STRAT-O-MATIC REVIEW Devoted exculsively to the Strat-O-Matic game fans, with the consent of the Strat-O-Matic Game Co. Vol. I-3 May 1971 35¢ Draft Night Signals Start Of Another Strat-O-Matic Season It may have been just an ordinary Monday evening for millions of Americans ••.but for eight Strat·O-Matic baseball fans it was the night that would shape success or failure in .the. next 15 or 16 weeks ahead. It was draft night! Ever since the final die had been thrown back in late September, momentum had been building for next spring's draft. Now the moment had arrived. The new player cards were laid out on tables and counters at league headquarters (actually the kitchen of a league member's house), with the pitchers filling one corner of the room, the catchers and infielders another and the outfielders a third area. All players were face up, so all eight managers, six veterans and two rookies, could evaluate the potential of each based on his 1970 performance. The league members had all agreed that since the National League was used for the draft last season, the American League would be used this time around. All 12 teams would be used (240 players), but only 25 could be picked by each manager . Most of the veterans remembered last year's draft only too well. One of the managers came prepared with elaborate lists containing player ratings for each position. Some snickered, wondering, perhaps, if he hadn't taken the wrong turn on his way to a Pentagon briefing and ended up at the draft by mistake. This manager also brought along an assistant or "advisor" for the draft. More snickers. Everyone else wondered whether all this was necessary. After all, everyone was a baseball expert in their own mind. Common sense and expertise when selecting would certainly be better than player-evaluation lists and an "advisor." But everyone also remembered that this manager had won the league title last season, outdistancing the second place manager by five games and the ce11er-dwe11er manager by a whopping 28. There certainly seemed to be a lot of lists of evidence this time around. After a-quick briefing of the league's constitution, the countdown began toward the first draft selection. Next all put in their $3.00 entry fee, which allowed each manager to pick a folded piece of paper with a number on it. The papers were numbered 1-8 and that was to be the order of the draft. As each number was picked , thoughts rushed through each manager's mi nd. "What if I pick No.1, who do I take? Shall I go for pitching, since there were only half a dozen starters with earned run aver.ages under 3.00? What about catchers, there 2 certainly weren't many who batted a lot and yet had a good average and packed a sting in the power department? Should I take MVP Boog Powell or Cy Young winner Jim Perry? What about batting champ Alex Johnson, or home run king Frank Howard?" Another grim reminder from last season was the fate of the manager who had picked Willie McCovey, the NL's leading home run hitter, as his No.1 draft choice and followed that up by nabbing Pete Rose, the NL's leading hitter. And, if that wasn't enough, Lou Brock and Ron Santo were also picked. None of the other managers waved the white flag of surrender, however, and when it was all over--154 games 1ater--this hitting- rich but pitching-poor manager finished a distant seventh, 25 games out of first place. Hitting alone certainly wouldn't win a pennant. The draft formula was so constructed that each manager picked from every spot (one through eight) three times and a fourth from the position he picked from in the first round. The No.1 draft pick thus gave that manager the choice of all 240 players, but in the second round that manager had to wait until the eighth pick, full 14 selections after his initial choice. The potential curse of picking No. 1 proved to be too much for the manager that drew that selection as he, surprisingly swapped his choice with the manager who had No.7. Being No.1 wasn't valued so highly after all. Carl Yastremzemski (.3286 BA, 40 homers) turned out to be the top draft choice as the long evening of drafting began in earnest. Next was