Now for the STRAT
THOUGHTS
column April 2018
An interview
with Part I - SOM Baseball - In the Beginning How did you get started with SOM Baseball?
BB:
Lunch at some Jesuit HS in the midwest.
BB - when did you hear about SOM and what was the first year you began to play SOM? BB: Best friend in HS (high school) introduced me to it at lunch in 1969. I was already into baseball (at that time).
What was it about
SOM Baseball that you liked and why do you play this
game?
BB: Portability, accuracy, and speed of play. Part II - League Play When did you get involved in your first SOM Baseball League? BB: Immediately - within a year there was a SOM Baseball League & a 12 team SOM Football league at the HS. What type of leagues do you participate in (f-2-f, computer, Netplay, draft, keepers, etc...)? BB: This year, I will play 100 SOM league games FTF (face-to-face), 324 in CM (computer managed) leagues, and 324 in Netplay leagues. My Face-to-Face league is 40 years old (of which many of the members are in their 60's). Over the last 17 years of the Netplay Era, I've had about 5 active teams annually. That is a lot of Strat. I know guys who play 5 times as much, as well. This cheap hobby of ours can and will consume obsessively. I have a loving wife, who has seen thru obsession, and realizes the game is just a distraction, rather than a compulsion. I am so lucky - she's awesome! Have you ever participated in a tournament?
BB:
Yes.
What type of team do you like to create in league play and why (for example a hitting team, power hitting team, pitching team, balanced, small-ball -- etc...)?
BB:
Wow - a ton of a
question. Pitching - if this is (game is) 50/50
pitching/hitting. If pitching and hitting makes up
50/50 of the game, then 10 pitchers do the same job
as 15 hitters. The 5 starting pitchers are the most
important part - that 4/5 starters do 66% to 75% of
the innings needed (for your team) - (these are)
proportions (which) 5 hitters could never do. I
apply the "Mendoza never hit like Ruth, and Ruth
never hit like Mendoza" philosophy on personnel.
So, this is magnified when I am building a team. I
want my 5th starter better than everyone's 3rd in a
scratch draft. But, the caveat is this: Even when
you only get 5 minutes to decide - I always have
(the next)
hitter and a pitcher ready to pick, so I am always choosing
the better bang for the buck. That's how important
pitching is to me.
Part III - Keys to your Success
Many people have heard
the name of Bruce Bundy - and know that you have
great success in the leagues you participate in -
what are you keys for doing well?
BB:
Wearing all the hats is
always what the game of Strat-O-Matic is all about
to me. It's very exciting to be able to play
Netplay games with a team crafted by your own
hands. It requires multiple skillsets to
successfully navigate a Netplay team through a 162
game season. Some factors include: The Game Between
the Lines, the Art of the Trade, the Build
Philosophies, your bandwidth, and being selective
about where you spend your time.
For example, people know you have formulas for creating cards, does this help you to decide the value of a player? BB: Oh, absolutely. Being able to see with good numerical accuracy the card you are buying at a draft is a real important tool. Are trades important to your success? BB: No - but they can accelerate a rebuild situation. Trading can get carried too far, and it is addicting, too. It's important to note at this point that I think the world of SOM Netplay is a very savvy, elite, & exciting place. Newcomers get eaten regularly with shark-like fervor. It's usually good when leagues protect their owners. Trades that help both traders are the best trades. I like WIN-WIN deals! Everyone is happy! Are there special keys and strategies you perform with your computer manager that bring to you league championships? BB: Absolutely. It weighs heavy. I've been Netplaying from it's conception, and I can tell you that knowing the SOM boardgame and how it reflects upon the computer game is a huge edge. In the computer game, it's too easy to just roll the dice and swing away. Lineup skillsets (do) matter. Knowing the myriad of functions inside the CM is a subject unto itself. Building your roster to accommodate your lineup skillsets matter.
When you play live -
what are your keys to win?
BB: By the time I am crossing the line to actually play the games, I am hoping I do not screw it up. Or what about the same question with Netplay? BB: For the most part, Netplay IS the same as playing FTF (face-to-face). Understanding how "Smallball" works in SOM translates into victories in FTF and Netplay. Ditto (your) Batting Order. All (are) important skillsets. In your opinion is it really skill that allows a Strat manager to win or is it due to luck?
BB:
I don't mess with the Great God of Games.
Luck or the random generator is a monster. If you let
it, the beast will take on a life of it's own. In
my old age, I totally ignore my outcome if fate
intercedes. The beast is always present, mind you.
What are your key strategies that you use
which brings you the most
success (does it have to do with strong pitching,
for example, using small ball, how to use your
players effectively, platooning, etc ...)?
BB: Every team's makeup designs, how the General Manager has to run the team. I will go with the flow (of my team). I will (make more) steal attempts, if the situation warrants it and if the team has speed to accommodate (this strategy). I seldom try to advance baserunners on good hitting teams, except when it's important in close games.
In your opinion looking
at the current card set based in the 2017 MLB season
- which players would you try to acquire and draft -
and are some of these players sleepers which other
Strat GMs would ignore?
