Since I began playing SOM on-line...

1. The game has grown from what it is today with ATG8 from ATG1, when we just had an $80m cap, only public Auto Leagues. The draft (frenzy) would happen around 4am EST. Remember staying up on Friday/Saturday nights (or setting your alarm to wake up early) just to participate, and how excited you were when you got Willie Mays or Robin Yount? The player pool was tiny by today's standards. Remember how excited you were when you won your first ring? Remember Bobby, Marge and some of the other regular players from back then?
2. Our country has gone through two Administrations and two wars (depending on how you count them). And a significant recession.
3. Cell phones were not yet the must have device they are today. I had never heard of an App.
4. Mel Gibson was still a respected Hollywood actor/director.
5. My Red Sox have won three World Series. My Patriots have won three Super Bowls. The Celtics and Bruins have each won a championship. It's been good times to be a New England Sports fan.
6. Bad knees and getting older forced me to quit playing fast pitch softball, which had been a major part of my adult life for many years. I missed it a lot the first couple of years, but I bowl with my son in a league, and that's fun.
7. My two grandchildren were born. They're spending the night with me tonight, actually. We watched Epic together a short time ago. At 11 (almost) and 6, they give me a happy reason to wake up each day. They don't care a thing about on line Strat, though.
8. My brother got married, for the 4th time. And divorced, for the 4th time.
9. Three friends lost their wives to cancer. Another lost his 16 year old son in a car accident. And I lost my sweet wife, Kathy, whom had been my best friend for over 32 1/2 years. Life is capricious. Terrible things happen, with no good reason, to good people.
10. I was in my 40's when I began playing, and am about to leave the 50's behind as I look at 60.
11. I had a major career change.
12. And I still haven't figured out how to win at this game. Which makes my rare winning teams all the more sweet. But I've made some good on-line pals.

Just some musings from an old timer.

Lots of changes for sure, Mark. I've enjoyed competing against you these many years!

As have I, Mark. Lots of changes, too, though thankfully no deaths or divorces in the family. Just two back surgeries and a third knee replacement. And, oh yes, the births of 13 of my 18 grandchildren!

I certainly have enjoyed online Strat over the years, and the board game for decades prior. I started in ATG2 when there were less players to choose from and the interface was simpler. HAL is still a mystery, though.
Life brings many changes, good and bad so it's nice that Cobb, Ruth and the rest still play the way they did when we were rolling dice in the 70's. No matter what else is happening, I tell myself (euphemistically) that checking my teams is "the most important thing I will do today".
As odd as it sounds, I still find comfort in
2-6 single**

I have been playing on line strat since ATG 1 as well. That sure brings about good memories on setting my alarm even on work days to get up at 4:00 am when waivers had run and try to draft some players since Hal hardly ever gave me Mays, Yount, Collins or any of those gems from the small pool of players. It was kind of like Christmas morning every time I played the board game as a teenager and feel it has always helped me on playing on line. Mostly because of sometimes the crazy rolls and the 1 chance in 20 on the split deck and how often that 1 or 20 would turn up. I still love strat but I don't play as many teams now.

Lots of changes for sure, Mark. I've enjoyed competing against you these many years!

I too have enjoyed competing against you Mark, its actually been quite some tome since we were in leagues together!!! We had a lot of Funs in Bob Schwartz " All Time Franchise leagues"!!!

I still remember getting this message from The Sporting News:

Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 17:48:45 -0400 (EDT)

It's finally here!

As you requested, you are among the first to now that Strat-O-Matic Baseball Online, the official online game of Strat-O-Matic is now LIVE!

Yes, they did misspell know.

Mark, I have always appreciated your even keel. It's weird to think I've "now"ed you and some of these other players since 2004. I am proud to say that I made it to this game at the tail end of ATG 1--with a huge hat tip to hack wilson. I think I discovered Strat was a great way to avoid my wife. When my marriage ended, so did the Strat, effectively. But I do cherish the memories. I had the honor of meeting a bunch of peeps at Bobby's Vegas' shindigs. I even had a little success in the game.

Incidentally, I had a trip to Disney World planned with the family shortly after I started playing Strat. However, after being out of work for about six months, I landed a job just before the vacation. I stayed home and that's when Diamond Dope was born. I've been in the same cubicle since. My daughter was in first grade and now she's in college. Crap, I'm aging too. Thanks for the reminder, Mark.

Thanks guys. Some great recollections posted. Man, time does have a way of flying by. Hope I'm still around for ATG 16. Or for that matter, I hope the game itself is still around down the road.

Tip of the hat to Adrian, for all his gargantuan work in creating and maintaining Diamond Dope, and just being an SOM fiend in general. I am glad to have been the evil influence that got him hooked! DD makes the game so much fun in building rosters, and this whole experience is much more enriched due to "the dope." Those early days were the best, especially with Adrian and all the others who partook in the debauchery of the Las Vegas tournaments!