http://www.strat-o-matic.com © 2018 Strat-O-Matic Media, LLC Winter 2018 Pre-orders begin: Jan. 24 Diamonds Are Opening Day at SOM: Feb. 16 Pre-orders for Opening Day pickup will begin the Forever: Power same day as all other pre-orders. However, those coming for Opening Day pickup don’t have to rush Everywhere in to be among the first to call. Miller 71 (all vs. righties) and the Yankee’s Chad Green has 76 This is the 2017 Set vs. lefties. Wow. But then, 242 Major Golden Age of After a star-studded Major HR and led the Majors with .690 League averaged at League Baseball season, some of slugging, is second against right- least 9 strikeouts per 9 innings Strat-O-Matic the glitziest cards ever will soon ies with 11.5 chances and first pitched. be on tabletops across the Strat- against lefties with an obscene Seven years ago, when Strat- O-Matic galaxy. 17.4 chances. O-Matic celebrated its 50th an- 2017 was a Big Bang season, Home- king Giancarlo Powerful First niversary, the word “golden” with teams blasting a strato- Stanton has 15.3 chances vs. Impressions was used a lot. But so much has spheric 6,105 home runs, shat- lefties and 11.4 vs. righties after happened since then. tering the all-time record. Pitch- his MLB-best 59-homer cam- The record-setting feats of Today, there are more ways ers countered with their own paign that shattered the Miami hitting and pitching that most to enjoy Strat-O-Matic than ever. star power, setting the record for franchise record. teams achieved were highlighted The best-selling baseball board strikeouts. homer by celestial rookie performances game is going strong. The ever- Fittingly, the new champions champ Aaron Judge has the oth- unequaled in baseball history. better Windows game is a simu- are called the Astros, the first er big card vs. righties (10.1 HR The Yankees’ Judge set the Ma- lation force. Baseball 365 has a team in more than 100 seasons chances), but five others have jor League rookie record with potent and expanding following of Texas baseball to win the more than 9 HR chances vs. 52 homers, the most ever online. . right-handers. at Yankee Stadium and his 127 Now we have Football 365, “Houston Strong” was the Overall, 110 Major Leagu- walks broke Ted Willams’ rookie Baseball Daily (with a new digi- post-season rallying cry for an ers hit at least 20 HR and some record. tal card set every day of the sea- Astros team that helped its com- of them, such as Yonder Alonso Cody Bellinger’s 39 HR for son), improved NetPlay, Game munity recover from devastat- and Elvis Andrus, never had hit the Dodgers broke the National Lobby and mobile apps, includ- ing Hurricane Harvey, but the 10 before. More than 120 batters League rookie record. ing the amazing Card Viewer play on words also described the have the maximum 8 ballpark Hunter Renfroe’s 26 HR set App that displays images for ev- 238-homer squad (second only HR chances on at least one side the San Diego rookie record. ery Strat card ever created. to the Yankees) that also hit the of their Strat-O-Matic cards. Rookie Paul De- Strat-O-Matic reaches a new most home runs in World Series On the flip side, there was a Jong led St. Louis with 25 HR. milestone this year: Every sea- history. time when 40 strikeout chances Rafael Devers led Boston with son of , Until now, if a man had 10 was the mark of a dominant .482 slugging. back to 1871, is available for card chances for home runs . There are 110 such crea- While hitting 24 HR in 189 computer play. against right-handed pitching, he tures in this Strat-O-Matic set, AB, Oakland’s Olson set the You can read about these and probably had the dominant pow- 90 of them carded. team record for homers in a other gamer-pleasing advances er card in the set. There are five Washington’s Max Scher- month. He, Franklin Barreto on the pages inside. Then follow such players in this set, topped zer has the elite 71 chances vs. and Jaycob Brugman hit their Strat-O-Matic on Facebook or by Oakland rookie Matt Olson’s righty batters. Among relievers, first career homers in one game, Twitter for more developments jaw-dropping 19.4 chances (he Dodger Kenley Jansen has 78 something never done before. throughout the year(s) in all five has 10.8 against lefties, too). chances, Boston’s Craig Kim- ’s Rhys Hoskins SOM sports. J.D. Martinez, who hit 45 brel 76, Cleveland’s Andrew reached 18 HR in just 34 games Time, and Strat-O-Matic, continued on Page 2 march on Strat-O-Matic News, Winter 2018 Page 2 Strat-O-Matic News, Winter 2011 Page 2 Turn on the Power with 2017 SOM Baseball