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  • #31
    Just found this series. What fun! Thanks for sharing, Revo!

    Can we “sticky” this thread for a while?

    I’m waiting for the likes of Bob Horner, UL Washington, Willie McGee (who looked like his old self in the STL dugout last night btw; wish I could stay that thin). The Horner one should have info on his unhappy sojourn in Japan.

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    • #32
      Today's Guy

      Warren Newson

      When I was a teen, I developed my own strat-o-matic type game using index cards and Dungeons & Dragons 10-sided dice, and a few of my buddies got very addicted to it. We played it religiously for a good decade from the mid '80s until the mid '90s. The beauty of the game's design was that unlike Strat, it used lefty/righty splits, which in those pre-internet/BR.com days meant waiting for the annual Elias Baseball Analyst to come out, which was pretty much the only place to get them. Oh, the joy of the day I'd spot it in Barnes & Noble!

      What was great about this game was that we studied these stats and began to discover unknown studs, guys who excelled versus one side, in certain abilities, or in short doses. Warren Newson was one of those guys.

      He played from 1991 until 1998, but was really never given a shot, despite the fact he was a walk machine and beat up righties. He had .400+ OBPs in three of his 8 seasons. Yeah, his warts were very evident -- he didn't have a ton of power, had zero speed, couldn't hit lefties, and was a marginal fielder. I think he got more ABs in our game than he did in any season -- his career high in ABs was just 235, with Texas in 1996, and we just never understood why MLB teams couldn't do more with his gifts.

      That's Today's Guy, Warren Newson!



      Comment


      • #33
        Originally posted by Sharky View Post
        Just found this series. What fun! Thanks for sharing, Revo!

        Can we “sticky” this thread for a while?

        I’m waiting for the likes of Bob Horner, UL Washington, Willie McGee (who looked like his old self in the STL dugout last night btw; wish I could stay that thin). The Horner one should have info on his unhappy sojourn in Japan.
        I'll always remember Horner for this card which in turn reminded me of one of the rare feats in the '80s - the 4 home run game

        https://www.comc.com/Cards/Baseball/...orner/10669872

        Comment


        • #34
          Today's Guy

          Tim Foli
          If fantasy baseball existed in the 1970s, Tim Foli would have reliably been on your league's waiver wire (unless you played in a non-existent NL-only league). He was part of the "good field, no hit" SS standard that existed until Cal Ripken came along in 1981 -- which was the year when baseball people asked themselves, "gee, why did we always believe shortstops didn't need to hit?"

          Tim Foli played primarily for the Expos, Mets, Pirates, Angels and Yankees over his 16-year career that ended in 1985, but his Expos days were before my time, so to me they just don't exist.

          Foli's claim to fame was being a part of a major 1972 lopsided deal which saw the Mets, who originally drafted him, trade him to Montreal along with some prospect named Ken Singleton and the soon-to-be-capable Mike Jorgensen for Rusty Staub. Even though the Mets did OK landing Staub, who became a Mets legend (although he only played 3 full seasons for them during that stay), Singleton blossomed into an All-Star and they got killed in that deal -- one of many deals the Mets got killed in during that decade.

          Foli's most remarkable stat was that he was traded 6 times and purchased once, so I hope he rented during his career.

          And BTW, nice autograph Tim. Very symmetrical!

          That's today's guy, Tim Foli!

          Comment


          • #35
            Tim Foli - actually hit well in the 79 postseason - first to help oust the Reds and then in the series vs. the O's. Have I ever mentioned I hate Tim Foli?

            Luis Leal - anyone play strat-o-matic online? This guy is gold (depending on league setup) because he is cheap and can't relieve so you can have him on your bench and by the end of the season he will have 0 innings pitched. No innings are usually better than bad innings.

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            • #36
              Originally posted by dslaw View Post
              Tim Foli - actually hit well in the 79 postseason - first to help oust the Reds and then in the series vs. the O's. Have I ever mentioned I hate Tim Foli?

              Luis Leal - anyone play strat-o-matic online? This guy is gold (depending on league setup) because he is cheap and can't relieve so you can have him on your bench and by the end of the season he will have 0 innings pitched. No innings are usually better than bad innings.
              Is there a Strat-o-matic online? I'll have to check that out.

              Comment


              • #37
                Originally posted by revo View Post
                Today's Guy

                Warren Newson

                When I was a teen, I developed my own strat-o-matic type game using index cards and Dungeons & Dragons 10-sided dice, and a few of my buddies got very addicted to it. We played it religiously for a good decade from the mid '80s until the mid '90s. The beauty of the game's design was that unlike Strat, it used lefty/righty splits, which in those pre-internet/BR.com days meant waiting for the annual Elias Baseball Analyst to come out, which was pretty much the only place to get them. Oh, the joy of the day I'd spot it in Barnes & Noble!

                What was great about this game was that we studied these stats and began to discover unknown studs, guys who excelled versus one side, in certain abilities, or in short doses. Warren Newson was one of those guys.

