No All-Star Game? No Problem, As Drew Carey, Slim Jim Phantom To Manage Teams As Strat-O-Matic Simulates Contest In Interactive Live Video July 14 Via Wizard World Virtual Experiences

‘Whose Line,’ ‘The Price is Right’ Host To Handle A.L. Squad Vs. ‘Stray Cats’ Drummer In Live Video Via Twitch, Facebook, YouTube Channels; Veteran Sportscaster Seth Everett To Host; Rosters Announced, Fans Can Vote For 34th Man For Both Teams

GLEN HEAD, N.Y., July 9, 2020—Actor, host, comedian and baseball super-fan Drew Carey will match wits with his friend and fellow Strat-O-Matic player, musician Slim Jim Phantom, when the two square off as managers of the American League and National League teams, respectively, when Strat-O-Matic (www.strat-o-matic.com) simulates the 2020 baseball All Star Game on Tuesday, July 14. Carey and Phantom will appear live on video streaming on Wizard World’s Twitch, Facebook and YouTube channels beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, giving fans the opportunity to interact with each other as well as pose questions via chat to be considered for the broadcast.

Carey and Phantom will select the starting lineups from the All-Star Game rosters chosen by Strat-O-Matic fans based on its simulation of the 2020 baseball season to date. During the broadcast, the “Whose Line is it Anyway?” host and “Stray Cats” drummer will make lineup and pitching changes while discussing their baseball fandom and respective careers, with veteran sportscaster Seth Everett serving as moderator on the Wizard World Virtual Experiences (www.wizardworldvirtual.com) platform, which has hosted more than 50 celebrity, artist, author and pop culture panels in recent weeks.

The Strat-O-Matic All-Star broadcast will also feature surprise “drop-in” guests from the baseball and entertainment worlds, along with a running visual of the digital version of the game to allow fans to follow along with the action. Fans who miss the live broadcast can watch it on demand anytime on the same platforms.

“Slim Jim and I are in a Strat-O-Matic league together, so this will be a fun way to flex our managerial muscles and show that the American League is truly dominant in baseball,” joked Carey, whose Cleveland baseball fandom is well known. “Like all fans, we’ll miss not seeing the players on the field next Tuesday, but I look forward to talking baseball with Slim Jim and with fans who tune in to the broadcast.”

Carey is a stand-up comic turned actor and producer who had the distinction of having two hit shows simultaneously: the long-running comedy “The Drew Carey Show,” which ran from 1995-2004, and the improv/sketch show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” on which he was host and a producer. The success of that show led to the creation of “Drew Carey’s Improv All-Stars,” an improv troupe that performed in showrooms across the country. In July 2007, Carey was named the host of “The Price is Right,” succeeding longtime host Bob Barker. 

Phantom is the drummer for the band Stray Cats and host of “Rockabilly Raveup” in Little Steven’s Underground Garage and Fantasy Baseball’s “Slim Jim Phantasy,” both on SiriusXM.

“Avid Strat-O-Matic players are found in all walks of life, and Drew Carey and Slim Jim Phantom are emblematic of its popularity across the entertainment world,” said Adam Richman, Strat-O-Matic President. “We couldn’t be more excited that they have agreed to manage the teams and we think there will be plenty of laughs,great baseball and entertainment talk.”

Strat-O-Matic, the market leader in sports simulations, updates results and standings daily at www.strat-o-matic.com/2020-season-simulation/. It will continue daily until the baseball season resumes (currently set for July 23), at which point Strat-O-Matic will simulate the remainder of the original schedule and playoffs, and preview the recently-announced abbreviated 60-game slate.

Strat-O-Matic also announced the rosters for its 2020 All-Star Game simulation, available here: http://www.strat-o-matic.com/2020allstarrosters/, with fans able to select the final player to be added to both teams at www.twitter.com/stratomatic.

Strat-O-Matic has experienced unprecedented growth over the past quarter, registering sharp increases in sales, traffic and social numbers. Board and Windows games, digital platform Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365, Website traffic, new users and social media have all seen significant boosts over comparable time periods as fans continue to satiate their thirst for baseball, Strat-O-Matic style, connecting with the game and each other across all of these areas.

About Strat-O-Matic

Strat-O-Matic was invented by 11-year-old Hal Richman in his bedroom in Great Neck, N.Y. in 1948 as a result of his frustration with the statistical randomness of other baseball board games. He discovered that the statistical predictability of dice would give his game the realism he craved. Over the next decade, he perfected the game at summer camp and then as a student at Bucknell University. After producing All-Star sets in 1961 and ‘62, he parlayed a $5,000 loan from his father (and made a deal that if it didn’t work out he would work for his father’s insurance company) into the original 1962 Strat-O-Matic Baseball season game. Needless to say, Hal never had to take a job with his father.

Strat-O-Matic, based in Glen Head, NY and on the Internet at www.strat-o-matic.com, manufactures the top selling sports board games and realism/stats sports digital games. The Company publishes baseball, football, basketball and hockey games to play both on and off your computer and mobile screens. “Strat-O” games are known throughout the sports community for their statistical realism and accuracy. The Company has the world’s greatest sports game stat libraries with top-of-the-line seasons dating back to the early 1900’s. At the start of the 2016 MLB season, Strat-O-Matic introduced Baseball Daily, its first product featuring digital player cards that update every day to reflect real life current player performance as the season progresses.

The Company has a loyal celebrity following including a bevy of sports broadcasters such as Bob Costas, Jon Miller and Dan Shulman, former MLB’ers Keith Hernandez, Doug Glanville and Cal Ripken Jr., and sports super fans including Drew Carey, Ben Bernanke, Bryant Gumbel, Spike Lee and Tim Robbins. More information is available at: www.strat-o-matic.com.