Vol. V, Issue #1 - January 2017
  
 ** SOM Baseball & MLB World News **
      ( a new periodic column for 2017 where we share special news
linked to the SOM Baseball Game and MLB .... stay tuned!! )

Notes from the Wolfman: - Welcome to 2017, as the new year begins, there are a few traditions which happen at this time that we will be briefly reporting.  In January, Strat-o-matic makes available their special Ratings Report, which shows for the new card set coming (of course at this time, based upon the 2016 MLB season) the full card stats and ratings along with the chances (how many chances on the cards) to get hits or walks or strikeouts, etc... for the hitters and how much is given up by the pitchers. Also SOM made their announcements for when people can start placing their orders, so if you have heard these dates we have it shown below. Lastly, just before our newsletter was released, SOM released their winter newsletter with full details on all the enhancements (quite a bit including new mobile apps) and new printed and computer rosters they are releasing for 2017 (which you can begin to order on January 31st).

Next we have an overview summary, as we have done so in the past several years, of a report about what took place at the Strat Tournament Players Club championship series they call the WORLDS, thanks to Pete Nelson.  And finally, just a brief mention of the new Essential Draft Guide we released mid-January, what its all about and how it can help our members who are in Keeper Leagues waiting to do their league drafts with the 2017 card set including the new enhancements added to version 1.1.  So sit back, enjoy your favorite beverage and read on ...

FLASH: FLASH: FLASH: The Baseball Rating Guide for the 2017 Card Set is available - January 31st is when people can make their pre-orders for all the new baseball products of which there are MANY - Opening Day is Friday, February 10th at the Game Company and we will be there to record on video what happens ...
 

In January is when Strat-o-matic let's us know their time table for making available all their new baseball products from the new printed card sets (as we mentioned in December, some of the new seasons being offered with their computer rosters for the new version of the computer game) plus their newsletter to give a detailed discussion of the enhancements to the baseball computer game plus other baseball roster seasons (this year more Negro and Japanese leagues plus a year of the National Association). Additionally, they release in this month the 2016 Baseball Ratings Guide (now available as a download excel spreadsheet or printed book) plus the next version of Baseball Daily plus for the 1st time, mobile apps to help you with your game. So, if you are not on SOM's email list, or visited their website lately, here are the key things to know about that is coming up here soon and into February.

First, the 2016 Baseball Ratings Guide is available to be ordered so you will have a good idea of what the new cards (printed or computer image) will be like.  Here is the SOM webpages to order the guide:

http://www.strat-o-matic.com/products/2016-baseball-ratings-download  (downloadable version)

http://www.strat-o-matic.com/products/2016-baseball-ratings-book (printed book)


The other important dates to be aware of --

On Tuesday, January 31st, is the first date you can pre-order the new baseball products (printed cards, computer seasons and the 2017 card set with the new version of the computer game.)  We mentioned in our December 2016 issue about a new season and special card set being offered this year (for details click here).  We have not heard about Baseball Daily, it may take SOM more time to have it ready but its possible you could order it.  For those who don't remember what Baseball Daily is, it is an extension to the computer game which lets you play the 2017 MLB season with a version of the strat computer image cards representing the player's performance in the current season - you can play with your favorite team or teams.

Then, on Friday, February 10th, Strat-o-matic opens its door to anyone who wishes to visit, to meet the members of the game company and Mr. Richman, the creator.  Plus, the first orders of any new products is delivered to those who come on this day. But you have to contact the game company (see their website at: http://www.strat-o-matic.com to let them know you plan to be there and will pick up your order.  We will have our "Johnny on the Spot" as has become our tradition to record live video with some interviews from this day which will be shown on our Ultimate Strat Baseball Youtube Video Channel, stay tuned for some bulletins next month when that video is up.

Finally, on Monday, February 13th, any new products you ordered that have a downloadable version such as the new computer game or the new seasons (rosters) of cards available, you will receive a notice in your on-line account, they are available to be copied to your computer.  Also on this date is when the physical shipping of any new baseball products (liked the printed cards or game parts) will be sent out.

Next, SOM's Winter Newsletter came out Friday, January 27th and we learned about all their plans for this year - we will suggest to our readers you check your email for a link to their newsletter or on our resource page this month, under Strat-o-matic we show the a direct link to the newsletter so you can read it through your web browser or download this PDF file.

Here is a quick summary of SOM latest news:  In addition to the new two seasons coming out with both printed cards and computer images (MLB 2016 and 1949 plus the new Heroes II set), there will be various other new computer rosters added, all of the new years will require the 2017 Computer Game version. What new computer rosters that will be available include (besides the 3 sets mentioned above): Hall of Fame 2017; 2016 Career Historical; 1872 National Association; 1914 Negro League; 1924 Negro League; 1944 Negro League; 1961 Japanese League; 2016 Japanese League and of course 2017 Baseball Daily (meaning you will be able to play day-by-day with your favorite team during the 2017 MLB season, this comes as an extention to the game and an added compute roster). Quite a big list of new teams and seasons available in 2017 and that is not all...

SOM is also releasing Mobile Apps to enhance you game play as well.  The App to manage and run your Baseball 365 teams is already operational and can be downloaded for free.  There is another App coming out called The Card Viewer which people will be able to test and try at Opening Day next month that there will be a monthly fee - this app is basically available to let you view any SOM card that has ever been issued. The last app is for the Basic Baseball Game, which is free, and lets you play this game on the go. Again the winter SOM newsletter has more details on the new apps.

