Sports Gaming Digest (03-06-00)
Greetings Sports Gamers!
I received a variety of responses to my idea about adding a file to the SGD
website that could help you find gamers in your area. I will not be pursuing
anything along those lines, basically because it would take lots of work to
setup and maintain and, unfortunately, I think it wouldn't because very many
people because the readership is much too scattered. Anyone looking for gamers
can always send a message stating that you are looking for some gamers in the
Seattle/Atlanta/Toledo/Stafforshire/Madrid/Los Angeles/Austin/West Egg area and
maybe you'll find someone nearby. But I will not be posting anyone's name or
address or email or anything else outside of the regular SGD archives. Nor was
I intending to take any unilateral action without the consent of the readership.
I have included some of the responses that came in as food for thought. A
variety of opinions were expressed and all of them are valid. There could be
some very sophisticated program that could be done of the website to create,
maintain and screen a database of sports gamers but I lack the technical skills
to pursue that any further. For now, we'll continue to plug along.
Regards,
Jim Gordon
jgordon@library.berkeley.edu
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Stadium/2125
Pawtucket or Bust! Support the revival of SI/Statis Pro/Avalon Hill sports
games. Write to the VP for Product Design, Hasbro Games, 50 Dunham Road,
Beverly MA 01915-1894.
*****************
From: MatthewBig@aol.com
In a message dated 2/28/00 3:50:57 PM, jgordon@library.berkeley.edu writes:
<>
- I appreciate the concern Jim, but I think it's a great idea! Count me in!
Signed,
Solitairing in KC
*****************
From: Bob Campbell
I think it's a great idea. I'd be interested in name, location, general
age group, and game interest (APBA, Dynasty, Baseball/football, etc).
Again, good work on the digest. The effort is appreciated.
Bob
*****************
From: Bob Gibson
Jim,
I think it's a great idea, but please exclude the email names or the marketers
might be down our necks. The individuals who enter their email addresses do
that anyway at their own discretion. The one who don't can be contacted through
your weekly publication.
Beyond that, I would be interested in knowing the sports gamer's individuals who
live in my region, and what particular games they are interested in. I would
also want to know their age. This would be a great benefit of us!
A sample entry on your list could be something like this:
name: Joe Sports
location: La Mesa, CA
age: 42
games of interest: Status-Pro Baseball, Basketball, APBA Golf.
additional info: Initial contact may be initiated through the SGD.
****************
From: "Stan B. Watson"
Subject: Dan Armfield's Rivalries Basketball game
In the last SGD, Dan Armfield let the rest of the list know about his new
college basketball game called Rivalries. I wanted to add that Dan Armfield
himself will be profiled along with his game in the March issue of The Games
People Play.
If anyone would like more information about TGPP, or Dan and his game, check
us out at http://www.mindsync.com/swatson/
Happy Gaming Everyone!
Stan Watson
*****************
From: "Mark Whittaker"
Subject: 50/50 Split In Baseball Games
I can't understand why people are complaining about the 50/50 pitcher/hitter
split in baseball games.
My main point being that although in Strat O Matic there is a 50% chance of a
result coming off a pitchers card or a hitters card, the fact that a result
comes off a hitters card or pitchers card does not result in an automatic hit or
out.
For example take Mark McGwire's 1998 card, out of the 33 results on his card
there are 15 automatic safe chances 7 potential safe chances and 9 outs.
Greg Maddux card has 2 automatic safe chances, 4 potential safe chances, 11
chances that bring the defence into play and 16 automatic outs.
What this means is that there is a better chance, if the pitchers card is used,
of an out. By design the better the pitcher the more automatic outs, the better
the hitter the more safe chances.
Therefore, it makes a huge difference which pitcher is up. What you don't want
is a pitcher who can't take advantage of results coming from his card.
Just my 2c
Mark Whittaker
*****************
From: Cyril Morong
Subject: Baseball card games
Does anyone know anything about Main Street Electronic Baseball? In this
game, stats from baseball cards are entered into the electronic game and
then a game is played, so it has some realism? Is it still made? If you
know how this game works or the details of any other games that simply use
the stats from regular baseball cards, let me know.
Cyril Morong
*****************
From: "Kirk and Janice Hoffman"
Jim,
I just want to give everyone a quick update on our Strat-O-Matic football
1965 season project. We have 8 teams created and in the playtesting stage.
We have people working on the balance of the NFL teams but can always use
more help. We have yet to start the AFL teams. For anybody that's
interested, one of our contributors has graciously volunteered to maintain a
website with info on our project. If you'd like to take a look, it's at
http://members.aol.com/stratbb/65Project/mainpage.htm
The site shows the status of each teams development as well as reviews and
stats of games played. Eventually we'd like to post the teams there so
everyone can download them for free. Until then, feel free to e-mail me at
khoff1@prodigy.net if you're interested in joining our project. We can
always use more help, and opinions, when it comes to generating the cards.
And the more we playtest them, the better product we'll all have.
As far as your desire for a players database, I think it would be great.