Whatcontinued from You’ll the cover page See andDodger What record held byYou’ll Sandy Koufax Get and in V16 Baseball Don Drysdale. At one point, Jansen struck – the fastest ever. His 37 RBI in his first 33 Even after 15 versions, Strat-O-Matic gamers demandout 51 anwithout ever-more- walking anyoneThe new – an Super MLB Advanced Updated rule limiting overuseHOF in consecutiveand games tied a record held by Ted Williams, record that will leave him with no walk Joeversatile DiMaggio computer and Zekebaseball Bonura. game – one even more powerful and even games by relief pitchers will be enforced in V16. chances on his card. The computer is smarter. Now it recalculates whether to easierSt. toLouis’ use. TheJose forthcoming Martinez Versionhas 11 16HR does all of that with many Career Historical In Cleveland, Kluberhold struck the runners out eight and how to position the infield defense whenever a chancesimprovements vs. lefty that pitching. were at the top of wish lists. or more in 13 straight substitutionstarts – only is Randymade. AndWindows it will always choose Rosters to make a play at the MoreAmong amazing: the features All destinedthese rookies to be most except popular, V16 will make it far Johnson has had more.plate Jose whenever Ramirez’ a squeeze91 play can score the winning run. Judgeeasier hitto usetheir those marks special despite “-duty” spending sig players- who have both a Amid all the excitement over the 2017 extra-base hits was the secondImproved most in play-by-play MLB makes descriptions clearer (and more situ- nificantbatting andparts pitching of 2017 card in the – thereminor were leagues. five such men in the Negro season and the six computer-only rosters history by a switch-hitter.ation-aware) No Indian onmiddle cut offs, sacrifice bunts, certain rare plays and end-of- LeaguesFor the set; most pre-World part, the War rookies II seasons reflect have their several, and the pre-1900s (see page 4), don’t forget to update your Hall seasons have many. infielder ever hit as manygame home plays. runs And as Franautoplay- of willFame run roster significantly and your faster Career in V16. Historical teams’ prowess. cisco Lindor’s 33. TheV16 Dodgers will be necessary set a franchise to play the record 2010 withseason, the Hall of Fame 2010 Roster. rosters, the new Baseball Heroes release, and the newGary 19th Sanchez’ Century 33 HRPOST-GAME and Didi Gregori- 221 HR. For the first time, six Cubs hit at These Windows-game releases are updat- seasons – 1876, 1880, 1885 and 1893. us’ 25 were the most by any Yankee least 20 HR in a season. Milwaukee had a Several improvementsed areeach likely year. to That generate means enthusiasm. the HOF There’sset will and shortstop for a season.more variety in box scoreinclude game stories, just-elected with many Jack new Morris phrases. and The Alan box team-recordPRE-GAME nine men with at least 10 HR. ’ 38 HR set the Kanas Washington hit a franchise-record eight HR scores will list players whoTrammell, had 2-out plus RBIs. whoever And else the “scoreis elected sheet” by New convenience: The CD-ROM no longer needsCity record.to be inserted Colorado’s in heading Charlie and Blackmon data will appearthe baseball only when writers an associated in late January. score sheet That’s is in one game. Minnesota set a team record set the MLB record for most RBI while bat- withorder 28 to hits install in a rosters. game. And an option to use Universal Plug and Play going to be displayed. a roster with more than 250 of the greatest (UPnP) — if it is available with your router – may helpting gamersleadoff who (103). have No one Thein the League last 45 Leaders sea- reportplayers now of all-time,shows traded based players’ on their current seven team best Cleveland won an AL-record 22 straight sons had more hits in a doubleheader than gamesnot been and, able for to theNetPlay first because time since of problems 1956, had port-forwarding with their codes instead of asterisks.seasons. For example, a traded player currently on routers. Atlanta’s Ender InciarteCincinnati (8). Cincinnati’s will have “CIN” andFull-career the team codeaverages instead for of “***”.nearly And15,000 the three pitchers with at least 17 wins – Co- Joey Votto reached base at least twice in 20 rey AKluber new function and Carlos called Carrasco Check Leaguewith 18 Database and will check and offer MVP Award voting hasMajor been adjustedLeague playersfor realism – all to whomake ever it more ap- the option to rebuild the league database shouldstraight it ever get games corrupted. – one