Strat-O-Matic

Strat Pitcher Hitting Cards

A beef I’ve always had with SOM is that the pitcher hitting cards are offered in basic format only. If you use them with the advanced game, then you’ve got a monochromatic, portrait-orientation pitcher card mixed in with the black/blue/red, landscape-orientation position-player cards. Yuck.

So, as a little Photoshop exercise, I created some pitcher hitting cards in the advanced style.

Right now the results are identical against left- and right-handed pitchers, but I may add some differences later and produce separate cards for RHB & LHB pitchers.

Past Seasons Tournament: Division C

After an six-month hiatus, Division C of the Past Seasons Tournament has been decided. The 1963 Dodgers edged by the 1964 White Sox to take the division.

DIVISION C
                W   L     RS   RA   RD

1963 Dodgers    4   1     24   13  +11
1966 Orioles    3   2     26   17   +9
1964 White Sox  3   2     24   22   +2
1975 Red Sox    2   3     15   15    0
1969 Mets       2   3     15   22   -7
1962 Angels     1   4     15   30  -15

Ads from 1973-1974

I recently acquired some old baseball mags from the time I started following the game. The 1974 Street & Smith’s yearbook was a particularly important specimen, as it was there I first saw anything about tabletop baseball. The APBA ad must have grabbed my imagination more than the others, because I sent away for their free brochure and sample cards, and soon afterwards ordered the game.

Looking back from 2008, I’m surprised at how many games were advertising. Who runs print ads nowadays?

My favorite bit is in the APBA ad from another energy crunch 35 years ago:

Street & Smith’s 1974 Yearbook:

June 1973 Baseball Digest:

Past Seasons SOM Tournament: Division B results

The 15 Division B games are complete in the Past Seasons Tournament. The 1964 Phillies took the division.

DIVISION B
                W   L     RS   RA  RD

1964 Phillies   4   1     19    7 +12
1974 Rangers    3   2     23    7 +16
1968 Cardinals  3   2     15   15   0
1966 Dodgers    3   2     10    9  +1
1969 Orioles    2   3     14   21  -7
1976 Royals     0   5     10   32 -22

Average Errors per Game

The SOM basic fielding chart seems to produce a lot of errors, at least compared to TPB. Reality check: what’s the average number of errors per game in MLB? A quick Retrosheet hack gives the average over the years. It’s not a perfect count—multiple errors during one play are all counted as one.

Is the drop due to a change in fielding prowess or a change in official scoring? I reckon it’s the latter.

SOM links

Sites:

Particular pages:

Cardinals/Yankees: SOM edition

The first SOM meeting between Saaf & Allen saw the 1962 Yankees go against the 1968 Cardinals. The Yanks scattered six runs, and Whitey Ford gave up no earned runs, as the Yanks extended their lead in the grudge match to 4 games to 2. More SOM match-ups to come!

1962 Yanks   201 100 101   6 11  1
1968 Cards   000 200 000   2  6  1

W: Ford
L: Carlton

2008 Strat-O-Matic Tournament

I got Strat-O-Matic with the set of 36 “past seasons” cards—reprints of the top teams and some expansion clubs from 1962-1976. I’ve set up a solo tournament with the 36 teams. Don’t know if I’ll get through it all, but it’s fun so far.

2008 Strat-O-Matic Tournament