Great Moments in Strat – December 2014

GREAT MOMENTS IN STRAT
 
Have you experienced a game of Strat-O-Matic so thrilling, unique or bizarre that you just HAVE to share it with someone? That would be us. Send your Great Moments in Strat to SOMTalkShow@aol.com. Please include your name and hometown. Readers like to see that and you deserve the credit.
 
NOLAN RYAN COMES TO LIFE
 
            I got my new 1973 season this year. I’m still a dice & cards guy. One of my favorite memories of that season was Nolan Ryan breaking the single-season strikeout record. So I decided to play all of his games for that year, just the starting games. When recreating any games I always use baseball-reference.com to get the boxscore to use the actual starting lineups for the game. The results were amazingly close to the actual stats. I actually had him complete a lot more games, thus more innings pitched and that accounts for the differences. 
 
Angels
Pos
G
GS
  GF
 CG
      IP
  W
  L
  K 
BB
HB
H
R
ER
HR
Sv
BS
SO
NH
PG
  ERA
    PCT 
  K/9
  W/9
    H/9
 HR/9
 SO/W
Actual totals
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nolan Ryan
SP
41
39
2
26
326
21
16
383
162
7
238
113
104
18
1
0
8
1
0
2.87
.568
10.6
4.5
6.6
0.5
2.36

Strat-O-Matic totals
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nolan Ryan
SP
39
39
0
36
337
22
16
406
168
7
231
113
104
17
0
0
8
1
0
2.78
.579
10.8
4.5
6.2
0.5
2.42
 
            This shows why Strat-O-Matic is the best sports game! Thanks, Hal, for such a great game!
 
Tony Dove, Bayonne, NJ
 
UNFORGETTABLE
 
            This “Great Moment in Strat” is a tip of the hat to the old Lyman Bostock Memorial Tournament, which I’m sure some of you remember.  It took place in Hobart, Portage, and West Lafayette, Indiana in the 1980s and 1990s, and was organized by James Sanders, a Gary police officer and a wonderful man.  As a 12-year-old in 1982, my father took me to my first LBMT; I played with my beloved (but overmatched) 1980-81 Chicago Blackhawks in the hockey portion of the tournament.  As my dad went into town to get a bite to eat, James was like a surrogate father, always keeping an eye on me and regularly asking over my shoulder, “How’s it going, Doug?”
 
            I later returned to the LBMT in 1992 and 1993, and am proud to say I won the baseball tournament both years with the 1927 A’s and the 1941 Dodgers.  But it was those first few years attending as a child which meant the most to me – a trip out of town with my dad to play Strat with lots of friendly people… what could be better!
 
Doug Feldmann, Villa Hills, KY
 
  
HOW REAL LIFE IMITATES STRAT-O-MATIC
 
            In what has to be one of the rarest Strat occurrences, David “Boomer” Wells, in a replay of the 1998 season, tossed a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins on the same date that he actually threw his perfect game that season.  Wells (8-1) and the Yankees defeated the Twins by the minimum score of 1 to 0.  Wells was efficient the entire game, nothing difficult, very few X-rolls.  New York (30-8, one game ahead of pace) had only four hits for the afternoon as Latroy Hawkins (1-2) ended up a hard-luck loser, pitching 5-1/3 innings and not allowing an earned run.  The Yanks only run scored in the 1st after Jeter reached on an error, moved up on an O’Neill groundout, then scored on Tino’s single ahead of the throw home.  After that the Yankees were almost as helpless as the Twins, leaving only two other runners in scoring position.  For the three game series, Minnesota managed only one run on 7 hits as the New Yorkers simply dominated them, Wells capping the sweep.
 
            I realized I had the no-hitter during the game, but it wasn’t until the 8th inning that I finally figured out he had a perfect game going.  At that point I stopped playing and looked up the date of his perfect game in 1998.  For the last two innings I was closing my eyes on every Wells’ roll, but, as it turned out, there was no suspense.  It was just so easy.
 
            I have literally played thousands of Strat baseball games since I was initiated to the game in 1966, even remember my first no-no (1941 Spud Chandler vs. a combined 1966 St. Louis/Cincinnati lineup sometime in the early 1970’s), but this game will make my short list of memorable games.  ‘twas fun!
 
