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 glenn@strat-o-matic.com. Please include your name and hometown. Readers like to see that and you deserve the credit.
THIS is the Pitcher’s Best Friend
I experienced a wonderful moment in my game yesterday and wanted to share it with you. Leon Day was cruising through his start in my Hall Of Fame League game when things started to go wrong. In the top of the 6th, Al Simmons led off with a single and Oscar Charleston followed with a double. Day was in a jam with runners on second and third with nobody out. Lady Luck smiled on him when the next batter, Mule Suttles, rolled a 3-12 and hit a hard liner to third. Wade Boggs snagged the liner and beat Simmons to the bag for a quick two outs. Boggs then fired to Rogers Hornsby at second and after a roll of the 20-sided die, Hornsby caught Charleston off the bag to complete my first ever triple play in over 30 years of baseball board gaming. It was quite a moment for me. Leon Day went on to pitch 8 2/3 innings and pick up the win.
Craig Small, Kittery Point, Maine
The Tension Kept Building …
Well, it was not a no-hitter. There was no grand slam by Billy Martin. Yeah, that happened once. But no other game I have rolled has had quite the effect as this one.
I am running a small draft league with the Old Timers cards and dice over on SOMers.com. In this game, the Smyrna (DE) Sentinels are the visiting team taking on the hometown Farmers of Felton (DE).
It starts innocuously enough. In the second inning, Felton starter Babe Adams strikes out the side. Then at the plate they come alive. Del Ennis singles. Joltin’ Joe grounds to second allowing Ennis to slide over to second. Next up, Dolph Camilli. He sends one into the bleachers at Oldring Field for a 2-0 lead.
However, as the game progresses, the Felton team begins to notice something.
Third inning, Jack Barry pops to short, catcher Andy Seminick goes down swinging and pitcher Jack Taylor pops high to third … Fourth inning, Frank Chance smacks one back to the box for a groundout, Charlie Gehringer slaps a hard grounder to third for out number two and Ted Williams grounds hard to second but not hard enough … Fifth inning, Roger Maris flies out to center, Ken Keltner grounds to short and Larry Doby grounds to first … Sixth inning, Barry pops to third, Seminick grounds to short and Taylor grounds to first.
Now I am getting a little anxious. Seventh inning, Chance grounds to short, Gehringer whiffs and Williams grounds back to the box. Holy wow … Eighth inning, Maris strikes out. Unbelievable. Keltner grounds to short. No way. Doby strikes out. Is this really happening?
After Ennis’ home run in the eighth inning, the Farmers now lead 3-0. And Adams is perfect. I strongly considered just calling the game due to bad weather right then and there. However, my home has no sprinkler system, the plumbing is fine and I could not justify burning the house down. So, what’s a nut to do?
I reluctantly took the dice in hand. I shook them for what seemed an hour, absorbing the enormity of the moment.
Roll … Barry strikes out.
My heart is in my stinking shoes. I cannot believe this. No way, man. Next up, pinch hitter Ernie Lombardi, in for Seminick. I shake the dice, playing this for real. They would have pinch hit and the realism is more important than a perfect game.
I roll … SINGLE*.
I pinch hit for Taylor who has had a fantastic game thus far, striking out 6 and walking none in eight innings of work. Up to bat, Dixie Walker: SINGLE**.
Lombardi hauls his fat butt around to third and Frank Chance steps up to the plate: Flyball(cf) B. Gehringer pops out to Camilli on first and that is the end of the ballgame. Felton 3, Smyrna 1.
I will have a perfect game one day. But wow! What a ride. Thank you, Hal. Thank you Strat-O-Matic. By far, the best game I have played with the best game ever made.
Chris Walrath, Milton, Delaware
Once (in a Lifetime) and For All
Thanks to the wonderful world of Strat and the Strat community, I have a great story to tell. This one is a little different, because it’s not about a game that I rolled.
As you know, there are multiple SOM-oriented websites, where gamers come together to share their experiences, and maybe shoot the breeze. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, it turns out that there are other gamers nearby.
A number of us who are members of the Strat-O site SOMers, just happen to live around the Puget Sound area. Over time, we started making arrangements to get together, to go to games, roll games and munch on Christmas cookies during the holidays. Each year, we try to pick out a game or two to attend. This year, we were all treated to the no-hitter thrown by Seattle Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma on Augut 12th! There was probably no way that any of us – separately — would have made plans to go to that particular game. But, because of our shared hobby and the connections we have made because of it, we were all there.
None of us had ever seen a no-hitter in person, so it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Something that we can now check off the bucket list.
What was almost as neat was the greeting we received at our site. Several of the guys were following along, as one of the members of the group had decided to track the game. Around the sixth inning, it became apparent that something special might be brewing. Others began to follow along. They all knew what had happened before we had the chance to report on our trip.
It is so wonderful to be able to share in experiences like this, and we owe it all to SOM.
Jeff Woodhouse, Seattle, WA
Shop Now
