Issue #2, February - March 2013
**
Fathers and Sons: Diamonds are Forever
**
(reprinted, with permission from Stratomatic Baseball Village,
submitted by:
Ken "rezzdogg" Dunning
)
(Note from the Wolfman:
- We want to welcome our second contribution from the Stratomatic
Baseball Village team to our newsletter. This time we hear from Ken {the owner}
as we once again honor the Baseball Village as one of the first
supporters of this newsletter. Again, Ken helped us
with the design our invitation page which is linked to the
format you see with our newsletter. Anyway the article by
Michael in our first issue and this article by Ken should give
you a very good idea of the type of posts that are being made at
the Stratomatic Baseball Village Forum, which we strongly
recommend you visit. A link to the website is shown below and is
also listed on our recommended on-line baseball resources.)
-------------
I never knew my dad looked so
much like Robin Roberts until a few years ago. They could have
been separated at birth.
My father passed away more than
25 years ago, but seeing Roberts' photo a few years back -- the
spitting image of my dad in a Phillies uniform -- immediately
brought back a rush of treasured baseball memories, and of our
mutual love for the Game.
In the early '70s, the Yankees'
AAA affiliate was in Syracuse, right where I grew up, and
Central New York had always been Yankee country. My dad loved
the Yankees, even through their struggles into the early '70s.
Thanks to him, I developed a fine appreciation for the exploits
of Bobby Murcer. Despite living in a Yankee household in Yankee
country, I had always been an Orioles fan; probably had been one
since I was a zygote.
Back in those days big league
clubs would visit their AAA affiliates once a year on an off day
and play an exhibition game. My dad took me to beat up old
MacArthur Stadium on Syracuse's beat up old North Side to see
his Yankees play. Along with my own back yard, my love for
baseball was nurtured in that lovely, beat up old place. The
top stars only played briefly, and the Yankees even drafted some
of their AAA prospects for the day, but it was nonetheless a big
deal whenever the Yankees came to town. Ellie Howard, who had
retired and was a coach with the Yankees at the time, came in to
pinch hit late in the game and smacked a two hopper through the
hole between first and second for a base hit!
My greatest memories were when
my dad took me to Rochester's Silver Stadium in 1973 and 1974 to
see my beloved Orioles play the AAA Rochester Red Wings. I
don't remember much of the games. The pre-game was the big show
for these exhibition contests. We arrived early for these
games, and my dad bought me a Red Wings program each year and
urged me to go down by the field and get some autographs. Over
both games, I collected about 20 different autographs: Al Bumbry,
Bobby Grich, and Tommy Davis among them. I couldn't speak when
my boyhood hero, Brooks Robinson, came over and signed - I'm
pretty sure - as a lefty. I later learned that he was
ambidextrous, but hit and threw right handed. I wanted to ask
him about the short bill on his batting helmet, but I just
couldn't get the words out.
I did speak to Boog Powell
briefly when he signed, but I was so in awe of this mountain of
a man that I have no idea what I said. Even George Bamberger
came over and signed for me. I knew who he was, but didn't know
at the time that he was both a genius and a guru. Sadly, he
wasn't quite so smart when he eventually got his own chance to
manage.
Don Baylor was glad to see me at
the game in '74. He was warming up along the third baseline with
a soft toss, not far from where I was leaning over the rail. He
turned and saw me, raised his glove to point at me, and gave me
the nod to let me know that all was right with the world, now
that he knew I had made it safely to the game. Of course, the
kid next to me thought that Don was giving him the nod, but I
knew better . . .
During our late night drive home
from Rochester back to Syracuse, along the dark passageway of
the New York State Thruway, illuminated only by a few sparse
sets of passing headlights and the electricity of our magical
experience, I remember telling my Dad that the O's were certain
to win another pennant this year.
They nearly did.
Those games were the highlights
of my summers. I didn't realize at the time how much those
memories would carry forward with me through the years. I'm
pretty certain my dad knew.
Running across the familiar face
of Robin Roberts looking so much like the younger version of my
dad (before I was "a glint in his eye") was a revelation to me
--
as if, after all of these years, my dad was looking in on me to
make sure I still shared our passion for the Game. It hit me
then. It wasn't so much my hanging out with the Orioles that
I've treasured for all of these years. It was being able to do
it because of and with my dad.
Thanks, Dad. I've still got the
autographs to help me re-live those great diamond experiences.
I've also developed a fine appreciation for our own baseball
exploits.
Ken "rezzdogg" Dunning is the
founder/admin of the Stratomatic Baseball Village,
a friendly and supportive forum community for Strat Baseball
enthusiasts.
(Final Notes:
If you
http://stratomaticbaseballvillage.lefora.com/
where he is a frequent contributor in this forum going by
this nickname.)
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
♦
INTERVIEW with BRYAN SWANK
SOM Gamer, league member.
(Sharing about his father, Thomas Swank)
♦
STRAT THOUGHTS with BRUCE BUNDY,
SOM Gamer, Creator of
Baseball Card Formulas, Baseball Strategy Advisor, Beta Tester
for the Game Company
(A new monthly column of "Strat Thoughts" from the mind of
legendary Bruce Bundy)
♦
INTERVIEW with DAN
PATTERSON,
Founder of Strat-o-matic Fan
Forum
(This forum covers all of the sports games offered by
Strat-o-matic)
♦
COMMISSIONER's CORNER with MARC WASSERMAN--
commissioner of the Cyber Baseball Association (CBA) continues
his column about what it is like to be a League Commissioner. In
this article he discusses how to deal with challenges from
league members when there are heated disagreements or
communication breaks down.
♦
EARLY SOM
CONVENTIONS COLUMN with WOLFMAN SHAPIRO --
editor of "The Ultimate Strat Newsletter" and 2012 CBA Champion.
Wolfman takes us back in this article to the second national Strat-o-matic
Convention in 1973 held in Brooklyn, NY and co-sponsored by the
Game Company and the Strat-o-matic Review. Wolfman will be
taking us through the first nine conventions going through 1980
of which he was present at each one. From 1974-1980 Wolfman
along with his friends
from Chicago held these conventions in Illionies. We will continue to share one new convention in
each future issue till all of these early ones are shared.
♦
SOM BASEBALL CARDS QUIZ
- our test of your knowledge of the SOM Baseball Cards,
questions and answers provided by Marc Wasserman. In this issue
we give the answers to
Quiz #1,
interview our first winner (Art) and have two new questions to
ask for Quiz #2. Who will be our next winner?
♦
RECOMMEND
ON-LINE SOM RESOURCES
-- Those On-line
Strat-o-matic and Baseball related websites that offer amazing information, special tools and products to improve
your game play
that we recommend and which we have had personal contact with and agree with our
idea to work together and help promote each other.
♦
BOOKS TO
DIE FOR and Become a BASEBALL GURU
-- This page
is a new page we are adding for the newsletter that 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 Base Game and Game Company's
history. At the time of the release of this newsletter we
have a special arrangement with Acta Sports to offer our members
a 10% discount. We hope to add more books in the future.
Contact Us for Questions or Submissions:
Wolfman Shapiro
Founder/Editor, the
Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter
email:
wolfmanshapiro@gmail.com
facebook:
www.facebook.com/wolfman.shapiro
twitter:
@StratBaseball4U