Ken Fricke, Oak Ridge, TN
 
BOXSCORE: 1998 Minnesota Twins At 1998 New York (AL) Yankees        5/17/1998
 
  Twins              AB  R  H RBI AVG     Yankees            AB  R  H RBI AVG
  M.Lawton CF       3  0  0  0 .234     C.Knoblauch 2B     4  0  0  0 .236 
  B.Gates 2B          3  0  0  0 .150     D.Jeter SS              4  1  1  0 .307 
  P.Molitor DH       3  0  0  0 .340     P.O’Neill RF          4  0  0  0 .320 
  M.Cordova LF      3  0  0  0 .271     T.Martinez 1B        4  0  1  1 .356 
  R.Coomer 1B       3  0  0  0 .329     B.Williams CF        3  0  1  0 .376 
  A.Ochoa RF         3  0  0  0 .203     D.Strawberry DH   2  0  0  0 .330 
  J.Shave 3B            3  0  0  0 .333     C.Curtis LF           2  0  0  0 .202 
  J.Valentin C          2  0  0  0 .217     J.Posada C            2  0  0  0 .284 
A-T.Walker PH      1  0  0  0 .287      S.Brosius 3B          3  0  1  0 .277 
  P.Meares SS         3  0  0  0 .243                                         
                            — — — —                                        — — — —     
            Totals      27  0  0  0                       Totals      28  1  4  1
 
A-Pinch Hit For Valentin In 9th Inning
 
Twins……….. 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  –  0  0  2
Yankees……… 1 0 0  0 0 0  0 0    –  1  4  0
 
Twins (23-19)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
L.Hawkins LOSS(1-2)   5 1/3   3   1   0   3   5   0  94   4.86  A1 C4
M.Trombley               2 2/3   1   0   0   0   2   0  30   2.35  C5
Totals                        8       4   1   0   3   7   0
 
Yankees (29-8)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
D.Wells WIN(8-1)       9       0   0   0   0   5   0 113   3.45  A1
Totals                        9       0   0   0   0   5   0
 
ATTENDANCE- 56,745 DATE- Sunday, May 17th 1998 TIME- Day WEATHER- Good
UMPIRES- Dave Phillips, Durwood Merrill, Rocky Roe, Dale Scott
T- 2:25
LEFT ON BASE- Twins: 0  Yankees: 6
DOUBLE PLAYS- Twins: 2  Yankees: 0
ERRORS- B.Gates, J.Shave
DOUBLES- D.Jeter(10th)
RBIs- T.Martinez(40th)
STOLEN BASES- D.Strawberry(3rd), C.Curtis(3rd)
WALKS- D.Strawberry, C.Curtis, J.Posada
STRIKE OUTS- M.Lawton, M.Cordova-2, R.Coomer, J.Shave, C.Knoblauch-2,
             T.Martinez, B.Williams, D.Strawberry, C.Curtis, J.Posada
GIDP- C.Knoblauch, P.O’Neill
RLISP 2-out- B.Williams, J.Posada, C.Curtis
 
 
THE GREATEST
 
            Took a break from my 1969 replay and just finished an “NCAA” type tournament with SOM’s 42 Oldtimer Teams.  Set up a bracket ranking teams from an internet research of about 8 websites that ranked the greatest teams of all-time.  The first 2 rounds were best of 5 and the rest of the way through the finals was best of 7.  The overwhelming choice for number 1 ranking was the 1927 NY Yankees.  Somehow, the dice didn’t get that memo and the Yankees were eliminated by the 1931 Philadelphia A’s 4 to 3 (Ruth and Gehrig and everybody else went comatose in the 5th, 6th and 7th games – A’s were down 3 to 1). Unbelievable. 
 
            The 1931 A’s went on to win the whole shebang (4 to 0) taking out the 1935 Chicago Cubs, who had a few upsets of their own (3-0 over the 1909 Pirates and 4-1 over the 1954 Indians) on the way to the finals.  Mule Haas was the hitting hero at .387 (8 d) with Simmons at .345 (4 hr) and Foxx at .293 (4 t, 6 hr, 24 rbi). Lefty Grove went 5-2 (4.50), George Earnshaw 4-2 (2.90), and George Walberg 4-1 (2.37) to lead the way.  The A’s went 18-7 overall to win the title. 
 
            I played basic level with dice and my only complaint would be the excessive number of walks throughout the entire tournament.  What a kick – SOM has to be just about the greatest thing for baseball fans! Anybody else out there who might have played a similar tournament with the same teams and same/different results?
 
            Keep up the fantastic work – always look forward to Great Moments and the Talk Show!

Bob Siefken, Bishop, CA
 
 
FRIEND AND FRIENDS DO NO WRONG
 
            I play in an all-Netplay retro league I joined as an expansion team for the 1958 season.  As an expansion team, we are not very good.  Can’t pitch, can’t field, can’t hit, can’t run.  But on a night game, July 11th, we did the first two things perfectly.  This was beyond belief, as Bob Friend was not very good in 1958, and the defense behind him is very bad.  But he was dealing on this day, and luck was also on his side as I can recall dodging 3 or 4 high split singles.  What a fun game, and I will print this out, and frame it for my man cave.
 