We should submit name, e-mail, hometown and games we play. From that info
we would be able to contact each other and set up games. I'll volunteer to
be the first. I'm Kirk, my e-mail is above, I live in Huntsville, AL, and
my main gaming interests are Strat-O-Matic football and baseball. I've also
played some Strat-o-Matic hockey but I don't own a copy of that one.
On another issue, the 50/50 split, I believe it does well for average
players or teams but doesn't do as well for the extremes. Using Strat
football as an example, it's very hard to duplicate the complete domination
of the '85 Chicago Bears defense because half the time you're using the
offenses cards. The same goes for pitching or hitting in baseball. Using
the 50/50 split for a pitcher with a 3.75 ERA is fine because he was neither
dominated or dominating. But using that same split to replicate Bob
Gibson's 1968 season (1.12 ERA) is very difficult. The only solution I can
think of is to somehow have a factor for each player or team that skews the
dice rolls. In other words, when the Bears are on defense you look at their
card on a 3, 4, 5, or 6 die roll as opposed to just a 4-6. I haven't
completely thought it through but it would probably have to be in that sort
of vein. The dominating players and teams should dominate the play.
Thanks,
Kirk
*****************
From: Scott Klamm
I like the idea of a list of some kind to find opponents nearby.
Face-to-face gaming is by far the best way to play, and finding opponents
can be tough. Since my email is provided by my employer, however, I am
also leery of being on a large distribution list that someone else may have
access to. To me, the best compromise is to list only very basic personal
information and then let folks contact each other and let the friendships
develop. This would somewhat limit the ability of "outsiders" to get a lot
of info from a distribution list. City/State and email would be enough to
allow initial contact.
*****************
From: "Tim Bair"
Subject: hockey games
Perhaps I've missed some of this in the back issues but if anyone has the
rules for Power Play Hockey (Valgames) I would love to get a copy (I think
mine got lost in the proverbial sock black hole or something.) I also have
an old Midwest Research (predecessor to Statis Pro) USHL hockey game, but
the rating system kind of befuddles me. If I could get a little insight as
to that, I would appreciate it. Over the years, I have played just about all
Statis Pro games, APBA hockey, and, more recently, Rampage Wrestling (Lance
Haffner). I would be interested in exchanging ratings for wrestlers with
others as I have created wrestlers based on the old Mid-South promotion of
Bill Watts, and the Dallas/Ft. Worth promotions from the '70's.
Thanks!
*****************
From: JohnBench5@aol.com
I believe I may have made a mistake in my post to the digest this morning. I
wanted to post that I need the fringe players for 1977-78 and 1978-79, and
that I have the 1970-71 and 1971-72 FRINGE players to trade in return. I
believe in my post I didn't put fringe in, thus leading to some responses
that were looking for photocopies of entire seasons, of which I will not do.
Some full seasons are still available from ATC/Big League at very reasonable
prices, their e-mail address is atcbigle@ecenet.com.
Thanks
John Mettler
*****************
From: Dave Anderson
Could you please send me your weekly version of sports gaming digest.
Thanks,
D.Anderson
*****************
From: AFJB@aol.com
Hi Jim,
I certainly wouldn't mind a list of gamers on your web site. I think it's a
great idea. We've already shared some terrific innovations and suggestions
through your digest, the possibility of face to face gaming would be even
better. Definitely a good idea.
Regarding the debate of the 50/50 split, I have played both the
Strat/Dynasty/PTP versions and the Replay/APBA interactive versions as well.
Each has its advantages, although I prefer the 50/50 split because of the
greater possibility of each batter or pitcher's individual tendencies. The
argument that both Greg Maddux and Omar Olivares having a 50% chance of being
dominating isn't entirely true depending on the strengths of the cards of
those pitchers. I'd much rather have Maddux's 50% chance than Olivares.
I am also a big fan of SOM basketball, when they redid the game in the early
80's, they made it the best sim for hoops on the market. Statis Pro is good,
but doesn't seem to catch the essence of the indiviual player. APBA is, as
others have said, is just too long. I have made it a bit quicker with a
special shot selection and rebounding chart. The best way to cut down on the
numbers of dice rolls is to use a computer to generate the rolls. Haven't
played Negamco yet -- just got it.
My question to the group regards football. When playing solitaire, do you
let a chart determine offense, defense or both? Can you use the same chart
for different games? What about player substitution? Do you use a specific
system or do it by instinct? Looking forward to the group's comments.
Tony
*****************
From: Dennis Nicholson
Subject: Member data base
Jim,
I think that would be a great idea. If you listed the name, city, and
e-mail address then people could get together.
Also a couple of questions:
1) Does anybody know how the cards for Avalon Hill's Pro Golf were done? I
would like to do some cards myself (99 Tiger Woods)
2) Are there any pro basketball games that have any seasons that go back to
the early 60's. I would like to reproduce Wilt's 61-62 season.
Dennis Nicholson
*****************
From: "Kevin Meskew"
Hey Jim
You got quite a few new subscribers this last SGD; hope some are in So.
Calif.
