THE TALK SHOW
Host: Glenn Guzzo
You can submit your question or insight on any Strat-O-Matic game to SOMTalkShow@aol.com. When you do, kindly include your name and town. Other gamers like to see that. And the display format below works better that way.
Reminder: Send us your “Great Moments in Strat” – your
playing experiences that you just have
to share.
More Ways to Prevent Relief-Pitcher Abuse
I am the commissioner of an 8-team
league (4 owners, 1 NL and
-- No pitcher without a relief rating
may pitch in relief until ALL qualified relievers have pitched and have reached
the maximum POW or have been removed from the game. Maximum POW is the listed
amount on his card plus 2 innings, minus any time that pitcher would qualify as
tired.
-- Any pitcher who goes beyond his
maximum POW in a game may not pitch in his team’s next game.
-- If that pitcher pitches 2 or more
innings past, he is considered to be injured for no less than 15 days for the
first time, 30 for the second, and lost for the season if there ever comes a
third time.
We have also limited using position
players in a fictional manner, but that is another story.
John R.,
Thanks for adding to the discussion,
John. I like simple rules like this that
make sense and don’t require calculators to remember or enforce. Most of the
leagues I am familiar with do not permit starter-only pitchers to relieve at
all, except perhaps in the post-season.
Cards and Dice, Forever
Glenn,
there seems to be a lot of gamers going back to cards and dice. Why do you
think this is occurring? Will Strat follow this surge and look to do more past
season reprints?
Bob, Barrington, NJ
I don’t think
SOM’s sales suggest a “surge” at all. While the figures are unavailable, SOM
has said that the computer games are getting larger percentages of the
company’s sales and that more software is being sold than board games and card
sets. Meanwhile, SOM is printing all the historic seasons that it can with
current staff: An annual baseball season and three football and hockey seasons
each year.
The gamers
I’ve heard saying they are going back to cards and dice cite several reasons:
1)
They spend so much time working with computers that they
want to get away from the screen during leisure time.
2)
They feel more involved with a board game, and more alert
as a coach/manager having to pay more attention to the player ratings.
3)
They switched to the computer for its stat-keeping, and
perhaps also for its computer manager, but they always preferred cards and
dice.
4)
They are teaching their young children the game and want
them to learn the game and the strategy well. Besides, the kids love the dice.
5)
Nothing beats rolling the dice for face-to-face play.
Just
curious how Strat-O-Matic decides a player’s jump numbers. Like Ichiro, who,
stole 45 out of 47 attempts last year but has only a 22 percent chance to get
the jump on this year’s card. Jason Bay in ‘05 stole 21 of 22 yet
only had an 11 percent chance to get a jump. I had him in one league and was
lucky to get 11 stolen bases. For a company that boasts statistical accuracy
this can’t be right can it? I am wondering how many steals Ichiro will have
with the 22 percent jump. That seems very low to me, but I don't know what
criteria you base it upon. Please enlighten me.
Joe Mundy, Seattle
Most of the time a player reaches first base, he will have
second base open. More than half of all plate appearances are with bases empty
(nearly 70 percent of all plate appearances for a leadoff hitter like Suzuki).
All SINGLE** will leave second open and so will many other results (e.g. a walk
when there was only a man on third). In all, about 85 percent of a player’s
singles and 60 percent of his walks will put him on first with second base open
(almost 90 percent and 70 percent for a leadoff hitter) So let’s take a look:
In 2006, Ichiro Suzuki had 186 singles, 49 walks and 5 HBP.
Add the unspecified times he reached first on an error or fielder’s choice and
we are at 250, conservatively. The 22 percent jump would get him the lead 55
times. Now, he won’t always have second base open, but using the percentages
above, we’re at 45 attempts, plus whatever extras he gets after errors and
fielder’s choices. And because Suzuki is rated *(19-13), he doesn’t always need
the jump to go. He can try against weaker pitcher-catcher hold combinations,
and he can steal third. Against -5 pitcher-catcher hold combinations, he might
not be held in some situations, giving him a steal attempt without having to
roll for his lead. Bottom line: It’s safe to say Suzuki would get more than 47
attempts if you tried for his lead each time. However, you won’t, because of
the game score or the pitcher-catcher hold combination. So the opportunities
come back in line with his actual numbers.