shortdifficult of Ted for Williams’ a starting pitcherpeared to winin a that big-league award. game – are repre- Trevor Bauer with 17. record. J.D. Martinez and Scooter Gennett Rookies stole some of The Show, but the sented in the Career Historical Disk. That’s GAME ACTION each hit four homers in a game.All of these improvementsmore thanare in 140 addition seasons to a worth huge cacheof players of roster for veteran players claimed much of the glory, Jacob deGrom’s eight consecutive wins too,Double-duty both and players especially such ason Babethe mound. Ruth, Double Duty Radcliffe, improvements and corrections,the bargain and toprice the annualof $52.50. upgrades in ballpark in a season set a Metsphotos, record. team-specific play-by-play,Only your nicknames imagination (including will limit the the Negro pos- BulletBoston’s Joe Rogan, Chris Red Sale Lucas fanned and others 308 willwhile now be ableBoston’s to use both Craig their Kimbrel topped everyone pitcher and batter cards without denying another player a roster spot Leaguers) and more. Forsible a complete ways listto combineof improvements, players intosee the unique V16 walking only 43. Clayton Kershaw exceed- with 16.4 Ks per 9 IP. An astonishing 16 As- and the game will recognize when the proper card needs to be used. Help File. gaming projects. ed 200 Ks for the seventh time, topping the tros pitchers averaged at least 10 Ks per 9 IP. WinWin More More Games Games with with TheThe BaseballBaseball RatingsRatings Book Book Every game and every season of Strat-O- tion at a glance, saving you hours of number- The charts from a past season below MaticEvery Baseball game andis won every and season lost becauseof Strat-O- of crunching.tion at a glance, It’s the saving detail you you hours need of to number- decide showThe how charts the from Ratings a past Book season does below the shownum- aMatic series Baseball of decisions, is won large and lostand becausesmall. 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CHICAGO-N VSS. LEFTHANDERS VS. RIGHTHANDER HBITTERS AOSBBTHBI OBTRHPBLCPDOSBBTHBI OBTRHPBLCPDGSLTEALIN SDT SP BH FIELDING Grace,M* 547 08321. 2359. 349. 1w. +2 120117376. 487. 499. 0. 11+02)4/11 (13-4 E11DB 1b-1e5 PSITCHERS VSS. LEFTHANDER VES. RIGHTHANDER ENDURANC BPALT IOSBBTHBI OBTRHPBPDOSBBTHBI OBTRHPBPDOHKBPWFBTAT/BUN TSPS Orosco,J* 586 202272. 207. 166. 1. 2438 4 53. 3173. 78. 0. 15+) 3 R5(1 - 072C-1 51WR- E01 Page 3 Strat-O-Matic News, Winter 2018 Strat-O-Matic Baseball 2018 More Realism and More Convenience Wow! Optional New Rule Captures Cloud Hosting Will Make League Extreme Batter-Pitcher Matchups Commissioners’ Lives Worth Living Baseball broadcasters are McCann (level 1) and George That gust of wind you just files to one place in the Cloud fond of telling us when a batter Springer (level 3), but he has felt was not the latest tornado, and also to retrieve all team files loves to face a certain pitcher or a level-1 advantage over Jake but the collective exhale of from the same place. when a pitcher has dominated a Marisnick, who usually thumps league commissioners who man- After the commish creates certain hitter. Now, Strat-O-Ma- lefty pitchers (such as Miley) age computer leagues. the league, he selects Create tic brings to life those extreme harder than he does righties. Thanks to improvements in Cloud Storage for League and advantages with an optional new The matchups judged to be Strat-O-Matic Baseball 2018, uploads the league files. Man- feature in Strat-O-Matic Base- extreme are based on career your commish will have auto- agers then download the league ball 2018. numbers, weighted more heav- mated help and single-button and claim their teams. In return, Dubbed Extreme Batter- ily on performance over the past control from handy menus rather they upload their computer man- Pitcher Matchups because they three seasons. than team-by-team importing of agers. The commish can import apply only to matchups where During game play, alerts game files and manager files. them all with a single click. one player dominates, this com- will indicate when an extreme Sharing the updated files with Managers post game-result puter-only feature is based on matchup is present, whether it is league members will be easier files and the commish imports actual Major League data. batter or pitcher with the advan- than ever, too. them in the same fashion. “Using a proprietary method tage and at what level. It’s all part of the new, free, The upload/download pro- Strat-O-Matic has identified On various screens, notations Cloud Hosting feature