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.

Is Anybody Out There?

I live in Pickerington, Ohio. I have not been able to locate any leagues in the area. Are fantasy baseball leagues the only leagues out there? I would be interested in a league that plays with the teams as they are. I really do not know much about draft leagues.

Jim Pardee, Pickerington, OH

The first step is to find other Strat-O-Matic players. I have found them everywhere I lived – including Akron, Ohio. I have found at least 10 where I live now in Jacksonville, Fla. If gamers near you see this, I will try to connect them with you. You could post your interest in the leagues section of the Strat-O-Matic Co. web site or on other Strat-oriented sites, such as http://www.stratfanforum.com/forums You might place a small ad in a local newspaper.

Your shared love of SOM surely will get you to quick agreement on how to play. Stock teams are great. SOM draft leagues have at least two attractions: They can level the playing field by making teams closer to equal than the 8-16 teams in a stock-team league. And they appeal to those who think they know talent and like to assemble the parts of a championship team.

Late-Game Strategy

Two Questions:

1) Timing in the Super-Advanced Hockey (board game only). 

Suppose the last Action Card draw says “Inside Shot LW” (this is the last Action Card in the deck, the period is ending.)  The LW shoots, and “Rebound” is the result.  The offensive player who gets the rebound shoots.  The result is Rebound again!  At this point, I did not know if it would be fairer to assume that time had run out, or to keep playing until the sequence was resolved.  On the second rebound shot – the third shot in total – the offensive team scored.  Ought the game to have ended prior to this goal?  In other words, after the final card is drawn, how long may one keep playing?

And what happens if there is a defensive penalty on the final Action Card draw?  Does the game simply end?  In that case, the defense is rewarded for playing ultra-aggressively, even illegally. There would be no disincentive for the defensive player (coach) to use “intimidation” to try to take away the puck.  How does the actual NHL rule in such a situation?

2) RE: advanced baseball game (board game only).  Watching games on
TV, most real-life teams go into a “no doubles” defense to protect a lead in the 9th inning.  This does not seem to be an option in the board game.  Might a defensive manager have his team play a “no doubles” defense?  In that case, all doubles would revert to single*. If, however, the result is flyball C or flyball B (?), the batter also is awarded a single*.  What do you think of this potential rule adaptation?  I’d be interested in your comments.

Jimmy Jr., Lewisburg, PA

Someone as observant as you knows that hockey rebounds can happen in rapid-fire succession, just a second or two apart. Now remember that the last Action Card represents 40 seconds of play. So keep resolving the rebounds before ending the game. But if you want to improvise some incredible drama, try this: If a rebound goal occurs on the last Action Card, roll two dice and add them. If a 12 – no goal, the period ended before the puck crossed the line. If the goal happened on the second rebound, it’s no goal on rolls of 11 or 12. If on the third rebound, it’s no goal on 10, 11 and 12. And so on.

In the NHL, penalties do happen at 20:00 of the final period. The player gets the PIM stats, but his team is never short-handed. Here again, though, you could improvise with a roll of two dice. Roll a 12 and it’s a penalty shot (this assumes the penalty was a desperate act in the crease or in hauling down a player who would have had a clean breakaway).

Computer baseball allows guarding the lines to prevent doubles. You are correct that this strategy increases singles. If you improvise for the board game, I don’t think you’d want to eliminate all doubles – most happen on balls hit in the air. But you might eliminate the doubles that start a split chance (e.g. DO** 1-11, SI** 12-20). You might even want to turn some of those doubles into outs – perhaps if the roll is within the double range and is an even number. Similarly, converting all flyC and flyB? results into hits is too harsh. That could add 50 or more batting-average points to the hitter. But maybe stick with the split-chance theme and say that non-ballpark chances that begin with a SI* split become automatic singles. For variety, authenticity and drama, roll the 20-sided die anyway and if the number is odd, it’s a SINGLE*. If even, it’s a SINGLE**.

It’s a Called Strike Three!

Is there any way that Strat could produce a strikeout looking and a strikeout swinging on the Strat card?  I’m tired of guessing whether the batter took a third strike on the corner, or went down hacking.