I really like the idea of posting locational info on the site...some may not
feel comfortable with their addresses shown but what's a little junkmail
(that's what they make "delete" buttons for). Certainly city and state
should be included, in fact all of the above.
I've had a fair response with my "pleas" for any local gamers around the
L.A./San Fernando Valley area (4 to be exact). A city the size of LA has
gotta contain more readers than 5 though. More would really be exciting.
I'm all for your proposal, I mean isn't this pretty much the purpose of this
site...to bring together those sharing the same interest for its
advancement?
And once again my hat off to you for keeping this going...
KM
*****************
From: Quinn McKenzie
> From: Christopher Howell
I have always found this to the fun of "50/50 split" games!When a
batter gets a hit/walk off the pitcher, it is easy to place the blame-
the pitcher made a mistake! When a hitter gets a hit off his own card,
he EARNED IT, and no matter how good the pitcher's stuff, he still did
his job. When a great batter K's off the pitcher's card,the hurler was
too overpowering too hit. If the batter gets an out off his card, he
had his pitch to hit, but couldn't come through! For me, this mimics
real life very nicely.
(Chris Howell responded)
To me, the flaw in that theory is that both Greg Maddux and Omar
Olivares have a 50% chance of being dominating. Both Mark McGwire and
Rafael Belliard have a 50% chance of "getting their pitch" and coming
through. That does not mimic real life to me.
To which Q.McKenzie responds:
If you think that is true, do the following: Belliard vs. Maddux 100 AB
and MCGuire vs. Olivares 100 AB. Even though both batters will "get
their pitch" the same amount of times and both pitcher will "dominate"
the same amount of times (all 50%), do you think the results will be the
same? Of course not, because the Maddux/McGuire cards are awesome,
while the Olivares/Belliard cards are not. And that does mimic real
life nicely
*****************
From: "K., P. Premo"
Jim,
I don't know how many of your readers have tried that free computer
boxing game at Dreamfights.com, but I think it is pretty darn good.
When I first tried to sign up, I had some problems and when I e-mailed
for help, I received prompt and helpful responses. Although I have not
played a lot of games, the boxer ratings seem pretty realistic.
However, recent e-mails have gone unanswered: I wrote them requesting
adding women, adding Teoflio Stevenson (great Cuban boxer), adding the
Rocky boxers (Rocky Balboa, Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang, Ivan Drago,
Tommy Gunn), and some other fictitious boxers such as Joe Palooka. I am
a little surprised that they did not at least respond. Has anyone else
had any luck corresponding with them? Does anyone else have any
comments about this site?
Pat
*****************
From: Ron Bernier
Subject: SGD: Steve Lyle
Steve Lyle, if you're out there, please e-mail me, I lost your address ...
Ron Bernier, rbernier@wworx.net
My 1953 Replay - http://members.xoom.com/apba/1953/
Baseball Sim Research Web Site: http://members.xoom.com/apba/
Extra Innings Web Site: http://members.xoom.com/extrainnings/
My Strat Sims Web Site: http://members.xoom.com/stratsims/
*****************
From: "Current Winds Corporation"
Subject: Rigorous And Simultaneously Neato Sports Analysis
Jim! You Bay-Based beast! Da (Golden) Bears! (BTW, do you know Xavier
Nady? Is he nice and stuff?)
Okay, enough pleasantries. I have three essays of potential interest to SGD
readers on my corporate website. Point your browser to
http://currentwinds.homepage.com/
and click on the "Stat Fan Who Can Write Discovers Web" link for access.
One essay applies OLS regression to team OBA, BA, and SLG to assess run
production, using a data set gathered from the AL and NL records from 1901
to 1994. It includes a comparison of the methodology employed to that used
by Thorn and Palmer in _The Hidden Game of Baseball_, (c) 1983, showing
where improvement has been made.
One essay is a six-parter first submitted to another online mailing list in
1999. The series drew voluminous (note I do not say "serious") discussion.
It explains why 1946 should be considered the dawn of the modern era in
major league baseball. Stat fans and board gamers will be especially
interested in the implications for the reliability of data collected prior
to that year: if the gap is as pronounced as it appears, pre-WWII data is
junk data, collected under irregular conditions and unfit for valid
"simulation."
The last essay constructs a passing table for Strat-O-Matic Hockey that
replaces passes that require a draw from the split deck and perhaps a
consequent reference to the Passing L table. The author (i.e. me) put
together a similar table in 1989 that was published in the _Strat-O-Matic
Review_ to account for high-assist players who were slighted by the passing
methodology in the game at the time. This article provides a similar table
for those who were not mollified by the introduction of the Passing L table
in the mid-1990's.
SGD readers who take the initiative to peruse the articles mentioned are
invited to send reaction email to Current Winds Corporation at
currentwinds@GameBox.net
at their convenience.
Thank you for masterminding the SGD. It has been a welcome visitor in my
mbox, especially in comparison to most of the material I receive from other
"mailing lists," material which is worse than hard copy junk mail in that
it cannot even be burned to provide light and heat in winter.
