Issue #1, January 2013, Part II
**
Recommended On-line SOM and Baseball Resources
**
(offered through the newsletter team)
{
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 with our governing principles to help and support each other
which provides a stronger environment for the SOM Baseball Game. This does not indicate
however, if one of your favorite resources is not listed here
that we are not supporting such, just that we may have a
differently philosophy and approach about how to create
partnerships and affilliations.}
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.cba-bb.net
(The website for the Cyber
Baseball Association, a 24 team baseball league using the
computer game which has existed since 1997. Wolfman Shapiro is
the 2012 champion after seven years of hard work, Marc
Wasserman, our so called "secret consultant" and author of the
League Commissioner Column is the commissioner. The CBA is the
first league to officially support our newsletter. The website
contains the up-to-date standings of the league during the
season which normally begins in March and goes through
September/October. The free report by Wolfman you received
when you signed up gives his history in this league.)
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.)
www.facebook.com/ImbaStratOMaticBaseballLeague
(A face to face league
for Strat-o-matic Baseball located in the New York / New Jersey
area with 18 teams. They also have their own online forum linked
to the league at:
http://imbastrat.proboards.com/index.cgi
-- this becomes our second baseball league to support and help
us let others know about the newsletter)
(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.)
---------------------------------
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!
----------------------
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.)
----------------------
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!
----------------------
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
----------------------
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)
----------------------
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.)
----------------------
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.)