which, cess is repeated after each block certain batter-pitcher real-life in magenta will indicate that the Strat-O-Matic says, was de- of games has been played. matchups as statistically sig- pitcher has the edge and an alert signed to make file exchanges Using the menus will be eas- nificant enough to warrant an in orange indicates the batter “less -prone and faster and ier, and much faster, than post- adjustment in the game engine,” does. easier to use” than manual ex- ing or e-mailing files for manual the Help file explains. For now, this feature is avail- changes. transfer, one team at a time. A new Team Report will able only for play with 2017 Step-by-step procedures for Clicking options from the identify which players have the players. “The feature is only commissioners and league mem- menu also will reduce inadver- advantage and against which valid for players from the same bers are described precisely in tent errors. foes. It also indicates the extent year, so if you mix players from the Help file, but in a nutshell: And single-button control of the advantage, at one of four different years within your The commish has a menu automates part of the commis- levels. league you should not use this and managers have a menu. The sioner’s job. Extreme level 1 alters OPS feature,” the Help file warns. commish can use his to send all You can get used to this! by 200 points, level 2 by 300, level 3 by 400 and level 4 by 500, so even a level-1 advantage That’s Not All ... is extreme. The major features described juicy new reports. League lead- the player card as well (that is lo- For that reason, most match- above are just the beginning of ers now can be displayed for the cated under the “actual” column ups will not be affected. But what the latest version of the entire season or for any month. of data). This roughly estimates most players will have one or Windows game has to offer. The Player Detail Report the real-life WAR of the player’s more favorable or unfavorable Even without employing will break out the wins, losses, card, but is not an exact match matchups. Cloud Hosting, league com- innnings pitched and ERA for of other WAR systems available For example, 2017 American missioners can import an entire all pitchers for their roles as elsewhere. League batting champion Jose league’s computer managers starters and relievers and for As always, the latest version Altuve has the edge against 25 with one click. With all the CMs any subsets you are saving (by brings you up to date. The 10- pitchers, including a level-4 edge in the Import folder, just run month, by opponent, etc.). Just day disabled list employed by against Wade Miley, and has un- Batch Import Computer Man- choose Automatic Subsets be- MLB in 2017 replaces the 15- favorable matchups against 10 agers from the Team Menu. fore the season begins, then you day DL. Team play-by-play files pitchers, including a level-4 If starting pitchers have can see, for instance, that your are updated and more than 6,000 problem against Jose Quintana. been pre-assigned, they will now ace pitcher went 4-0 with a 1.29 lines of Nickname play-by-plays While Altuve has matchup is- appear on the pre-game schedule ERA in your September drive are included. So are new and up- sues with 35 pitchers, and Justin dialog that appears when New for the playoffs. dated trivia questions. Verlander has 48, Astros pitchers Schedule Game is clicked. Wins Above Replacement Strat-O-Matic Baseball 2018 Tyler Clippard and Chris Deven- There are six new ballpark (WAR) has been added to the is needed to play the newly re- ski have only two each. photos and 34 new ballpark-en- Player Notebooks. Strat-O- leased rosters for 2017, 1968 and The matchups are sure to in- try photos. And gamers now can Matic has chosen to offer a the six sets from the National fluence lineup and in-game deci- locate lefty and righty pitchers in single number that combines Association, Negro Leagues and sions. separate mound locations. each player’s wRAA, rWAR Japanese Leagues, as well as the For instance, Miley has prob- Already the sim with the and dWAR. But there’s more: updated Hall of Fame and Ca- lems with Astros Altuve, Mar- most comprehensive statistics, As the Help file explains, “We reer Historical rosters. win Gonzalez (level 1), Brian Strat-O-Matic is offering some included a calculated WAR for For more, check the Help file. Strat-O-Matic News, Winter 2018 Page 4 Classic Strat: 1968 and So Much More Year of the Pitcher: In 1968, McLain, Every Major League season in history Gibson and