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Vol. III, Issue #2 - July 2015


** Bruce Foster Challenge - Playoffs - Semi-Finals - Part 2 **

(Well the Skokie Wolfmen, following Mr. Foster's strategies playing in a draft league with the card set
known as the "All Time Greats", wins their division and enter into the playoffs. On this page is the results
of each game including a short summary and box score ... Skokie plays against The Wrong Stuff.)

WOLFMAN's COMMENTS

The Wolfmen's opponent in the first round of the Great Salt Lake League Playoffs was the winner of the Central Divsion known as "The Wrong Stuff" who finished at 91-71 for the season, one win less than the Wolfmen.  So Skokie had home field advantage.  How the SOM On-line Baseball System works during the playoffs is the first two games of this series are played the first night (which was April 27th) at Skokie's home park. Then the next two games are played on the second night at "The Wrong Stuff's" park, and if needed, the last 3 games alternating between the teams, are played on the next 3 individual nights. 

Now, on April 27th, from a personal note, I flew to visit and stay in Australia for a month, doing what I do for my livelihood giving public talks and workshops thanks to the help of a dear friend who setup all of these activities within four large cities in the eastern part of Australia. Therefore, I was so busy I didn't have time each evening to manage my team. I setup my basic strategies with my lineups and starting pitchers before I left the country but actually Bruce Foster was overseeing the managing of the team.  When I wrote to him from Australia via email, to see what he was doing with our club, if he had used any special strategies, he responded:  "No, I just played your lineup!!" (i.e. - he was using what I had and helped only if there were any player injuries).

Getting back to our opponent in this round. Here is a summary of how "The Wrong Stuff" made it to the playoffs but if you want to see the full teams stats for the season, I have included the link to view these stats on SOM's website below.  As we can see from the settings of their ball park, they picked sluggers and hitters who batted left handed. As a team they hit for a higher average than us at .275 with 265 homers including 58 by Willie McCovey; 57 by Eddie Matthews and 41 by Oscar Gamble. Maury Wills stole 49 bases as well.  D. Erstad (.308), T. Oliva (.305) and B. Dickey (.302) were their average hitters.  Pitching wise, with a team 4.18 ERA which ain't bad for an All Star team, Don Sutton was their ace (20-15 with a 3.26 ERA) and they relied upon Bruce Sutter who pitched an amazing 231 innings in relief (as there is no usage limitation) who was 21-10 with 14 savings and a 3.51 ERA.  Also Randy Johnson won 19 games with 373 strikeouts and a 3.86 ERA.  So this was certainly a formidable team to play in the first round.

During the season, Skokie was 7-5 against "The Wrong Stuff" going 3-3 at their park (each series we played here one of the teams swept) and 4-2 in Skokie's park.  Most of the games which Skokie won were low scoring or won by one run.

So this was my first time to experience the playoffs in the SOM's on-line play. We went with our same rotation we used all year, Greg Maddux, Dutch Leonard, Pete Alexander and Johan Santanta - lets see what happened :-)

To view the stats of the "Stuff" head over to:

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/1396616

 

Playoff Games Round 1 - Summary and Box Scores
(April 27th-28th, 2015)

 

Monday, April 27 -- played in Petco Park '2005  (Singles L-1/R-1; Homers L-1/R-1)
Semi-Finals Game 1
FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Stuff 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 2
Wolfmen 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 - 5 10 2

Greg Maddux came through with a solid 9 innings and Terry Harper had 2 base hits as the Skokie Wolfmen defeated the The Wrong Stuff by a score of 5 to 2 at Petco Park '05.

Maddux(1-0) was in control of the game from the outset. He was stingy on the mound, allowing just 4 hits and 1 walk in 9 innings. Skokie had 10 hits for the afternoon.

