Bruce:
Thank you Steve - for the
Strat-o-matic Game Company. Hi Steve.
Steve Barkan:
How are you doing
Bruce?
Bruce:
I am great (Steve:
good). I have a bunch of questions for you and I hope you like
them all. The first one is: "What was Baseball Research like in
the 70s?"
Steve Barkan:
Ohhh,
it was a lot different than it is now because really we
were working with stats that we had, we didn't have to
create them. Of course in the 70's we weren't producing
the old seasons so it was just a matter of making up the
cardset at the end of the current season. To do that we
actually had all the stats we needed, so it was pretty
easy. The biggest difference is that we didn't have
computers to work with, we were actually using
calculators when we needed to. And if you actually go
back to the late 60's when I started we were actually
renting calculators, that's how far back we go.
Bruce:
That's
incredible!
Steve Barkan:
Yes, when you think
about the original work that Hal did in the first years
before the game was computerized, it was all done by
hand and done by calculator.
Bruce:
What was it like to work with Hal back then?
Steve Barkan:
It was very
relaxing. We didn't get nearly the correspondences,
phone calls, day-to-day let's call it distractions that
we do now. So it was strictly working. In those days it
was James Williams and myself and Hal. You know, it was
very very informal let's say. We did a lot of the proof
reading. Back in the old days we had to proof read each
card twice because they were varityped. And then they
were setup to be printed. We had to read each card at
each stage to make sure there weren't mistakes. There
were a lot more mistakes in those days that were found
because everything was done by hand. Now a days
everything is done by computer and there are very few
mistakes made. (Bruce: nice!) Hopefully they are all
caught.
Bruce:
It has
come a long way huh!
Steve Barkan:
Yes it has. When I
think back about the way we use to do it back in Port
Washington (editor's note: NY, near NYC where SOM had
its early office) and the way we do it now. A lot of the
steps are the same but they are done by computer and its
a matter of checking the output more so than checking
the input. So it's a little bit different.
Bruce:
Well you
have already put this out to print, can you talk a
moment about retirement?
Steve Barkan:
Yes, retirement is
right around the corner. It's actually more like
semi-
retirement because I am still going to continue to
do some work at Strat-o-matic I guess on a
consulting
basis. The way I'm putting it when I talk about it, I am
not going to be working at
Strat-o-matic but I will still be doing some work for
Strat-o-matic. We taught about that actually
at the 50th
Anniversary, someone had brought it up. We had said that
we were try to keep
going on a part-time basis.
At the time I
thought I was going to be working on the older seasons,
which is stuff I like to work on which I think everybody
knows. But there are going to be some other things
thrown into the mix so I won't be doing exclusively old
seasons but I will be working on a part-time basis from
home which makes it a lot more palatable to me and puts
a big junk into that gas budget.
Bruce:
Well I
want to take a moment and thank you for your career at
Strat-o-matic
and I have enjoyed your work tremendously.
Steve Barkan:
Well thank you much.
Bruce:
Do you prefer cats
or dogs?
Steve Barkan:
(Laughs) That's a
great question. When I was growing up I was a big dog
person. Now I actually I have a cat, its the second cat
that I owned. I am still a big dog person but the
thought of going out on a 17 degree day in the snow
walking a dog does not excite me any more. The idea of
getting up on a 17 degree day and cleaning out the
litter box is a lot better, put it that way. I had
always been a dog person and I always like big dogs.
What happened was a friend of mine became pregnant and
she couldn't keep her cat and she wound up bringing the
cat over to me and I kind of fell in love in him. He was
very affectionate which is not the typical cat. The
typical cat is very standoffish. He was a little bit of
a goofball and when he passed away I went through a
period of about six months where you know I kept trying
to think whether I wanted to replace him or not. And I
wound up getting a rescue cat who I have had now for two
and half years and she's great. She doesn't take much
maintenance and she is more standoffish but she is a lot
of fun.
Steve
Barkan (right) with Bruce Bundy (left)
( photo
submitted by Bruce Bundy, (c) Bruce Bundy )
Bruce:
That's great.
Here's a back to a baseball question. How was this
year's softball experience?
Steve Barkan:
Well, softball was
very interesting. I'm still coaching and what we did
this year with my own softball (team?), we had a 40 and
over team. Most of the same guys we have had for the
last 12 or 15 years, a few of the guys are getting older
and a couple of the better players retired because they
were having trouble seeing at night. So we lost a lot of
the power that we used to have. We played in our summer
league, we played a 28 game schedule I believe it was
and we finished tied for first and then we won the
playoffs. So it was a good summer softball wise.