Carl "Of Course, Living In Florida Tempers The Relative Loss" Wilkerson
*****************
From: kurt_conlan@hp.com
Subject: 50/50 split in baseball games
Regarding the recent posts to the digest regarding 50/50 splits
in baseball games:
I've played SOM since 1972, and this never bothered me. I have
always envisioned a result off the batter's card as the byproduct
of a great "at-bat", while a result off the pitcher's card meant
the pitcher dominated that plate appearance. The 50/50 system
does have difficulty reproducing very extreme performances, such
as Eckersley's 3 walks in 73 ip in 1990.
Some readers have mentioned SI (1970-1972) and ATAS BB, since you
first rolled on the pitcher (most results were "batter swings")
and then on the batter.
ASG Baseball (now Diamond Dreams) takes this idea one step further.
You roll first on the pitcher, but instead of just "batter swings",
you generally get a result of 1 to 6. This indicates which column
you use on the batter's card. So you roll for the batter and use
the indicated column. There's a LOT more hits on column 1 than on
column 6. Some results are automatic (K, DP, etc), and their is
a lefty/righty factor (5R1 = use column 5 if LHB, column 1 if RHB),
and a men-on-base factor (2/4 = use column 2 if bases empty, column
4 if men on base), plus some other neat stuff.
I played game 2 of the 1966 World Series last night, and I could
really feel Sandy Koufax's dominance as he kept generating column 5
and 6 results, making it really tough for the Birds to get on base.
I've included 2 cards from 1993. Diamond Dreams used to give away
a demo of the game that included 4 teams from 1993, so I'm sure that
this is ok with them. They have a website: www.diamonddreams.com
They used to sell paper copies of the seasons available, but I don't
believe they do that any more :(
Cheers,
Kurt
kurt@m2403pst.nsr.hp.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 P X |
| |
| 1 F7 G4? F7 F9 PO5 PO3 | 5 2* Greg Maddux |
| 2 G1? G6? F9 F7 LD4 LD6 | X 1* 1993 Atlanta |
| 3 G5? G6a F8 F8 LD3 F9 | 2 1 Bats:RIGHT Throws:RIGHT |
| 4 G6a G2a F8 F9 F9 F8 | 3 2 Age: 27 |
| 5 G5a G1a G5? G6? F8 F7 | DP6 2 Holds: 2 |
| 6 G5a K G5? G3a F9 G4? | 2 2 Rest: 3 Dist: 7 |
| 7 K K G5a G5a F9 G4? | X 2 |
| 8 K K G4a K G6? G6a | 2 K Goes: 0 Steals: 0 |
| 9 K K K K G6a G4a | DP4 3 Sac: 9 H&R: - |
|10 K K K K G1a G6a | 2 5 Speed: 6 Inj: - |
|11 K K K K K K | K 3 POS R A DP E |
|12 K E? K K K K | K 5 p 10 0 7 0 |
|13 UP 2B K K K K | 5 K |
|14 E? C K UP K K | 3 2 |
|15 C SS E? E? K K | 2 W |
|16 SS 2B 3B 1B? K K | 5 1 |
|17 S8 CFs P 1B E? E? | 2 HB |
|18 S7? S7 LF LFs C 2B | 5 5 |
|19 S7? S8 S8? S8? SS 3B | 2 5 |
|20 S9t S9? S8? S9t RF CF | 5 1 |
| |
| W L S ERA G GS IP H HR W K |
| 20 10 0 2.35 36 36 267 228 14 45 197 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 X Y |
| |
| 1 X Y X Y X Y | W F9+ Lenny Dykstra |
| 2 F7t F8? G4a G1? PO4 PO6 | E? DP3 1993 Philadelphia |
| 3 F9? F8a F9t G4? PO3 PO3 | E? DP1 Bats:LEFT Throws:LEFT |
| 4 F9a F8a F8t G4a PO4 PO3 | IH K Age: 30 |
| 5 DP5 DP4 F8? G5a LD4 PO4 | IH K |
| 6 DP6 DP3 F8a G2a LD3 PO4 | IH K |
| 7 DP4 DP4 DP4 F7a G4? G4? | S9? K |
| 8 W W DP4 DP6 G3a G6a | S9? K Goes: 4 Steals: 15 |
| 9 W W W DP5 F8a F8a | S8? K Sac: 1 H&R: - |
|10 UP E? W W DP5 DP4 | S9t E? Speed: 8 Inj: - |
|11 E? 1B? W W DP5 DP4 | S9t S8 POS R A DP E |
|12 C SS E? W DP3 DP4 | D8? S7 |
|13 SS C 1B? E? W W | D9? S7 |
|14 RF CF 2B 1B? W W | D8? S8 |
|15 S9? IH P 3B W W | T9 D7? |
|16 S8? S8? 1B RF E? UP | HR9 T8 |
|17 S8? S7? CF S7? SS E? | HR8 T8 |
|18 D7? S9t SvR S9t C P | HR9 T8 |
|19 HvR D7? S9t D8? 2B SS | HR9 T8 cf 8 2 0 8 |
|20 HR8 D8? HR9 D9? CF D8? | HR9 T9 |
| |
| BAVG SLUG OBP G AB R H RBI HR SB |
| .304 .481 .420 161 637 143 194 66 19 37 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*****************
From: "John & Brooke"
Since I don't check this newsletter all the time, I'll duck in this time and
address a few things. I am currently having problems with the Tripod page I
have all of the JG Games downloads on. They offer relatively no help and the
sites free so I can't really gripe. I will let everybody know when it is
fully functional. Right now the tripod page is the only site I am trying to
maintain(poorly at that). If your using a different site, I can't promise
that any of those links will work. Here's the current JG Games address.
