GREAT MOMENTS IN STRAT

 

Have you experienced a game of Strat-O-Matic so thrilling, unique or bizarre that you just HAVE to share it with someone? That would be us. Send you Great Moments in Strat to SOMTalkShow@aol.com. Please include your name and hometown. Readers like to see that and you deserve the credit.

 

 

EARLY DRAMA IN TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

 

            I have been playing Strat baseball and football for nearly 20 years.  Each year I conduct some kind of football tournament.  Sometimes I draft teams and use the USFL franchises.  This year I decided to do a tournament of champions.  Here are the brackets: 

 

AFC
1. '72 Miami Dolphins (17-0 season)
2. '75 Pittsburgh Steelers (Super Bowl Champs)
3. '76 Oakland Raiders (Super Bowl Champs)
4. '00 Baltimore Ravens (Super Bowl Champs)
5. '97 Denver Broncos (Super Bowl Champs)
6. '06 Indianapolis Colts (Super Bowl Champs)
7. '99 Tennessee Titans(AFC Champs)
8. '85 New England Patriots (AFC Champs)
9. '02 New England Patriots (AFC East Champs)
10. '06 San Diego Chargers (AFC West Champs)
11. '85 Miami Dolphins (AFC East Champs)
12. '77 Denver Broncos (AFC Champs)

NFC
1. '85 Chicago Bears (Super Bowl Champs)
2. '99 St. Louis Rams (Super Bowl Champs)
3. '02 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Super Bowl Champs)
4. '06 Chicago Bears (NFC Champs)
5. '97 Green Bay Packers (NFC Champs)
6. '98 Atlanta Falcons (NFC Champs)
7. '98 Minnesota Vikings (NFC Central Champs, 15-1 reg season)
8. '85 San Francisco 49ers (NFC Wild Card)
9. '97 San Francisco 49ers (NFC West Champs)
10. '06 New Orleans Saints (NFC South Champs)
11. '85 New York Giants (NFC Wild Card)
12. '97 Detroit Lions (NFC Wild Card, Barry Sanders 2053 yds, 6.1 avg)

 

            So far, the games have been interesting.  The most entertaining was the match-up between the '97 Broncos and the ‘77 Broncos.  I was expecting a low-scoring affair and predicted the '97 Super Bowl champs would beat the Orange Crush defense.  But as the game went on, big plays developed.  Darrien Gordon returned an interception 70 yards for a TD.  Rick Upchurch returned a punt 58 yards for TD.  Rob Lytle and Terrell Davis matched each other in the running game.  Down 28-24, the ‘77 team tackled John Elway in the end zone to get to 28-26.  Then, after the free kick, the '77 team marched down the field and scored with about 2 minutes left on an Otis Armstrong TD.  After the 2-point conversion it was 34-28.  But Elway produced a vintage comeback, leading a 77-yard drive capped by a Terrell Davis run to give the Broncos a 35-34 win. 

 

Jeff South

 

Rollin’ for Rolen

 

           

            Mr. Scott Rolen (2004 version) recently had the game of his life in a regular-season Gentlemen’s Base Ball League game. We play a four-team, face-to-face, computer baseball league that combines the best cards of drafted players over the past four seasons. We are currently playing 2003-2006 players.

 

            In average weather at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, July 31, 2007, Great Scott went yard four times, connecting twice off Gentle Ben Sheets and twice against Cla (“The Claw”) Meredith. He was able to “Keep the Ball Rolen” big time to bring a smile to the face of his manager, Tom Hale, of Pickerington, Ohio. We are in our 23rd season, and “Rolen Stone” joined Kent (“I wanta buy a vowel”) Hrbek, Andres (The Giant) Gallaraga, and Barry "US" Bonds as a member of the elite four-homers-in-one-game club.

 

Rick Zaborsky, Dublin, OH

 

 

Maybe This is Where the Yankees-Indians Rivalry Began

 

In the midst of a 1927, 56-game season, a four-game series between the Indians and Yankees at the Stadium was absolutely wild.

 

Using my extension of the Weather Charts, I determined that the first game was rained out, setting the stage for a twin bill the next day.  The Yankees were cruising until that point, checking in with a 17-3 record.  The Tribe was stuck in the mud, at 10-10.

 

In the first game, though, Willis Hudlin outdueled Waite Hoyt, 6-1, sending the Yankee ace to his first defeat after five straight wins to open the season.  The Indians out-bombed Murderer’s Row, pounding Hoyt and reliever Myles Thomas for 16 hits, including a home run and five doubles.

