#strat-o-matic

[stratverse]

4/5/13: BoSox Jump on Jays Early, Win 6-4

BOS: 330 000 000 // 6-11-0 (LoB: 9) TOR: 000 101 002 // 4-7-1 (LoB: 8)

WP: Doubront (1-0); LP: Johnson (0-1); S: Uehara (2) HR: Ellsbury (off Johnson; 0 on); Pedroia (off Johnson; 2 on)

Jacoby Ellsbury took Josh Johnson's first pitch and deposited in the seats, the first of 2 Red Sox home runs, and the Red Sox scored 6 runs in the first 2 innings and then held on to defeat the Blue Jays, 6-4. The Sox added 2 more runs in the first inning on a Melky Cabrera error, and then added 3 runs in the 2nd on a Dustin Pedroia homer. Josh Johnson surrendered 9 hits and 3 walks in total, signaling a struggle with control, but at the same time, struck out 9 batters - including 8 in the first 3 innings. For the Red Sox, Félix Doubront kept the Jays in check, limiting them to just 4 hits before departing after allowing 2 runners in the 7th - 2 of the hits he allowed, though, were a RBI double and a RBI triple to Edwin Encarnacion. The Jays added 2 runs in the 9th, but it was too little, too late for the team, who struggled mightily against Sox starter Félix Doubront. Doubront retired the first 9 batters of the game, and only 3 of the 19 outs he recorded were balls that made it out of the infield.

(Strat notes: Mike Napoli sombrero'd today, striking out his first 4 times; he did manage a single his last time up to salvage his day. Johnson really was hit or miss through the first 3 innings - getting 3, 2, and 3 strikes, respectively, but also obviously allowing 3 runs in both of the first 2 innings and another hit in the 3rd. He was "fatigued" after Pedroia's home run [6 runs in 2 innings], but I'd used too much of the bullpen in their last game, so I stuck with him, as his card didn't have too many 'out to single**' dots; he did allow I think 1 or 2 hits in such situations, but the rolls went his way much better after the 2nd inning. Especially as Morrow is injured, and so is Buehrle, though Buehrle won't be missing any games. Doubront, on the other hand, had a no-hitter and perfect game through 3.)

Boston 4-0; Toronto: 1-3 Next game in replay: WAS (Haren, 0-0) @ CIN (Bailey, 0-0)

[joegeniusblog]

PASSING/MLB: Johnny Jeter

Johnny Jeter passed away on January 16th. of this year. This flew under the radar of the national media and even my brother and sister MLB nerds over at Baseball Fever didn’t find out until July of the passing of Mr. Jeter who passed of undisclosed causes in his native Louisiana where he had attended Grambling University. Baseball was the thread in the fabric of this 12 year-olds summer of…

[theultimatefan]

Strat-O-Matic Clubs Mark One Year With Huge Player Interest, Growth

Last summer, Strat-O-Matic (@strat-o-matic), the market leader in sports simulation games, announced Strat-O-Matic Clubs, its first ever unified national club program. Players from across the U.S. got on board, with groups quickly forming.

A year later, more than 20 Strat-O-Matic Clubs, including the charter Clubs in Connecticut, New Jersey, Detroit, Philadelphia, Kansas City and Long Island (N.Y) are thriving, with hundreds of participants across all the Clubs. And more than 50 are developing, with fans inquiring about beginning their own in new locations daily.

“When we launched the Clubs program, we were confident that Strat-O-Matic players were looking for like-minded fans who enjoy getting together to enjoy their favorite game,” said Adam Richman, CEO, Strat-O-Matic Media. “We have been overwhelmed with the tremendous feedback, with many referencing the social nature of the Clubs, how they have met new players and how their groups continue to expand, with some participating in multiple Clubs every month.”

Fans interested in leading or joining a Strat-O-Matic Club are encouraged to email StratClub@Strat-O-matic.com, and check out details of current clubs and locations at https://www.strat-o-matic.com/strat-clubs. Club members receive discounts on game sets and other SOM merchandise, a personalized game card, exclusive Zoom with a Strat-O-Matic personality and other perks.

