Frustrated with the statistical randomness of other baseball board games, Hal Richman, 11 years old at the time, created a game in his bedroom at his home in Great Neck, N.Y., in 1948, that would go on to be iconic and last nearly 80 years.
That game is called Strat-O-Matic baseball, a popular tabletop baseball simulation game known for its realistic gameplay and statistical accuracy, played with a deck of cards representing MLB players and dice to add an element of chance.
Richman perfected the game at camp over the next decade–with a $5,000 loan from his father (and made a deal that if it didn’t work out, he would work for his father’s insurance company) –into the original 1962 Strat-O-Matic Baseball season game.
Well, needless to say, Richman and the insurance business never, ever met.
Moreover, he diligently worked out the kinks, adding a special missing aspect that made the game fluid and more fun in nature.
“The game was born when I was an 11-year-old at camp. I loved baseball and numbers and created a game with cards. Later on, I began experimenting with dice and then it hit me, I needed a third die to determine the outcome,” the 90-year-old Richman explained. “That was the missing piece to the puzzle. It took a lot of trial-and-error to get the rules right but once I found that third die, the game flowed in just the right way. That became the basic game that’s mostly the same as it is today.”
Keeping up with the times, the digital and board versions have helped Strat-O-Matic grow in popularity and has garnered sports fans from all over as well in the celebrity world.
The star-studded list includes a bevy of sports broadcasters such as Bob Costas, Jon Miller, Tim Kurkjian and Dan Shulman, former MLB’ers Keith Hernandez, Doug Glanville and Cal Ripken Jr., and sports super fans including Drew Carey, Ben Bernanke, Bryant Gumbel, Spike Lee, Tim Robbins and Slim Jim Phantom, the drummer from the Stray Cats.
Note: Watch the Strat-O-Matic battle between Carey and Phantom at the above link.
“I think what people love about playing Strat-O-Matic: the detail, commitment to accuracy, and camaraderie with other fans is timeless, and I always hoped that it would have a lasting legacy,” the longtime New York Yankees fan said. “I don’t know if I could have predicted that more than six decades later the game would be bigger than ever, but there was always the desire to have Strat-O-Matic be a permanent part of people’s lives over generations.”
Furthermore, Richman said that: “Bob Winberry was, and continues to be, the person who converted our board games to digital. We have spent years adding to the digital versions of the game while continuing to develop the dice-and-cards version of all of our sports simulations.
“The latest innovation is Baseball MAX by Strat-O-Matic, which lets fans play with any team from history on any browser on any device, in single games, tournaments, head-to-head against others and more,” he said. “And while the PC versions of our games are hugely popular for ease of play, record keeping and interactivity, we see Baseball MAX as the logical next step in making the game more accessible to everyone, including newcomers to Strat-O-Matic who have never played before.”
Meanwhile, Strat-O -Matic has drawn comparisons to fantasy sports, with the latter helping people reconnect with one of their favorite childhood pastime games, something that brings great joy to Richman and the rest of the company.
“Strat-O -Matic is sometimes referred to as the original fantasy sports game, and we are proud of that,” Richman said. “The crossover between fantasy players and Strat-O-Matic fanatics is very strong, and as that world has grown, we have found a lot of folks who say they played Strat years ago and their interest in fantasy spurred a return to our game.
“Strat-O-Matic is really the next step for fantasy players, where it goes beyond collecting points and actually managing the games,” he continued. “Our 365 online game has a strong fantasy element, letting fans create lineups and rotations, even using Baseball Daily to use for today’s players.”
I played the baseball board game as a young teen, and it brought me great joy. I am very happy that it is still alive and kicking today!
Based in Glen Head, N.Y., and on the Internet at www.strat-o-matic.com manufactures top selling sports board games and realism/stats sports digital games. The Company publishes baseball, football, basketball, and hockey games to play both on and off your computer and mobile screens.
Play ball!
For more information on its games, please visit www.strat-o-matic.com.
— Jerry Del Priore
NY NJ Sports World/Brooklyn Sports World 