Alan Maier, Enfield, CT

Those stats are hard to come by, and without them, SOM would have to guess, too. As an alternative, try this: Decide what percentage of strikeouts you want to be called third strikes. Maybe one-third? Then take that percentage of dice roll chances and say that strikeouts on those dice rolls are called third strikes. If one-third, that’s 12 of 36 card chances in each column. So strikeouts on the added dice of 2-5 and 11 would be called third strikes. Many other combinations will get you to 12 chances if you prefer: 6, 7 and 12 for instance; or 4, 5 and 6.

Everyone Likes a Good Argument

I am in a great league in the Western New York area with Strat enthusiasts. The other afternoon during a league series we were coming up with some interesting twists on rules of the game. I throw these out there a bit tongue-in-cheek, but perhaps Strat may decide to go with some of them:

1.) Called strike 3s and game ejections: We’d expect a pitcher to get favored on some of the Ks on his card. It may be a burden to find out how many called strike threes a pitcher gets, but wouldn’t it be neat to notate some of the strikeouts on a pitcher's card with an *. This would call for a re-roll and referral to an “Argument Chart” to see if the batter grumbles and walks away or decides to argue the call. A batter would be given a personal aggressiveness A->E rating, again it may require added research. Depending on how aggressive or irritable a player may be he gets a higher rating (ex. Milton Bradley) and this increases his chances of arguing the call to the point of getting tossed from the game.

2.) Rain delays: If weather effects are being used and the weather is poor, it would be neat to see a dice roll, perhaps on the 20 sided dice (say a roll of 1) in which a chart has to be referenced for chance of rain. This could change things a bit, since teams would have to bring in new pitchers.

3.) Rushing the mound and pitcher ejections: Goes without saying that if a player gets pegged twice in a game, he’s going to rush the mound and the pitcher will probably get ejected. This may be an optional rule thrown in there to bring up the realism even further.

Adam Kisailus, Buffalo, NY

Sounds like you and your friends are on your way to developing your own innovations. As I think you anticipate, the rain-delay chart could be for varying lengths – shorter delays don’t require pitching changes, longer delays require a dice roll for each team against the endurance rating of the pitcher and even longer delays require automatic removal of the existing pitchers for both teams. The extreme roll would end the game right there.

Others have decided that the first or second HBP in a game earns a warning for both teams and the next HBP is automatic ejection of the pitcher. Player ejections for other causes are very infrequent, despite the variety of circumstances that can trigger them (HBPs, strikeouts, walks, base-running plays, etc.), so if you do innovate this way, I’d keep the possibility very small.

Strat-O-Matic and the Hall of Fame

I have played countless seasons of SOM with cards and computer. Something in the computer version puzzles me: Why the play-by-play announcer never says that the team has won the World Series, the division championship or the league pennant? I would like those features integrated in the play-by-play and the box score to make it more real. And nobody has forgotten Babe’s called shot in 1932, or Kirk Gibson’s homer in the 1988 World Series, etc. Can you integrate that in the play-by-play and the box score?

By the way, I am a friend of the Hall of Fame and have been criticizing them for not having the SOM game in the Hall of Fame for years. I guess other people must have complained, too, because SOM is now selling in the Museum Shop. I was very surprised to see it in the catalog. Congratulations. That is the game that needs to be in the Hall of Fame.

Orlando Leon, Polk City, Fl

Your suggestions for play-by-play enhancements are being forwarded to SOM for addition to its customer wish lists.

It’s great to have advocates such as you for our hobby, Orlando. As you probably recall, Strat-O-Matic was displayed in the Hall of Fame shortly after its use as a substitute for the strike-postponed 1981 All-Star game in Cleveland Stadium. I have been in contact recently with someone assembling a history of baseball board games for the Hall, so it seems likely that SOM will make a re-appearance there.