In addition to the Connecticut, Central New Jersey and Long Island locations, some of the most popular and active Strat-O-Matic Clubs are running in Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, North New Jersey, North Kentucky, Georgia and California. Interest has been shown in more than 30 other states.

[shaneplays]

YouTube link (The audio of the podcast, no video, for the convenience of some listeners) Strat-O-Matic Baseball might be one of the biggest games you’ve never heard of, and three-time champion William "Bill" Meinhardt joins to share his passion for playing it. How long has the game been around, and how many people play it? What’s the one mechanic Bill wishes was in this beloved game? Is there a link between Strat-O-Matic Baseball and Fantasy (Rotisserie) Baseball? Is there a link between Strat-O-Matic and tabletop roleplaying games? At its heart, what is the game of baseball? And for the really hard-hitting question, does Bill do the Chicken Dance??

[ltwharfy]

What's your favourite 2 player board game?

Oh, this is such a fun question! Thanks for asking!

I'm a little embarrassed that the first answer that springs to mind shows off a very specific aspect of my nerdiness: Strat-O-Matic Baseball.

For anyone who is not familiar with it, the game simulates baseball by creating cards for all the players, and then you roll dice (including a d20 in some situations), and consult charts and move pieces and around and...when I was teaching it to one of my best friends he asked, "Is this like a baseball version of D&D?" and my answer was "Kind of..."

So, yeah it is incredibly dorky, but as a combination baseball nerd and board game nerd I love it!

(And to tie into "Bob's Burgers" because that's my main thing here, I will note that in one of my fics I mention Rudy owning a copy of the game. Because, yeah, he would.)

Thanks so much for the ask!

[curlytemple]

additional propaganda:

once argued that robert redford was the hottest actor of all time without taking even a moment to consider it

cries every christmas eve watching george bailey learn how good he’s got it (pictured above with the it’s a wonderful life blanket he also cried upon receiving last christmas)

still disgustingly in love with his MIDDLE SCHOOL sweetheart (my mom)

named me after his best friend charlie that died tragically when they were in their early 20s

also named my brother after his other best friend that died tragically when they were in their early 20s

still talks about how good the 2009 jonas brothers show he took me was

former catholic, played strat-o-matic baseball with the priest when he was an alter boy

beach boys stan

[billscheft]

I am soooo nourished by the great outpouring of well-deserved love and praise for Tim McCarver. I dug up this 1999 piece I wrote about him for the Times (complete with easy-to-read cut and paste).....

Let's clear up a few things right off the bat:

This is not about money.

This is not about my relationship with Bobby Valentine.

This is not about my tendency to be fair, yet critical.

That said, it's all over between me and the Mets. It was nice. Sixteen years, eight in fair weather. But like Odysseus at sea, I was drawn by a voice, and I sail in the direction of that voice.

In other words, I go with Tim McCarver.

Do you have any idea what this means? This means I have to watch 42 Yankee games on Fox this season. That's the deal. Forty-two New York Yankee games.

Did I mention I was a Red Sox fan? Are you beginning to get the point? Having to watch 42 Yankee games in one year is the Red Sox fan's equivalent of the Witness Protection Program: it's no way to live, and if you're lucky, no one will find you. But these are the sacrifices you make.

They are not the same sacrifices as making time for those less fortunate or telling people with a straight face that Jose Offerman is the missing piece of the puzzle, but they are sacrifices nonetheless. I go where I'm called and I go where I'm wanted. And Tim McCarver wants me to care about the game as much as he does.

I became a Met fan because of Tim McCarver, and now I move on for the same reason. I'll try to leave with class and without rancor, as he did, but it's darn tough. Forty-two Yankee games and I'm not even counting however many additional times Fox carries them on the Saturday afternoon national game. Or the playoffs. But that's my problem. My sacrifice. My growth. My willingness to accept change and all that other healthy hooey.

It is not my intention to go on and on in praise of McCarver. Why, that is the most common criticism viewers have of his analysis: he tends to go on and on about a specific point, endlessly belaboring the same piece of minutiae over and over again to where it is redundant and repetitious and repetitive of the thing that he said moments ago. Like that.

