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TWO STRAT-O-MATIC FANATICS SET NEW WORLD RECORD FOR LONGEST MARATHON PLAYING A BOARD GAME
Minnesota tandem plays continuous games of Strat-O-Matic Baseball for 61 hours, 2 minutes at Foley’s Pub & Restaurant in New York City
GLEN HEAD, N.Y. – JUNE 9, 2012 – Brett Carow and Sam Hennemann, two Strat-O-Matic Fanatics from Minnesota, made history today when they broke the Guinness World Record (GWR) for longest marathon playing a board game (53 hours and 59 minutes). The event, hosted by Strat-O-Matic, began on Thursday, June 7 at 9 a.m. ET at Foley’s Pub & Restaurant (18 W. 33rd Street, NYC) and while playing their 102nd game on Saturday, June 9 at 3:00 p.m. ET, the duo established a new world record of 54 hours. After a brief celebration/rest break (as permitted by Guinness World Record requirements), Carow and Hennemann sat back down at the gaming table for another seven hours to extend their record to 61 hours and 2 minutes.
“It was just unbelievable to see this happen,” said Hal Richman, the Founder and President of Strat-O-Matic. “When I started this company in 1961, I never thought I would see a day like this… it makes me very proud and very happy to have two people so dedicated to Strat-O-Matic to try something like this.”
The previous Guinness World Record for longest marathon playing a board game was 53 hours and 59 minutes, set by James Carroll, Jared Wetsel, Kraig Deming, Josiah Hooten and Aaron Trent who played “Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game” at the Little Shoppe of Games in Oklahoma City, OK on August 12-14, 2011.
Carow and Hennemann played what turned out to be a 32 team, 111 game tournament, followed by five exhibition games. The tournament featured a mix of some of the greatest baseball teams from the past 100 years, as well as some of Carow, Hennemann and Richman’s personal selections. The 2007 Boston team was crowned champion of the tournament, knocking off 2004 St. Louis four games to one in the Tournament World Series. For a look at the complete tournament bracket, click here.
Of the 116 total games played, Sam won the head-to-head matchups 64-52. There were 20 extra inning games played, with 15 innings being the longest individual game, won by the 1969 NYM. Perhaps the most impressive feat came when Carow had a five home run inning (including four straight) by the heart of the 1964 NYY lineup against 1965 Minnesota. The best pitching performance of the tournament was when Vinegar Bend Mizell took a no-hitter into the 9th inning for 1960 Pittsburgh.
Former MLB pitchers Jeff Nelson and Ron Darling, as well as the entire umpiring crew from the Mets-Yankees Subway Series made appearances at Foley’s over the course of the weekend.
Shaun Clancy, owner of Foley’s, was very pleased with how the event turned out. “Foley’s Pub & Restaurant is honored to have hosted this unique and fun event, and it was great to have so many baseball fans and Strat-O-Matic fanatics come on out, cheer Brett and Sam, and enjoy some food and drink specials in their honor.”
Those looking to buy any of Strat-O-Matic’s baseball, football, basketball or hockey products (including board games, Windows games or digital games) can do so online at www.strat-o-matic.com Strat-O-Matic’s new, hot-selling kids board game, Baseball Express, is available at all Toys R Us stores across the country in the “Collectibles” section.
About Strat-O-Matic
Strat-O-Matic was invented by 11-year-old Hal Richman in his bedroom in Great Neck, NY in 1948 because he became frustrated by the statistical randomness of other baseball board games. He discovered 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, produces the top selling sports board games and is the leading producer of realism/stats sports computer games. The company publishes baseball, football, basketball and hockey games to play both on and off your computer screen. “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. On the Internet, the company has partnered with The Sporting News to create innovative fantasy/simulation games and previously with Sports Illustrated Kids to produce a line of new fantasy sports games for a younger demographic. Recently the company released Strat-O-Matic Negro Leagues, the first sports simulation game to accurately reflect more than 100 Negro League players who never had the chance to show their skills in the major leagues. All Strat-O products are available in both board and computer game formats.
The company has a loyal celebrity following including a bevy of sportscaster and sports journalists like Bob Costas, Buzz Bissinger, Jon Miller, former MLB’ers Keith Hernandez, Doug Glanville, Cal Ripken; and sports super fans including Bryant Gumbel, Tim Robbins, Drew Carey and Spike Lee. More information is available at: www.strat-o-matic.com).
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