I ordered Baseball Express as a Christmas present for my 7-year-old son who, much to my delight, has become obsessed with baseball.  Not only does he like playing baseball, but he enjoys following the stats and announcing plays as he re-enacts them (mostly HRs, of course).  Being a Braves fan, his favorite player is Freddie Freeman.  After opening all of his gifts and letting his weary dad take a nap, we opened up Baseball Express for his first game.  We used the suggested rosters in the game and he naturally chose the team with Freddie Freeman.  While I had suggested that we play the first game simply tracking runs he insisted on filling out an official scoresheet and dutifully track each play.  He went with David Price as his starter while I countered with Felix Hernandez.  He picked up on the Red Die = Column, White Dice = Row pretty quickly and was having a good time. 

His team scored the first run on a Robinson Cano solo HR in the top of the 3^rd, but Mike Trout connected for a two run HR in the bottom of the inning to give me a 2-1 lead.  Heading into the 8^th, it was still 2-1 with his team at bat.  Jose Bautista led off with a double, bringing up Freddie Freeman with the tying run on base.  Much to my disbelief and his delight, he rolled 2-10 … Freeman had connected for a two run homer for what turned out to be the game winning runs.  He brought in Freeman’s fellow 2014 Brave, Craig Kimbrel, to close out the ninth and secure the 3-2 win.  For my first SOM game with my son, it could not have been scripted any better.  When he grows up, he may have long forgotten his first SOM game but you can bet his old man will remember it! 

 Larry Foster, Cumming, GA

 

 

When my younger brother Ian died suddenly in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2013 it fell to me to fly out and bring him home to Canada. What made that trip especially difficult was the fact that we had not been very close of late. Growing up, we often fought and rarely agreed. The one common passion we shared was Strat-O-Matic football. That game gave us a means by which we could communicate, compete and respect each other. It was our refuge when the world around us was uncertain.

 

We played endlessly for years and even during our college days together. Those games makeup my fondest memories of my departed brother and I am forever grateful to Strat-O-Matic for them. A couple of years before my brother passed away, I purchased the game again hoping that on a visit we could create some of those old memories and once again lose ourselves in our passion for the game. Sadly, life became too complicated and there just didn’t seem to be the right time to play. I really regret that now.

 

When I did return to Montréal with my brother, the funeral director asked me if there was something I would like to include in the coffin so that we would have a lasting connection. I thought about many things: letters, photographs even jewelry – but I decided upon our favorite Strat teams.

 

I’m just wrapping up my 1973 C&D replay, where I pull two teams out of a hat and combine them.  So, teams are stronger offensively and defensively than they would be in an individual team replay. The Dodgers joined forces with Cleveland.  How did Don Sutton do in my replay as opposed to his actual stats?  The envelope please …

 

Sutton (Actual)/Sutton (Replay)

GS – 33/33

CG – 14/15

W – 18/18 

L – 10/9

IP – 256.1/256.1

H – 196/201

K – 200/199

BB – 56/54

HR – 18/17

R – 78/77

ER – 69/72

SB – 17/17

CS – 4/4

HBP – 5/2

SAC – 5/3

SF – 3/6

DP – 23/29

ERA – 2.42/2.53

WHIP – 0.98/0.99

 

Strat-O-Matic – the most realistic game ever invented!  Let me tip my hat to the team at Glen Head!

 

 

 

Face-to-face/net play league based out of Seattle; two games from end of season for a team that had started hot but faded down the stretch.  Josh Collmenter starts against a lineup of seven lefties.  He faces the minimum in getting the perfect game – 14 rolls on his card, 13 on hitters.  Of the 27 outs, only four involved split chances.  One in the 8th inning was a homer 1-11, 19 drawn.  And three X-chart chances, one to a 1 fielder and the other two to 2s.  I have had other no-hitters/perfect games, but never one as dominant as that one.  Only four strike outs and none after the 5th inning, but really, only the one real chance for a hit all game.

 

 

 

 

I’ve been playing Strat since April 1979 (baseball to start, a birthday gift) and within two years I was playing every sport (the card-based college football game was great, btw, and the action deck has made hockey and basketball flow as they should).  These days I play Strat year-round corresponding to when the sports start and finish.  Anyway, last year I replayed the 1980 NFL season.  Week 16, Oilers vs. Vikings, with five minutes remaining Earl Campbell gained 11 yards and (possibly) due to my over-usage setting and CM controls, the computer manager decided to “rest” him for what turned out to be the remainder of the game – Houston was in the lead and I had been calling plays for the Vikings.  Any guess as to how many yards that rush gave Campbell for the season?  How about 2,004.  The computer “knew” how many yards he needed to break the record and removed him the very next play (back in 1980 the record was 2,003)!  Needless to say, the hometown Oiler fans were pleased.