Luis Aparicio, then Frank Howard, then Tommy Harper, .. Although four hitters were picked immediately, the pitchers also started disappearing at a rapid rate in the first round. Jim,Palmer was chosen fifth, then "Sudden Sam" McDowell, then Jim Perry and, ending the, first round, Clyde Wright, another hurler, was chosen eighth. Pick after pick, round after round, the evening wore on until finally all 25-p1ayer rosters were stocked. Two of the managers, apparently remembering last year, picked pitchers in both the first and second r04nds. The two rookie managers, however, both chose hitters. One came up with Frank Howard and Harmon Killebrew; a lot of power. Hmm .•. And from the short list of catchers, Ray Fosse and Thurman Munson were both , picked out in the early rounds. , A big surprise was the wait until the 22nd round for batting champ Alex Jobnson to be chosen. His temperament apparently had nothing to do with his late selection, but " his 4-fielding rating certainly did. Another shocker was Mike Cueller (24-8) lasting c until the 43,rd pick .. A home run (1-14) .in the 4th column, No.8, freightened away most of the managers. Bob Johnson, Kansas City pitcher, also remained on the table a surprisingly long time before being grabbed, lasting until the 82nd pick despite a 3.09 ERA in 214 innings. Here are the first 22 draft selections plus the complete draft table: ROUND PICKS -1- 1 2 3 45 6 7 8 16 7 6 5 8 3 2 1 4 2 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 3 2 3 4 1 6 7 8 5 18 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 4 5 87 6 1 4 3 2 19 2, 3 4 1 6 7 8 5 5 3 4 1 2 7 8 5 6 20 5 8 7 6 1 4 3 2 6 6 5 8 7 2 1 4 3 21 3 4 1 2 7 8 5 6 7 4 1 2 3 8 5 6 7 22 6 5 8 7 2 1 4 3 8 7 6 5 8 3 2 1 4 23 4 1 2 3 8 5 6 7 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 24 7 6 5 8 3 2 1 4 10 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 25 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 11 2 3 4 1 6 7 8 5 8 6 1 4 3 2 DRAFT CHOICES 12 5 7 1. 13 3 4 1 2 7 8 5 6 Carl Yastrzemski 4. Tommy Harper 14 6 5 8 7 2 1 4 3 2. Luis Aparicio 5. Jim Palmer 15 4 1 2 3 8 5 6 7 3. Frank Howard 6. Sam McDowell 3 7. Jim Perry 11 . Ray Fosse 14. Harmon Killebrew 8. Clyde Wright 12. Fritz Peterson 15. Thurman Munson 9. Tony Oliva 13. Boog Powell 16. Brooks Robinson 10. Dave McNally '27 'Yanks, '53 Dodgers Tan:gl~ In Finals Of AH~TimeReplay Now only the 1941 Dodgers, the 1953 Dodgers, and the 1946 Red Sox and the 1927 Yankees remained from the'original 32-team field in the all-time Strat-O-Matic baseball tournament. The '41 and '53 Dodgers opposed each other in one best-of-five-game semifinals, while the '27 Yanks and '46 Red Sox squared off in the other. Carl Furillo turned out to be the hero for the '53 Dodgers in the opener against their "Bum" counterparts, as he singled in the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, keying a three-run rally and a 6-5 victory. The '41 Dodgers, who had won nine of thei r first 12 games, bounced back' in the second tilt, capturing it 5-1 behind Whit Wyatt's nine-strikeout twirling. Dolph Camilli lashed three straight doubles for the winners and Joe Medwick also had three hits, including a bases-loaded triple in the sixth inning. That second-game triumph proved to be the last hurrah for the '41 Dodgers, however, as the .•53 crew crushed 'em, 12-6, in the third game and wrapped up the seri es with an 8-2 victory in the fourth. Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider each slammed three hits apiece to key the .Dodgers' 16-hit attack in the third contest and Snider exploded a pair of homers (good for five RBIs) and Carl Erskine threw a six-hitter and struck out eight in the finale. The '27 Yanks, fresh from an easy three-game conquest of the 1934 Cards in the quarterfinals, looked like they were going to make short work of the '46 Bosox in the second semifinals, winning the opening two games by scores of 5-2 and 12-2. Actually, the Red Sox had a 2-0 lead going into the ninth inning of the opener. Then four singles, a sacrifice fly and a bases loaded home run off the bat of Lou Gehrig pinned _ the loss on Red Sox starter Tex Hughson.