Josh Raup is
The Minister of Strat Mayhem
Volume II, Number 1
March, 2002
Hope Springs Eternal
Ahhh
Spring. That time of year when the
doldrums of Winter break, and the land is renewed once again. Or so Red Sox fans keep thinking. Yes folks, it’s that time of year
again. Pitchers and Catchers reported a
few weeks ago, and now the Spring season is in full swing. Prospects abound, and oldy-moldies try to
keep it going for one more season. Yes
indeed, Baseball is just around the corner, for real.
I had originally wanted to give the good doctor another
shot at writing for this column, but as fans will be aware, the situation in
Boston is as dicey as ever. With all
that has, and is transpiring in Bean Town, the services of Dr. Strangeglove are
in high demand. I understand that a
marathon 12 hour session with Dan Duquette produced no results, and that Joe
Kerrigan has been scheduled for an all day session this Friday. This is not to mention the whole annual
“Curse” thing. This year it involves finding
the piano Babe Ruth supposedly tossed into a pond before leaving Boston. Good luck fellas.
Ahh Spring. The
annual flocking of fans to Glen Head, NY to get their Strat sets on “opening
day.” I didn’t go this year, though I
wished I had. By now, many of you will
have read the various articles that have appeared in ESPN the Magazine (and
online), and the Sporting News about the festivities that surrounded that
annual event. I have gone in past
years, car pooling down from Boston when I was in college. Standing in the cold with about 50 other
guys (and gals), waiting to enter that cold gray block house that is Strat
HQ. Followed by the usual trek to
Wendy’s down the road to break open the cards and eat sloppy burgers. I still have cards stained with ketchup from
there.
But I didn’t go this year.
That whole real life thing interfered.
I wish I had. Not only because
of the anniversary (Strat’s 60th),
but for some of the other things happening. Katerina Marino, wife of fallen FDNY Ken Marino (A strat fanatic
who I was in a league with), had set up a memorial of sorts, and came to get
her husbands set. I’m sorry I missed
the opportunity to meet her in person, and to convey personally the feeling
those of us who played Strat with Ken how we felt.
I have further compounded my insanity. Not only did I join a fourth league, but I’m
co-commissioner of it. It’s a HOF based
league, with additional players from the Negro Leagues, and some Japanese
League stars. We’re even contemplating
adding in some of the Latin League greats as well next year, but that remains
to be seen. This league is similar to
the Winter Legends of Cooperstown league in many ways. It has the same basic set up, and same basic
rules, yet the differences are interesting.
The Winter league went for an old time baseball feel and
look. Team names came from the depths
of baseball history and lore. My team
is the Cleveland Spiders. A team that
was forced to disband after finishing so bad, it was asked not to return. Others found inspiration from more recent
times, such as the NY Giants, or the Kansas City Monarchs (A Negro League
Team). Others have gotten inspiration
from the old Federal League, and the Players League, as well as other defunct
leagues from the early days of Pro basbeball.
The Summer league went in a different direction. We have two sub leagues, Federal and
International. With the addition of the
Japanese players, many went for a more international feel to their team. We have a wide variety of teams, ranging
from teams in Cuba and Colombia, to a team in Glasgow, Scotland, to one in Japan
(Chunichi), as well as more homage to olden days and Negro teams. Rivalries were already forming before a
single player had been drafted! We’ve
had some fun with it.
One other thing we decided to do differently than the
Winter league, is to vote to add in our own HOFers. The initial vote was a bit more scattered than I originally
anticipated. Oh well, it was a first
run, and I expected some hitches. What
we did was to have each owner put 5 names on a list for consideration. If a player appeared on 12 ballots, he was
in. No one made it. But it did produce a list of some 30 players
that owners felt were worthy of the Hall.
In discussions with some other members of the league, the method of
electing our own HOFers will change.
I’ll probably talk about that sometime in the future.
Spring. It’s an exciting time of year. For baseball fans, it’s the time of hopes
and dreams. For strat players, even
more so. We look for that impact
rookie, that young stud to carry us for the next 10 years. We dare to think that maybe that guy we’ve
been sitting on for two years will finally make it. Even worse, we start thinking about next year.
What? Most of us
haven’t even begun playing this season yet, and we’re already thinking to
next? Yup. We’re weird that way. We
never stop thinking about it really. We
project out what a guy might do next year when we make a trade. We look and see if a guy is worth holding on
to, just in case he comes back, or breaks through. As the season progresses, we’ll begin making decisions for the
future. Can we trade a guy who normally
is a duff, but is having a career year?
Should we trade a stud who is faltering badly? Some guys ignore all this, and live solely for this year. That’s their prerogative.
Hmmmm. Maybe I’ll
give the doctor a call and see what he has to say about all this. Never know, I might actually get through to
him before the All Star break.
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