Vol. IV, Issue #7 - November 2016
				
				
				
				
				
				** 
				Recommended On-line SOM and Baseball Resources
				
				**
				
				
				
				
				      (suggested resources by the newsletter team 
				as well as to honor
				our guests who have appeared in issues of the newsletter
				as well as groups and individual who support the newsletter)
				
				
				
				{
				
				
				Wolfman: 
				
				
				This 
				webpage contains various on-line Strat-o-matic Game resources 
				(predominately for the Baseball game) as well as other 
				resources related to MLB baseball that can help you in your game 
				play.  It has been my experience linked to my league 
				play that 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 personally know of or have had direct contact with 
				(the groups or the individuals). Further, the 
				spirit of this newsletter is about supporting our community and 
				finding others who are open to work together. The more we share 
				and work together, our community can only be enhanced. Such cooperation 
				(such as the existence of the Strat Alliance or our recent merger to work 
				closely with Stratogists.com and Bruce Bundy) only helps to create 
				a stronger environment for the SOM Baseball Game and all of us 
				involved. This does not indicate 
				however, if one of your favorite resources is not listed here 
				that we do not approve of such. It just means that either we are 
				unfamiliar with this contact or that they may have a 
				differently philosophy and approach about how to create 
				partnerships and affiliations then we do. Of course, no one is 
				perfect and we don't make any judgements of others. Having 
				variety and different forms of special information and 
				activities helps all games and we see it as being very good for 
				our community! Or in other words, we remain in the neutral and 
				do not take any sides.}
				
				
				
				
				Resources that we Recommend
				
				(special on-line websites we have uncovered of great 
				value)
				
				
				
				http://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 2016, besides releasing the new 
				version of the computer game and cards based on the 2015 , 1982 
				and a 2016 version of the Hall of Fame Cards (cards and rosters), they also released 
				computer rosters on the Negro Leagues: 1908, 1917, 1935 and 1948; and a Japanese League 
				from 2015 plus the 1874 National Association. 
				
				 Further, the new Ratings Booklet which lists the 
				complete rankings of all the cards that will be part of the 2016 
				MLB set (based on 2015), is available at the link below for the 
				spreadsheet (also is a printed book):
				
				
				http://www.strat-o-matic.com/products/2015-baseball-ratings-download
				Also, you may want to check 
				out their on-line baseball leagues and tournaments they offer 
				with different sets of players from the 1880's through the new 
				set for the 2015 MLB season as it also includes the Negro 
				League players. The on-line version of the game is now known as 
				Baseball 365.  We have covered this version of playing 
				the game in various issues of the newsletter starting in 2014 and 
				will continue going forward. To read more about the
				on-line gaming play please go to:
				
				http://365.strat-o-matic.com/
				Finally, we also recommend 
				to check out the announcements that SOM makes on Twitter, 
				go to:
				
				
				
				
				https://twitter.com/StratOMatic 
				
				And also 
				on their Facebook page at:
				
				https://www.facebook.com/StratOMaticGames/
				Note - we are not 
				directly connected nor fully endorsed by the Strat-o-matic Game Company 
				although we do have conversations with them at times and they 
				will share via their website or social media sources some of our 
				events and activities. We have done interviews with individuals 
				work at (or have worked at) the game company 
				at times. But 
				primarily, our newsletter is offered as a labor 
				of love by the newsletter support team to enhance the game playing of our members 
				and the SOM Baseball Community. We do our best to be as 
				supportive as possible for the success of the game company and 
				when we can, help share special news they release. We 
				do publicly thank Strat-o-matic for their occasional support of some of 
				our projects and sharing with their members and customers about some of our 
				more interesting activities.)
				
				
				
				
				https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC93h4fGGI7ibBUuTxrwDrzw
				("The Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter Youtube Video Channel" 
				- here is where you can find dear members the live videos we 
				have taken from Opening Day at Strat-o-matic to the "Billy 
				Sample Challenge" and much much more.  As no only do we 
				share special reports and articles via this special Strat 
				Baseball newsletter but we expand our coverage with live 
				interviews and interesting strategy videos.  Don't wait for 
				announcements via the newsletter or our bulletins to know what 
				videos are contained here, check it out as we do our best to 
				cover all aspects of the game we love with the written word and 
				through video!!  Check out our channel, we added several 
				new videos in December, 2015.)
				
				
				
				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 their initial help, advice and 
				support last year (2013) as our newsletter was first starting 
				out.)
				
				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.)
				