Don Sutton(0-1) ended up with the loss. 'Maddux just dominated us' losing pitcher Sutton said. 'Hopefully we can get to him the next time around'

 


 

The Wrong Stuff

 

Skokie Wolfmen

Hitters

AB

R

H

RBI

BA

 

Hitters

AB

R

H

RBI

BA

M. Ott CF

3

0

0

0

.000

 

E. Combs CF

4

1

1

0

.250

D. Erstad LF

4

1

1

0

.250

 

T. Harper RF

4

0

2

1

.500

E. Mathews 3B

4

0

0

0

.000

 

N. Lajoie 2B

4

0

2

0

.500

W. McCovey 1B

4

0

1

0

.250

 

E. Delahanty 3B

4

1

1

0

.250

O. Gamble DH

4

1

1

2

.250

 

G. Brown DH

4

0

0

0

.000

B. Dickey C

4

0

0

0

.000

 

C. Torriente LF

3

1

2

0

.667

T. Oliva RF

3

0

0

0

.000

 

W. Hershberger C

4

0

0

0

.000

R. Schoendienst 2B

3

0

1

0

.333

 

W. Parker 1B

4

2

1

0

.250

M. Wills SS

3

0

0

0

.000

 

B. Wallace SS

3

0

1

2

.333

Totals

32

2

4

2

 

 

Totals

34

5

10

3

 

 

Pitchers

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

HR

PC

ERA

 

Pitchers

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

HR

PC

ERA

D. Sutton (L, 0-1)

8

10

5

1

1

4

0

117

1.13

 

G. Maddux (W, 1-0)

9

4

2

2

1

9

1

123

2.00

Totals

8

10

5

1

1

4

0

 

 

 

Totals

9

4

2

2

1

9

1

 

 


ATTENDANCE- 47,914
T- 2:50
LEFT ON BASE- Stuff: 4 Wolfmen: 6
DOUBLE PLAYS- Stuff: 1 Wolfmen: 0
ERRORS- M.Wills-2, N.Lajoie, W.Hershberger
DOUBLES- W.McCovey(1st), E.Combs(1st), T.Harper(1st), C.Torriente-2(2nd),
W.Parker(1st), B.Wallace(1st)
HOME RUNS- O.Gamble(1st)
STOLEN BASES- C.Torriente(1st)
CAUGHT STEALING- N.Lajoie
WALKS- M.Ott, C.Torriente
STRIKE OUTS- M.Ott, D.Erstad, E.Mathews-2, W.McCovey-2, O.Gamble, B.Dickey,
M.Wills, N.Lajoie, G.Brown, W.Hershberger, W.Parker
GIDP- E.Delahanty


 


 

Monday, April 27 -- played in Petco Park '2005  (Singles L-1/R-1; Homers L-1/R-1)
Semi-Finals Game 2  
FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Stuff 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 1
Wolfmen 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 4 6 0
Dutch B. Leonard leads Wolfmen past Stuff, 4-2

W: Leonard, D. (1-0)
L: Johnson, R. (0-1)
HR: none

Dutch Leonard was able to finish what he started and was credited with a complete game as the Skokie Wolfmen defeated the The Wrong Stuff 4 to 2 at Petco Park '05.

Leonard(1-0) put on a good performance. He surrendered only 4 hits and 7 walks in 9 innings. Neither team managed to score after the 3rd inning.

Randy Johnson(0-1) was the loser. He was pinned with the loss despite not allowing an earned run in his 6 and 2/3 innings of work.
 


 

The Wrong Stuff

 

Skokie Wolfmen

Hitters

AB

R

H

RBI

BA

 

Hitters

AB

R

H

RBI

BA

G. Clines DH

4

1

0

0

.000

 

M. Kreevich CF

4

0

1

2

.250

M. Wills SS

4

0

0

0

.000

 

   A - W. Parker 1B

0

0

0

0

.250

M. Ott CF

2

1

0

0

.000

 

T. Harper RF,LF

3

0

0

0

.286

E. Mathews 3B

4

0

1

1

.125

 

N. Lajoie 2B

4

0

1

0

.375

W. McCovey 1B

4

0

1

1

.250

 

E. Delahanty LF,3B

3

0

1

0

.286

B. Dickey C

4

0

0

0

.000

 

J. Cardenal DH

4

1

1

0

.250

D. Erstad LF

4

0

1

0

.250

 

W. Hershberger C

3

1

0

0

.000

S. Collins RF

3

0

0

0

.000

 

T. Phillips 3B

3

0

0

0

.000

G. Beckert 2B

1

0

1

0

.000

 

   B - E. Combs CF

0

0

0

0

.250

Totals

30

2

4

2

 

 

G. Burns 1B

3

1

1

2

.333

             

   C - C. Torriente RF

0

0

0

0

.667

             

B. Wallace SS

2

1

1

0

.400

             

Totals

29

4

6

4

 

