilldale Daisies
|
1b
|
3b
|
of
|
|
Charleston, Oscar*
|
Indianapolis ABCs
|
cf
|
lf
|
1b
|
|
Cockrell, Phil
|
Hilldale Daisies
|
P
|
|
|
|
Cooper, Andy*
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
P
|
|
|
|
Creacy, Dewey
|
St. Louis Stars
|
3b
|
|
|
|
Crutchfield, Jimmie
|
Pittsburgh Crawfords
|
cf
|
rf
|
lf
|
|
Currie, Rube
|
Hilldale Daisies
|
P
|
|
|
|
Dandridge, Ray*
|
Newark Eagles
|
3b
|
|
|
|
Davis, Roosevelt
|
St. Louis Stars
|
P
|
|
|
|
Day, Leon*
|
Newark Eagles
|
P
|
|
|
|
Demoss, Bingo
|
Indianapolis ABCs
|
2b
|
ss
|
3b
|
|
Dihigo, Martin*
|
Cuban Stars
|
P
|
of
|
2b
|
|
Dismukes, Dizzy
|
Indianapolis ABCs
|
P
|
|
|
|
Dixon, Rap
|
Harrisburgh Giants
|
rf
|
cf
|
lf
|
|
Donaldson, John
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
P
|
cf
|
|
|
Drake, Bill
|
St. Louis Stars
|
P
|
|
|
|
Duncan, Frank
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
c
|
lf
|
|
|
Foster, Big Bill*
|
Chicago American Giants
|
P
|
|
|
|
Foster, Rube*
|
Chicago American Giants
|
P
|
|
|
|
Gardner, Jelly
|
Chicago American Giants
|
rf
|
cf
|
lf
|
|
Gibson, Josh*
|
Pittsburgh Crawfords
|
c
|
lf
|
1b
|
|
Harris, Vic
|
Homestead Grays
|
lf
|
cf
|
1b
|
|
Hensley, Eggie
|
St. Louis Stars
|
P
|
|
|
|
Hill, Pete*
|
Chicago American Giants
|
cf
|
lf
|
|
|
Holland, Bill
|
New York Black Yankees
|
P
|
|
|
|
Hughes, Sammy T.
|
Baltimore Elite Giants
|
2b
|
ss
|
|
|
Jenkins, Fats
|
New York Black Yankees
|
lf
|
rf
|
cf
|
|
Johnson, Heavy
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
lf
|
rf
|
c
|
|
Johnson, Home Run
|
New York Lincoln Giants
|
ss
|
2b
|
|
|
Johnson, Judy*
|
Hilldale Daisies
|
3b
|
ss
|
2b
|
|
Jones, Slim
|
Philadelphia Stars
|
P
|
|
|
|
Joseph, Newt
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
3b
|
2b
|
|
|
Leonard, Buck*
|
Homestead Grays
|
1b
|
lf
|
|
|
Lloyd, Pop*
|
Bacharacah Giants
|
ss
|
2b
|
1b
|
|
Lundy, Dick
|
Bacharacah Giants
|
ss
|
3b
|
2b
|
|
Lyons, Jimmie
|
Chicago American Giants
|
lf
|
cf
|
rf
|
|
Mackey, Biz*
|
Hilldale Daisies
|
c
|
ss
|
ut
|
|
Malarcher, Dave
|
Chicago American Giants
|
3b
|
2b
|
ss
|
|
Manning, Max
|
Newark Eagles
|
P
|
|
|
|
Marcell, Oliver
|
Bacharacah Giants
|
3b
|
ss
|
|
|
Mathis, Verdell
|
Memphis Red Sox
|
P
|
|
|
|
Matlock, Leroy
|
Pittsburgh Crawfords
|
P
|
|
|
|
McDonald, Webster
|
Philadelphia Stars
|
P
|
|
|
|
McNair, Hurley
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
rf
|
lf
|
cf
|
|
Mendez, Jose*
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
