Issue #4, June 2013
**
My Life and Contact with Thom Swank
**
(by Steve Meyerson, more insights about the
legendary Thom Swank)
Hello Wolfman: I
would like to add more on Tom Swank (to the interview you did
with his son in an earlier issue). Thank you for encouraging me
to write about Tom Swank. I am from Brooklyn (so
near to where Mr. Swank lived in New Jersey).
I was introduced to Tom Swank by Dan Lunger, a long-time
friend and avid Strat player. Tom always needed
multiple gamers to draft for the many leagues he set
up. The leagues usually required 10 or more teams with
drafting done by phone and/or email.
I have been a Strat player since about 1970. Being
friends with Tom brought my interest in the game to an
all-time high.
During the year I knew Tom (the last year of his too
short life as he fought cancer), the gaming relationship
was around the clock. I was either researching my cards
to draft for one of his unique leagues, setting lineups
for a team I had already drafted, or going online to
read roster sheets and game results sent by Tom. I
participated in every one of his projects between the
time I met him and the time he passed. I sensed that he
wouldn’t be able to do these leagues forever and I
wanted to share every minute with him that I could. I
knew that each of his Strat projects could be the last
one, and I wanted to be involved as much as possible. I
sensed correctly that Strat with Tom was a once in a
lifetime experience. From my perspective on how Strat
baseball should be organized and played, he was the one
who could write the songs that I could sing.
Our relationship was based on Strat. We didn’t talk
much about pop culture, politics, religion, movies,
etc. There was too much Strat going on around the
clock. Tom and I would joke that my job as a teacher
was interfering in the teams I was drafting and also
limited the number of bus trips I made from the Port
Authority Bus Terminal up Route 46 to his home in
Parsippany, New Jersey.
Tom was volatile on the outside and gentle on the
inside. He was always a good sport who played fair. He
was truly a child at heart. He was a dutiful
grandfather and a mentor to children who played Strat.
During my frequent visits, he didn’t pay much attention
to food, television, shopping, and other things that
consume other households. He was almost always in his
basement, which was a shrine to Strat baseball.
Tom
wasn’t always one of the 2 people playing the computer
game, but he was always in the center of the action.
When I played against his son, Brian, his nephew Bruce,
or a friend such as Ken Mackay, Tom would sit between us
at the computer supervising, commenting, suggesting
strategy, and sharing in the fun of the game. There was
no place Tom would rather be than at the center of all
the activity, and there was no one better than Tom in
that position.
Tom was a competitive player who studied the cards and
had a good feel for the game. He respected serious
opponents like Dan Lunger and I who planned and
strategized as he did. A day in the Swank basement was
a day well spent. An early bus ride from Manhattan
followed by a 7 game playoff series in one of his many
leagues upon arrival. I came prepared, Strat cards in
hand, after setting up my lineups and game strategy
during the commute. I sometimes took an afternoon break
from the computer while setting up a team for another
round of playoffs while Tom remained at the computer to
play against another opponent. Tom liked having several
guests at once, squeezed into his basement, all focused
on Strat. I then returned to the computer in the early
evening for another series with Tom or another Strat
player. A day well spent dominated by Strat baseball,
which ended with the late bus back to Port Authority.
There were frequent phone calls from Tom, in his raspy
voice, which went something like this: “It’s your
pick!You need a shortstop. Phil Rizzuto, Vern
Stephens, Luis Aparachio, and Joe Cronin have been
picked I need your pick and I don’t have all day.” I
would laugh, do a few minutes of card research and call
back with the pick. Tom liked to move things along.
There wasn’t a lot of small talk about the weather or
other things in life. The calls were based on Strat and
got right to the point.
When I attended the 50th Anniversary of Strat
in Manhattan, I thought of the late Tom Swank. I would
have nominated him for Mr. Strat O Matic. He would have
loved being a finalist on the stage next to Hal Richman
with his son Brian in the audience. Tom would have been
so comfortable in that environment around hundreds of Strat players, picking up the new cards, hearing the
speakers, and playing the game downstairs at the church
where it took place. He surely would have recruited
more people for his many Strat based projects while he
was there.
Tom struggled physically during the last year of his
life. He did as much with Strat as time allowed. There
were so many more leagues and tournaments on the way had
Tom lived more than 60 years. I feel that my year of
friendship with Tom would have grown and expanded beyond
the game. Tom was always comfortable within himself and
around others. People were happy in his presence.
He deserved the mention he got in the book by Glenn
Guzzo and would have met Guzzo at that convention. I
still have trophies that Tom purchased from some of his leagues.
One reads: “Grand Champion, Afro Caribbean League”. Another says: “Five Seasons Western Division Champion”
(I even got a trophy for winning one of the divisions). A third reads: “Rookie League 2003 World Champion”
My username at Strat Fan Forum is fos, which is friend
of Swank.
One of the best gifts I ever gave anyone was the 60
dollar gift certificate I gave Tom when he turned 60.
Tom once yelled at me when I accidentally called him
before 6 am. He was upset that the call could wake up
his sons who were asleep. It wasn’t about waking him.
He was already up before 6 am sorting his Strat teams on
the computer.
Tom had so much imagination when he set up his
tournaments and leagues. He was never one to limit
himself to the previous year’s cards. One league
limited the draft to players with last names of 4
letters or less. Foxx, Ott, Rose, and Ruth were among
the top picks. Another league had the worst teams of
all time supplemented by 5 Hall of Fame players which we
drafted based on the needs of the team. I remember
having a Tigers team in that league with terrible
pitching which won about 40 games. I drafted Ruth, Hugh
Jennings, Heinie Manush, Nolan Ryan, and Ted Lyons as my
5 oversized Hall of Fame cards to assist that terrible
team. Tom’s leagues had that wonderful quality of
mixing weak and strong cards. It won’t surprise you
that Tom walked Ruth intentionally much of the time.
Even with Bob Higginson and Manush behind Ruth in the
lineup, Tom usually had the odds in his favor with that
strategy.
Another decision I had to make with that
team was whether to use Phil Nevin (strong hitter with a
plus 3 arm or Mike Heath, weak hitter with a minus arm)
as my catcher. I remember using Nevin against HOF
outfielder Billy Hamilton who repeatedly got to third
base after a single or walk followed by stealing second
and third. That was one of my favorite Tom Swank
projects. He mixed in that Detroit team with terrible
60s teams like the expansion Mets and Colt 45s, the Cubs
when they finished 10th in 1966, some of the
terrible Kansas City teams from the 50s and 60s when
they acted like a farm team for the Yankees, the
Senators, Browns and Phillies at their worst, and other
teams that won fewer than 60 games.
In some of his leagues, drafting the player was only the
beginning. The drafter also had to choose the best
season. When I picked Ozzie Smith, I had to choose
either 1987 or 1990 as his best card. Tom had Afro
Caribbean leagues and leagues which featured Canadian
teams and players. He also set up leagues limited to
rookie of the year cards (Fred Lynn 1975 was picked
first) and leagues featuring players from expansion
teams. Tom did not live to see the Negro League set or
the Baseball Heroes set. He did not get the chance to
integrate the new Japan and Negro League past seasons
into his unique leagues. Tom’s leagues required that I
use so many cards from so many eras on the same team.
Being with Tom was a lesson in baseball history if you
wanted to be competitive with him. He made me use my
whole Strat collection in his many multi-year and multi
era leagues. None of my cards were in mint or excellent
condition after a year of pulling cards with Tom.
Steve Meyerson
Brooklyn, New York
Friend of Swank (fos)
Ag258@optonline.net