Lolich Rivaled a dramatic now available from Strat-O-Matic; World Series for immortal fame More Negro, leagues, too Enhanced with super-ad- Strat-O-Matic has reached a baseball milestone: Using the Win- vanced features, the 1968 Major dows game, it is now possible to play every season in Major League League season is re-created in history, beginning with the 1871 National Association, one of seven time for the 50th anniversary of new releases this year (along with 1968, three Negro Leagues sea- The Year of the Pitcher. sons and two seasons from the Japanese leagues). In this memorable season, Here are glimpses of the six Windows-only roster sets. ’s Denny McLain was 1871 National Association. This was the first organized professional the last to win 30 games (31-6, baseball league and the start of the National Association, forerunner to 1.96). (22-9) regis- the . Playing fewer than 35 games, the Philadelphia tered a miniscule 1.12 ERA in Athletics (22-7), Chicago (20-9) and Boston (22-10) all claimed a year when seven qualifying the pennant, thanks to confusion and controversy, but Philadelphia pitchers had sub-2.00 ERAs. In the NL, Cincinnati’s Pete ultimately was recognized as the pennant winner. The Athletics had Nine of the top 20 men in Wins Rose led with a .335 average, top hitters Levi Meyerle (.492), Al Reach (.353), George Bechtel Above Replacement were start- and San Francisco’s Willie Mc- ing pitchers, including Hall of Covey led with 36 HR, 105 RBI, (.351), Fergy Malone (.343), Count Sensenderfer (.323), and John Famers Gibson, Tom Seaver and .545 slugging and .923 OPS. Radcliff (.303). Boston’s Al Spalding led the league with 19 wins. . Gibson and The list of top sluggers is 1916 Negro League. The class of the six-team Negro League was McLain were the league MVPs. filled with legends: Philadephia’s Rube Foster’s Chicago American Giants. Pro-rated to a 150-game Maybe the most sensational Dick Allen (33 HR); Chicago’s season, the Giants went 88-62 to overcome the talented New York pitching feat of all occurred Ernie Banks (32 HR), Billy Wil- Lincolns (84-66). Gamers familiar with Strat-O-Matic’s Negro in Game 7 of the World Series liams (.288-30-98) and Ron San- League Stars set will recognize 26 players, including Hall of Famers when Detroit’s , to (26 HR, 98 RBI); Atlanta’s Oscar Charleston, Rube Foster, Pete Hill, Pop Lloyd, Louis Santop, pitching on only two days of rest, Hank Aaron (.287-29-86); San Ben Taylor, Cristobal Torriente and Smokey Joe Williams. threw a complete-game five-hit- Francisco’s Willie Mays (.289- 1936 Negro League. In a 10-team league pro-rated to a 144-game ter to out-duel the fully rested, 23-79); Houston’s Jimmy Wynn schedule, the Pittsburgh Crawfords (85-59) held off the Kansas City mighty Gibson (winner of Game (26 HR), and Pittsburgh’s Ro- Monarchs (82-62), Homestead Grays (80-64), and New York Black 7s in 1964 and 1967 and two berto Clemente (.291, 18 HR, 12 Yankees (78-66). Philadelphia’s Red Parnell (.351) led the 24 hitters games already in this World Se- triples) and Willie Stargell (24 ries). That made Lolich 3-0 for HR). who topped .300. Newark’s Mules Suttles led the league with 35 home the Series, which St. Louis once Pitching was the bigger story. runs and 135 RBI. Crawford’s Josh Gibson was runner-up in average led three games to one. San Francisco’s Juan Marichal (.350) and home runs (42) and led in OPS (1.173). Homestead’s Buck The American League hit a led the NL in wins (26-9, 2.43) Leonard (1.003) and the Cubans’ Martin Dihigo (1.001) also had paltry .230 and Boston’s Carl while other NL stars were Jen- huge seasons. Yastrzemski won the batting title kins (20-15, 2.63), Jerry Koos- 1949 Negro League. Now in its late stages, the Negro Leagues at .301, the lowest winning mark man (19-12, 2.08), Steve Blass continued to lose talent to the Major Leagues and minor leagues. ever. After the season, MLB (18-6, 2.12), Nelson Briles (19- But there was still high-quality play and strong pennant races. Jim lowered all pitching mounds. 