				Ultimate 
				Strat Baseball Collectibles and Sporting Goods Store
				(To help our members who are 
				interested in Baseball Collectibles, uniforms and sporting gear 
				we have worked out a deal with Amazon to provide for our members 
				some amazing items linked to baseball that you can't find any 
				where else.  So we encourage you to visit our store 
				periodically and check out these special items. Instead of 
				charging a monthly fee for the newsletter we rather keep it free 
				for everyone but your purchases will help to compensate for our 
				time and dedication to allow the newsletter to continue and come 
				out each month.  Also the banner at the top of each page 
				for the Amazon sports collectibles will also take you to our 
				store - thank you!!)
				
				
				http://users.wowway.com/~faust05/index.html
				
				(The website linked to the 
				genius of Bruce Bundy, who has developed and shares his formulas 
				that can help a person create their own SOM baseball cards. On 
				his website he additionally shares his advice how to improve 
				your play in the baseball game, interviews with key people in 
				our community and is a tester for the game company.  In 
				this issue we have an interview through Bruce with Steve Barkan 
				of the Game Company and also Bruce acts as an advisor for the 
				newsletter and is one of regular columnist with his "Strat 
				Thoughts" column.)
				
				In December of 2013, Bruce Bundy agreed to allow our newsletter 
				to help in the release of his "SOM Projection 
				Sheets" to forecast the new baseball cards coming out by 
				Strat-o-matic in the next year. Once again in October of 2014 
				and October 2015 
				Bruce Bundy released his next projection sheets for the 2015 
				cards and 2016 cards respectively. To read more about the 
				Projection Sheets or to obtain your own copy of the "2016 SOM Projection Sheets" visit Bruce's page on our site at:
				
				http://www.ultimatestratbaseball.com/Bundys-SOMProjectionSheets-November2015.htm
				
				
				www.moonlightgrahamsmarketplace.com
				(Moonlight Graham's 
				Marketplace is the place to be to find any Strat-o-matic 
				Baseball card ever printed by the game company. Chris Rosen is 
				the man behind the scenes and with our special project with 
				Billy Sample, he shot out the cards we need for Mr. Sample's 
				article and the chance for Mr. Sample to play SOM against one of 
				our members and learn about Strat-o-matic Baseball. Chris is the 
				man you want to work with for your SOM Baseball card needs and 
				dreams. We once again thank Chris, Mr. Moonlight Graham, for his 
				help to provide a team to face Billy Sample in the "Billy Sample 
				Challenge" for his opponent {this series will be announced in a 
				future newsletter) plus getting to us a copy of "Tony Brizzolara" 
				1979 card to use in his interview in this issue.)
				
				
				http://StratTPC.com
				(Strat-o-matic Face to Face 
				Tournament Association known as the Strat Tournament Players 
				Club (STPC) which offers a series of live and on-line SOM 
				Baseball tournaments (via Skype and Netplay). Started in 1996, 
				this group formerly known as the Star Tournaments took over for the TBA 
				group and has numerous tournaments each year with their champion 
				tournament called the Worlds, held in January of each year.  
				The section of the U.S. covered by these tournaments is in parts 
				of the Midwest of the U.S., the western states and west coast 
				and several southern states in the U.S.  The tournaments 
				use a format of draft a team of 25 players from the most recent 
				released SOM Baseball card set with a stadium. 
				
				
				
				http://www.purestrat.com
				(Purestrat is in the western 
				region of the Strat Tournament Players Club and handles the on-line tournaments utilizing 
				Skype and an electronic dialer. 
				
				
				
				
				https://www.youtube.com/user/StratOMaticStrategy
				(The Youtube channel for Matt Beagle, who is a contributing 
				writer for Baseball HQ and these SOM Baseball Strategy videos 
				are listed on the Strat-o-matic Game website. Matt has over 30 
				years of experience playing Strat Baseball and won a number of 
				league championships. He shares keys to winning and intriguing 
				strategies to play SOM Baseball in these videos.)
				
				 
				
					http://somers.activeboard.com
				(SOMers is a Strat-o-matic 
				Baseball based forum which their members are discussing all 
				kinds of aspects about the game as well as Major League 
				Baseball. According to founder Mark Heil, its a very friendly 
				place to be with some great and very knowledgeable members. Mark 
				was interviewed for USBN in our October 2014 issue.  
				
