Issue #1, January 2013, Part I


 ** Recommended On-line SOM and Baseball Resources **
     (offered by Wolfman Shapiro)

 { Wolfman: This webpage will contain various on-line Strat-o-matic Game resources (predominately for the Baseball game) and other resources related to MLB baseball.  It has been my experience in league play there are many on-line tools one can use to help build their teams or to supplement their game using historical tools.  This page will change over time as we have more and more additions.  If you have know of other resources that you feel should be added to this list please feel free to contact us with your suggestions. Our policy is to list those resources or organizations which we have had direct contact with and who agree we will help to promote each other. This does not indicate however, if one of your favorite resources is not listed here that we are not supporting such, just we have not had a contact and agreement.}
Resources that we Recommend
 (special on-line websites linked to SOM)

 www.strat-o-matic.com
(Website for the Strat-o-matic (SOM) Game Company. This is the website where you can purchase the Baseball game (board game or computer game); all of the various baseball printed cards and the computer teams plus various accessories.  Of course the game company offers various other sports games like football, basketball and hockey. For 2013, besides releasing version 17 of the computer game and cards based on the 2012 MLB season, plus the following new full seasons were released: MLB 1891, 1938, 1961; Negro Leagues: 1920, 1931 and 1942; and a Japanese League from 1973. Also the game company is offering an opportunity to play SOM baseball on-line with the options to play various teams.

Note - we are not connected nor endorsed by the Strat-o-matic Game Company. Our newsletter is offered as a labor of love by our newsletter support team to enhance the game playing of our members and to be as supportive as possible for the success of the game company.)

http://stratomaticbaseballvillage.lefora.com/
 ("The Stratomatic Baseball Village" - a friendly and supportive online forum community for Strat Baseball enthusiasts. The key individuals who offer this wondrous forum includes Ken "rezzdogg" Dunning, founder/admin and Michael McLaughlin ("67mantle2-7"), admin/moderator. We also thank Ken and Michael for being our partners with this newsletter.)

www.somhoops.com
(A Fan's Guide to Strat-O-Matic Basketball created by Jason. Somhoops offers a rating guide for Basketball with the permission of the game company. We recommend Somhoops as a great site to visit for our members if you like Basketball plus we are grateful for their support to announce our newsletter to their members who similarly love the baseball as much as we do.)

(Note from Wolfman - we hope to add more on-line resources to this page, as the SOM community becomes familiar with our newsletter.  We are about supporting each other and will list other groups who offer great resources for all SOM games who are open to cooperation and co-creation.)


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Special On-line Tools that are Available
(different newsletters, special reports and books for sale )

 www.outsiderbaseball.com
(This online weekly baseball newsletter is offered by Scott Simkus.  Mr. Simkus is a base historian who in each issue offers another special story related to various individuals and teams who have been involved with MLB. There is a yearly subscription fee to receive this newsletter.)

Acta Sports
This publisher specializes in publishing books about all type of sports and has been around since 2003.  They are the publisher for example for two books by Glenn Guzzo (including "Strat-o-matic Fanatics"), the amazing books by Bill James and John Dewan - "Fielding Bible". They have been involved with Baseball Statistics since 2006 and have a connection with the organization called STATS which also features the most indepth statistics related to Baseball.  We have negotiated with Acta Sports to give our members a 10% discount on all of your purchases with them. To find the specific book you want, just click on the link below and it will take you to the webpage of that e-book, of course you can look around for the other books too.

How does this discount work? We are told if you go to the page link we provide below our discount code of "SOMB" will automatically be entered for you but when you go to your shopping cart, underneath the last book to order is an area titled "Promo Code", if "SOMB" is not shown in that area, type it in and hit submit, the price of all your books will be updated to include the discount. This special discount is only for our members.

Below are seven important baseball or SOM related books (two by Glenn Guzzo) that we recommend for you to take a look at:

Strat-o-matic Fanatics - Glenn Guzzo
(Normal Price: $14.95 with Newsletter Discount $13.45)

 http://www.v-j-enterprises.com/WolfmanRecommends/Guzzo-SOMFanatics.htm

(The History of Strat-o-matic as told through its creator Hal Richman and the baseball board game became the icon of the industry opening the company up to create other sports games plus stories from various gamers)

-- Wolfman Note: A Review copy is coming and we will review this book in a future issue of our newsletter to give you our perspective - but this is the only book we know that has ever been written exclusively about Strat-o-matic!

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The New Ball Game - Glenn Guzzo
(Normal Price: $14.95 with Newsletter Discount $13.45)

http://www.v-j-enterprises.com/WolfmanRecommends/Guzzo-NewBallGame.htm

(Understanding Baseball Statistics of the Causal Fan - as the use of statistics becomes more popular as well as complex, Mr. Guzzo takes the reader in hand providing a friendly explanation of such.)

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How Bill James Changed Our View of Baseball - Bill James
-- Subtitle: The Inspiration Behind Moneyball
(Normal Price: $19.95 with Newsletter Discount $17.95)

 http://www.v-j-enterprises.com/WolfmanRecommends/BillJames-ChangedBaseball.htm

(Stories by various Baseball Authors and Sports Writers, General Managers and more how their view on baseball and life was changed by the legendary theories of Bill James)

-- Wolfman Note: A Review copy is coming and we will review this book in a future issue of our newsletter - many people have told us that Bill James is a master about discussing baseball and looking at it in a unique and different way - this is one of his new books!