Another announcement is about the new Strat-o-matic Studio where new videos will be made to be broadcast on the SOM Youtube channel. There is a short 25 second video with a person named Dan, an employee letting us now about special interviews and features coming.  Also some people have had problems with Netplay (the feature to allow the computer game to be played on-line) with Windows 10.  SOM claims they are working very hard to correct this problem soon and although the new computer baseball game won't have a new version of Netplay initial you can count on it being added this year in an update.

Finally there is a quick list of the updates to the new 2017 edition of the SOM Computer Baseball Game, in edition to the new Infield Shift rule (which the computer game will have a setting for to allow it in the 2017 computer game, recommended to be used with seasons after 2010), briefly this includes: some new options for Daily Draft Leagues ... New Computer Manager Settings ... Pitch Cut Limit and Clutch Pinch Hitting advancements ... Catcher plate blocking is now optional ... Pitcher Game Scores (a value given to a pitcher how well he pitches) ... Manual entry advancement and Fielding Stats and more ...

So there you have all the latest announcements from Strat-o-matic made in January to keep us quite happy for our version of play in 2017. We have all been through this before so you know what to do.  Enjoy and to another great year of game playing with SOM!!

 

FLASH: FLASH: FLASH: A quick report on the Championship Tournament held by the Strat Tournament Players Club (STPC) as they crown their "WORLDS Champion" for the 2016 playing season, Congratulations to Mark Giddings!!

I believe, the longest on-going series of baseball tournaments known in the history of Strat-o-matic Baseball (which we have covered before at times and have a very good relationship with their council), is known as the Strat Tournament Players Club. Throughout the year, they hold face-to-face tournaments all over the U.S., and finalize their season with a champion tournament they call the "WORLDS" in January of the following year. 

Briefly, each tournament they hold uses the most recent card set issued by SOM and they draft a 25 man team with a stadium.  Then, depending upon how many players there are for each of their tournaments, they play perhaps 20-40 games or so  (usually in 4 games series), and the participants with the best records qualify for the playoffs with the right to compete for the tournament championship. There is a fee to play (in most tournaments you can either pay the standard entry fee which if you win can turn into a nice sum and help pay your expenses to go, or a smaller fee just to play for fun) and of course the champion receives a healthy winning.  These tournaments used to be known as the Star Tournaments before the name was changed relatively recently but the tournaments have gone on for many years now and we could say, some of the best strat baseball players in the world have been a part of them. I recently met Pete Nelson, a key representative of STPC in person and he told me they have about 145 active players.

As our readers know, I am partial to tournaments, having been involved with a group of friends to hold seven national conventions, and have participated over the years in a few of their tournaments with my best showing in one of their Skype tournaments. It has been a tradition for me to report what happens at their Championship Tournament at the beginning of the new year. Basically, there are three types of tournaments they do offer: Face-to-Face; or on-line using the SOM's Computer Game (the Netplay Option) or a version of Face-to-Face using Skype and a special website that has an automated dice roller and twenty sided dice roller.

Related to a quick summary of the rules they follow for their tournaments. First, there is a minimum amount of plate appearances or innings pitched needed in real life for a MLB player to be eligible to be drafted and if enough people participate in any single tournament there can be multiple divisions (there were 5 divisions at the WORLDS) for which the strat gamers with the best winning percentage by games played then proceed into the playoffs.  A four man rotation is required and players can be injured so you must have at least two eligible players at each position which is listed on their cards.  Most of the super advanced rules of the game are used and also the games are played with cards and dice (including a 20-sided dice and a dice tower).

The STPC National Championship (a.k.a. WORLDS) was held in downtown Las Vegas at the D Las Vegas Casino Hotel (a 34 story building) from January 12th through January 15th. There were 51 total participants but 48 teams who competed (3 teams were run by two managers) and played in this national tournament to become the 2017 WORLDS champion. Included were some of the most well known members of the club, who have won either individual tournaments conducted over the years and a few who have won the WORLDS before.  The event began on Thursday night, January 12th, with the STPC Annual Meeting where the participants selected which Division they would play in. Then the drafting of their tournament team occurred Friday morning (January 13th) with tournament games then played the rest of Friday, all day Saturday and then on that Sunday with the playoffs going on until champion Mark Giddings was crowned at 11:59 PM.

Pete Nelson, as I mentioned before, was one of the two tournament directors and is the individual I spoke to, who provided for us a summary of what took place at the 2017 WORLDS. Pete has won a few WORLDS tournaments and was their champion last year but this year he did not make the final playoffs although he did win what they call the "Consolation Tournament", which is where all those who did not qualify for the playoffs could participant and continue to enjoy playing if they wished.

I asked Pete some questions, to better understand how the WORLDS Tournament was played this year to share with our readers:

(Note from the Wolfman - STPC has a point system they use to determine who are their best and most successful players during the year.  For each tournament you play, depending on your record and such (it is too sophisticated to explain here, but you can visit this webpage / click here / if you are curious) you receive points from each tournament you play.  For the 2016 season of tournaments, Willy Dominguez led with 180.9 points (he is a WORLDS Champion we interviewed before) but it is obvious too he played in many tournaments. Mark Giddings only had 27 points, and when we look under the page with the won-lost percentage of all games played, Mark was not listed so he wasn't very active in 2016 whereas Willy's record was 263-194.  Mark's opponent in the finals, Ben Swoboda, also didn't play in many tournaments but he had a 31-13 record for his tournaments in 2016 and had 63.4 points.)