 

The nightcap was a 16-inning, back-and-forth, 8-7 thriller.  Cleveland took a 4-3 lead into the last of the seventh, but Tony Lazzeri doubled and John Grabowski singled him home to tie the game.  New York went ahead, 6-4, in the eighth, when Bob Meusel doubled with one out and the bases loaded, scoring Mike Gazella and Babe Ruth.  Taking a two-run lead into the ninth, Herb Pennock was stunned when Homer Summa led with a single and George Burns homered.  Extra innings to follow.

 

            The Indians left the bases loaded in the 11th, as reliever Wilcy Moore worked out of a mess. Meanwhile, Cleveland’s Benn Karr (who gave up the go-ahead runs in the eighth) pitched shutout ball from the ninth through the 12th.

 

            Both teams scored in the 13th.  The Indians got a run-scoring single from Lew Fonseca, who had come on to pinch-hit in the eighth, then stayed on in a double-switch.  The Yanks answered with Mark Koenig’s RBI single.  Koenig, too, had come on as a pinch-hitter, in the ninth, and stayed in the game. Finally, in the 16th, Joe Sewell singled with two outs, and scored when Bernie Neis followed with a double.

 

            The next day resulted in a standard nine-inning contest, a 5-4 win for the Yankees. There was nothing standard about the way they won, however.

 

            New York scored three runs in the last of the first inning, after the Tribe had jumped to a 1-0 lead.  Ruth walked with two down, Gehrig singled, and then Meusel singled, delivering the Babe.  Lazzeri belted a two-run triple, plating Gehrig and Meusel.

 

            Cleveland got one back in the fourth, on Neis’ sacrifice fly.  The Yankees answered with Koenig’s first home run of the season, in the sixth.  In the eighth, the Yankees added one more run on Meusel’s RBI single, but stranded the bases full.

 

            In the ninth, the Indians fought back against Urban Shocker, putting two on with two out. Then Burns, pinch-hitting, singled to score Neis. And Charlie Jamieson reached when Babe Ruth dropped his fly ball to short right. It scored Luke Sewell, but Burns held second (a one-base error, with the one-base advancement, makes no sense with two outs in an inning as the runners are taking off on contact anyway).  Moore relieved Shocker and Fonseca hit a hard smash to third that Dugan got his glove on, but couldn’t recover in time to make the play.  Bases loaded.  Summa popped out to end the game.

 

            The skies finally cleared for series finale.  Sunny skies for another beauty – the second 16-inning game of the series (with Ruth scheduled for his first day off of the season).

 

            George Uhle and George Pipgras matched zeros for six innings, before the Tribe finally broke through in the top of the seventh.  Summa was hit by a pitch. Burns’ single nudged the Indians’ right fielder to second.  On the hit-and-run, Joe Sewell hit a roller to the right side.  The only play was to first as both runners moved up.  Neis delivered a sacrifice fly to right.

 

            Uhle continued putting up donuts – until the bottom of the ninth.  Ruth, pinch-hitting for Koenig, singled to start the rally.  Meusel skied to left, but Columbia Lou singled Ruth to third.  A fly ball to right by Lazzeri tallied the Babe and, here we go again.

 

            Pipgras left for a pinch-hitter after 10 innings. Uhle followed after the Yankee 10th.  Bob Shawkey blanked the Indians for two innings, then buckled in the 13th, when Neis led off with a home run.

 

            The Yankees could have won before that, but Grabowski’s clutch (out) reading in the 11th prevented a bases-loaded game winner by the Yankee receiver. In the 13th, the Yankees got the run they needed when Grabowski hit a hard shot at Sewell that went for a run-scoring single and error.

 

            Cleveland tallied twice in the 14th on walks and singles, but stranded the bases loaded, failing to put the game away.  New York stormed back with two runs to tie the game again despite key outs by Ruth and Gehrig in the middle of the rally.  Combs singled, Meusel drew a one-out pass, and Lazzeri stroked a two-out double, scoring both runners.

 

            Finally, New York ended the game two innings later.  Lazzeri singled off Dutch Levson with one out and took third on a single off Burns at first (groundball X).  Burns chased the ball into foul territory, toward the stands.  His hurried throw back to the infield was off-line, as Koenig dashed home on the error (SI** plus error, and a little embellishment).

 

            What an incredible series!  A total of 54 innings over three days.  I had pitchers pinch-running.  Pinch-hitters in double-switches ended up staying in games and getting five at-bats!  On his “day off,” Ruth pinch-hit in the ninth and ended up finishing the game with a single and a walk in five trips to the plate. Talk about the luck of the draw, or roll: In extra innings, the slumping Ruth and Gehrig combined to go 2-for-12, with three walks.  I’m sure the Indians’ hurlers were walking on eggshells the whole time.