Here's a bulletin: baseball is pieces of minutiae that need belaboring. If that annoys you, you're not paying attention. And people who don't pay attention need to be told things over and over again. Good. Now, what was I just talking about?

Before I heard McCarver, I thought I knew everything about watching baseball. I was doing the double-switch in Strat-O-Matic years before Whitey Herzog thought he invented it. 

Unteachable, all-prescient and wrapped in a shroud of second-guessing, I would sit in the sanctity of my underwear and spew insight faster and keener and certainly more literately than any former player turned broadcaster/cheerleader/stooge of management. And that was just fine, because one of the joys of baseball is the comfort of seeing a familiar face in the booth, and the smugness of feeling superior to that guy. Come on, admit it. You loved Phil Rizzuto because he was always there, and because you knew who was on deck, a better recipe for red sauce and a quicker route to the bridge.

When the Red Sox were coughing up leads throughout the 1970's, their television broadcast team was Dick Stockton and Ken (Hawk) Harrelson. Stockton handled the play-by-play, Harrelson did your rooting for you. My favorite Hawk shill moment came during a game in 1976, when he said, ''You know, I came out to the ball park a little early today, and let me tell you, Doug Griffin put on a show in batting practice.''

(I loved it, and I loved it a dozen years later when Harrelson, now in the Yankee booth, made the same observation, only this time, the guy ''putting on a show'' in batting practice was Wayne Tolleson.)

That's what I grew up with. And that was fine. I didn't question it. Tim McCarver did, and he was willing to involve me.

Who knew there were two schools of thought about guarding the line in the late innings?

Who knew there was one school? Who knew the open-mouth/closed-mouth signal between shortstop and second for covering the bag? I played infield and remember just yelling, ''You take it!'' Who knew that brown patch in right field at Shea Stadium was because Darryl Strawberry didn't adjust to different hitters?

 And who knew that Ralph Kiner could be funny on purpose?

A few years ago, McCarver and Kiner were filling in the pauses during some faceless July night in the National League. There was a shot of a vendor, and McCarver started talking about when he sold peanuts in the stands at Memphis Chicks games as a boy for ''half a cent a bag.'' Kiner rejoined with memories of selling peanuts at polo matches in Palm Springs to celebrities like Will Rogers. The following is the rest of their exchange:

McCarver: ''Will Rogers. Never met a man he didn't like.''

Kiner: ''Well, he never met Fran Healy.''

The next sound you heard was a guy laughing as he fumbled for his cough button.

That's the sound I'm following. To 42 Yankee games. Feel free to pity me.

[getmemymicroscope]

So, it's been a while since I've seen a movie - in fact, this is my first one of 2025. Mostly because of Strat-o-matic baseball, but also because fuck everything. Anyhow, this movie was tagged as "mystery, comedy" and, I mean, maybe? Not really sold on the 'comedy' bit - but it does give us a very slowly developing mystery, or at least a general sense of "what is supposed to be going on?" as it progresses. I mean, multiple characters tell us something to the effect of "something is off" or "things feel weird," but as viewers, the real weirdness is more along the lines of "how have they escaped to an island and no one is looking for any of these people?" and "how long do they plan to stay here anyways?" and "I don't think 'I was having a good time' suffices when folks are like 'why didn't you pay your bills?'." (Also, why is there that specific scene of him being like "I don't eat red meat?" - very random.)

I guess there's a few glimmers of actual weirdness - the 'red rabbit' thing, the dirt she finds under her fingernails, the disappeared stain on her dress - but it is only after her friend, who really wanted to get away and was like "no, really, things are fucking weird," disappears that she's like "wait, something is weird - and not in a "I'm having a good time" way."

You can, I think, tell exactly where this movie is going to go almost immediately. I mean, her unexplained backstory obsession with him is weird (something is explained, much later, but it doesn't really explain her obsession with him, since, you know, forgetting is everything), but as soon as they're on the island, you know where this is going. The only other option was it taking a Glass Onions-style twist, and that was definitely not going to happen. But wherever it is going, there is an attempt to introduce us to the weird, but ever so slowly, and so things just drag as we watch them act like rich, "fuck everything" people (again, they maybe can - but how is she doing this when she's definitely not that rich, considering she was wait-staff for the event when the movie began?).

