Vol. II, Issue #2 - March 2014

** The 2007 Star Worlds Champion - Hank Smith **

(This article is submitted by Wolfman Shapiro, an email he received from Hank Smith sharing
about his victory as the Star Worlds Champion in 2007. This is the beginning of a series of
articles and interviews we are sharing about this wonderful SOM Baseball Ambassador in his
memory.  As told in Wolfman's convention article, he first met Hank at the 2006 Chicago
Star Tournament in the fall of that year and they kept in touch via email into 2007, enjoy!!)
 

Email Sent to the Wolfman by Hank Smith

Subject: A Blow by Blow Account
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 02:41:50

Dear Wolfman,                                  
1/18/2007, 6:42 pm

(Note: Remember, the Star Tournament uses the most recent Baseball cards released by SOM, so the team and players which Hank is discussing are based on the 2006 MLB season ... )

I drafted eighth because I rolled a one and the only position available was  to pick 8th. Personally, I liked Halladay better than Harden. But, I took Harden in hopes Halladay would come back. And he did! This really paid off in games 29 and 30. Halladay and Harden got one extra start each and won their games. Also, in the seven game series Halladay and Harden were available to pitch games 1,2,5, and 6.

I got three days off for my pitching prior to the World Series because I swept Vic in four games (the same Vic who beat me four out of five in division play). However, even if I wouldn't have gotten days off for my relievers I would have been back to Halladay and Harden for games one and two in the World Series. However, getting three days off did mean that I could flip-flop A.J. Burnett and John Patterson.

So, had there been a game seven in Ben Leong's San Diego ballpark (singles and homers all ones) I was set up with John Patterson. As it turned out there was no game seven because I won in six games.

I started off with nine wins and nine losses. So, I was going nowhere fast.

And, our division had some great players including World Champion Steve Davidson. Ben Swoboda predicted that everyone in our division might end up 12-12 and all tie for first place. And, that looked possible most of the way. Then, I played (xxxx) Carl Bible. After beating him the first two games to totally eliminate him from contention he shuffled (literally) his line-up for the third game of the series. And, he almost beat me in extra innings. But, I won, to get to 12-9. I beat Ben Swoboda of Chicago two out of three (we were tied before that series and Ben had been beating me all season on a regular basis) to make the top four and get to play six more games.

The final six games in my division was a real roller coaster ride. Vic Horvath of Detroit beat me the first two games. Then I split with Mike Mezaros of Billings, Montana. I had to win my last two division games against Stan Roberts of Torrance, California (the same place I live ) to have any chance at all. If Vic and Mike split I would have been tied with them in wins and finished third on tiebreakers. But, as fate would have it Vic swept Mike (who heat me on a tie-breaker at last years World's when we both went 15-9) so I got second place.

I had to win two shootouts to get to the final eight as a number five seed among the six-second place teams. First, I beat Dan Martin of San Diego (in one inning) and then World Champion Pete Nelson of Renton, Washington (in one inning), who were coming off an extra inning elimination game against World Champion Will Roberts.

(Note: Star Tournaments has a special way they decide who qualifies for the playoffs when teams are tied which they call a shootout - to explain it briefly, it is like a somewhat limited play with ones player cards where you roll dice and play one inning or more and win who scores the most runs quickly.) 

Then I needed to win three seven game series for the World Championship

Title. Since I was the number eight seed in the finals I would continue to  not have home field advantage. In my first seven game series I beat the number one seed Errol Dennis four games to three. Then, I played the number four seed and my divisions champion Vic Horvath of Detroit and won four games to none.

This was particularly satisfying because Vic had beat me four out of five games (and Mike Mezaros did the same) in our division play. Next I beat the number two seed Ben Leong (and number two season points leader to his brother Don Leong) of Gaithersburg, Maryland four games to two to win the World Series.

(Note: In the Star Tournaments, you earn points depending upon how you do in each tournament you participate in.  In this case, the fellow gamers and brothers Ben and Don Leong, were the #1 and #2 point leaders meaning they have both performed well, finishing in various tournament playoffs repeatedly.) 

I have the utmost respect for the players in my division and those five players I had to beat to win the World's Championship.

Once I made the final four teams in my division I was focused like a laser beam. I knew that I would probably never again have such a good chance to win a World's Championship. So, I just took it one batter, one inning, and one game at a time. I did my best and kept waiting for the worst to happen. And, the worst just never came. Even though I was using the same dice as my opponents I was rolling hot and they were rolling cold. A couple of my opponents even got new dice. And, I still kept rolling hot and they still kept rolling cold.

