Greg & I used to use some choice four- and five-letter words to describe my ex-wife, which was one of the things that endeared me so much to him. What Greg & Co. didn't know about my first marriage, though, was it included my introduction to Strat-O-Matic, and one of my favorite teams ever.My 1996 NL East squad was definitely my most memorable. It may have been the best pitching staff I ever assembled, although the Corn Ballers would be right up there. This was the year that I really understood the importance of great pitching, as I had a three-man nucleus of Kevin Brown (card ERA of 1.89! see attached photo), Curt Schilling (3.19) and Tom Glavine (2.98). The beauty of this trifecta was that Brown was great every which way, Schilling shut down lefties and Glavine was equally good vs. righties. So they were all tough matchups, and they ended up winning the World Series that season.
Anyone remember the year Todd Hundley hit 41 home runs for the Mets? I normally wouldn't, but thanks to his phenomenal Strat season for 
me (his 2 column was lovely with clean homers on a 6 and 10, ballpark shots with a 5 or 9, and a 1-9 shot on a 7! He also had a -1 arm.), I know that it was 1996. Hundley batted 6th for me, as the powerhouse bat of the lineup was a left fielder named Bernard Gilkey. Atop the order was a "1" in center field, Marquis Grissom. The other outfield spot was manned by Henry Rodriguez, the infield (around the horn) by Todd Zeile, Kevin Stocker, Mike Lansing and David Segui.
me (his 2 column was lovely with clean homers on a 6 and 10, ballpark shots with a 5 or 9, and a 1-9 shot on a 7! He also had a -1 arm.), I know that it was 1996. Hundley batted 6th for me, as the powerhouse bat of the lineup was a left fielder named Bernard Gilkey. Atop the order was a "1" in center field, Marquis Grissom. The other outfield spot was manned by Henry Rodriguez, the infield (around the horn) by Todd Zeile, Kevin Stocker, Mike Lansing and David Segui. I wish I could remember the name of this team, but I do remember that I played Scott in his West Branch home (the one on Oliphant Street) at his kitchen table for the World Series title. Wow, I cannot believe that was some 11-12 years ago! Maybe Kyle even remembers this. (Surely he remembers my frequent dice-throwing temper tantrums).
As far as my earliest Strat memories, yes I do thank Tim Weber for his introducing this fascinating game to us. I will never forget the Strat draft that may have included Mr. Weber's most jovial moment of his seemingly solitary life. He defiantly took Mariano Rivera with the #4 overall pick, and then another dominant closer with the turnaround and exclaimed, "My bullpen is unbe-LIEVE-able!"). That was an early window into the importance of pitching.
More than that, though, Strat was a chance for me to be "me" during my horrendous first marriage. It was an outlet of actual fun and also allowed me to get closer to friends like Greg, Scott, Paul, Biv and Brian ... I was able to escape the downhill spiral that was my marriage and, fortunately, in the winter of 1998, it ended. What followed were some great Strat-O-Ganzas at my North Liberty condo, including the famous "No Scrubs" moment. Thinking back to those days of pure, unabashed Strat-O-Matic fun makes me want to break out the cards, dice & Colorado Bulldogs once again.
2 comments:
How can one forget drafting with ping pong balls and how absolutley trashed Tim Weber at the very first Strat-o-Ganza. I watched as he tripped over Kaylie's tricycle on the way out - some time around 5 am. And I let him drive. Some friend I am....
HAHAHA. Scott, your memory is priceless. I do remember either the Weber trip or you telling me about it. I wish we had some raw video of some of those drafts. I remember many belly-busting laughs at certain selections.
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