            The game went by so fast, when pinch-hitter Granny Hamner made the final out, both managers said “game’s over?” Then it dawned, hey, that’s a no-hitter … wait, that’s a perfecto!!
 
Keith
 
BOXSCORE: 1958 Detroit Tigers At 1958 San Francisco Lightning       7/11/1958
 
 Tigers                   AB R H RBI AVG     Lightning          AB R H RBI AVG
 D.Blasingame 2B    4 1 1 0  .272         R.Ashburn LF       3 0 0 0 .294 
 A.Pearson RF         3 0 0 0  .258         S.Hemus 2B          3 0 0 0 .284 
 E.Howard C           4 0 0 0  .341         L.Walls RF            3 0 0 0 .313 
 L.Wagner LF          3 0 0 0  .417         Y.Berra C              3 0 0 0 .226 
A-A.Smith LF          1 0 0 0  .238         O.Cepeda 1B         3 0 0 0 .280 
 G.Harris 1B           3 0 0 0  .265         C.Neal SS               3 0 0 0 .237 
 D.Zimmer SS         3 0 0 0  .266          B.Virdon CF         3 0 0 0 .244 
 A.Dark 3B             3 0 0 0  .290          F.Malzone 3B        3 0 0 0 .282 
B-B.Martin 3B        0 0 0 0  .238          D.Donovan P         2 0 0 0 .042 
 J.Piersall CF           3 0 1 0  .221         C-G.Hamner PH     1 0 0 0 .283 
 B.Friend P              3 0 0 0  .051                                         
                                — — — —                                              — — — —     
                Totals      30 1 2 0                               Totals      27 0 0 0
 
A-Subbed Defensively (LF) For Wagner In 7th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (3B) For Dark In 9th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Donovan In 9th Inning
 
Tigers………. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 1 2 0
Lightning……. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 0 2
 
Tigers (36-57)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
B.Friend WIN(6-5)     9       0   0    0    0    3     0     84   4.41
 
Lightning (52-41)                IP     H  R  ER  BB  SO HR  PC    ERA
D.Donovan LOSS(9-6)       9      2   1    0    0    6    0    106   3.12
 
ATTENDANCE- 48,919 DATE- Friday, July 11th 1958 TIME- Night WEATHER- Good
T- 1:39
LEFT ON BASE- Tigers: 3 Lightning: 0
DOUBLE PLAYS- Tigers: 0 Lightning: 0
ERRORS- C.Neal, D.Donovan
SACRIFICE HITS- A.Pearson
STRIKE OUTS- A.Pearson, E.Howard, L.Wagner, G.Harris, D.Zimmer, B.Friend,
             L.Walls, F.Malzone, D.Donovan
RLISP 2-out- G.Harris
 
 
THREE CHEERS FOR SANTO
 
            1969 Ron Santo had three dingers, including one granny yesterday. The slam in the 7th inning gave him 10 RBIs in the Cubs’ 12-2 victory over the 1975 Red Sox at the Friendly Confines. The dice were just rolling his way, as he jumped and clicked his heels after the game on the way to the left field clubhouse door.
           
            I actually woke the dog up in my merriment on his last homer when the 1-6-3=9 was rolled which slammed off the left field fence and spilling a bleacher bum’s beer!
 
Game Stats – 11/18/14 1975 Boston Red Sox at 1969 Chicago Cubs
 
1975 BOSTON RED SOX (2) AT 1969 CHICAGO CUBS (12)
 
1975 BOSTON RED SOX  AB  R  H BI      1969 CHICAGO CUBS  AB  R  H BI
Juan Beniquez                    4  0  0  0        Don Kessinger               4  4  3  0  
Dwight Evans                    4  1  2  1        Glenn Beckert                3  3  2  0  
Carl Yastrzemski                2  0  1  0        Billy Williams                 4  1  2  2  
 Cecil Cooper                    2  0  0  0        Ron Santo                     5  3  4 10  
Fred Lynn                         3  0  0  0        Ernie Banks                   4  0  1  0  
 Rick Miller                       1  0  0  0        Randy Hundley              3  0  1  0  
Carlton Fisk                      3  0  1  0        Ken Rudolph                 1  0  0  0  
 Tim Blackwell                   1  1  1  1        Jim Hickman                  4  0  0  0  
Rico Petrocelli                   3  0  1  0        Don Young                   4  0  0  0  
 Bob Heise                        1  0  0  0        Dick Selma                    2  0  0  0  
Rick Burleson                    3  0  0  0        Hank Aguirre                 0  0  0  0  
Doug Griffin                      3  0  0  0        Willie Smith                  1  0  0  0  
Reggie Cleveland                2  0  0  0        Al Spangler                   1  1  1  0  
 Roger Moret                     0  0  0  0                                    
 Jim Burton                        0  0  0  0                                    
 Bernie Carbo                    1  0  0  0                                    
      TOTALS                     33  2  6  2             TOTALS               36 12 14 12
 