11, 2.81) and Chris Short (19-13, Gilliam, Elston Howard and Sam Jones were among the excellent But the Tigers had offense in 2.94). future Major Leaguers who had roles in the 1949 Negro League. LF Willie Horton (.285-36-85, AL pitching greats included 1969 Japanese League. For the fourth time in nine seasons, the .895 OPS). Catcher (21-9, 1.60), Dave champion won the Nippon Series, and 1B each hit 25 McNally (22-10, 1.95), Mel HR with more than 800 OPS. Stottlemyre (21-12, 2.45), Sam besting the Hankyu Braves of the . Sluggers Sadaharu Hall of Famer , in his McDowell (15-14, 1.81, 283 Oh (.345-44-103 with 111 walks) and (.311-32- only World Series season, had an Ks), Stan Bahnsen (17-12, 115) led the Giants and the league in average, hits, home runs, RBI .820 OPS for the season. Pinch- 2.05), Jim Hardin (18-13, 2.51), and runs. Teammate Tazumi Takahashi (22-5, 2.21, 221 Ks) led the hitter hit .370 with Ray Culp (16-6, 2.91) and Blue league in victories and was voted the outstanding in an 1.127 OPS in 92 AB. Moon Odom (16-10, 2.45). Japanese baseball. 2017 Japanese League. Shohei Otani’s signing with the Los Angeles Angels was a big story following the 2017 season. Otani was limited by an elbow injury in 2017, but batted .332 and hit 8 homeruns in 202 at bats for the Nippon Ham. As a pitcher, he was 3-2, 3.20. But the glory went to the SoftBank Hawks, who dominated the Pacific League, then won their third Nippon Series in seven seasons. Pacific MVP Dennis Sarfate set a Japanese single-season record with 54 saves, accompanied by a 1.09 ERA, then was named MVP of the Nippon Series. Page 5 Strat-O-Matic News, Winter 2018 Get Your Daily Dose with Baseball 365 There are more ways than ever to enjoy Strat-O-Matic’s ultra- popular online baseball draft game. Play via PC or the new mobile app. Draft from player pools from single seasons, decades or all-time greats. Play historic seasons (e.g. 1982), the 2017 season or with the current players, updated daily in the return of the acclaimed Baseball Daily, preparing for its third season. Strat-O-Matic 365 app icon The Card Viewer app icon However you roll (electronically in this case), you’ll draft 25 players under a salary cap, plus a ballpark, then set your lineups, pitching rotations and other computer-manager instructions, then Infinite Joy: Explore wait for it (if you can stand the wait) – each morning you’ll get the results of your team’s latest three-game series, complete with recaps, boxscores and more. the App Universe For max fun, join the chat rooms and find out why so many gam- ers play Baseball 365 year-’round, with season after season of at- with Strat On the Go tempts to win pennants and glory. Newcomers get free trials and sig- The opportunity to enjoy nificant discounts, too. Strat-O-Matic never has been greater. With two great apps – and more in development – gam- ers no longer have to be tethered to a personal computer or to a board game table top. Play Strat-O-Matic’s Base- ball and Football 365, Baseball Daily, or spend endless hours tracing baseball history with the Card Viewer App. The free app comes with im- ages of every card in the careers Now Playing Online: of the 117 players in SOM’s first Baseball Heroes set. (you can begin your play at any SOM’s Football 365 For $4.99/month or $49.99/ time during the real season.) year, gamers can get every MLB Strat-O-Matic’s journey into Strat-O-Matic Football 365 is the newest way to enjoy one of the season SOM has ever created – the app universe also includes a most engaging and addictive sports simulations ever. a vast resource for research, for free app for Baseball and Foot- The online draft game works much like Strat-O-Matic Baseball draft preparation or to immerse ball 365, the online game. While 365: You draft a team online with salary-cap limits, set computer- yourself in nostalgia, among gamers cannot buy credits for intructions, play a full schedule (16 games) with playoffs for limitless other uses. that game through the app, they the best teams, and analyze results with a comprehensive post-game For an additional 99 cents/ can do everything else – draft, report package. month or $9.99/year you can set their computer managers, It is a simulation game that combines your talent as a general view all of SOM’s specialty sets check game outcomes and more. manager and coach. You draft a full team, make trades and transac- – Baseball Daily, Hall of Fame, More apps are in the works. tions as necessary, set your starters, choose your schemes and ten- Negro Leagues and Japanese Details will be available when dencies to create a championship winning team. No more “fantasy Leagues. the apps are ready to launch. For points” or abstract units of measurement ... you have one simple goal With Baseball Daily, play the latest news, stay connected – to win football games. the current season as it happens at www.strat-o-matic.com. You will draft a team of 19 skill and special teams players plus four team units (offensive line, defensive line, linebackers, second- ary) from your choice of player sets and join