And in the fall what
happened, we went to go into the same 40 and over league
that we played in but a lot of the other teams didn't
want to play against us. They felt like they didn't have
too much of a chance to win so they dropped out. Then
our manager made a slight mistake and said he wanted to
play in an open league but he wanted to play Tuesday
nights. So they put us in the second strongest open
league. We wound up playing against four very good teams
of
mostly 25 year olds and our team is pretty much in their
early to mid 50's so we took a beating. You know we
competed but we took a beating. So I spoke to the
manager and we agreed that we belonged in the third open
league which was a little bit weaker but that's pretty
much where we belonged at this point.
What I really enjoyed with this year's softball was that
I got involved with Hofstra University Softball. And for
people not familiar with women's softball, Hofstra is a
mid-major school playing in the Colonial Athletic
Association with teams like Drexell and James Madison.
And we've pretty much dominated the CAA for the last
several years. We had a two time All American pitcher
which helps and during the year we beat the University
of Texas when they were ranked 5th in the country. And
in the NCAA tournament we beat Missouri when they were
ranked 6th in the country.
(However) we were beaten in the finals of the Missouri
Regional so we were pretty good. I really enjoyed it. I
went into the Hofstra schedule just looking to watch to
see what was going on. I was very friendly with the head
coach going back for 30 years. I went down to watch them
and I really enjoyed it. And he (the coach) said to me
why don't you come down to some of the games and some of
the practices. And in the spring I came up with a little
scoring system just to do, well it was actually pluses
and minuses. This enabled the girls to understand a
little bit better about what happens when they make
mistakes, how it effects the wins and loses. So I guess
you could say I was a consultant with Hofstra University
and I enjoyed it a lot and I will be doing it again next
year.
Bruce:
Well
congratulations on Hofstra and also your summer league.
So can we get back to Strat-o-matic at this point?
(Steve: Sure) How often do you see Hal anymore and how
is he doing?
Steve Barkan:
Hal is doing very
well. He comes in, ah I would say once or twice a week.
His son Adam technically is the President of the company
now and Hal is the SEO. We have brought in outside
people and the company is very busy. We have a lot of
projects coming up in the works that are almost
completely different from what we're doing for the
future but it's something that I can't talk about it.
Bruce:
But what do you see generally for the future of the
game?
Steve Barkan:
It's
kind tough to tell. Well I think the board game, at
least for the baseball and football is here to stay. The
other two sports it pretty much depends upon the sales.
Basically, people don't think about it but the cost of
paper in the last decade has gone up 600%. So its a
matter of keeping the customer base up. As far as the
computer game, that is not going
anywhere. And like I said, there are other projects
coming in that I ca not talk about.
Bruce:
Great. What would you say was your best year at
Strat-o-matic? (Steve:
My Best Year?)
Yes, if you gave it to a number, what year would it be.
Steve Barkan:
I would
say, but I can't talk about sales wise so ... (Bruce:
Your opinion..) My
opinion, my best year ... I would probably say 1983 from
a personal standpoint when we
started doing the old seasons for Baseball. And at the
time it was a project that I got involved in and you
know I didn't know where it was going lead to, it was
just an experiment. Based on the work that I did and the
possibilities that it created for the game company, I
got a real nice salary boost at the end of the year.
Based on dollars alone and based on the ability to do
something that I grew to enjoy, I would say that year
was my favorite year, let's put it that way.
Bruce:
Is there a
chance you could give a morsel of data of this year's cards?
Steve Barkan:
No I really can't do
that because we have a ratings preview coming up. I will
say that we are going have more cards than ever before
this year, the card-set is being expanded. With some of
the teams using 20 pitchers or more, we really need that
expansion. But as far as the cards themselves I can't
really gave any information out.
Bruce:
Well that is ok. Is there any chance you can share a
last formula with me? (Steve:
No)
Ok, I just thought I would ask.
Steve Barkan:
Well the
formulas, its funny because the last conversation I had
with Hal and Adam is that I have to sign another
confidentiality assignment similar to the one I signed
in 1970 that I can't give away that information.
Bruce:
Can you talk about what you still will do with the
company?
Steve Barkan:
I'm
still going to do some old card research, some of the
old cards. Also I might just set them up and then let
John do most of the work which is what he was hired to
do. I am going to be involved a little bit again in the
College Football game. Steve Reiter has decided that he
can't do it anymore so it has been thrown back in our
laps. Actually in January, John, Lenny, Shawn and myself
are all going to work on the College Football. And then
I may work some stuff as it comes up, we don't really
have a definite plan on that. I am not going to be
working nearly the hours that I did work, I haven't been
working the overtime that I use to do, so I've cut back
alot. And like I said, there are probably about 30
different seasons (Baseball) that we want to get done.
With John working them by himself in the office amongst
other things, he can't keep up with the schedule so I am
going to help him out with that.
Bruce:
So now on to your plan, how's retirement looking, where
are you going?
Steve:
Pretty much right in this chair that I am sitting in
right now. The original plan was to go down to Florida
and become a full time Florida Gator's fan. The way the
Gators played this fall, that's out. And also I have too
many things going on in New York so I am going stay
right here, I'm comfortable here and I don't want to
give up my softball. If I need to go into the office
which I do foresee that happening occasionally I will be
able to go in for a week or so to help out, you know and
do it that way. Right now the plan is to work from home.