Once the mystery unfolds - tho really, it unfolds all at once, and all the additional flashbacks just show additional scenes that already confirm what the first flashback showed us - things change into a sort of existential dread/horror, a "will they get found out" (of course they will, because it is impossible to pretend everything is okay, and they're immediately acting very strange), and, at the end, some sort of semi-slasher flick for like 5 minutes. We do get a good line about how there's a special place in hell for the folks that 'do nothing' - a rich line coming from someone who is clearly in the 'do evil' camp.

But in general, it just feels like it took a bit too long to unfold what was going on and then, when it finally did, it was so obvious that the multiple flashbacks were kind of unnecessary because they just kept showing us the same things. I mean, sure, maybe it leads to an increasing amount of "fuck the bad guys," but, honestly, you probably should've been feeling that from the first flashback (if not before) anyways. And it's definitely not your typical "mystery, comedy"-type movie, if that is what you're looking for.

[watchpartygames]

A Guide to Playing Baseball Card Games

For baseball fans, the thrill of the game doesn’t have to end when the final inning is called. Whether you're a passionate collector of baseball cards or just love tabletop games, playing baseball card games offers an exciting way to enjoy America’s favorite pastime off the field. With strategy, fun, and a bit of competitive spirit, baseball card games are a perfect fit for game nights, parties, or family gatherings.

In this guide, we’ll explore how to play baseball card games, popular variations, and tips for turning your next game night into a home run success.

Why Play Baseball Card Games?

If you love baseball, baseball card games are the ultimate way to combine strategy, nostalgia, and fun. Here’s why you should step up to the plate:

Easy to Learn: Simple rules make baseball card games accessible for all ages and skill levels.

Baseball Experience Anywhere: You can simulate a baseball game anytime, anywhere—no need for bats or gloves!

Perfect for Fans: Baseball card games let you celebrate your favorite teams, players, and moments.

Collectible Fun: If you already collect baseball cards, you can use them to add a creative twist to the gameplay.

Great for Game Nights: These games combine strategy and excitement, making them perfect for friends and family.

How to Play Baseball Card Games

Playing baseball card games can be as simple or complex as you like. Here’s a general step-by-step guide to creating and enjoying a fun game:

What You Need

A deck of baseball trading cards (featuring players and stats).

Paper or a whiteboard to keep score.

A group of friends ready to play ball!

Basic Rules for a DIY Baseball Card Game

Create Teams:

Divide your baseball cards equally among players to form two teams.

Each team gets a set number of “innings” (typically 3 or 6 for shorter games).

Play the Game:

On each turn, players draw a card and compare key stats (e.g., Batting Average, Home Runs, or Pitching ERA).

Use stats to simulate an “at-bat” (e.g., a high Batting Average could be a hit, while a lower one might be an out).

Keep track of outs, hits, and runs just like a real baseball game.

Scoring Runs:

Decide what stats count as hits, doubles, triples, or home runs. For example:

Batting Average > .300 = Hit

Home Run stat = Home Run

Track runs on paper or a scoreboard for each inning.

Winning the Game:

At the end of all innings, the team with the most runs wins!

Popular Baseball Card Game Variations

If you’re looking for structured baseball card games, these variations are popular among fans:

1. Strat-O-Matic Baseball

What It Is: A tabletop card and dice game that simulates baseball games using real player stats.

Why It’s Great: Fans love the mix of strategy and realism—it’s like managing your own team!

2. Baseball Trivia Card Game

What It Is: Players answer baseball trivia questions to advance around a “diamond” and score runs.

Why It’s Great: It’s perfect for baseball buffs who love testing their knowledge of teams, players, and stats.

3. Topps Attax

What It Is: A fast-paced trading card game where players use baseball cards to compete head-to-head.

Why It’s Great: Combining simple rules and strategy, it’s perfect for kids and adults alike.