http://spcards.tripod.com/
Somebody wrote that they were having problems printing. It does work, I've
done it my self and had other people do it. If anybody has problems printing
or any questions about SPTP cards, I always answer my emails on the site.
This is a much better way of getting ahold of me then writing the SGD
because I don't always read the digest. Any problems, email
sptp@baseballmail.com I make an effort to answer each one as timely as
possible.
There was also a guy at there that loves to play Statis Pro Hockey. I
believe the link on my site right now does not work but I am working on it.
Once again, any questions for JG Games can be answered by emailing the above
address.
ps. my hat goes off to abcgameco for the work on the 1999 Statis Pro
Football cards. They look awesome. I know how long it takes to make season
cards and I just wanted to say nice job.
I have just checked all the links on the http://SPcards.tripod.com page
flukely they all work with Internet explorer 4.0. I realize that most people
are using a version higher then 4.0 so this probably doesn't mean a whole
lot. If you do have access to 4.0 then go ahead and download the cards. This
also means that if they work in 4.0 and not in 5.5 it is not neccesarily my
fault, it just means that they tinker with their browsers alot. Good luck
downloading and I will inform everybody of updates when they happen
John Goecken
JG GAMES
*****************
From: Boling Mike
Jim, I'd be willing to let my name be put on a list of gamers in my
area. I've had contact with a few people already as a result of the SGD but
I do think regional lists perhaps are a good idea. For me, name, address and
e-mail along with perhaps what gaming interests would do just fine.
Mike Boling
606 NE 67th St
Gladstone,MO 64118
mboling@kctera.net
baseball board games (Replay, S-O-M,APBA, Statis-Pro, BLM, Negamco)
DMB computer baseball
Mike Boling
wmb1889@kcpl.com
mboling@kctera.net
*****************
From: "Shawn E. Frye"
Subject: Statis Pro Basketball
I was wondering if anyone else out there would be interested in
complying/creating 'roster sheets' for the various seasons of Avalon Hill's
Statis-Pro Basketball. If you are a player of the game, you'll know that
most seasons DID NOT come with any roster sheets of the player's cards.
This could be a very important item if you are like me and purchasing past
season sets from other individuals. I have several sets now, and I am in
the process of entering them into an Excel spreadsheet. If you would like
to pitch in and create some roster sheets for your past seasons, just email
me...and I'll provide you with a list of the year sets I have already. We
can compare or sets to make sure they are complete.
Thanks in advance for any reply:
Shawn E. Frye
sfrye@home.com
*****************
From: Jay Bank
Please subscribe me to SGD.
Jay Bank
jbank@iglou.com
*****************
From: IndianaIce@aol.com
Subject: Full Time Soccer
Hello everyone....
Two weeks ago I ordered a soccer game called Full Time from Lambourne Games.
Anyone who loves soccer or is interested in a good soccer game, this is one
game you must have. This is the 3rd attempt by Lambourne at soccer where in
the past they went with the highlight format (scoring opportunities, close
chances) to one that incorporates the ebb and flow that is soccer. The game
does not have every single pass, shot, foul, etc. but condenses the play like
a regular game. I have found this sim to be very addictive and the best part
is that you can use the team cards from the prior games, and it has a chart
to convert the ratings to this game. Midfield action is a big part of the
game and you can see one team gaining and losing momentum during the course
of a match. I would like to correspond with others that have played this
game. I have formulas to make up my own teams, and I am just having a ball
with it. Best part is when I ordered online, I got the game within one and a
half weeks, which is terrific especially since it came from over the big
pond. Once you get use to the system, a game can be played in 30-40 minutes.
When I got the game, I was amazed at all the charts within, but realized
that only 2 or 3 charts is used constantly during the game. The game comes
with the 98 World Cup teams and the recently completed English Premier and
First Division squads and team ratings for Division 2 and 3. An excellent
game, and I highly reccomend it. Lambourne also sells team ratings for past
English seasons as well as World Cup and European competitions. For more
info, go online to WWW.sportsgameshop.com and tell them that I sent you.
Happy gaming everyone.
*****************
From: "Ken Binkley"
I recently completed a week long business trip and was able to complete
"catching up" on a lot of the 1999 back issues. It's nice to be back in the
fold with so many fellow gamers!
