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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Sites: Strat-O-Matic Fan Forum Strat-O-Matic Game Co. Gary’s Strat-O-Shack Particular pages: season overviews SOM defends 50/50

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 [...]

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