P
|
ss
|
3b
|
|
Monroe, Bill
|
Philadelphia Giants
|
2b
|
3b
|
ss
|
|
Moore, Dobie
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
ss
|
|
|
|
Oms, Alejandro
|
Cuban Stars
|
cf
|
lf
|
rf
|
|
O’Neill, Buck
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
1b
|
lf
|
|
|
Paige, Satchel*
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
P
|
|
|
|
Palm, Spoony
|
St. Louis Stars
|
c
|
|
|
|
Parnell, Red
|
Philadelphia Stars
|
lf
|
cf
|
|
|
Pennington, Superman
|
Chicago American Giants
|
1b
|
lf
|
|
|
Perkins, Bill
|
Birmingham Black Barons
|
c
|
lf
|
|
|
Petway, Bruce
|
Chicago American Giants
|
c
|
1b
|
lf
|
|
Poles, Spot
|
New York Lincoln Giants
|
cf
|
|
|
|
Powell, Piggie
|
Chicago American Giants
|
P
|
|
|
|
Radcliffe, Alec
|
Chicago American Giants
|
3b
|
ss
|
lf
|
|
Radcliffe, Double Duty
|
Memphis Red Sox
|
P
|
c
|
|
|
Redding, Dick
|
New York Lincoln Giants
|
P
|
|
|
|
Redus, Frog
|
St. Louis Stars
|
lf
|
rf
|
|
|
Robinson, Neil
|
Memphis Red Sox
|
cf
|
lf
|
rf
|
|
Rogan, Bullet Joe*
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
P
|
cf
|
2b
|
|
Salmon, Harry
|
Birmingham Black Barons
|
P
|
|
|
|
Santop, Louis*
|
New York Lincoln Giants
|
c
|
rf
|
|
|
Scales, Tubby
|
New York Lincoln Giants
|
2b
|
3b
|
1b
|
|
Seay, Dick
|
New York Black Yankees
|
2b
|
ss
|
|
|
Serrell, Bonnie
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
2b
|
3b
|
|
|
Smith, Chino
|
New York Lincoln Giants
|
rf
|
2b
|
|
|
Smith, Hilton*
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
P
|
|
|
|
Stearnes, Turkey*
|
Detroit Stars
|
cf
|
rf
|
lf
|
|
Streeter, Sam
|
Birmingham Black Barons
|
P
|
|
|
|
Suttles, Mule*
|
St. Louis Stars
|
1b
|
lf
|
rf
|
|
Taylor, Ben*
|
Indianapolis ABCs
|
1b
|
|
|
|
Taylor, Candy Jim
|
St. Louis Stars
|
3b
|
2b
|
|
|
Torriente, Cristobal*
|
Chicago American Giants
|
cf
|
lf
|
rf
|
|
Trent, Ted
|
St. Louis Stars
|
P
|
|
|
|
Trouppe, Quincy
|
Cleveland Buckeyes
|
c
|
|
|
|
Warfield, Frank
|
Hilldale Daisies
|
2b
|
ss
|
3b
|
|
Wells, Willie*
|
St. Louis Stars
|
ss
|
3b
|
2b
|
|
White, Chaney
|
Bacharacah Giants
|
lf
|
rf
|
cf
|
|
Wickware, Frank
|
Chicago American Giants
|
P
|
|
|
|
Williams, Smokey Joe*
|
New York Lincoln Giants
|
P
|
|
|
|
Williams, Tom
|
Chicago American Giants
|
P
|
|
|
|
Wilson, Jud*
|
Baltimore Black Sox
|
3b
|
1b
|
2b
|
|
Winters, Nip
|
Hilldale Daisies
|
P
|
|
|
|
Wright, Wild Bill
|
Baltimore Elite Giants
|
cf
|
rf
|
|
|
Young, T.J.
|
Kansas City Monarchs
|
c
|
lf
|
|
Shop Now