In 2005, Bay had 101 singles, 95 walks and 6 HBP.
Conservatively, he’d reach first 215 times. The 11 percent jump would be 23-24
attempts. His *(19-11) rating would make him less likely to steal third or
steal without a good jump, but it would happen a few times. Players also get
the odd steal attempt in a failed hit-and-run or as the second man on a
double-steal. With Bay batting in the middle of the order, you might run him
more conservatively if you have draft-league sluggers batting behind him,
perhaps accounting for your low steal total for him. But in a replay of
lighter-hitting 2005 Pittsburgh, the Pirates need Bay to run.
Passing Fancy
I don’t
see why the Super Pass should be limited to the Passing L column only. I have
modified the Super Pass this way: The Passing Chart is referenced for L-Rated
Passers when Passing J & K are drawn from the Action/Split Deck as well.
Unlike Passing L, Passing J & K are completed to the positional player
listed in the passing column and the Passing Chart is used to determine the
quality of the pass. This entices players to use the passing option on L-rated
passers more often. It also better accentuates the strengths of playmakers with
high assist ratings. This would result in no game changes and maybe only minor
changes would have to be made to a player’s Outside/Inside shooting columns.
Louis Casado, Toronto, ON
I like the concept
of this innovation and will try it myself.
Hockey Mysteries
What is
that number at the far right of the goalie stats right next to the GRS? It’s
usually 105 for an entire game, but what does it mean? Secondly, why are there
not more 10-minute misconduct penalties or brawls in SOM hockey? Thanks! Love
your games!
George Wazeck, Detroit
Bob Winberry answers: The figure to the right
of GRS is number of action cards the goalie was in the game for. There are 35 action cards per period in the
computer game, so that number is often 105.
Brawls were never included in the
computer game because they could leave the game without enough players for the
computer manager to function properly.
Regarding 10-minute misconducts, perhaps that is a bug. I’ve added it to the list of bugs to be
researched for the next release of the hockey game.
The Third Out
Rare play
rule with runners on 2nd and 3rd fly ball to outfield. Batter rounds first and
outfielder throws behind the batter to make the third out. Runner from third
scores, but does runner from second cross plate before the third out?
Is
there a roll on 20 side dice to determine safe at home?
Steve Quigley
There is no 20-sided roll on the runner from second headed
home. The run would score only if it crossed the plate before the third out was
recorded. Since the batter only achieved one base, the man from second is not
presumed to have scored.
The Invisible Start
I’m
playing Strat-O baseball in a 20-team league face-to-face for over 15
years. I just received my new set of
cards and I was looking at my pitcher Roman Colon from Detroit. The guy had 1 start last year but he only has
a reliever rating. Why?
Martin Langlois, Québec, Canada
This is a long tradition in the board game. One start is
not enough to get a starter rating. One relief appearance is not enough to get
a reliever rating. This was done to discourage abuse in the use of players who
had fringe roles. In the computer game, where every player is rated, any
appearance warrants a rating. This is necessary for as-played replays. Since
SOM has already done the work to rate these guys for all appearances, and in
this era of more player cards making board-game replays more realistic, I’d
like to see the board game conform to the computer game on this.
WISH LISTS
Baseball Historic Seasons
Do you
see Strat-O-Matic doing some more past seasons from 1916-1949? Some
seasons I think would be great would be 1916, 1924, 1928, 1931, 1936, 1940 and
1949. It seems there could be more seasons from that span.
Tim N., Spring Valley, IL
Yes, I do, though there is no way to be sure
about which seasons in particular. All the ones you mention would be good ones.
Steve Barkan, who does the work for the historical seasons, personally enjoys
going back to pre-World War II seasons and has said that he would like to
alternate newer and older historic seasons.
All we
know for sure is 1951 is next. Barkan has said that 1958 is inevitable – it’s
the last gap between the Strat re-creation of 1954 to the present.