 

Pitchers

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

HR

PC

ERA

 

Pitchers

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

HR

PC

ERA

R. Johnson (L, 0-1)

6.2

5

4

0

1

11

0

103

0.00

 

D. Leonard (W, 1-0)

9

4

2

2

7

8

0

147

2.00

S. Nahem

0.1

0

0

0

1

0

0

10

0.00

 

Totals

9

4

2

2

7

8

0

 

 

B. Sutter

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

11

0.00

                     

Totals

8

6

4

0

2

11

0

 

 

 

               

 

 


A-Subbed Defensively (1B) For Kreevich In 8th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (CF) For Phillips In 8th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Burns In 8th Inning

ATTENDANCE- 48,000
T- 2:39
LEFT ON BASE- Stuff: 8 Wolfmen: 4
DOUBLE PLAYS- Stuff: 1 Wolfmen: 0
ERRORS- E.Mathews
DOUBLES- E.Mathews(1st), D.Erstad(1st), M.Kreevich(1st)
TRIPLES- N.Lajoie(1st)
WALKS- G.Clines, M.Ott-2, S.Collins, G.Beckert-3, T.Harper, B.Wallace
HIT BY PITCH- E.Delahanty
STRIKE OUTS- G.Clines, M.Ott, E.Mathews-2, B.Dickey-2, D.Erstad-2, M.Kreevich,
T.Harper, N.Lajoie, E.Delahanty, J.Cardenal-2, W.Hershberger,
T.Phillips-2, G.Burns, B.Wallace
GIDP- W.Hershberger

 


 

Tuesday, April 28 at League Park 1934 (Single L-15 / R-11; Homer L-16 / R-2)
Semi-Finals Game 3
FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Wolfmen 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 9 0
Stuff 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 10 2

At League Park '34 the Skokie Wolfmen outscored the The Wrong Stuff 4 to 1.

The game started off with Skokie taking the lead in the first scoring a single run on 3 hits. Skokie banged out 9 hits on the afternoon.

Pete Alexander(1-0) was the winner allowing 1 run in 8 and 2/3 innings. Joe Klink got the save, his 1st. Bret Saberhagen(0-1) ended up with the loss. He allowed a few too many baserunners giving up 8 hits and 4 walks in 5 innings.

 


 

Skokie Wolfmen

 

The Wrong Stuff

Hitters

AB

R

H

RBI

BA

 

Hitters

AB

R

H

RBI

BA

E. Combs CF

3

1

2

0

.429

 

M. Ott CF

4

0

0

0

.000

T. Harper RF

4

0

0

1

.182

 

D. Erstad LF

4

0

1

0

.250

N. Lajoie 2B

5

0

2

1

.385

 

E. Mathews 3B

4

0

0

0

.083

E. Delahanty 3B

5

0

2

0

.333

 

W. McCovey 1B

4

1

3

0

.417

G. Brown DH

5

0

0

0

.000

 

O. Gamble DH

4

0

1

0

.250

C. Torriente LF

4

1

1

0

.429

 

B. Dickey C

4

0

2

1

.167

W. Hershberger C

3

1

0

0

.000

 

T. Oliva RF

4

0

2

0

.286

   B - A. Ashby C

1

0

0

0

.000

 

R. Schoendienst 2B

4

0

0

0

.143

W. Parker 1B

1

1

0

0

.200

 

M. Wills SS

3

0

1

0

.100

   A - T. Phillips PR,1B

1

0

0

0

.000

 

Totals

35

1

10

1

 

   C - G. Burns 1B

0

0

0

0

.333

             

B. Wallace SS

4

0

2

1

.444

             

Totals

36

4

9

3

 

             

 

Pitchers

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

HR

PC

ERA

 

Pitchers

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

HR

PC

ERA

P. Alexander (W, 1-0)

8.2

10

1

1

0

5

0

132

1.04

 

B. Saberhagen (L, 0-1)

5

8

4

2

4

2

0

94

3.60

J. Klink
(S, 1)

0.1

0

0

0

0

0

0

4

0.00

 

B. Sutter

4

1

0

0

1

5

0

52

0.00

Totals

9

10

1

1

0

5

0

 

 

 

Totals

9

9

4

2

5

7

0

 

 

 

A-Pinch Ran For Parker In 5th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Hershberger In 5th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (1B) For Phillips In 8th Inning

