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Strat-O-Matic Hall of Fame

James Williams

Class of 2023

James Williams begin his Strat-O-Matic career in the shipping room. Over the next 44 years, James became Hal Richman’s right-hand man and the first executive of the company. He was indispensable working on Strat’s basketball, football, and baseball games. However he may be best known by customers for his kindness and gentle spirit. Everyone who ever came in contact with James says the same thing – James is a wonderful person and the nicest guy. Hal has said that James was like a younger brother to him. The most humble person, James’ strength came from his amazing mother Pauline and his love for his incredible family.

Warren Bannerman

Class of 2023

Until Hal Richman found Warren Bannerman, it would have been impossible for Strat-O-Matic to create an advanced game. Warren was an extraordinary programmer, and he computerized Hal’s formulas and algorithms where Strat-O-Matic was able to create, in essence, three cards for every player- his basic card, vs left-hander, and vs right-hander cards. Warren continued to program and advise Strat-O-Matic over the next 30 years. Warren passed away in an unfortunate automobile accident in 2002 but his legacy at Strat-O-Matic lives on. To this day, the Bannerman program is used to create the baseball cards each year.

Steve Barkan

Class of 2023

Steve Barkan was one of the company’s earliest employees, back to the 1960s, and remained on the job, tirelessly, until his retirement at the end of 2013. He had many roles but is best known for his ground-breaking research that fueled Strat-O-Matic’s classic baseball seasons, beginning with the 1956 season in 1982. It was Steve’s research, by poring through every box score for the season, that enabled accurate lefty/righty splits, strikeouts, and caught stealing numbers among others. Besides baseball, Steve was responsible for the hockey game each year as well as work on basketball and football.

Pauline Feelings

Class of 2023

Before she started working for Strat-O-Matic, Pauline worked 3 jobs while away from her children, James and Jimmy. Shortly after starting the company, Hal hired her and Pauline became the first full-time employee of Strat-O-Matic in 1964. Pauline was extraordinary - she did it all from shipping to customer service to brochures. Over her 40 plus years at Strat, anything and everything that needed to get done Pauline was there. Her work ethic was unrivaled. Pauline was simply a wonderful person. We always say that Strat-O-Matic is more than a job, it's a family. That began with Pauline.

Del Newell

Class of 2023

Del Newell first began playing Strat in June of 1963. In March 1971, after a phone call to Hal, Del ran the first issue of the monthly Strat-O-Matic Review, the first significant publication dedicated to Strat-O-Matic. Del was the editor of the newsletter for the next 20 years. The Review’s inviting line, “So You Think You’re the Only One?” united Strat-O-Matic gamers. They shared biographical notes, game experiences, playing tips, rule interpretations, classified ads, and more. In many respects, the Review created the Strat-O-Matic community that would not have been acquainted otherwise. In addition to the review, Del helped Strat-O-Matic organize and run the first convention in 1973 in Brooklyn.

Bill Sindelar

Class of 2023

Hal Richman considers Bill Sindelar "Strat-O-Matic’s First Customer". Bill began playing Strat-O-Matic in 1961 and while he might not technically be the first to purchase the game, Bill was the first customer to interact with Hal on a personal basis and let him know his thoughts on the game. Later, Bill became one of the first computer Strat-O-Matic players. Bill was easy to get along with, and always happy to send suggestions to Hal or Bob Winberry for the Windows game, some of which have been implemented and are still used in the current versions of the game today.

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