				
				
				http://www.strat-o-matic.net/
				(This is another premier SOM 
				forum developed and the brain child of Alex Redovian with 2400 
				members that covers all of the various strat-o-matic games. In 
				addition, Alex, who is a programmer has developed an on-line 
				dice roller for both the baseball and football game which is 
				available for free. The tournaments done on Skype by Pure Strat 
				(western division of the Star Tournaments) uses his dice rollers.)
				
				
				http://www.fodmoviesite.com
				(The official "Field of 
				Dreams Movie Site" website to learn about the Baseball Field, 
				which still exists in Dyersville, IA, where the "Field of 
				Dreams" movie was filmed. On this website is directions how to 
				get to the field, a 3D photographic overview of the field, the 
				special events which take place at the Baseball Field, its 
				history and much move. The farm and baseball field were 
				purchased from the Lansing family in late 2012 and is now being 
				taken care of by "Go the Distance Baseball, LCC". Part I of 
				Wolfman Shapiro's report linked with the Baseball Field is given 
				in the July 2016 issue. To learn more about their Project, which 
				is run by Go the Distance Baseball, called Allstar Baseball Park 
				Heaven visit: 
				http://allstarballparkheaven.com/ )
				
				
				
				http://www.stratfanforum.com/
				
				http://www.stratfanforum.com/forums/forum.php
				(Welcome to the 
				Strat-O-Matic Fan Forum. A dedicated online community who have 
				been discussing Strat-O-Matic's board and PC games since 
				February 2001. This forum covers all of the sports games offered 
				by Strat-o-matic. We interview the founder Dan Patterson in 
				Issue #2 of this newsletter)
				
				
				http://www.oneforfive.com/category/strat-o-matic/
				(Paul Dylan, WA, U.S. - blog site that contains all kinds of 
				articles about Strat-o-matic in this part of his site with some 
				powerful ideas and insights about the game, Paul is a member of 
				our newsletter as well and is doing an interview about us for 
				his site.)
				
				http://flory.net/twsl/
				(Ted William Strat-o-matic League, founded in 
				2002, 24 team netplay draft baseball league, one of several 
				baseball leagues supported by 
				Nick Flory 
				on his website. Mr. Flory doesn't have a main page for his site 
				that lists all the other 67 baseball leagues he supports but you 
				can see a list of them by going to the Ted Williams league and 
				go to the menu on the left hand side of the page and click on 
				"Other Sites" and a list of all the baseball sites pop up. We 
				wish to thank TWSL heads Mike and Larry for introducing us to 
				Nick, who has our newsletter logo shown on his sites and shared 
				the newsletter with all the different leagues which saw a 
				substantial growth in our membership - thanks Nick, Mike and 
				Larry.)
				
				
				 
				(Fox Valley Strat-o-matic League, a face-to-face league of six 
				gamers from Wisconsin, supports of the newsletter, founded in 
				1988.  They offer free copies of any of their newsletters 
				from their league (MS excel format) but they do not have a 
				league website, featured in the November 2015 issue of the 
				newsletter.)
							
									
									
									
									http://latorrer0.tripod.com/sombb/home.html
				 
				(Rob's Strat-o-matic Decade Keeper Leagues, an e-mail/Computer 
				based league currently has 12 members and started in 2012.  
				They play seasons by decade and keep the players for that 
				decade. They start with the 1950's decade and now are into the 
				1960 decade. A supporter of this newsletter, they were featured 
				in our November 2015 issue. Rob also has a system to show live 
				on the internet, the playoff games for their league.)
										
										http://nasoma.homestead.com/
				 
				(North American Strat-o-matic Association is a league that 
				combines face-to-face, Netplay and Computer Manager play.  
				This league has existed since 1980 and currently has 16 teams.  
				Key meetings for the league are done in person even though their 
				members are all over the U.S.  This league fully supports 
				the newsletter and has a strong interest to partnership with us 
				in the future. We featured this league in our November 2015 
				issue of the newsletter.)
										
										
				
				colleary@prodigy.net
				 
										(Bob Colleary, represents both the Bill 
										Veeck Leg League (BVL) and the Barefoot 
										League (BFL), a computer mananged 
										league.  The BVL has been around 
										since 1999 and the BFL is starting its 
										1st season in December of 2015. These 
										leagues were featured in our December 
										2015 issue of the newsletter.)
										
										
										http://www.wblcheshire.net
										(In 
										our March issue of 2016, we met both 
										Jeff Chaput, the commissioner and the 
										2015 champ, Ted Wesley of the World 
										Baseball League {WBL}, it is a computer 
										based league which has been around since 
										1977 with 14 teams, all the managers 
										live in the same area, they do their 
										drafts live.)
										