BB: That's a difficult and vague to answer. League size, teams' needs, and rule restrictions play important factors. It's a team, and the collective will to sink or swim on your Build skillset. For guys not so headline in the big leagues (of a 24 team sized), Camargo and Goodwin are great Strat cards-in-hand. Do you play to win NOW or are you a gm who builds a team to last? BB: There is a point, somewhere before the draft, but after the end of the season, where you need to put that test to any SOM Baseball team. Yours moves will differ greatly based on that decision. Personally, with 47 years of doing this SOM thing, I try my best to compete for the brass ring every year - I have seldom ever had to think a team of mine is not going to compete. I cannot remember the last time I did not try to compete to win it all for any of my 5 active teams. I could never tank or throw a game. Defeats my gaming skillset. Is there anything else you wish to share that have been key factors to your success which I didn't ask a question about before? BB: That I am grateful for the rich experiences I have had the pleasure to own playing Strat-O-Matic Baseball!
What aspects to SOM Baseball
have you been
instrumental to help develop, improve and enhance? BB: I have had no authoritative hand in anything. I'm just an avid SOM Netplayer! Can you discuss anything about your relationship with the Game Company and if you work with them in the development of the baseball game. BB: We are old friends, and that's it. Did you know, there is an SOM Community? I am not alone by a long shot. If you look in the HELP/New Help Files/CREDITS (of the computer game), you'll find the names of some 30 people who have for the most part, quietly, invisibly and contributed countless hours on a regular basis to the betterment of Strat-O-Matic and it's excellent series of games, and they have done this FOR DECADES. They all have great stories to tell! This is your Strat-O-Matic Gaming Community, which I have proud to be a part of! For my part, I just hope I've made the Strat-O-Matic gaming experience more fun for all! There are a lot of people doing a lot of stuff to make SOM a great hobby! Still, there are more people needed to make cards, schedules, research, and further improve our SOM Community! If you want to get more involved in SOM, simply start posting at the Strat Fan Forum (http://www.stratfanforum.com). Many of those 30 people regular that website, and may be able to get you involved (too)! It's an exciting new way to get involved with our beloved Strat-O-Matic! We need more involvement from our SOM Community! Are there any enhancements to the baseball game which you are directly responsible for -- link with new rules or capabilities - to get Strat-o-Matic as close as possible to what happens in real major league baseball? BB: I guess if I can hang my hat on anything, I can hang it on Netplay. Have you worked with the new cloud service and where is this going? BB: Great addition, the CLOUD. I'm sure I am not alone in being grateful to Strat-O-Matic for finally making Netplay an easier and friendlier procedure. It has been a tough couple of years for the Netplay Community. It sure looks like we have turned the corner, though!
Where did the idea for Baseball Daily come from? What do you believe is your personal most possible and greatest contribution to the SOM baseball game? BB: I really hope I brought some spirit of sharing and working together to our grand SOM Gaming Community. Is there anything you wish to share that would be important for our readers to know that you were not asked about during this interview? BB: That I think the guys working at Strat-O-Matic are some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. I cherish the fact that I've met em. Ditto all the Netplayers, and my oldest of buddies in the World Baseball Association! What a great time I have had with my hobby! How could I be so lucky! BBundy
Bruce Bundy Website: http://www.cba-bb.net/Bundy.htm Link to his Small Ball Video - take a look: http://users.wowway.com/~faust05/bb1.flv
Contained inside this exciting issue of the 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) ♦ ARTICLE with J. G. PRESTON, Baseball Author, Stat Analytics Researcher, we return with Mr. J. G. Preston, one of the most indepth and comprehensive Baseball Researchers sharing unusual and never told before stories. This month, J. G. talks about pitchers throughout the history of baseball who did not bat 9th and which managers have placed their pitchers hitting 8th the most - one of his many interesting baseball articles on his blog website.♦ ARTICLE with DAVE LUBERA, Dave and Richard Lubera were yearly attendees for the Illinois SOM National Conventions from 1975-1980 - in this article Dave shares with our members some of his experiences, stories and memories of these early times and the tournaments with photos and copies of some of the documents linked to the planning of the conventions that have been lost over time. ♦ 1961 BASEBALL CARDS with TOM NAHIGIAN, We return again this month with a look at the card images of the original MLB players released for the 1961 season by Strat-o-matic thanks to the sharing by Tom Nahigian who scanned for us all the cards from 1960 and 1961 from his whole collection.♦ SOM Baseball and MLB World News - April 2018, This is our periodic column where we share any exciting news and updates linked to either the SOM World or MLB. In this issue, we discuss the free 1890 MLB teams, various minor league team and players, a few cuban teams and a ton of professional Negro teams, created by Alan Davidson which you can receive from him for free and, the series of the century, coming up later this month, between the All Time Great Cub vs. the Yankee Players and the key role this series will play in a new short story to be written by the Wolfman and why. ♦ STRAT WISE with MARC WASSERMAN commissioner of the Cyber Baseball Association (CBA) continues his new column by sharing more in depth about two key new features in the 2018 SOM Computer Baseball Game, the use of the cloud which makes running a league and passing the league files much easier and a new rule that could alter and change your game play called "Extreme Matchup".♦ Special Report/Story with WOLFMAN SHAPIRO, The book that this story will eventually be a part of is tentatively called, "How They Play Baseball in Heaven", but this story is linked to the results of a so-called fantasy 3 game series held at Wrigley Field between the Greatest NY Yanks who ever lived, vs. the same with the Chicago Cubs -- this is a multi-page report with a full explanation of the book it will turn into, why this series and a full reporting on the 3 games played. Be prepared for one wild ride from the crazed mind of a Wolfman as he shares this story piece meal here in the April issue as well as his way to celebrate his 63rd birthday (April 17th). ♦ 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 idea and key principle about working together to 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.
Wolfman Shapiro
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