Negro League Release Near

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