											
											
											http://flory.net/bigs/
										
										(Rob Stricker is the commissioner of 
										this dual league known as BIGS, a 10 
										team netplay league with a 12 team 
										computer league.  Started by our 
										contributor's writer Chuck Tinkler in 
										2010.  This league was featured in 
										our January 2016 issue of our 
										newsletter.)
										
										
											
											http://mmdaonline.com/
										(We 
										heard about this league MMDA (Masters 
										Memorial Draft Association) via our 
										interview with Matt Eddy, who is in 
										charge of the leagues blog and helps 
										with their website.  This is 20 
										team league with four divisions using 
										the computer game. We interviewed Matt 
										in the January 2016 issue of the 
										newsletter).
				
										
				
				http://flory.net/egml/index.phpc
										(The 
										Eric Gregg Memorial League (EGML) is our 
										first retro league we are reporting on 
										through the commissioner Vinny Mancini 
										which started with the 1951 MLB Season 
										and at the time of the interview in our 
										May 2016 issue is playing the 1959 MLB 
										season.  This is a computer based 
										league and another league which is 
										utilizing the services of Nick Flory to 
										host the league on the web.)
				
				
				
				
				http://flory.net/cof/index.php
				
				
				(Charles O. Finley SOM Baseball League - started in 2007, 
				starting with the 1970's season of cards and progressing forward 
				with each season, Mark Simon is the commissioner. This league 
				follows the constitution done by the Smiley League, discussed in 
				the July 2016 issue of our newsletter, one of four leagues that 
				Mark is the commish.)
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				http://flory.net/mml/index.php
				
				
				(Marvin Miller SOM Baseball League - the second league Mark 
				Simon created using the same rules as the Charles O. Finley 
				League starting with the 1980's season of Cards.  This 
				league was discussed in the July 2016 issue of our newsletter.) 
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				http://flory.net/camelot/index.php
				
				
				(Camelot SOM Baseball League - the third league Mark Simon 
				created using the same rules as the Charles O. Finley League 
				starting with the 1962 season of Cards (remembering the "Age of 
				Camelot" when Kennedy was President.  This league was 
				discussed in the July 2016 issue of our newsletter.) 
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				http://flory.net/selig/index.php
				
				(Bud Selig SOM Baseball League - the fourth league Mark Simon 
				created using the same rules as the Charles O. Finley League 
				starting with the 2000 season of Cards.  This league was 
				discussed in the July 2016 issue of our newsletter.)
				
				
				http://www.marykwright.com/marykwright/jemstrat/jemstrat_home.cfm
				(Jack Edwards Memorial 
				League, with the commissioner Gary Davis, a face-to-face league 
				working with the current card set.  This league was 
				featured in the August of 2016 issue of our newsletter.)
				
				
				http://netplaybaseball.com/index.php?l=OSBL
				(Old School Baseball League, 
				with their commissioner Jim Murphy is a netplay retro league at 
				the time of the interview, in our November 2016 issue were 
				finishing their 1975 season. Jim also offers to our members a 
				special page with various resources he has developed that could 
				help other leagues, go to: 
				
				
				http://netplaybaseball.com/stuff.php
				)
				 
										
										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.)
				
				
				http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/tournament/19
				(The 2014 Barnstormers 
				Tournament, which is a yearly tournament held that utilizes the 
				SOM Baseball Online gaming system and uses what is called the 
				All Time Greats card set. This card set comprises the best MLB 
				players who have received a card in any season printed by 
				Strat-o-matic including those who had printed cards and those 
				players who have just a computer image. Barnstormers plays six 
				draft leagues choosing to begin with 25 players and a stadium. 
				There gamers qualify for the playoffs by points and play one or 
				two more leagues to find their champion. This tournament has 
				existed since 2001. By viewing this particular tournament, you 
				can get in touch with the Barnstormer's commissioner how to join 
				for future tournaments as they offer one each year. Even though 
				this tournament started in 2014, the champion is not crowned 
				until early 2015. A new tournament for 2015 is expected to start 
				in April.) 
				