There are still a lot of things that probably won't get
worked out until I actually do it, to see how it does
work. So that is the plan that I will be in New
York for the foreseeable future and I will be working
for the game company for the foreseeable future.
Bruce:
I want to thank you again for making my hobby so good.
Steve:
Well, you don't have to thank me because I got to do
something that I love to do.
Bruce:
You've been quite a factor in my life and you have been
a great friend. (Steve:
Well I appreciate that.) And a great friend for our
community. I have one more question for this interview.
(Steve:
Sure). What would you like to say to your many SOM Fans
as we conclude this?
Steve:
Ah ... I don't know how many fans I have out there, I
have some detractors (Bruce:
oh no no no). You know it has been fun. I have enjoyed
interacting with the people that I like, I have enjoyed
interacting with the people that I don't get along with.
There's one thing
that has come up on one of the other forums that I've
read. I pretty much stick to the Strat Fan Forum as you
know. Although I am familiar with the other forums and I
have read the other forums. I've been quoted as talking
about one of the forums and calling it the "Outlaw
Forum". And its gotten a lot of talk on that
particular forum only people don't know why I started
that whole term. And what it is as are our customers who
frequent the forums know, the Strat Fan Forum is tightly
monitored by Dan Patterson and Tommy Nobis and they have
a set of rules. And if you don't follow the rules, and
the rules are pretty simple, if you don't the follow the
rules then they will give you a warning and take you off
the forum for a couple of weeks.
And that's what
happened to a friend of mine. One of the people I go
back to the 1960's with, he got crazy one day and he was
pretty much banned from the Strat Fan Forum. And while
he was banned, he actually started another forum. He was
supposed to be running this forum but he totally forgot
it about once he came back to Dan's forum. And for that
reason I always refer to the forum he started as the
"Outlaw Forum" because he started it while he was banned
-- not that I was picking on any of the other people
that are on that forum. So that was something that I've
wanted to straighten out but I never did.
So again there is the give and take that I have had with
various customers. Sometimes some our customers don't
think about the whole they think about themselves and
what they want. Occasionally I would come on and answer
what they demanded saying in not so gentle terms that
you can't always have what you want. For that I guess
that I kind of developed a reputation and it never
really bothered me that much as along as they were
getting the message that they're certain things that we
can do and they're certain things we can't do. We try to
do as much as we can but it's a small company as you
know and we can only do what we can do. But other than
that its been a lot of fun and I have been there for
almost forty five and a half years and for the most part
I enjoyed it.
Bruce:
Well you need to make no excuses to me Steve. (Steve:
laughs) I think you have a well earned retirement.
Steve:
I think so, you know I am looking forward to it. Things
at Strat-o-matic have changed drastically personal wise.
I'm kind of not as crazy about some of the new things
but its grin and bear it. But in saying this I'm
not saying the new changes are for the worse, they are
probably for the better. You know I look at myself and I
look back at the way we did things in the 70's and the
80's and I guess at this point I am becoming a dinosaur
and that's not neccesarily a bad thing.
Bruce:
Thanks Steve, is there anything else that you would like
to add at this point?
Steve:
Not really, just you know that we've had a good run at
Strat-o-matic. Strat-o-matic as I said before there are
a lot of things going on. A lot of things are happening
a little bit slower than we would like but you are going
to be seeing a lot of new things. hopefully they're good
things in the future. And we are constantly working to
make things better.
Bruce:
Thanks Steve.
Steve:
You're welcome Bruce.
Bruce:
Ok than, this Bruce Bundy a Strat-o-matic fan saying
goodbye to everyone.
=================
Interview Notes:
If you would like to learn more about the
Strat-o-matic
Game Company,
the best place to visit is their website at:
www.strat-o-matic.com
Last week (the week
of December 9th) Strat-o-matic released their "Range
Rating" file (as either a Microsoft excel spreadsheet or
Adobe PDF file) which has the fielding ratings of the
hitters or players on the field but also list all the
players who will receive cards, are extras or are just
on the computer rosters. To get your copy of this file
go to:
http://www.strat-o-matic.com/community/announcements/2013-baseball-range-ratings-preview
As many of our
members now,
Bruce Bundy
also released last week his "2013 SOM Projection Sheets"
(Microsoft excel spreadsheets plus some extra files)
package - you can read more about these sheets (and the
combo package with the Stratogists.com Rookie Review) by
visiting:
http://www.ultimatestratbaseball.com/SOMProjectionSheets-Dec2013.htm
(Or you can just
order directly the Bundy Sheets below)
ORDER YOUR COPY NOW
at a
very very special holiday discount
Normal Price $9.99, Ultimate Strat Members:
$5.99
|
