Strat-o-Musings
Michael J. Rivet, Jr.
April 10, 2001
Let's
Play Ball! . . .
It's been
a great baseball season already in MLB with no-hitters, 3-homer games, and
great rivalry match-ups. I'm a Bucky Dent lovin', card-carrying, die-hard
Yankee Fan from way back, but I tell ya', as a baseball fan my favorite rivalry
(besides those damn Bosox!) is Giants vs. Dodgers. Man, that rivalry is 110
years old and going strong. The Giants, in the late 1870's played up in Troy,
NY near the state capital of Albany. Back then they were known as the Cities or
Union. However, the New York City club came up to play some games during a
season in which they were doing well and Troy wasn't. Troy beat them pretty good.
[As a side note, Troy tied the Cincinnati Redstockings during their 69-0
season. The game wasn't finished when the Troy skipper pulled his team off the
field in 5th leading 13-11 accusing the Reds of having the Ump in
their pocket.] Anyway, NY was pretty upset and called them a bunch of Haymakers
(or hicks). And, then when the franchise was sold and moved to NYC the rivalry
just grew. The rest is history . . .
Strat
teams sometimes follow this pattern. As geography is mostly a non-concern,
except when you have to mail results, rivalries grow in other ways. Maybe you
were best buds in high school/college/work, maybe you lost horribly to the guy
in the playoffs (the three previous seasons in a row!), maybe he dated your
sister and it went badly, maybe you are currently roomates and share a set, or
maybe you beat him out in a trade one year and he's never gotten over it (or
you haven't?) However it starts, it just adds to the spice of the game.
On
having team logos . . .
You've
read from others on how their logos were created, how their team name is
actually an inside joke, or some weird syllabic combination they thought was
cool at the time. Some guys change their team name like they change their
socks: once a year. I admire the guys who've had the same team with the same
name for ten years, know their record for every season, have a spreadsheet (in
DOS no less) of stats for every player that's ever appeared for their team. I
wish I could be like them. I rarely even finish computing my stats for the
year. Once, I've determined my usage I stop caring.
But a good
logo can just define your team. And by good, I mean a well designed logo. I'm
not judging content here. If you want a naked lady wrapped in a confederate
flag for your Virginia Rebel Belles that's your business (I've seen worse!) At
least get some good clip art and a decent picture editor and create something
usable for your league's web-site. By the way, I know a few people - myself
included - that will make logos for teams.
I suggest
that your logo have the feel of a real major league team but give the essence
of what your team is about. It should be simple enough to be splashed on a
web-page. Originality helps but a good editing program can take care of that!
E-mailing
in PBM leagues . . .
One thing
that makes a good league is constant communication. Feeling like you belong to
something is part of the fun and charm of strat-o-matic baseball leagues. I
love reading e-mails of other series or trades not involving me. My favorites
are when an owner will just reel off a "press release" of a fake
story about their team. Talk of uniform changes, spring training mishaps, or
troubles in the clubhouse all add to the experience and enjoyment of all.
I
personally do this a lot myself. I had a series recently that features two
no-hitters, another where every move I made worked, and another where I hit
.213 as a team. In every series there is something about it that doesn't make
it into the box score.
New
York Fall League Update . . .
Recently,
I decided to make a mid-winter, 6-team league to try and get family and friends
involved in SOM. These were all people who had some interest in baseball but
not necessarily playing Strat-O-Matic. So, I made the draft rules simple,
trading easy, provided all the ratings, made instructions simple, played out
all the games on the computer myself, and maintained a website where all the
games and stats could be viewed. It would be a 54-game season.
We got
through 27 games. With everyone having 40-man super-squads only one trade was
made (Garciaparra for Vidro and Ventura). One team gave up after starting 3-12.
Others, either wouldn't make moves or when they did, they weren't very good
ones. I've decided to just play out the rest of the season and end it. Though,
I do have ideas on how to fix it.
Anyone who
wants to view the NYFL, read the league rules and it’s philosophy, can go to http://www.oocities.org/athens/atrium/6325/NYFL.html
Along
the way . . .
Drafting
can be the highlight of many a season. Along the way, I've been in my drafts of
varying types - expansion, start-up, annual - and a draft can make or break
your season. Some leagues draft long before the cards or even ratings come out.
One such league I'm in like this also allows a "cut for a pick"
policy. The more you cut before the draft the more you get to pick. I cut 16
guys. I traded for about 5 more picks. I had all the players scouted, knew all
their stats, even had the range ratings, and then made several trades. Then, I
started 6-18. In a flurry, of trades I turned over my team and then went on a
11-13 run.
In another
draft, I was again well prepared and then watched my top-10 list disappear by
the 23rd pick. That was a tough draft. Rarely do all the owners agree
to that degree on who the top available players are.
Of all the
strategies I've heard, the only one I know to be true is this: do NOT go into a
draft thinking you'll fix your team if it has major problems - like needing a
rotation and/or bullpen. Unless your team can start building up its stock of
prospects the next Barry Bonds will always be out of your grasp.
And it
doesn't help one's ego much when they go back through the past drafts and you
see you took Julian Taverez instead of Marianno Rivera.
On Future
Musings . . .
Upcoming
topics: Early days with the basic rules, more memories and experiences of
playing strat-o-matic, current status of my teams, and more!
Stratomusings
is a (mostly) monthly column.
Brought
to you exclusively by My Sandlot
http://www.oocities.org/highoaksdrifter
Be sure
to visit Strat-O-Matic World