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The Bill James Handbook 2013 - Bill James
(Normal Price: 26.95 with Newsletter Discount $24.25)

 http://www.v-j-enterprises.com/WolfmanRecommends/BillJames-Handbook2013.htm

(The first, best, most complete annual baseball reference guide available. Full of exclusive stats,
this book is the most comprehensive resource on every hit, pitch, and catch in Major League Baseball's 2012 season--and includes player projections for 2013.)

-- Wolfman Note: A Review copy is coming and we will review this book in a future issue of our newsletter - I am really looking forward to this book for its 2013 projections for my personal league with the CBA, I think the Handbook is what people wait for each other from Mr. James

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Baseball Prospectus 2013 - King Kauman & Cecilia M. Tan
(Normal Price: 24.95 with Newsletter discount $22.45

http://www.v-j-enterprises.com/WolfmanRecommends/BaseballProspectus2013.htm

(Featuring the Industry Leading Projections and Comments for more then 1600 players)

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Ron Shandler's 2013 Baseball Forecaster - Ron Shandler
(Normal Price: $25.95 with Newsletter discount $23.35)

 http://www.v-j-enterprises.com/WolfmanRecommends/Shandler-BaseballForecaster2013.htm

(The 2013 Baseball Forecaster, published annually since 1986, is the first book to approach prognostication by breaking performance down into its component parts. Rather than predicting batting average, for instance, this resource looks at the elements of skill that make up any given batter’s ability to distinguish between balls and strikes, his propensity
to make contact with the ball, and what happens when he makes contact -- reverse engineering those skills back into batting average. The result is an unparalleled forecast of baseball abilities and trends for the upcoming season and beyond.)

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The Fielding Bible Volume III - John Dewan & Ben Jedlovoc
(Normal Price: $24.95 with Newsletter Discount $22.45)

 http://www.v-j-enterprises.com/WolfmanRecommends/FieldingBible3-Dewan-n-Jedlovec.htm

(The Fielding Bible -- Volume III is a thorough compilation of the latest breakthroughs in defensive analytics from Baseball Info Solutions. With information previously exclusive to major league teams, Volume III is 100% new material that builds on the well received Volumes I and II. Included are comprehensive defensive evaluations, a study on the effectiveness
of the "Ted Williams shift", the new Timer Plus/Minus system, and updated Defensive Runs Saved numbers that estimate the value of each fielder in Major League Baseball.)

 


Special Services that could Benefit our Members
 (in this section, we will mention, for the benefit of our members, cerain services that we could across which might be of interest to help our members on a more personal level. We hope this newsletter will be seen in a way, that together we are creating an extended family in the SOM community, and one of the thing I {Wolfman} have always been consciously aware of is helping other people. I have learned, as was discussed in the book, "Think and Grow Rich" by Napolean Hill, who had the opportunity to interview in the 1920's the most successful people of his time, that if we do our best to help other people (or tithe) through universal laws, if you will, this good always comes back to you.  So if we see something that might make a difference in our members lives in some way, all we will do is list it here. It is of course up to each member to decide, without any pressure, if the service will be of value for them - this is what happened when the energy of the "Wolfman" hits ya, amongst other things, you want each project you are involved with to benefit others and do your best!)


HELP TO CUT THE COST OF YOUR CELLULAR PHONE
(Recently we discovered a new cellular service in the U.S., which started last September, not far from where we live in Seattle, that is assisting people to cut the high cost of cellular service. But not only this (as we will being saving $700 or more this year plus I believe eventually we will no longer have to pay for our cellular service), this is the only company I know who is sharing their profits with their members. We have been using the service since early January and its amazing, unlimited voice, text and internet, the same as we had before but $60 less a month - some people are finding challenges with their finances - so if this sound interesting, feel free to email me privately at: joshuashapiro@v-j-enterprises.com and show a subject of "I wish to know more" - this could forever change your life. Thank you.
 


Other Sections to view in this exciting issue :
 (to view the interviews, articles and special sections click on the links {underline} and this will take you to the appropriate webpage)
 

♦  RETURN TO NEWSLETTER MAIN PAGE

♦  INTERVIEW with GLENN GUZZO author of "Strat-o-matic Fanatics", SOM columnist.
(Part I of his amazing interview)

♦  INTERVIEW with SCOTT SIMKUS, editor and chief of the Outside Baseball Bulletin and lead consultants on Strat-o-matic's first official Negro League

♦  INTERVIEW with J. G. PRESTON -- served as a sports director, worked at the SOM
game company when younger and gave Wolfman his nickname

♦  ARTICLE by LARRY BRAUS -- assistant for newsletter, discusses his experiences with
various conventions and tournaments since 1972

♦  QUIZ ABOUT THE SOM BASEBALL CARDS via the SECRET CONSULTANT

     questions about the Baseball Cards, unique cards, times of new changes ...


 



Contact Us for Questions or Submissions:

Wolfman Shapiro
 Founder/Editor, the Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter
email: wolfmanshapiro@gmail.com
facebook: www.facebook.com/wolfman.shapiro
twitter: @StratBaseball4U

To Sign Up and Become a Member of this Newsletter
 http://www.UltimateStratBaseball.com
(this provides direct emails when our bulletins
and next issues come out)