				
				
				http://www.strat-o-matic.com/community/glenn-guzzo-column
				(Column by Glenn Guzzo - periodic articles by "Strat-o-matic 
				Fanatic" Author Glenn Guzzo shared on the SOM Website that 
				covers all the different games. We interviewed Glenn in our 
				first issue.)
				
				
				http://www.strat-o-matic.com/community/podcast
				(Podcasts done with well known SOM figures by Steve Reiter 
				shared on the SOM Website, in a future issue we will share an 
				interview we did with Steve.)
				
https://www.facebook.com/billy.sample.75
				(This is Billy Sample's facebook page, where you can chat 
				with this ex-Major Leaguer. I have found him very friendly and 
				open to discuss his experiences as a ball player for Texas, the 
				NY Yankees and Atlanta as well as a sportscaster, interviewed in 
				our April 2013 and October 2014 issue - accepted our challenge 
				to have a member of USBN play him in Strat vs. the 1983 Texas 
				Rangers, a team he played for.  Also Billy has a movie he 
				made about his baseball experiences he put out in 2013 called 
				"Reunion 108".)
				
				
				http://pastpros.com/willie-mays-aikens/
				(This is Willie Mays Aikens 
				official website. There is a bio about Mr. Aikens here as well 
				as a way to send him an email. He is open to be interviewed or 
				make public appearances. In the December 2014 issue of our 
				newsletter we did an interview with Mr. Aikens and we also did a 
				review of his book, "Safe at Home", which you can also order via 
				this website. Mr. Aikens is known as the 1st major league player 
				ever to hit two home runs in two different games in the same 
				world series, in 1980 with the K.C. Royals.)
				
				http://www.danielokrent.com
				(The official website of 
				Daniel Okrent, the creator of Rotisserie League Baseball. Mr. 
				Okrent is also an author of various baseball books which you can 
				obtain copies of via his website.  However, based on his 
				interview in our December 2014 issue, he claims there are much 
				better website which support fantasy gamers for Rotisserie 
				Baseball which you can easily find by doing an on-line search.)
				
				
				Column and Blog 
				by Jeff Polman
					
						
				
				
						http://mystery58.wordpress.com
						(his current blog postings, been involved with SOM since 
						1964. Is one of the few people to have a column on the 
						SOM website, along with Glenn Guzzo, is also a member 
						now of our newsletter)
					
						
				
				
						http://www.strat-o-matic.com/community/jeff-polman-column
				(Jeff's column on the 
				SOM website, writes about all kinds of ideas and stories linked 
				to the SOM Baseball Game) 
				---------------------------------
				
				
				
				Special Friends we Recommend on Youtube
				(other Strat-o-matic Baseball Channels ... )
							
							Strat-O-Matic Delaware
							
							
							
							https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn_7kbP3FuZCsmY7aRuk8PQ
							
							)
				
							
							
							Tabletop Baseball Channel
							
							
							
							https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL2h7-gq6_mt0or7MvvooHw
				
				
				---------------------------------
				
				
				
				
				Special On-line Tools that are Available
				(different newsletters and special reports )
				
				http://www.v-j-enterprises.com/Secrets-of-the-Wolfman-d.htm
				(The Wolfman's first e-book 
				to discuss his secret strategies, for time after time, placing 
				his league teams into the playoffs. This is part one of his 
				report, about how to win fast!  He uses his experiences in 
				his current league the Cyper Baseball Association {CBA} and his 
				2012 Championship to hold nothing back. If you have been 
				struggling in your draft league (face-to-face or computer) or 
				draft tournament, this document will help you tremendously.  
				It comes as PDF. This document could be the difference between 
				another year (or tournament) of frustration or a chance to get 
				to the top.  Mostly geared for league play but could be 
				helpful with the current tournaments who use a draft.  In 
				honor of the September 2013 On-line SOM Baseball Convention this 
				e-book is offered to anyone by a donation.)
				
				
				http://www.ultimatestratbaseball.com/Bundys-SOMProjectionSheets-November2015.htm
				(The 2016 SOM Projection 
				Sheets by legendary Bruce Bundy created through the special 
				formulas that Bruce has developed with a 95%+ accuracy on 
				creating the cards that Strat-o-matic will release for 2016. The 
				Sheets are in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet format, one (or 
				more) for the 
				hitters and one (or more) for the pitchers and Bruce also includes 
				articles (in PDF format) that discusses his formulas.)
				