1975 BOSTON RED SOX           000 001 001 — 2  
1969 CHICAGO CUBS               200 020 44x — 12 
 
LOB–1975 BOSTON RED SOX 4, 1969 CHICAGO CUBS 6. ERR–Doug
Griffin, Ted Abernathy, Glenn Beckert. 2B–Carlton Fisk,
Billy Williams. 3B–Billy Williams. HR–Dwight Evans, Tim
Blackwell, Ron Santo (3). SACF–Billy Williams.
 
 1975 BOSTON RED SOX     IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR
Reggie Cleveland (L)             6.00    8    4    4    2    1    1
Roger Moret                        0.33    3    4    3    0    0    1
Jim Burton                           0.67    0    0    0    1    0    0
Jim Willoughby                    0.67    3    4    4    2    0    1
Dick Drago                         0.33    0    0    0    0    0    0
 
 1969 CHICAGO CUBS          
Dick Selma (W)                  6.00    4    1    1    0    4    1
Hank Aguirre                     1.00    1    0    0    0    0    0
Ted Abernathy                   1.00    0    0    0    0    0    0
Rich Nye                           1.00    1    1    1    0    0    1
 
SO–Reggie Cleveland, Carlton Fisk, Dwight Evans, Fred Lynn,
Randy Hundley. BB–Ernie Banks, Glenn Beckert (2), Randy
Hundley, Don Kessinger.
 
John Sparti, AKA Sparky on Strat Fan Forum
 
 
CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF BRADY VS. MANNING
 
            My 11-year old son, Micah, and I enjoy playing Strat’s Elementary C&D football game. A couple of weeks ago we broke out the 2013 teams, Micah wanted to play Denver-New England with him being Denver. My 8-year-old son, Dakota, wanted to be my helper. This involved rolling the dice as well as suggesting plays – offense and defense – pretty much nonstop. He’s not shy and gave me many an “I told you so” when I made a call that didn’t work out.
 
            The game was 14-10 Broncos at the half. Much to Micah’s delight, Stevan Ridley lost 3 fumbles in the 1st half, including one with 30 seconds left and the Pats in FG range. By the end of the 3rd quarter we were tied at 17… and then the excitement started.
 
            Denver put together a nice, long drive bridging the 3rd to 4th quarters and went up 24-17 with 12:45 left. Tom Brady promptly threw an INT, but the return is fumbled back to New England. Major disappointment for Micah. We end up punting, but get a 60-yarder to the 10. Soon after Peyton Manning is picked off and the return goes to the Denver 1! This one too was fumbled, but the Pats recover it. Both coaches are having heart attacks.
 
            LaGarrette Blount plunges in and with 5:45 to play and I’m going for 2. It’s almost bedtime and I do NOT want OT. Brady hits Rob Gronkowski and the Patriots lead 25-24. With Micah pulling the strings Manning and Denver have it under control though. I am fooled by a couple of end run calls for Knowshon Moreno, including a 7-yard TD run. He goes for 2 and gets it. Up 32-25 with 1:45 to play Micah thinks he has it won…
 
            But does he? Brady hits a long pass to near mid-field and then finds Aaron Dobson for 45 yards to the Denver 7! Julian Edelman’s TD catch with 30 seconds left leaves me down one point. I KNOW Micah will call pass, so I decide to run Blount. Not the best percentage move even if GW, but it’ll be fun to cross him up. Except he calls run defense! I figure the game’s lost, but roll a 4-2 … short gain!
 
            The Patriots win a 33-32 thriller. My helper, Dakota, is ecstatic. Micah is disappointed, but handles himself well and is gracious in defeat. Fact is he called an excellent game, he just didn’t get the rolls at the end. Brady was 27 of 42 for 367 and 2 TDs with 1 INT. Manning was 22 of 42 for 257 and 1 TD with 2 INT. Moreno ran for 3 TDs. Just a blast! Thanks to Strat-o-Matic for making this great game!
 
 
Bill Bair, Lake Stevens, WA