4. DIY Team Draft Game

What It Is: Players draft baseball cards to build their teams and compete in mini-games.

Why It’s Great: It’s customizable and can be as simple or competitive as you like.

Tips to Host the Perfect Baseball Card Game Night

Turn your baseball card game night into an all-star event with these tips:

Create a Baseball Atmosphere:

Decorate with team jerseys, baseball caps, and posters of your favorite teams.

Play classic baseball songs like Take Me Out to the Ballgame.

Prepare Baseball-Themed Snacks:

Serve popcorn, hot dogs, nachos, and peanuts—just like at the ballpark.

Keep It Competitive:

Award small prizes like baseball cards, team merchandise, or snacks for the winning team.

Mix and Match Games:

Start with trivia or DIY games and finish the night with structured games like Strat-O-Matic.

Include All Ages:

Tailor the rules to make sure kids and adults alike can join in the fun.

Benefits of Playing Baseball Card Games

Beyond the fun and nostalgia, playing baseball card games offers great benefits:

Improves Strategy Skills: These games require decision-making, planning, and quick thinking.

Brings Fans Together: It’s a great way to bond with friends, family, and fellow baseball enthusiasts.

Affordable Fun: All you need is a deck of cards and a love for the game.

Encourages Collecting: These games inspire players to collect and appreciate baseball cards even more.

Conclusion: Step Up to the Plate and Play!

If you’re a baseball lover, play baseball card games is the perfect way to celebrate the sport off the field. Whether you’re drafting teams, comparing stats, or answering trivia questions, baseball card games are fun, competitive, and accessible for all ages.

So, gather your friends, grab your favorite baseball cards, and let the games begin. With a little strategy and a lot of laughter, your game night will be a grand slam success!

[yessoupy]

processed some more of my grief over losing Kyle. went on a date today, we went to a coffee place that also serves food and my date brought some board games. one was strat-o-matic and I played the 2017 A's. it's a game of chance, but my A's still completed some Very Athletics feats — Manaea struck out 10 batters, but we lost 3-0 and only got one hit. also, stranded a runner at third.

seeing all those names on those cards and remembering that 2017 team brought back MEMORIES. I caught myself thinking about telling Kyle about this date, and what he'd say about it, and how there's not REALLY anyone in my life right now who would read that first paragraph up there and UNDERSTAND it. so that's sad!!

but the processing part is that I AM seeing this guy, and we have so much in common, and I guess I'm building new neural pathways around baseball a little bit at a time the more I interact with the sport with others who have no connection to Kyle whatsoever.

[stratverse]

4/5/13: 5-Run 6th Leads Phillies to Win

KC: 000 000 010 // 1-7-0 (LoB: 6) PHI: 000 105 00x // 6-9-0 (LoB: 3)

WP: Kendrick (1-0); LP: Davis (0-1) HR: none

The Phillies had managed just 2 hits and a walk against Royals starter Wade Davis through 5 innings, eking out a lone run on the power of back-to-back 2-out doubles by Chase Utley and Ryan Howard; lucky for them, starter Kyle Kendrick had been equally stellar, allowing just 2 hits and, both times, stranding the Royals runner on 3rd base. The Phillies finally broke through in the 6th inning for the most subdued offensive explosion, managing 5 runs on 6 hits - all singles - and a sacrifice fly to bust the game open. The inning started with 2 singles off Davis, and then 3 more straight singles off reliever Bruce Chen - resulting in 3 runs before an out had even been recorded. After inducing a shallow fly to center, Chen allowed 1 more run-scoring single, and then a sacrifice fly to cap the Phillies scoring for the night. The Royals did get back 1 run in the 8th, but could manage nothing more, and were done in by stranding 2 men on 3rd base and 3 men on 2nd base during the game. Davis finished the game allowing 4 hits and 3 runs in 5 innings, while Kendrick allowed 6 hits and the lone run in 7.1 to get the win.