INJURIES:
Willard Hershberger INJURED (for 5 more games) in 5th inning
Wes Parker INJURED (for 3 more games) in 5th inning

ATTENDANCE- 46,534
T- 3:28
LEFT ON BASE- Wolfmen:11 Stuff: 7
DOUBLE PLAYS- Wolfmen: 0 Stuff: 1
ERRORS- B.Saberhagen-2
DOUBLES- E.Combs-2(3rd), W.McCovey(2nd), T.Oliva(1st)
TRIPLES- E.Delahanty(1st)
STOLEN BASES- N.Lajoie(1st), D.Erstad(1st), M.Wills(1st)
WALKS- E.Combs-2, T.Harper, C.Torriente, W.Parker
HIT BY PITCH- W.Parker
STRIKE OUTS- E.Combs, T.Harper, N.Lajoie, G.Brown-2, C.Torriente-2, M.Ott,
D.Erstad-2, E.Mathews, W.McCovey
GIDP- W.Parker

 


 

Tuesday, April 28 at League Park 1934 (Single L-15 / R-11; Homer L-16 / R-2)  
Semi-Finals Game 4
FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Wolfmen 0 0 0 5 0 3 2 0 0 10 10 1
Stuff 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 6 0
Skokie Wolfmen beat The Wrong Stuff 10-3

W: Santana, J. (1-0)
L: Sadecki, R. (0-1)
HR: T.Harper(1st), M.Ott(1st), E.Mathews(1st)

Johan Santana was able to finish what he started and was credited with a complete game and catcher Alan Ashby had 2 base hits and 2 RBI at League Park '34 as the Skokie Wolfmen beat the The Wrong Stuff 10 to 3.

Skokie scored 5 runs in the top of the 4th inning with the help of 3 hits. The highlight belonged to Jose Cardenal, who helped quiet the crowd when he doubled clearing the bases. Skokie had a total of 10 hits for the game.

Santana(1-0) allowed 3 runs on the game. Ray Sadecki(0-1) suffered the loss. He was knocked around pretty good, giving up 5 runs in 3 and 1/3 innings.

 


 

Skokie Wolfmen

 

The Wrong Stuff

Hitters

AB

R

H

RBI

BA

 

Hitters

AB

R

H

RBI

BA

E. Combs CF

5

1

1

0

.333

 

G. Clines DH

4

0

0

0

.000

C. Torriente RF

4

1

1

0

.364

 

M. Wills SS

4

0

0

0

.071

N. Lajoie 2B

5

0

1

0

.333

 

M. Ott CF

4

1

2

1

.154

E. Delahanty LF,3B

4

3

2

0

.375

 

E. Mathews 3B

3

2

1

1

.133

J. Cardenal DH

3

2

1

3

.286

 

W. McCovey 1B

4

0

0

0

.313

G. Burns 1B

1

0

0

0

.250

 

B. Dickey C

4

0

3

1

.313

   A - T. Harper LF

3

2

1

2

.214

 

D. Erstad LF

4

0

0

0

.188

B. Wallace SS

3

1

0

0

.333

 

S. Collins RF

3

0

0

0

.000

T. Phillips 3B,1B

1

0

0

0

.000

 

G. Beckert 2B

3

0

0

0

.250

   B - G. Brown 1B

2

0

1

3

.091

 

Totals

33

3

6

3

 

A. Ashby C

4

0

2

2

.400

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Totals

35

10

10

10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pitchers

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

HR

PC

ERA

 

Pitchers

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

HR

PC

ERA

J. Santana (W, 1-0)

9

6

3

3

1

9

2

124

3.00

 

R. Sadecki
(L, 0-1)

3.1

3

5

5

3

1

1

49

13.50

Totals

9

6

3

3

1

9

2

 

 

 

M. Williams

1.2

2

2

2

1

0

0

28

10.80

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

S. Nahem

4

5

3

3

3

4

0

79

6.23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Totals

9

10

10

10

7

5

1

 

 


A-Subbed Defensively (LF) For Burns In 2nd Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (1B) For Phillips In 3rd Inning

INJURIES:
George Burns INJURED (for 0 more games) in 2nd inning
Tony Phillips INJURED (for 4 more games) in 3rd inning