a 12-team league. For product discounts and daily company updates: Each day you can offer and accept trades with other teams, pick Like us on Facebook (Strat-O-Matic Games) and up free agents, scout your opposition, change your starters while Follow us on Twitter (@StratOMatic) managing your team’s health, and adjust your schemes and tenden- cies as necessary. A week of the season is simulated each night. The next morning you will have your results. Take a quick look at the boxscore and game recap or pore through detailed play-by-play accounts of the games to see what strategies should be adjusted going forward. So far, the two available player sets are 2016 and All-Time Fran- chises. More are on the way, including each year’s most recently completed NFL season. Strat-O-Matic News, Winter 2018 Page 6 Everyone Needs a Laugh Competitive Strat-O-Matic can be, uh, intense. If you are feeling a bit stressed over that losing streak, lighten up with the YouTube video series, Strat Mat, hosted by actress Laura High and her husband Adam Andrianopoulos, an actor who doubles as Strat-O-Matic’s cus- tomer-service rep. Hear their sports gags and street interviews (9 episodes so far) on youtube and at www.strat-o-matic.com

We Have a Winner — and a new T-Shirt Surely by now your red Did and Adam Solario) and have You Strat Today? T-shirt, and the grown to 16 members this year. black one with the yellow -O-, “We created a season format and the blue one with the right- where we meet bi-weekly and handed power pitcher are worn play head-to-head matchups. We out from overuse, or from some keep track of standings and at dramatic act immediately fol- the end of the year we hold our lowing a blown lead. playoffs. No worries. The solution “We have a World Series par- is here and this time the smart ty where we invite anyone from design is the work of a team of the school to attend. At this party high schoolers in upstate New we have traditional ballpark food York who won Strat-O-Matic’s (hot dogs, popcorn, Cracker Jack T-Shirt design contest. and soda). The students and teacher/ “The World Series partici- club leader Jeff DiPaola take part pants are awarded their own in Strat-O-Matic’s After School game boards and card sets. The Program, which offers discounts winner of the World Series is to school clubs that want to en- awarded an engraved trophy. joy the hobby together. “At the beginning of the year SOM’s After School Program The contest attracted nearly we hold a fundraiser during Strat-O-Matic’s After School Program, such as the one organized 100 entries. The four-color de- Homecoming where we have a by Jeff DiPaola, offers substantial discounts on Selector Sets (50 per- sign represents all four Strat-O- speed-pitch booth. This year we cent off a full board game with your choice of five current teams) Matic sports and adds the styl- gave 50 percent of the proceeds and Baseball Express Games (40 percent off the popular game for ized -O- just above the heart (just to a school in Texas that was af- Strat-O beginners). where Strat belongs, right?). fected by Hurricane Harvey. The discounts also apply to football, hockey and basketball board Let’s let DiPaola, a special- “We also hold various fund- games. education teacher, introduce his raisers throughout the year. Our The offer is open to all teachers who start their own After School club of special-ed students and goal is to raise enough money so Strat-O-Club or would like to use Strat-O-Matic games as a teaching general-education students: that at the end of the year we can tool in the classroom. “We are Burnt Hills-Ballston take a group trip to a ballgame, To place an order and/or ask any questions, send an email to cor- Lake High School which is lo- ideally Yankees or Mets but have [email protected] with the subject line “Strat-O-Matic cated just north of Albany, New also discussed just going to our After School Program” or call 1-800-645-3455. York in Saratoga County. local Astros’ single-A affiliate This discount program may apply to other groups on an individu- “The club members range Tri-City Valley Cats.” al basis as well. Sample organizations include JCCs, YMCAs, Com- from 9th to 12th grade. We The T-shirt may be ordered munity and Church Youth Groups, Rec Centers, Summer Camps and started the club last year with 8 from Strat-O-Matic’s website Boy/Girl/Cub Scouts. Please call or email to find out if your specific members (including co-founders for $22.99 ($24.99 for sizes 2XL group is eligible for the discounts. Gabe LoBaido, Jack Kislowski and 3XL).