I felt that I had a couple of good luck charms. My brother Phil was in Las Vegas pulling for me. Also, from game one through game 47 I was wearing my Christmas present from my brother. He had given me a $175 (plus tax) jersey that looked just like the one Robert Redford won in "The Natural". Also, I can't discount that I felt my friend Jim Jasper, who the World's Championship Trophy is named after in memorial, and who past away last year, was looking down from heaven and helping me along. Jim accomplished everything in tournament Strat-O-Matic except winning a World Championship.

So, if he couldn't win, perhaps I was the next best thing.

(Getting back to the players Hank took in the draft ...) After Harden and Halladay I took Manny Ramirez and Morgan Ensberg. Captain Morgan hit 24 homers the first 37 games and then didn't hit another one the next ten games. My most amazing statistic was that Ensberg had no doubles, two triples, and 24 homers the first 37 games. The last ten games he had four doubles, no triples, and no homeruns.

My biggest mistake in the draft was having only Damian Jackson to back up injury-prone Bobby Crosby, Morgan Ensberg, and Marcus Giles. Once Bobby Crosby got injured and Jackson (a four error 52 I believe) had to play eight innings. Steve Davidson was my opponent and he didn't hit one ball to Jackson. Morgan Ensberg also got hurt once, also in the first inning, and I don't think Jackson got one fielding opportunity that game either. Marcus Giles never got hurt so Jackson never had to play second base. So, I lucked out.

I took my park in the 26th and last round. DSIM had Chicago N.L. as an eight and Cincinnati as a seven. Neither of these parks were a significant advantage. But, since all of my starting pitchers and all but one of my relievers were right-handed I went with Chicago N.L. (which favors right-handed pitchers and right-handed hitters). Todd Helton, Trot Nixon, and Brian Schneider (who all hit left-handed) would not have been real happy about playing in the Cubbies home park.

I bought a new cassette tape recorder, batteries, and cassettes prior to the start of the tournament. And, everything is still in the box and the box in the sack it came with. I didn't do any interviews and no one interviewed me. I did do a news release with my friend Hudson McKee when I got home. And, it starts in a few paragraphs.

Star Tournaments has come a long way since I was the first commissioner and Mike Nowakowski and Dan Collings sponsored the first tournament in Cleveland which I played in, Dr. Sal Caridi won, and Glenn Guzzo covered for his Strat Fan newsletter.

Since winning the Star Tournaments and Strat-O-Matic World Championships well wishes have been pouring in. The majority of the players listed below (Note: I was not the only person who Hank sent this report to, I recognized the names of some of the other players I met in Chicago Tournament where I met Hank in 2006) who are receiving this email have sent me congratulations. And, I consider everyone who I'm sending this email to be friends that I have met during my travels around the United States and I want to share my good news with. I'm still pinching myself and hoping I don't wake up. Praise the Lord!

I'm looking forward to a preseason warm-up tournament in Boston next weekend hosted by my good friend John Perez and another preseason tournament in Chicago hosted by my good friend Bill Fenlon.

Please keep an eye on the Startournaments.com website. Eric Rusk started a thread on my victory, Steve Davidson is resetting my ability to post on the web board (It had been so long since I posted that I forgot my handle and password!), and Stan Suderman is going to set up a link to my MySpace.com account.

I may not be one of the best Strat-O-Matic players. But, by winning the World's Championship, I believe I will be one of the best ambassadors and promoters of Star Tournaments and Strat-O-Matic.

Also, if I sent you a questionnaire on "How to Play Winning Tournament Strat-O-Matic" (if I haven't you'll be getting one soon) please fill it out and send it back to me. Now that I've got a World Championship I'll have more credibility as one of the authors.

(Wolfman's Note: After I met Hank, in our email correspondences we discussed the idea of writing a new book together that would be based on a questionnaire we sent out to good SOM Baseball players or people who had won tournaments as well as others who had won SOM Baseball Leagues to discuss what strategies they used for success. So Hank was discussing the questionnaire we were working on together. In the April issue of our newsletter I will post the answers Hank gave to this questionnaire and discuss it a bit more. I am thinking to renew the efforts to share it with our members and see what we can learn from those who fill it out. In the next section of Hank's email, he shares an article written about his achievement. ) 
 

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Hank Smith Wins Star Tournament and Strat-O-Matic World Championships!
by Hudson McKee

Hank Smith of Torrance, California, bested 53 other top Strat-O-Matic baseball players to win the Star Tournaments World Championships. The annual event, which takes place in January, was played this year in Las Vegas,Nevada from the 12th through the 14th (of January).

