Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

This was posted by Joe Posnanski of "The Athletic" today:

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues. And in celebration, we want you to take a photo or a short video of you tipping your cap to the Negro Leagues — it can be any cap at all — and add a few words and send it to photos@tippingyourcap.com.

We want you to join an extraordinary group of people who have already sent in their photos and videos and thoughts — we are officially launching the campaign this week at tippingyourcap.com and I think you will be a little bit blown away by some of the people you see joining us in this celebration.

And then we hope you will tip your cap, challenge your friends and family to tip theirs, send us your photos and videos, post them on your social media platforms, and also consider donating some money to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City.

Thanks for the alert. It's a great suggestion. Many of my ATG teams are dominated by Negro League players, so even in SOM, I owe them a lot.

Very cool, very timely. Thanks ST.

One of the things that caught my attention about Stratomatic when I was looking around for a game to play after my beloved ChronX game died, was that Negro League players are fully integrated into the ATG environment. Awesome, truly awesome. We can't undo the racist legacy of baseball but this simulation helps us imagine a better baseball world.

We can play in a world where Satchel Paige and Clayton Kershaw can be teammates, and so can Babe Ruth and Josh Gibson!

It's a small thing, true, but pretty damn cool! So yes indeed, hats off to the tremendous players of the Negro Leagues!

I echo those sentiments along with the following question.............

Why can't the NEL players have some strictly relief pitchers so that the NEL "franchise" could be selected in all the franchise leagues that are proposed, rather than as free agents?

My son and I became enthralled with the legacy of the Negro League ball players. Read several books, attended baseball card signings, had quite a few conversations with Double Duty Radcliiffe. I wanted to have these legends compete against the ATG's. Had purchased all four of the HOF cards. I created my own Negro Players cards, all with anecdotal information. Created about 25 players cards. Don't think Scott Simkus would agree, but we had tons of fun. Played many basic card games with the four HOF cards and my Negro player cards. It was pretty even, 50-50 in the results.

One day I had a question for Strat and called them up. After a brief conversation I shared my interest and hope for cards with Negro league players. Shared my creations based on anecdotal info. Gentleman seemed interested, and expressed problems with data. I asked his name and he said his name was Hal. Hmm, I believe it was a few years later that Scott Simkus was commissioned to create cards with data he could find.

All teams I play are named for Negro League, Dominican, Cuban, Mexican, Venezuelan teams. Toledo Blue Stockings, Chicago American Giants, Chattanooga Black Lookouts, Atlanta Black Crackers, Detroit Stars, Ethiopian Clowns, Pittsburgh Grays, Kansas City Monarchs, to name a few. The Toledo Blue Stockings had the first negro players, Fleetwood Walker. Bud Fowler is also being credited with being one of the first black ball players.

Chompsky wrote: We can't undo the racist legacy of baseball but this simulation helps us imagine a better baseball world.

True, and while thankful for the NEL, it is too bad it didn't happen earlier, and a NEL should never have been needed in the first place of course, by our sensibilities. Lots of talent that should have been rewarded, and more people of all types should have been able to enjoy.

But I think it's important to note everything in context. Baseball's "racist legacy" was well ahead of society at large. One that led the way in its time for doing the right thing when the right thing was not popular. Between 1940-59, that legacy was one that was well ahead of what was in the streets of Philadelphia or Mobile or LA. Well before even Ike's 1950s push for a Civil Rights Act or calling in the troops to force integration.

After all, in our hubris, what do we choose today that is the unpopular right thing? When Lincoln chose to fight a civil war, the abolitionist party had only a couple percentage points of polling support. Wasn't easy to do the right thing. He wasn't following mobs--he was leading the way to actually honor the principles of the Declaration. The Reconstruction Amendments that followed in the 1860s were resisted by the SCOTUS and followed a terrible trail of cases that should never have been necessary after winning a Civil War to settle such things.

When Woodrow Wilson forced re-segregation of the previously integrated federal workforce much to WEB Dubois's chagrin, when FDR appointed a known and active KKK leader to the SCOTUS, and Sen Robert Byrd held one of the highest positions in the KKK in the last part of the 20th century, these folks were not following Lincoln's, Ike's, Jackie Robinson's or Branch Rickey's example.

So, I think context is needed and I for one am thankful, that in its time, baseball succeeded in leading the way to do the right thing, when it was not the poll-tested answer.

Cheers and Happy 100th for sure, but wishing there never even had to be a NEL,
Frank

Very well said by Cranky Frankie!!
(and I though I was a wordsmith)

I cannot do anything but resemble that remark

Cranky

Tonight my season starts for my first team in honor of Negro Leaguesand players of African descent. All of my starters and a few subs have come from the Negro Leagues list of players. My subs are all either black players or black latin/hispanic players. Wish me luck. BLM Cerveceros