I found all my old PTG Hockey game equipment this past weekend. I now have
the line information for the NHL teams from the 72-73 season if anyone needs
it for a replay. What I'd really love to find is the formulas for generating
the player cards. While I'm just getting started using SOM Hockey, I would
really love to see the latest players simmed using the best table hockey
system ever! If anyone has the formulas, I would greatly appreciate it.
Besides PTG hockey replays, I also have experience with a full season replay
of the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies season, as well as running a 4 year NFL
Challenge league, using WFL/USFL team names and keeping full stats. The only
reason I stopped playing that was because the PCs wouldn't run it. Now I
have a "dedicated" 486SX-33 to play the old DOS games on.
Well, enough for now. Hopefully this weekend I'll break apart the player
cards for my SOM hockey game. If anyone can help with the 98-99 NHL skating
lines, please email me.
Keep on gamin'!
Ken Binkley
kbinkley@bigfoot.com
*****************
From: Tom Nahigian
Subject: Re: email address needed
Hello Jim,
Many thanks for your weekly email newsletter, always a great job.
In the Feb 7 issue, a mention was made by Eric Lebovitz in regards to Time
Travel Baseball and that he had tracked down the game's inventor in
Pittsburgh. I would like to contact Eric in hopes that he can give me the
name, address, email, etc. of the Time Travel Baseball inventor. I would
like to purchase the game if possible. Can you please provide me w/Eric's
email?
[See next message.--JCG]
Many thanks.
Best Regards,
Tom Nahigian
tnahigian@bigplanet.com
***************
From: "eric lebovitz"
Subject: finding fellow gamers
dear sir, if you compile info on fellow gamers include: email, city, state
and board game interests. this gives the gamer in my area such as
pittsburgh, pa to contact me by email first. then we could meet say in a
coffeehouse, library or other public place. any other ideas? i like strat o
matic baseball, speed circuit, formula de and baseball games that are
defunct. respectfully, eric
*****************
From: Rick Queary
> Would you like to see this kind of locational information of the SGD web?
Yes I would.
> What information would you like to see? Name? Email? City/State? All of
the above?
Exclude the city, but include the state.
> Would you want your personal information specifically included or excluded?
Games of choice would be nice. This way we can either have people find us, or
wecan find others with similar interests.
> In general, do you think this is a (a) good idea, (b) bad idea, or (c) no
> opinion?
VERY good!!
> I am most concerned about respecting your privacy, and the potential for
> junkmail or any other irritations.
To show my enthusiasm for this idea, here's my info up front:
Rick Queary
chief.elvis@fat-elvis.com
Texas
Games of interest: Dynasty League Baseball, Paydirt, Speed Circuit, Statis Pro
Baseball, Statis Pro Basketball.
Regarding Speed Circuit, I'm still looking for expansion tracks if anyone has
them. Please, I've been looking for years, but don't want to pay an outrageous
fortune.
Keep up the great work!
Rick Queary
*****************
From: JackMitch@aol.com
Please add me to the subscribers' list for Sports Gaming Digest.
My introduction to sports gaming came at age eight with Ethan Allen's
All-Star Baseball game (a spinner with cardboard cutouts type of game), and
from there I progressed to APBA Baseball in 1956 and then to Strat-O-Matic
Baseball in 1969. I am still an active Strat gamer.
Along the way I have played many other games--Pursue the Pennant, Daimond
Mind Baseball, MicroLeague Baseball, Earl Weaver Baseball, Tony La Russa
Baseball, Sherco, and others. I have also had extensive experience with
Strat-O-Matic Pro Football.
*****************
From: "Michael Owens"
Hello fellow sports gamers:
As mentioned many times before, I have designed four different quick playing
games.
They are:
Quick Play Pro Football $30.00 Canadian or $20.00 US ($10.00 US to e-mail
files)
Quick Play Pro Hockey $35.00 Canadian or $25.00 US ($15.00 US to e-mail files-
large file 1.4 MB zipped)
Quick Play Pro Baseball $30.00 Canadian or $20.00 US ($10.00 US to e-mail
files)
Hockey Replay $30.00 Canadian or $20.00 US (cannot e-mail files)
They are all in either MS Word or MS Excel format
For anyone who is interested, please e-mail me and I can send a small zipped
file (83K) that has instructions for each game. This way, you can see the
mechanics of each game before deciding if you want to purchase.
Now to other things.
I have been reading with great interest the debate at the 50-50 split between
hitter and pitcher. My feelings are that the game mechanics are not important
if the probability of a random event is correct. For instance if a hitter will
hit .350 on his card in the 50-50 split and hit .260 versus the average pitcher
on the pitcher's card, in the long run the probability is that he will still hit
around .305. Yes, I know that 50 % of the time if Mark McGwire is hitting it
won't matter who is pitching in the minds of many. But that is incorrect. It
will matter. If he is facing Pedro Martinez, that card may only yield a batting
average of .150 with no walks and a very poor slugging percentage. In this way,
McGwires stats will be reduced considerably 50 % of the time. It is frustrating
when I hear people say that their decisions are unimportant. Of course they
are. You don't know what the next dice roll will bring. Aside from that, when
I play APBA, there are a lot of dice rolls that result in the same occurrence no
matter who is hitting.