				
				
				http://www.baseballhq.com/som
				(A free weekly newsletter, 
				which you receive via email, from Baseball HQ, which provides 
				information about MLB. Our special guest, Matt Beagle, who we 
				interviewed in December of 2014, helped to arrange with their 
				editor, this free newsletter for our members.  This will 
				give you some idea of what Baseball HQ offers if you might 
				decide to go for their full services. They have a number of 
				contributing writers who have various levels of Baseball 
				expertise as well as information that help you with the building 
				of teams in your SOM leagues using the latest card sets.  
				Also if you could to Baseball HQ main page (click 
				here) 
				you can see the tremendous amount of information they offer if 
				you become a member or subscribe to their newsletter. In the 
				March 2015 edition, we interview General Manager Ray Murphy and 
				also reviewed their book "Baseball Forecaster 2015" with Ron 
				Schandler.)
				
				
				http://www.baseballinfosolutions.com
				(The premier baseball 
				website by John Dewan and his team, to analyze and record every 
				baseball statistic that one can think of. This company provides 
				Strat-o-matic key data needed in order to create the baseball 
				cards each season as well as works with and supports every team 
				in Major League Baseball. They were originally known as Stats, 
				Inc. but have evolved into a new company. To follow "John 
				Dewan's Stat of the week" go to: 
				
				StatOfTheWeek.com 
				or follow John on Twitter at: @FieldingBible -- also 
				Baseball Info Solutions works closely with Bill James and helps 
				him publish his Baseball Handbooks each year, see our page on 
				recommended books. Also they are helping Bill James with his own 
				website, shown next ...)
				
				
				
				http://www.billjamesonline.com
				(A new website started in 
				2015, which is directly connected to the genius of Bill James.  
				This website has a free component and for a very reasonable 
				monthly fee, allows you to have access to the full information 
				which Mr. James shares linked to his different perspectives to 
				look at baseball via various information analytics.  The 
				website is being helped by Baseball Info Solutions.  This 
				site could provide insights about MLB players that can be 
				helpful for draft leagues using the latest cards printed by the 
				game company each year.)
				
				
				
											
				http://MLBPipeline.com
				(This website is part of 
				MLB.com, and focuses mostly on young players coming up, 
				prospects and foreign players being signed and entering MLB for 
				the first time.  Jim Callis, who is one of the writers for 
				this site, was interviewed in the March 2015 issue discussing 
				this website and his opinions about some of the best young 
				players coming up.)
				 
				
				http://www.baseballamerica.com
				(Baseball America is an 
				organization dedicated to tracking young baseball talent 
				throughout high school, college, the minor leagues and the major 
				leagues. They offered a website filled with all kinds of timely 
				information and several publications. In our January 2016 issue, 
				one of their writers, Matt Eddy who is a strat gamer, an expert 
				of MLB prospects was interviewed.)
				
				
				
				http://www.sabr.org
				(Society of America Baseball 
				Research, with over 6000 members and has existed since 1971. 
				There is a membership fee to join - gives you an opportunity to 
				share and discuss anything about the game of baseball with its 
				members. Also SABR prints its own books and journals and has 
				members from people who have been personally involved in 
				professional baseball as well as fans.
				
				
				http://www.baseballprospectus.com/
				(Another website that 
				focuses statistically on many aspects of the game of baseball 
				including the best and most talents major league prospects that 
				are coming up with all kinds and tables and charts. Major League 
				Ballclubs hire this group to help them with their various 
				strategies for their teams. Their website has all kinds of 
				articles and blogs plus the group publishes their own guides. In 
				our July 2013 issue, we will be sharing an interview with Joe 
				Hamrahi, the President who is an avid SOM baseball gamer and 
				credits SOM for starting him on the path to work with baseball 
				statistics. Look at our March 2014 issue for a review of the 
				annual guidebook that publish called "Baseball Prospectus 2014".)
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				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)
 
				
				
				
            	
				
            
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
            	
				
            
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
   			
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				RETURN TO NEWSLETTER MAIN PAGE
				
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				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.
				
				
				
   				
   			
					
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					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.
				
					
						
					
					
					
					
            		
					
					
					
   					
						
						
						
						
						
						
						
						
						
						
						
						
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				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)
						
						
				
					
				
				
						 
   				
				
				
				
				
				
				
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				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.
				
   				
   			
					
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					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". 
				
				
   				
				
				
				
				
				
				
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				ARTICLE with GLENN 
				WHEELER, 
				Glenn is the commissioner of NASOMA, and has been a very 
				supportive member of our newsletter, who we have spoken to 
				before about his league. He returns this month with a special 
				article about "Why Do We Play this Game (Strat Baseball)".  
				Probably many of you will totally resonate with what Glenn has 
				to say!
				
				
				
				
				
				
				
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   				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.