Strat-O-Matic's baseball game is played manually much like Monopoly or a board war game at the tournaments. The baseball, basketball, football, and hockey games are available as a board game as well as a computer game. Every year a new game comes out for all of the major sports to reflect team and player performances from the previous season. If you are interested to learn more about the game company and the players (including Hank Smith) you should read best selling book "Strat-O-Matic Fanatics" by Glenn Guzzo and visit Strat-O-Matic and Star Tournament's websites.

After 30 games Hank finished second place in his division. The World Championships had six divisions of nine or ten players.

The six division winners were seeded into the final eight. Of the six-second place teams only two were seeded into the finals. So, Hank's odyssey started with a victory over Dan Martin of San Diego, California, and former World Champion Pete Nelson of Renton, Washington. This got Hank the 8th seed in the final eight players and the privilege to play number one ranked player Errol Dennis of St. Bernard, Louisiana.

Hank worked his way through the final eight by beating Errol Dennis four games to three, Vic Horvath of Detroit, Michigan four games to none, and second ranked Ben Leong of Gaithersburg, Maryland four games to two in the World Series.

Hank reflected "I was lucky to beat five players that I have so much respect for in the playoffs. It really hasn't completely sunk in that I'm the World's Champion of Star Tournaments Strat-O-Matic Baseball."

Hank's good friend and former World Champion John Perez of Revere, Massachusetts has invited Hank to go with him and another tournament player (Jeff Desnoyers) up to Glen Head, New York for The Strat-O-Matic Game Company's annual opening day.

Hank gushed, "I've never been to opening day at Strat-O-Matic before. But, I'm very excited about going. It's the first day that the new set of baseball player cards is available. I've heard that the games creator and CEO will be on hand to serve refreshments and visit with players like myself. It's kind of like going to Oz and meeting the master. That will certainly be a dream come true."

(Two Photos that Hank sent to Wolfman in 2007 during his travels to the Boston Tournament and
a chance to visit the Game Company. On the left Hank finally has a chance to meet the "MAN'
himself, Hal Richmond and then a shot with is his lieutenants Barkan and Williams. )
 

A dream come true like winning The Star Tournament and Strat-O-Matic Baseball World Championships.

(All of the information in this news release is available in part or in whole at no charge to anyone including news agencies and individuals to promote the positive image of the Strat-O-Matic Game Company and Star Tournaments. The Strat-O-Matic Game Company, Star Tournaments, and Hank Smith are not affiliated with each other.)

Later,

Your Friend,
Hank "The Proud Papa" Smith

 

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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 BRIAN MCRAE, ex-MLB player with Royals, Cubs and Mets.

♦  INTERVIEW  with JEFF MONTGOMERY, ex-MLB player with the Royals.

♦  SOM BASEBALL WORLD NEWS, a new page to share interesting news related to
Strat-o-matic Baseball.

♦  ARTICLE with JOSEPH BOTTOM & ALAN DAVISON, two SOM Baseball Fanatics
(Joseph & Alan) give permission for us to share with our members their article called "Numbering the Days - Memories of SOM Baseball", published in the Weekly Standard,
Sept. 2013

♦  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 ninth national Strat-o-matic Convention in 1980, held in Evanston, IL, at Northwestern University, as the Wolfman and his buddies organize their seventh and final convention via their Chicagoland SOM Club. Unfortunately, due to personal changes in the Wolfman's life at that time, a report of what took place at the convention was not sent to the SOM review. This article will transition us to other types of tournaments that have been offered after 1980 and to honor Hank Smith. Also we hope this column will inspire our readers to help us create a SOM On-line Baseball Convention in the near future.

♦  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 turns his focus to discuss how the start of the CBA began
with its Canadian roots and once again is being strongly influence by our Canadian members.

♦  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.

♦  BOOK REVIEW with WOLFMAN SHAPIRO Wolfman takes a peek at the "Baseball Prospectus 2014 Guide" created by Baseball Prospectus and over 20 contributing writers. This guide features predictions for over 2,100 players who will or could be a part of the upcoming 2014 season.  CEO, Joe Hamhari, helped us to get this book. He is an avid SOM baseball gamer who we interviewed in the August 2013 issue of the newsletter.

♦  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 Base 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.

 

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Contact Us for Questions or Submissions:

Wolfman Shapiro
Founder/Editor, the Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter

email: wolfman@ultimatestratbaseball.com
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