I have been corresponding on the "Between the Lines" forum for APBA. I have
taken a lot of heat for saying that I disagreed with "historians" who insist the
'06 Cubs would crush today's baseball teams. I am not making this up.. There
are a lot of logical people out there who believe this to be true. I'm not sure
what to make of this whole thing. I put it to you readers to convince me that
this would be true. Of course, there is no way to prove this theory, but it
certainly makes for interesting discussions. I will put my two cents in first,
and then let the readers respond. To say I am a naysayer on this whole theory
is an understatement. I will try to voice my reasoning as to why the '06 Cubs
would be crushed by all opposition of today, and leave it to the readers to
convince me otherwise.
First, in 1906 there was a much smaller population to pool the athletic
resources from. It was even further diminished by baseball's artificially self-
imposed color line. These facts alone make the argument less plausible. To
remove a lot of superior athletes because of skin colour had to make the product
poorer. Baseball today would be a much poorer product without the likes of
Derek Jeter, Pedro Martinez, Bernie Williams, Tony Gwynn, and Sammy Sosa (just
to name a few).
Secondly, of the available population, athletics were frowned upon by a large
part of the population (as a career choice) thus creating even less of a pool.
I once read that Ty Cobb's father actually disowned him when he joined pro
baseball, as he was a disgrace to the family. I am sure that of the available
athletes, many others chose a more viable career choice back then.
Thirdly, due to the nature of baseball back then, ballplayers had to have second
and third jobs to make ends meet. This made them less able to hone their
skills, or seek employment elsewhere. Also, let's look at the fact that the
spitter was a legal pitch in 1906. Therefore, half their pitching staff would
be rendered useless by today's standards. I don't recall reading any tributes
to the great fastball of any Chicago Cub's pitcher from 1906. Sure maybe they
threw good curve balls, but so what. Today's hitters would sit on that pitch if
the fastball was non existent.
Now let's look at today's pro baseball player. He makes lots of money, thus
making potentially good baseball player's much more attracted to becoming pro,
there is no color line, making everybody eligible, and there is a lot of
prestige in this career choice. Thus, when a gifted athlete shows a lot of
potential to play baseball at an early age, he is groomed for that. The
argument that inter-city kids concentrate on basketball is also incorrect. A
very gifted athlete has a much better chance of making it big in pro baseball,
because in both basketball and football there are too many size limitations. If
it was so, then why are there a lot of great black baseball players? My feeling
is that the '06 Cubs were great in relation to their peers, but their peers
weren't all that great to begin with. Fundamentally, they may have had better
skills at certain aspects of baseball, but that's about it. Pedro Martinez with
his 95 mile an hour fastball and great curve ball would have had a field day
against that Cub offence.
I have heard arguments about the mammoth stadium that Chicago utilized in 1906.
So what? Bring in a great line drive hitter with great speed like Bernie
Williams and he'll be hitting all kinds of inside the park homers. This
argument makes no sense to me. Logical people have spewed the park dimensions
as somehow making today's hitter useless in competing with the '06 Cubs. I'm
not sure of this logic. Maybe they wouldn't hit a lot of homeruns in that park,
but they sure would hit a lot of doubles and triples. The same holds true for
the '06 Cubs. If they played today, they wouldn't hit a lot of homeruns. You
can't hit what you can't see.
It is a fact that in any sport that is purely measurable (track and field) the
athletes get better with each generation. I'm not saying that baseball is
necessarily a physical game, but if player A can run the 100 yard dash in 11
seconds, and player B can run the 100 yard dash in 9.5 seconds, and both are
equal hitters, would player B not be a better all around baseball player?
In fact, I believe that today's baseball players are better than players from
even 25 years ago, but at least the teams from 25 years ago would be
competition, whereas the teams from 95 years ago would be wiped out. Even given
all of the equipment of today, and playing in today's stadiums against today's
opposition, the '06 Cubs would be lucky to beat a Class C farm team.
I can't imagine anyone truly believing otherwise, but if so I would like to hear
the arguments. Maybe they can convince me that the Canton Bulldogs of the
1920's would whip the St.Louis Rams as well.
Anyway, I would just like to hear other people's opinions. I am anxious to see
if even one person thinks the way I do. It's amazing to me how many people can
go and on discussing the wonders of the '06 Cubs. There must be a lot of 100
year old people out there.
This is just the wonderful kind of topic that because of it's very nature (i.e.
unable to prove one way or the other) that would end up being like me trying to
prove there is no Santa. By this I mean a lot of readers will go in with guns
blazing and offer as proof a lot of strange theories such as they were
fundamentally better players in such aspects as bunting, stealing and hit and
run. Even if this was true, so what? I'll take a line drive double into the
gap anytime.