Just guessing, but I think that 1916, 1924, 1936 and 1949
would have the best chances of the seasons you nominated:
1916 – one of the first seasons SOM chose for its “Chevy”
disks.
1924 – historical significance in the Senators’ only World
Series victory and Rogers Hornsby’s record .424 batting average.
1936 – rookie Joe DiMaggio joins Lou Gehrig and a new
Yankee dynasty begins.
1949 – the season of
“Summer of ‘49” fame fills the gap in SOM sets between 1948 and 1950.
That would leave only 1952 and 1953 to complete 1948-present.
Gretzky’s WHA
I am a big fan of the
1975-76 WHA Strat set and wonder if Strat-O-Matic will consider doing another
WHA set? The 1978-79 WHA season would give gamers the opportunity to play the
final season in the WHA’s existence and the chance to coach Wayne Gretzky,
Michel Goulet, Rick Vaive, Craig Hartsburg and Mike Gartner during their rookie
seasons. Just think about it, Wayne Gretzky’s first professional season! I’m
not a big Gretzky fan, but the thought of having cards for Kent Nilsson, Morris
Lukowich, Mike Liut etc ... Well, let’s just say it makes me giddy. The other
added bonus is that only six teams completed the season. This would leave
gamers with ONLY one additional team to print up, the defunct Indianapolis
Racers. Do I even have to say Mark Messier!
Louis Casado, Toronto, ON
If SOM wanted to
do another WHA season, this is the one I’d favor, precisely for the historic
significance you cite. But I’d guess other NHL seasons rank higher on the wish
lists of the company and its customers. SOM is just a couple seasons away
(1965-66 and 1963-64) from completing the NHL period from 1962-63 through
1970-71. And with three more seasons – 1971-72 through 1973-74 – the period
would run from 1962-63 through 1976-77. Four earlier seasons and three later
ones would cover the period from 1955-56 through 1981-82. At SOM’s current pace
of three historic seasons per year, that could be achieved in four years.
More Super Bowl Teams
I am a
fanatic NFL football fan and buy the annual football card game and past
seasons. I know that Strat is in the process of considering which teams they
will be carding for this summer. We are living in a time of renewed interest in
the Super Bowl era due to the programs on the NFL Network and the overwhelming
popularity of football in this nation. Therefore, I suggest to the
decision-makers a group of three seasons, all from the modern Super Bowl era.
1966 Season (Super Bowl 1). How
can you not have the very first SB? … Green Bay: 12-2, Kansas City: 11-2-1, Dallas: 10-3-1,
Buffalo: 9-4-1, Cleveland and Baltimore: 9-5
1972 Season (Super Bowl 7). The
perfect season – would a replay of the best 6 teams reverse that? … Miami:
14-0, Washington and Pittsburgh: 11-3, Oakland: 10-3-1, Dallas and Green Bay:
10-4.
1994 Season (Super Bowl 29)...The
great Aikman/Young rivalry along with other heavyweight teams … San Francisco: 13-3, Dallas and Pittsburgh: 12-4, San Diego
and Cleveland: 11-5 and Miami: 10-6.
I regret
that 1968 is not being considered for cards since it first came out as a
computer version. I would absolutely love to replay those top teams that led to
Super Bowl III, maybe the greatest SB of all time. I wish SOM would at least
take a poll to see if people would buy a 6-team set from 1968, rather than just
“write it off.”
Dave, Kentucky
I hate to be the one to tell you, Dave, but
like 1968, the 1966 and 1972 seasons also were produced (in current format)
first for the computer game. But with a little patience, you will surely see
1994 because, at three historic seasons per year, SOM is rapidly completing the
NFL era of 1957-present.
36 Teams, Every Which Way
Is there
any chance, Strat will reprint the 36 teams of the past in the current format
(basic, advanced) as today’s teams, so they will conform?
Phil, Passaic, NJ
No. Sixteen of those 36 teams from the 1960s and 1970s
already are available in seasons (1963-67, 1971 and 1975) that have been
re-created in current super-advanced format. SOM would have to re-research
eight other seasons just to produce 20 more teams. There is nothing in SOM’s
history to indicate it would undertake such a project.