(Strat notes: Dice rolls just kept coming up with single**, which absolutely snowballed for the Royals. I didn't realize until too late that, despite being a LHP, Bruce Chen is not an ideal candidate to play L/R games with, because 3 of the 4 lefties he faced in that 8th inning came away with RBI singles. You live and you learn, I guess. The Royals were able to get men into scoring position, but just faltered in crunch-time situations.)

Philadelphia 2-2; Kansas City: 1-3 Next game in replay: BOS (Doubront, 0-0) @ TOR (Johnson, 0-0)

[foursword-manga-fan-18]

explaining the anarchy X's (2/8):

Team strategic approach(S-A for short):

Second team recommended to beat

A team filled with cold hard strategists!

Sky blue ink color

Team leader: low-vert

A cold but respectable octoling boy

Reeflux main (forgor how to spell it)

Loves strategy

Army but better (/hj)

ALWAYS has a plan b, c and d

If those fail, he'll go full panic mode

OCD

Clean freak

Loves to bake

Homosexual (he/him)

Team coleader: button-up

A chill and funny octoling girl

52 gal main

Low-vert's twin sister

Always trys to calm him down when he freaks out

Strong girl boss

Loves to talk about stuff she watches

Bisexual (she/her)

Teammate: cap

A soft and fancy octoling boy

Tri stringer main

Always follows orders

Doesn't know what to doo when he isn't told what to do

Always looks like he's gonna cry (don't worry, he's okay, he just had very big wet cat energy)

Pansexual (he/him)

Teammate: 3-strap

Cocky and out there octo girl

Splash-o-matic main

Loves the spotlight

Bff's with unoi and button-up

May be rude but great at following orders

Team Strats:

Follow the plan, if something goes wrong, go with plan b, don't stop trying and always follow the plan and keep calm!

Quotes: "Are plan is fool proof! And do is are backup plans! If we'll even need them!"- Low-vert "Can't forget about me!"- button-up "I m-must follow the plan till the end..!"- cap "Let the REAL star show you how it's done!"- 3-strap

(Silly blue Bois and gals)

Fun fact 2:

Button up is the older twin but is both shorter and less popular (sad)

I love these teams! All these details!? I could never do this😭❤️

[collectingbaseballcards]

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN STRAT-O-MATIC BASEBALL CARDS?

[theultimatefan]

A.L. Shuts out N.L. in Strat-O-Matic All-Star Game Simulation

Run-scoring singles by Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the fourth and Tampa Bay’s Isaac Paredes in the sixth lifted the American League to a 2-0 shutout win over the National in the simulation of the 2024 All-Star Game performed by Strat-O-Matic (@strat-o-matic), the market leader in sports simulation games. The Nationals were limited to three hits by nine different A.L. hurlers.

Guerrero Jr.’s hit  followed a one-out triple by Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez off Chicago’s Shota Imanaga with what proved to be the game-winning RBI. Then two innings later the hosts built a run on a bases-empty, two-out single and stolen base by Cleveland’s David Fry and ensuing hit by Paredes to double the A.L. lead to 2-0.

That’s all the impressive Junior Circuit staff would need, though they totaled just five strikeouts in the game, two by Oakland breakout star Mason Miller. Two errors and a walk loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, but Texas closer Kirby Yates induced a game-ending popout by Colorado’s Ryan McMahon.

Guerrero Jr. had two of the American League’s eight hits in the simulation.

National League. 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  0  3  0

American League. 0 0 0  1 0 1  0 0    -  2  8  2

WP: Crochet; LP: Imanaga; SV: Yates

HR: none

[diogenescynic2288]

It's not fantasy in the wizards sense but there's been role play as a baseball team's general manager games since about the same seventies or eighties time period that OD&D originated in.

The biggest brand name I know of is Strat-O-Matic. I think that one even uses a d20 in its resolution system.

I bet somewhere along the way someone managed to kludge together a way to adapt one game's tropes into the other and vice versa.

I think a funny thing to do would be to just have baseball in your fantasy setting. Completely unchanged if you'd like.

[news247planet]

#Featured #Kansas #Oakland #Baseball Is 2023 Oakland Or Kansas Metropolis The Worst Crew Ever? Strat-O-Matic Simulates Sequence https://news247planet.com/?p=522966