 

Jeff Woodhouse, Seattle

 

 

The Twins’ Greatest Hits (and Pitches)

           

            I have 3 Great Moments and one not-so-great moment I’d like to share.

 

1- The 1965 World Series -- played against my guru/S-O-M mentor back in college in the late 1970s. The series went seven games, only it was Sandy Koufax vs. Mudcat Grant in that final game -- and of all things, Grant pitched a perfect game to close out the fall classic in a 2-0 win for the Twins ...  27 up and 27 down – very memorable.

 

2- My first league was a jumble of players from different franchises across the years 1961 to about 1972 – 8 AL teams broken in two divisions – using the elementary cards. The division winners played in the World Series – my Twins (mainly the 1969 Twins with a  good Carew, Oliva, Battey, etc. thrown in) representing the West, facing mainly the 1961 Yankees of the East. The 3rd place team in the East had a better record than my Twins did, but it wound up a lopsided four-game sweep for the Twins. I shocked them the first two games with great hitting and pitching, then managed my heart out in winning Game 3 in extra innings. Game 4 appeared lost as I trailed 8-5 until a ninth-inning rally sent 1969 Harmon Killebrew to the plate with the bases loaded. Killebrew already had a great series to that point with 4 HR and 10 RBIs – and would you believe he rolled a 2-10 (HR 1-19 Do 20) and pulled a 19. The ball hit the top of the fence and went over!  That was sooo cool.  I heard that after I left, my opponent (who was so stunned) threw my team all over the basement.

 

3- I was in a face-to-face league that had a manager nobody liked. A year later he would be tossed out for cheating (in two different ways).  During a one-game playoff to see who the final playoff team would be, his 1981 Dave Righetti had like a 2 hitter going into the 9th inning, with no sign of tiring. With one out I had a runner on and was losing 1-0.  Lou Whitaker, who hit only .263 that season, rolled a HR 1-4, out 5-20 – and I will never forget the look of fear in my opponent’s face as I shook the 20-sided die. I just knew Whitaker was going to pull it – sure enough, I pulled a ‘2’ and the game was over. LOL.  I lost in the first round of the playoffs that followed.

 

            The one not-so-great moment was in the same league. For three years, no one had thrown a no-hitter in that league, but late in the season 1979 John Fulgham had a no-hitter (perfect game no less) going for me down to the last batter and my opponent PH was weak-hitting Mick Kelleher (like a .222 hitter).  He hit a 3B-X and Ray Knight (a 3B-2) was my fielder – I will never forget the disappointment as the 1-20 card split came up with the ‘2’ and a single. Fulgham settled for the 1 hitter. In 27 years, that league (an all-star league with 12-16 teams drafted from 26) had only two no-hitters – one by the aforementioned 1981 Dave Righetti and one of the Nolan Ryan cards.  Oh, well.  I had only three championships in those 27 years. Firefighter and 9-11 victim Ken Marino was also in that league and I think he had four or five championships, and he did not join until about the 6th season. He was a good manager.

 

Jim Colquhoun, Long Island, NY

 

 

            I just finished playing the 2007 World Series in one of my FTF leagues.  My

opponent took Games 1, 3 and 5, and I took games 2 and 4, leaving me down 3 games to 2.  In Game 6 I had to pitch tired relievers the whole game as I had nobody available to start.  Luckily my offense was hot, putting together three 4-run innings in a 13-5 win.  Amazing – my opponent never rolled a dotted out the whole game.

 

            Game 7 was the most memorable game I’ve ever played in my 26 years of Strat-O-Matic.  I had a 3-2 lead into the 7th inning, but David Ortiz hit a two-run HR, and Carlos Beltran followed that with a solo shot to put me down, 5-3.  The score remained until the bottom of the 9th.  With one out, and Takashi Saito on the mound, I rolled 4-5 for J.D. Drew – TR 1-4, DO 5-20. He doubled.  I then brought in Jim Thome to pinch hit, and promptly rolled another 4-5. This time I rolled the triple, leaving me down 5-4 with the tying run on 3rd and one out.  The next hitter, Ray Durham, grounded out with the runner holding.  I was down to my last out, and Carlos Guiilen at the plate.  Guillen rolled 3-9, which is a BPHR.  The weather was bad in Comiskey on this day, so it was a HR 1-16.  I said, “Going deep, for the Championship!”  I rolled the 20-sider, and it came up 5!  Walk-off, 2-run, World Series-winning HR!  UNBELIEVABLE!

Steve Dufresne, Montreal