Strat memory

[mykeedee]

[quote:27537cee13]FtF local draft league, 1987 (I think). We "traveled" (drove to) the home manager's abode to play games. Opening day starter for me: Don Carman. 27 up, 27 down. Never repeated and, now that I use the computer, never will.

(I had first pick in the league that year--Don Mattingly. One of the other managers picked up the Niekros and Charlie Hough for his staff).Smile[/quote:27537cee13]

I also started in a FtF draft league where we drove to the host house to play our games, around 1982 I think. Started out with 6 teams, with strict appearance limits, #1 and #2 played for the championship. Eventually 6 or 7 years later we had 10 teams and and two divisions. Also during those years my wife (now ex-wife) tore up cards, threw them in the trash, hid them, and did everything she could think of to stop me from playing. I have since remarried to a great woman who has a much better tolerance for my addiction.

[theClaw]

[quote:91de1d7fa9="tuvthomas"]Well, as it states - I'm considered a rookie on Strat on-line, but my neighbors and I played our first Strat league in the summer of 1966 using the 1965 season cards. My Cincinatti Reds (Gordy Coleman, Pete Rose, Tommy Harper, Johnny Edwards, Leo Cardenas, Vada Pinson, Tony Perez) won the NL and my Boston Red Sox (Yaz, Petrocelli, Adair, Foy, Kasko, Harrelson) won the AL (not sure how they did that) - can't really remember who won the Series (I think the Reds). We played the following years also, using the '66 cards, the '67 cards, and the '68 cards. Still have those original cards including the '64 cards and '71 cards I purchased a few years later, but we never played a season with them.
We played the game on a field we painted on the back of a big (about 6' by 6') piece of carpet, building grand-stands in the outfield and even two dugouts. As players we recruited Marx Centennial (from 1961) Civil War soldiers for more friendly endeavors. Those were some fun summers![/quote:91de1d7fa9]

wow! 8-) love the building of grandstands, that is impressive!!!

[dyork56]

My first intrduction to Strat was when I found this "old" board game that my dad (the real owner of the now shared dyork56) received as a gift from his brother for Christmas. I believe he got the original game ('86 cards, 5 other 'classic' teams, and the 1961 set) in '87 or '88. I didn't get to play it that Christmas (the 5 year old me preferred to hit the ice covered fields that connected my grandma's land to mine). I do remember my dad, uncle, and grandpa sitting around reading the rules and playing......by candlelight (hugh power-outage)!!!

In the winter of 2003 I was sitting in a dorm room at the University of Missouri-Rolla (about 20 minutes from my home in Crocker, around the Fort Wood area) and noticed that Sporting News was advertising some "new" simulation game on my fantasy baseball site (that was when you still went to smallworld.com to log in to your fantasy teams). I saw the logo for Strat and recognized it from the old box in the basement. My roomie and I, a fellow Crockerite, decided to head back home and pick up the game. I had plenty of time to kill since my fall baseball workouts were completed and I was pretty sure I wasn't returing to the school or the ball team come spring.

The first game we played was a close one--9-8 I won in the top of the 9th on a Rocky Colavito 2 run homer (he drove in Norm Cash, who was walked by Roger Clemens). From then on we were hooked.

My dad was hooked the day after when he tried his hand. We decided to give the online game a shot and competed against each other a lot, until we decided to let the mikesblues name rest and we joined forces under the dyork56 moniker about a year ago.

It's always been, for me anyway, about getting to spend time talking baseball with my dad. Yeah, yeah, sappy I know.

[PJ Axelsson]

[quote:f0524f5d4b]It's always been, for me anyway, about getting to spend time talking baseball with my dad. Yeah, yeah, sappy I know.[/quote:f0524f5d4b]

Nothing sappy about it! My kids (the boy is 5, the girl is 9) are learning about baseball and its history by watching the replays with me each morning. They love to watch the games, and they learn something new every day, it's the best teaching tool short of actually playing! Tonight, my daughter told her grandfather (a non player of strat) that her favorite player was Eddie Stanky. He lit up and they had a long discussion about him, as he remembered him from his youth. I didn't know this until tonight, but I love this strategy:



[quote:f0524f5d4b]Whenever he was the runner on third base, Stanky developed the habit of standing several feet back of the bag, in left field. If a fly ball was hit, he would time its arc, then take off running so as to step on third base just as the catch was being made. In this way he would be running towards home at full speed from the beginning of the play, making it almost impossible to throw him out. This tactic was made illegal following the season. Stanky was also (in)famous for what came to be called "the Stanky maneuver", where he would take advantage of his position on second base to distract opposing batters by jumping up and down and waving his arms behind the pitcher.[/quote:f0524f5d4b]

[dyork56]

Great stuff, PJ!

Maybe Stanky does that in the game too---I've always had good luck with him on the team..... :wink:

[fredpaii]

[quote:30ab610681="The Biomechanical Man"]I learned Strat when I was about 11 (circa 1973). Pretty soon my friend Todd and I were obsessed and played as much as possible. We created leagues, created schedules, played the games, and kept stats. Because Todd's older sister (cute and probably about 16) thought we were a couple of dorks, Todd and his sister would regularly tease each other. One night while Todd and I were in the middle of a good series of games at his house, his sister came by the room. Todd teased her, so she mooned us.
:shock:

I have no recollection what put-down Todd threw at his sister, but I do remember seeing his sister's butt. :lol:[/quote:30ab610681]

This is why I keep playing.

[padrenurgle1]

Good stories!

I started in 1986, and being a D&D geek already, immediately saw the multiple problems with the split card pile (e.g., card counting, card bending, the pile getting kicked over, etc.) and introduced the 20-sided die to shock-and-awe responses from my alternate jock-set friends I played strat with. I think the games actually COME with a 20-sider now, instead of cards.

I have two championship game stories.

One was watching a friend roll three 1-7s on Cecil Fielder's monster 50+ homer card. 1-7 was a strikeout sandwiched by solid homers on 1-6 and 1-8. He was so furious the third time that he bit down on the card as hard as he could, leaving permanent tooth marks on Cecil.

The other one was with the 1986 or 1987 set. I had Cory Snyder on third in extra innings, and I announced I was going to steal home. He was a D stealing but hit 7th or something and there was no one behind him that was going to drive him in. I got a 2 on the split and won the game and the series. My opponent never forgave me.