Just Like the Real Thing

Years ago I got a friend of mine to play Strat-O-Matic Football, basic version.  He was a big Chicago Bears fan, and “my guys” are the Green Bay Packers.  Naturally, we paired the 1980 Bears and Packers.  Our wives watched, and commented that it was “almost as bad as you two playing real football.”  The Pack smoked the Bears, 23-7.  Here’s the best comment on realism I’ve heard:  During the rest of their visit, my buddy’s wife was talkative, but he just sat there glumly.  When I asked if he was OK, he said, “Geez, it feels like the Bears really lost a football game!  And to Green Bay!”  His wife later told me it took him days to get over it. 

Bob O'Halloran, Appleton, WI

This may be the best story I’ve heard yet confirming what I always say about the football game: The mental chess game involved in playing Strat-O-Matic football head to head leaves the winner exhilarated and the loser drained. It must be the closest thing to coaching a real team. We’ve all seen friends change their personalities after losing tough games in Strat-O-Matic. In one episode, a long-time Strat-playing friend and I had planned to enjoy an elaborate dinner after completing our World Series. But when he lost in five games, he was so distraught he couldn’t bear to stick around – walking out on a gourmet meal so that he could spend the rest of the night alone with a sandwich.

Remember “The Trade?”

I could be wrong but Frank Mahovlich played for Detroit in the 1965-66 season and not for Toronto. I remember that the Wings used to put Mahovlich on the same line with Howe and Delvecchio. I don’t think younger brother Pete Mahovlich was on the roster in 1965-66. I don't know if there are other errors on the ‘65-66 rosters, but I’m pretty certain that Norm Ullman had been traded for the Big M the at the end of the ‘64-65 season

Paul Dunn

The rosters are correct. The shocking trade that sent Frank Mahovlich from Toronto for an entire Red Wings line – Ullman, Paul Henderson and Floyd Smith – did not happen until late in 1967-68. The Wings also obtained the rights to holdout defenseman Carl Brewer in that deal. Pete Mahovlich was a rookie for Detroit in 1965-66. But your memory is correct about Frank Mahovlich on a line with Delvecchio and Howe once The Big M became a Red Wing. Although all players in the trade did well for their new teams, neither contended for a Stanley Cup for a long time after that.

Will it ever be possible for past STRAT FAN teams to be put on one computer team disk for the computer game?

John Trent, Charlotte, NC

After reviewing my 1971 season baseball cards I noticed Jeff Torborg's card with the Angels has Tommie Reynolds’ batting stats. His defensive ratings are correct, but batting is switched. Does Strat have a suggested card for Torborg? Also reviewing Bernie Carbo’s card on the Reds, he has a homerun chance on 1-9, HR 1-8 flyout 9-20 with a “w” power note. He batted 4 percent of the time vs. lefties in 310 Abs, which computes to 12 or so ABs. Shouldn’t a homer vs. a lefty in 12 ABs compute to “N” status? That’s Hall-of-Fame ratio. To note, he hit homer off Jerry Koosman.

Randy Gesicki, Independence, OH

SOM doesn’t want players to be used so unrealistically that they make a mockery of the game. So it has a long tradition of reducing the stellar performances of players who very little against one type of pitching. If Bernie Carbo really had Babe Ruth-type power against lefties, he would have batted more than 12 times against them. By reducing his homer rating against lefties, he will be used against lefties much less.

SOM’s Steve Barkan says you are the first to report the Torborg problem. He checked and confirmed that Torborg (who hits .203 with 0 HR in 123 AB) mistakenly received Reynolds’ batting card (.188 with 2 HR in 88 AB). “There’s nothing to do at this point but get a Nameless Player card to substitute for Torborg, or perhaps use the Fringe Player creation feature in the computer game” Barkan replied.

Here’s another possibility, no more imperfect than the Nameless Player option: Another catcher, Ken Suarez of Cleveland, hit .203 in 123 AB (but with 1 HR and more walks and strikeouts than Torborg). Use his card for Torborg, changing the HR chance to a single. If you want more precision, you could change at least half the strikeouts to popouts. But the walks are tricky. If you change them to outs, the batting average goes down. For every five carded chances of walk you remove, make one chance a single.