                He played from 1991 until 1998, but was really never given a shot, despite the fact he was a walk machine and beat up righties. He had .400+ OBPs in three of his 8 seasons. Yeah, his warts were very evident -- he didn't have a ton of power, had zero speed, couldn't hit lefties, and was a marginal fielder. I think he got more ABs in our game than he did in any season -- his career high in ABs was just 235, with Texas in 1996, and we just never understood why MLB teams couldn't do more with his gifts.

                That's Today's Guy, Warren Newson!



                That’s creative, revo. I waited for the Elias eagerly but didn’t take it that extra step.

                Comment


                • #38
                  Originally posted by revo View Post
                  Is there a Strat-o-matic online? I'll have to check that out.
                  That brings back memory.

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Originally posted by Sharky View Post
                    That’s creative, revo. I waited for the Elias eagerly but didn’t take it that extra step.
                    I brought my Elias annuals to my dorm in college, and one day my buddy puts stickers on all of them with the word "TOME."

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Today's Guy

                      Sixto Lezcano
                      If someone came up to me on the street and asked "Do you know when Sixto Lezcano played?" I might have answered "1975 to 1978." The name "Sixto Lezcano" is seared in my mind as a thread in the cloth of the mid-70s. But in fact, he played from 1974 until as late as 1985, and he was a little better than I remembered.

                      Back in those non-cable TV days, you really had to squint to catch him play, since he never made an All-Star team and played for the Brewers and Phillies (as well as brief stints with PIT, STL & SD), teams that rarely made the playoffs and were never featured on "NBC's Game of the Week." You probably only knew of him from his baseball cards, and he's even pictured in one wearing that very 1970s style of a windbreaker underneath his jersey.

                      Sixto's best season was actually pretty damned good: .321/.414/.573 with 28 HRs, 101 RBIs and 84 Runs in 1979, which was good enough to garner him 18 pts in the AL MVP vote and win him a Gold Glove. But if you drafted him in the 3rd round of your roto draft in 1980, you got skunked to the tune of a .229/.298/.414 season. He finished his career as a very competent 124 OPS+ player over 12 seasons.

                      Sixto's biggest claim to fame came from being included in two very major trades: in the first, he was the centerpiece get in a deal for the Cardinals, alongside Lary Sorenson & Dave LaPoint, and they shipped Rollie Fingers, Ted Simmons & Pete Vukovich to the Brewers in December 1980. Fingers won the AL Cy Young Award the next season, and Pete Vukovich won it in 1982, and this trade helped Milwaukee to the 1982 AL pennant. Ouch!

                      But the following year, the Cards made up for shipping two future Cy winners away by making the one of the heists of the century, dealing Lezcano and Garry Templeton for Ozzie Smith. Licking their wounds, the Pads then shipped him off to Philly in 1983 for Lance McCullers, another nice get. All told, Sixto was on the short end of the haul in three major deals in 3 years!

                      That's today's guy, Sixto Lezcano!

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Originally posted by revo View Post
                        Is there a Strat-o-matic online? I'll have to check that out.
                        I don't want to hijack the thread becuase I enjoy Revo's ideas & cards he throws out. But here is strat online -



                        Click the box that says 'Strat-o-matic 365 baseball & football'. It is pretty fun to find a league you want to join and then setting up your team. Once the games start it isn't as much fun as the computer handles everything so there is no in-game decisions on your part. You can sign up and do a 21 game season for free to see if you like it before spending any $.

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          Originally posted by dslaw View Post
                          I don't want to hijack the thread becuase I enjoy Revo's ideas & cards he throws out. But here is strat online -



                          Click the box that says 'Strat-o-matic 365 baseball & football'. It is pretty fun to find a league you want to join and then setting up your team. Once the games start it isn't as much fun as the computer handles everything so there is no in-game decisions on your part. You can sign up and do a 21 game season for free to see if you like it before spending any $.
                          I noticed you referenced Statis Pro baseball earlier in the thread - have you tried the online version of that one yet?
                          "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less."
                          "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
                          "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master - that's all."

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            Originally posted by senorsheep View Post
                            I noticed you referenced Statis Pro baseball earlier in the thread - have you tried the online version of that one yet?
                            I haven't. Is it any good? I enjoyed the board game. Maybe because it was based on one season it was much more realistic than the strat on-line game is.

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Dang Sixto, that's some Brian Colangelo-level collar action!

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                Originally posted by revo View Post
                                Today's Guy

                                Sixto Lezcano
                                If someone came up to me on the street and asked "Do you know when Sixto Lezcano played?" I might have answered "1975 to 1978." The name "Sixto Lezcano" is seared in my mind as a thread in the cloth of the mid-70s. But in fact, he played from 1974 until as late as 1985, and he was a little better than I remembered.
                                One of my favorites of the late '70s/early '80s Brewer players. He should have won the GG in 1978 - he practically had to play 1.5 OF positions to make up for the range-deficient Gorman Thomas and Larry Hisle. And he had 18 assists that year. In reality, the Brewers would have been much better off with Sixto in CF, but Gorman Thomas wouldn't have it. He also just came to the park and did his job very well, with no histrionics, and very little fanfare or press.
                                I'm just here for the baseball.

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