A lot of other reader's may point out that a lot of pitcher's of today have
survived without a good fastball, but a great curveball. I leave it to you
reader's to prove that Three Finger Brown had as good a fastball as today's
average pitcher. By this I mean maybe Andy Petite doesn't have a great fastball
by today's standards, but was it a great fastball for 1906? I have never read
anything anywhere that implied that any pitcher (other than Walter Johnson) had
a great fastball in the deadball era. It seemed that I read most about great
spitter pitchers.
I can offer facts.
More population, more athletes
No colour line - more athletes
More lucrative career - more athletes
Athletic improvement over the last 4 generations in all measureable events
Mike Owens
*****************
From: "Mike or Tara"
Subject: 3 pt shooting pre-3 pointer
Guys,
I have a dilemma and I was hoping to get some ideas from the
knowledgeable people who read the digest. What is your opinion on adding 3 pt
shooting to pre 3 pt shooting basketball teams. I know this is sort of
subjective, but has anyone done any research on this? Just curious and any help
would be appreciated. Replies can be posted or sent directly to me at this e
mail address. Thanks in advance.
Mike C.
*****************
From: FDCoutinho@aol.com
I would like to read the Sports Gaming Digest. I am 61 years old, a retired
teacher and a lover of table sports games and text computer games. I was a
long time player of the APBA Baseball board game. Currently I play SOM
Computer Baseball, Lance Haffner Football (I love his college game), Lance
Haffner Hockey and Hoofs of Thunder Horse Racing. I play 'Hoofs' for lack of
a better Horse Racing Game. There simply are none. I thank you very much.
Frank Coutinho
*****************
From: BBWSMIN@aol.com
Subject: CC Hockey, 2nd Call . . and the 50/50, +/- controversy!
Jim,
I did get a few responses about CC Hockey last week, but I thought I'd put
out another call this week, especially if anyone should have the 90-91 team
disk in their possession. I'd be willing to trade.
I have enjoyed the debate?/discussion on the 50/50 baseball games vs. those
that I like to refer to as the +/- games. No one has mentioned the all time
standard for +/- which is BLM baseball - BLM didn't even include range
ratings so even fielding was on strict percentages! And true to form, BLM
had the cards with the least information, and had the reputation as the game
with the greatest statistical accuracy. I think most would agree it is a
tough game to play - the action does not flow and takes quite some time to
play. I also thought I'd add a couple of my favorites to where they would go
on the list:
50/50 : ASG (now Diamond Dreams) Baseball - though the game moves from a
pitcher's roll, a certain amount of results are right off the pitcher, and
then the others determine what kind of column you will look in on the batter.
+/- : Clubhouse Baseball - this game looks like Marvin Ness (the designer)
was redesigning an easier to use version of APBA's Master Game, and then
added other 80's twists like Ballpark effects, clutch, righty-lefty . .
That's it for now. Oh, my vote for which of the above is better? Still
deciding, I guess. I have yet to see a game that really isn't at it's roots
one of those two designs, however.
Kevin Hennessy
*****************
From: "James Marshall"
Subject: APFAS NEWS
Hi All ,
Just wanted to let those interested that my web page " A Page for All
Seasons" has been updated ( I know it has been a while) and I added the
following season files.
1920 Major League Seasoon for DMB New Version for the CFL game, includes a new
interfaces and some new features like injuries. It is entirely new program not
a patch.
1997 CFL season for the CFL game.
1985 USFL season for Action PC
1999 WNBA season for CCBB
Tennis Greats from the 20's and 30's for Break Point Tennis
Indy Legends for Indianapolis Racing
Also Scott Parks has discontinued his Web page for Stats Soccer and
Diamonmd Mind but you can still download them they are on my page including
1955 Southern League for DMB
1959 Alabama-Florida League for DMB
1998 World Cup for SSR
1998, 1996 MLS for SSR
1999, 1998 English Premiere League for SSR
1977, 1972 NASL and many other soccer seasons.
Although he has discontinued the above mentioned web page he put a great
web page devoted to the Class D League Alabama-Florida League. Very
interesting page.
I now have close to 100 different season files covering many different
sports and games.
Baseball (Major, Minor and International)
Football ( NFL, AFL, AAFC,USFL, WFL, NFLE, CFL, NCAA)
Basketball ( Pro and College for both men and women)
Hockey ( NHL and Olympic)
Soccer ( MLS, NASL, ASL, APSL, EPL and Word Cup)
Auto Racing ( NASCAR, CART, IRL)
Tennis ( ATP, WTA)
I plan to add a few more seasons file in the near future as well as some
more replay stuff. I hope to keep the page update a little more regularly but
that will depend on time and of course the availability of new season files. So
if you have or plan to create something please keep me in mind as a place to
post it so other can enjoy your creation.
To visit my page goto
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Stadium/8019/
James Marshall
****************
From: Michael Kane
Hi Jim,
I'm interested in receiving the Sports Gaming Digest. Just an aside, I'm
also part of the 1965 Strat-O-Matic Football Card project that Kirk
Hoffman contacted you about. I'm doing some of the play testing as well
as maintaining the web site.
Thanks,
Michael Kane
***************
END DIGEST (03-06-00)
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