Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

Hal is now on the other side of 85 years of age. For those of you who live near the HQ in New Jersey and may know him or not, What do you think is the future of SOM 365 online 6 to 12 months after HAL passes on?

Does the heir sell off 365 online? Does it just shut down overnight with our credits? Or does it just limp on for another year or two and becomes so bad that everybody just stops playing?

I have been an active part of this community since Aug 2012, I can't recall HAL ever sending out any messages or communication to the community. Did Hal ever do so when Sporting News ran the show? Or has HAL always been MIA with regards to the online game?

I heard his son has taken it over already

STEVE F wrote:I heard his son has taken it over already

Is the son a SOM fan? or is he simply in it for the money? Does he ever go in to the "office"? I guess what I am asking is, does anybody know who is in charge of SOM 365 online and if so, has this entity ever shared their vision?

It's interesting. I saw an article back in 2006 where Hal was saying his son was not a sports fan, that he was trying to be a hollywod producer but the son is president now and running it; I dont think he is going to give up a cash cow.

Brad, SOM is in Glen Head, Long Island, never has been in NJ. As a life-long NY'er I hate NJ, or I would if I believed in it,
I used to live fairly close to SOM headquarters, until I left Long Island forever in 1988. Ugly, squat concrete building adjacent to the parking lot for the Glen Head LIRR station.

His son definitely took over. Daddy is semi-retired but still involved part time. The son is more open to innovation, but alas, continues the storied SOM tradition of horrific customer non-service.

I think HAL Sr.'s father lived to almost 100. He probably will be sticking around for a while.

Ha, no doubt Druid...New Jersey....blech! (Note that is just a NY-NJ ages-old rivalry...the places are not much different from each other really...)

As Bruce knows, I also grew up on Long Island and left in 1990. The only thing I'd add is what makes the drab HQ even more stark is the fact that the general area where Glen Head is located is quite upscale once you get a couple blocks away--quite the contrast in the vicinity of SOM and the LI railroad station. Unless maybe they have done something with the place since then.

Funny though it seems apropos

From a course I took in college, I’m no expert, but genetics typically criss cross.
That is, boys typically inherit moms longevity and predisposition to sicknesses, then it goes to your moms dad, and so on.

Obviously, factors, like smoking, diet, alcohol, mess with the predispositions.

Just another dumb fun fact in my head. Lol.

So, as far as Hal Richmond, the question is how long did his mom live?

There is this odd feeling that Hal and Strat have been around forever because he designed the game when he was so young. Like the feeling I used to have with Chick Hearn and Vin Scully, that they been announcing for eons before I was born and were still announcing. Like they were immortal or something. Alas...even Dick Clark got old.

As long as marginal revenue exceeds marginal costs, it will make sense for someone to keep the 365 Online platform operational. I doubt there's much cost to selling the next SOMO 365 team, so IMO, the game is likely to stick around for a while longer.

That said, I'm not holding out hope for improved customer service. My impression is that management has never really had a plan for growing the 365 product, so the online game has remained perpetually understaffed.

I would hope that the younger Richman does for SOM what Rocky Wirtz did for the Blackhawks after Old Man Wirtz passed away by bringing the team out of the Dark Ages that Bill Wirtz was living in.

Sadly it may just be a pipe dream.