ATTENDANCE- 46,298
T- 3:13
LEFT ON BASE- Wolfmen: 6 Stuff: 4
DOUBLE PLAYS- Wolfmen: 1 Stuff: 2
ERRORS- J.Santana
DOUBLES- J.Cardenal(1st), G.Brown(1st), M.Ott(1st), B.Dickey(1st)
HOME RUNS- T.Harper(1st), M.Ott(1st), E.Mathews(1st)
WALKS- E.Delahanty, J.Cardenal-2, T.Harper, B.Wallace-2, G.Brown, E.Mathews
HIT BY PITCH- C.Torriente
STRIKE OUTS- E.Combs, N.Lajoie-2, T.Harper, B.Wallace, G.Clines, M.Wills, M.Ott,
E.Mathews, W.McCovey-2, D.Erstad, G.Beckert-2
GIDP- G.Burns, D.Erstad


Series Summary:


This Series boiled down to really only one factor, the four aces of the Wolfmen pretty much totally shut down the hitters and bombers of "The Stuff". Skokie had 3 complete games with only Alexander needing a little help (1/3 inning of relief).  Just as you saw in the previous part of this article, our relievers were not used so much.  Skokie had no one hitter who was dominate in the series either, as different players contributed to help produce the runs we needed.  The lopsided victory in Game 4, just showed in this league to win you must have very good starting pitcher.  The "Stuff's" 4th starter, Sadiecki was mediocre compared to the average starting pitcher and Skokie crushed him.  While Skokie at times could score 10 runs or more due to our small ball play and on-base, the average runs scored for this team was four or five runs, with the strength of our starting pitcher and relatively good defense, it was usually enough to win. However, this series did emphasize one weakness of the team which was injuries - which Skokie did have quite a few and constantly struggled with them during the season.

Well, Skokie then waited to see who they would face in the league World Series. In the other semi-final round the Marchin Nomads, the 2nd place team in Skokie's division who had given Skokie a challenge the whole year was the wild card team and they were facing the "Lambing Ewes", two pretty offensive teams with lots of power.  Skokie had a 13-11 record against the Nomads but verse the Ewes, they had a hard time competing and shutdown their strong hitters as they went 3-9.
 

Click Here to Read Part 3 of the Bruce Foster Challenge

enjoy dear readers .....

The Skokie Wolfman
 




 

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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 DICK BREMER, Play by Play announcer for the Minnesota Twins for over 30 years tells us about his interest and playing days with SOM Baseball.

  VIDEO INTERVIEW with HAL RICHMAN, The creator of Strat-o-matic Baseball, speaks to our "Johnny on the Spot" earlier this year during "Opening Day" as we finally we are granted permission to share this unique and special interview with our members.  This is one of several interesting videos that we have on our Youtube Channel, click on the Bright Blue Link above or the Youtube Link below to view this interview (18+ minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rN06fLgM_U

 

  REPORT with TOM NAHIGIAN (1961 cards), Personal friend of the Wolfman, known in Guzzo's book as "The Collector", returns and we take a peak at some of the early strat cards printed.

  COLUMN: "STRAT THOUGHTS" with BRUCE BUNDY, BB as we affectionately call him returns with another special column sharing strategies to win with your draft Strat Team.

  REPORT: FUNNY & AMAZING STRAT/MLB STORIES (various - new column), Various friends linked with SOM Baseball sharing some of their most funny and amazing stories linked to the game or Major League Baseball, start of a new column.

  REPORT: GREATEST GAMES EVER PLAYED (various - new column, replays), Two members of the Strat-o-matic.net forum, share with us the greatest baseball games they have ever played during a replay season start of a new column.

  REPORT: The BRUCE FOSTER CHALLENGE with WOLFMAN SHAPIRO (online SOM Baseball, 4 part report), editor of "The Ultimate Strat Newsletter" challenges Bruce Foster, one of the most successful managers playing the Internet SOM Baseball version using the All Time Greats set, to follow his unique strategy, joins a league and reports how his team does.

  COLUMN: "COMMISSIONER's CORNER" with MARC WASSERMAN -- The return of the "Commish" with another insightful article for his column as he focuses upon how to build a team that will compete for your league's championship.

  RECOMMEND ON-LINE SOM & MLB 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.

  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.


 




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Wolfman Shapiro
Founder/Editor, the Ultimate Strat Baseball Newsletter

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