Vol. IV, Issue #7 -
November 2016
**
An Article by NASOMA Commissioner, Glenn Wheeler **
(NASOMA commissioner Glenn
Wheeler returns to our newsletter to share with
us a few thoughts about why he has been with Strat Baseball for
so many years!)
(Notes from the Wolfman:
NASOMA, as Glenn's member call
their league, which we covered twice last year, is a combination
league that uses a combination of different ways to play their
games but also (even though their members are all over the U.S.)
does key league functions in person. I had a chance to speak to
Glenn by the phone and got to know him fairly well when we did
our interviews before. Glenn has always been very
supportive of this newsletter. Ok
Commissioner Wheeler take it away for our members........
)
Why Do We
Play the Game?
Glenn:
Let me start off by
saying that I’m now going on 45 years playing Strat-O-Matic
baseball. I started playing the game as a 10 year old looking
for something fun to do with other baseball friends. Nobody I
knew had ever heard of Strat-O-Matic so it was something we
could all learn together. Of course everything was played by
cards, dice and charts back then but I remember I thought it was
good that a game took only 30 minutes or so to play. Not too
much time given what I thought was my short attention span.
We’ve come a long way in that now you can simply EQA a game in a
second or two. Things have indeed changed.
(Above is a photo of NASOMA's commissioner Glenn
Wheeler)
Never did I
imagine that now in my fifties I’d still be playing this same
game. I’m not sure if it’s my age, the fact my wife and I are
empty nesters, or some recent health issues we’re experiencing,
but it has caused me to reflect on why I’m still playing this
game!
At various times
I think I focused my attention on winning the magical league
trophy. It was about how I could pull off a great trade to get
in position to win, or what numbers could I analyze that would
give me an edge over my opponent. I remain commissioner and
member of the North American Stat-O-Matic Association (NASOMA)
that I started in 1980. We play for no money and the trophy we
receive is passed around year to year to the league champion.
Although there was no monetary prize, I’m convinced my primary
reason for playing was the joy of putting a championship team
together.
In reflection,
I’ve realized that I was missing the big picture as to why I
continue to play the game. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy
building a team and seeing in game strategy payoff to get that
important team win. But that’s not the main reason I play the
game. It really is about for the same reason I purchased the
game as a 10 year old. It is about staying connected with your
friends with the hook being to come together to share in a
common interest. In NASOMA we’ve been fortunate to not have had
much turnover in managers. Our average manager has been in the
league 26 years! We’ve spent most of our lives together. As life
gets in the way with family, career, and other life commitments
the glue that has kept our relationships in tact was
Strat-O-Matic baseball. I’m thankful for that.
If you’re in a
situation where life’s other demands are causing you to think
about dropping out of a league you’re in, I’d ask you to pause.
If it is truly not enjoyable anymore then that is one thing,
however understand that the league you’re in is likely the glue
to relationships that could last a lifetime.
It’s taken me 45
years to get to understand this, but that is why I continue to
play the game.
Contained inside this exciting issue of Ultimate Strat
Baseball Newsletter:
(to view the various interviews, articles, columns and special sections click on
the links {underlined}
and this will take you to the appropriate
webpage)
♦
RETURN TO NEWSLETTER MAIN PAGE
♦
STRAT THOUGHTS with
BRUCE BUNDY,
after a long absence we have the mind of Bruce Bundy as he
shares with our members over 30 formulas used to build the
cards, that he is known for throughout SOM Baseball and a
special comment about Baseball Daily.
♦
ARTICLE with DOUG BRUNET -- USAGE 4.2,
this is Doug's second contribution to our newsletter
delaying with the challenges of player's usage within a
league. Doug is very well known to the coordinators of
this newsletter as a member of the draft league they are in
and what can be said about Doug's observations of the game
and how to organize key stats is he is very thorough. This
article should help any member who is in a league where the
usage of your players is regulated.
♦
SOM BASEBALL LEAGUE REPORT with WOLFMAN SHAPIRO
--
the editor of "The Ultimate Strat Newsletter" and 2012 CBA
Champion, talks to members of various Strat-o-matic Baseball
Leagues that he has discovered on the internet about the
history of their league and their experiences. We speak
to another commissioner of a Retro League. To read this interview, click on the link below:
INTERVIEW with JIM
MURPHY, Commissioner of OSBL, P-XII
(Computer/Netplay)
♦
ARTICLE with WOLFMAN
SHAPIRO (linked with Baseball Daily),
This the Wolfman's fourth and final report about the new "Baseball Daily" game play
with SOM Baseball as he finished managing the 2016 Chicago Cubs
day by day. He shows you his results through the end of the
season and give an analysis linked to the Cubs how they really
played throughout the year on the road to their World Series
Championship, the first in 108 years, the end of the curse.
♦
STRAT WISE with MARC WASSERMAN
commissioner of the Cyber Baseball Association (CBA) continues
his new column sharing various perspectives on SOM Baseball.
For his
article this month we include a summary of the
latest and most fascinating and interesting videos we have added
to our Ultimate Strat Baseball Youtube Channel including two
special videos for the holidays shared in mid-December
including one by the Wolfman and Marc himself talking about
the new "Infield Shift Rule".
♦
RECOMMEND
ON-LINE SOM RESOURCES
--
On-line Strat-o-matic and Baseball related websites
that offer amazing information, special tools and products to improve
your game play
that we strongly recommend. In most cases, we have had personal contact with
these sources who agree with the principle to work together and help promote each other.
♦
BOOKS TO
DIE FOR and Become a BASEBALL GURU
-- This page
is
specifically about special books we are finding that either will
expand your insights about the game of Baseball, help you in the
creation of your current league teams or with your replays and
learn more about the Strat-o-matic
Baseball Game and Game Company's
history. We
have a special arrangement with Acta Sports, who is a publisher
of a number of great baseball books (including Bill James
Handbooks) to offer for our members
a 10% discount. We will continue to add more books to this page in the future
as we uncover other gems our members should know about.
Contact Us for Questions or Submissions:
Wolfman Shapiro
co-Founder/Editor, the
Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter
email:
wolfman@ultimatestratbaseball.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)
