From: joel@redstar.marcal.com (Joel Veeneman)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball.fantasy
Subject: (LONG) My adventures at the Chi. Strat Tourn.
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 23:26:00 -0600

Noel -

In a msg of <24 Jul 92>, Noel Steere writes to All:

 NS> Well, last weekend I went to a Strat-O-Matic tournament here in
 NS> Chicago, run by the Table Baseball Association and sanctioned by
 NS> Strat.  There were 2 divisions of 10 and I finished 2nd overall.  I
 NS> thought it might be interesting to post the draft list from my
 NS> division and ask for opinions (Sean Sweda is *more* than welcome to do
 NS> so, since I kind of went overboard with his :-).  My own comments are
 NS> also included (so you can even post opinions on opinions!  A new
 NS> concept from the folks at MetaCo.!  "Because it's all relative" :-)

Well, if it's comments you want... <g>

For those unfamiliar with TBA tournaments, the idea is that you draft a team (25 players, with between 8 and 10 pitchers), and then play a series of between 14 and 20 games in one day against your fellow managers, hoping to survive to the playoffs the next day. Super-Advanced rules are followed, with a very few house rules to preserve realism as much as can be done over such a small season.

Noel's taken the liberty of assuming a basic knowledge of drafting strategy, so my comments will be a bit more basic. If this stuff doesn't interest you, now'd be the time to hit the [N]ext key.

 NS> Round 1:
 NS> 1. Sandberg (Huh????  The three shortstops usually go 1,2,3.)

The three shortstops he's referring to are Ripken, Larkin and Ozzie Smith. These are normally the very first players chosen, specifically because the depth at SS is minimal compared to other positions. Once you get past these guys, you're left with players who can either hit or fielkd, but not both.

 NS> 2. Larkin
 NS> 3. Ripken
 NS> 4. Bonds (Interesting.  I'd take O. Smith, and I love power
 NS>             as much as this guy, but Bonds would be next)

Actually, Bonds is a fine selection because of Ozzie Smith's inability to hit home runs. Obviously, this manager is planning on drafting a team loaded with power. At this point as a competing manager, I would expect this team to take power hitters over on-base players whenever possible.

 NS> 5. O. Smith
 NS> 6. Griffey
 NS> 7. McGriff (Before Frank, wow.  What a waste of a pick.)
 NS> 8. Clemens (Before *Ryan*)

It's widely held that Nolan Ryan's card (based on 1991 stats) is the best available among pitchers. In any other type of draft, it's certain the Rocket would go before Ryan. That's why this stuff is so much fun....

 NS> 9. Ryan
 NS> Me: Tettleton (A fine player...)

And the only left-hand hitting catcher (against RH pitchers) that hits both LH and RH pitchers well.

 NS> Round 2:
 NS> Me: Whitaker (Early for a platoon player, but...)

Second baseman are nearly as rare as shortstops, so Lou's selection fits fine here. With an excellent defensive rating, and nearly no chance of hitting into double plays, he's a great asset to any team.

 NS> 9. R. Thompson
 NS> 8. Alomar (Those next two picks made me feel a *little* better :-)

And wholly expected. Notice that in the first 13 picks, we have three shortstops, four second baseman. Scarcity rules.

 NS> 7. Morgan (Another pitcher.  How quaint :-)
 NS> 6. MacFarlane
 NS> 5. Canseco (Before Tartabull.  Unbelievable.)

True enough.

 NS> 4. Tartabull
 NS> 3. Dykstra
 NS> 2. Cone
 NS> 1. Ventura (One of the few good picks this guy made.  However,
 NS>               it soon became clear that he wasn't drafting based
 NS>               on talent)

 NS> Round 3:
 NS> 1. Gagne (The Spoon in the *third*?!?)

A fine pick. Being the only '1' rated shortstop left, he couldn't expect Greg to be around at the end of the fourth round - his next pick.

 NS> 2. Butler
 NS> 3. Ma. Williams
 NS> 4. Van Slyke (Bonds, Tartabull, and AVS.  The annoying thing is that
 NS>                 he did this the last tournament I was at, too)
 NS> 5. Pendleton
 NS> 6. Rijo
 NS> 7. Walker
 NS> 8. Saberhagen
 NS> 9. Sabo
 NS> Me: H. Johnson (Happily, one of the good third basemen slid back to
 NS> me. Even more happily, it was the one I wanted anyway.)

 NS> Round 4:
 NS> Me: R. Henderson (He and K. Mitchell are the only two good LFs after
 NS>                     Bonds that can play both ways.  Little was I to
 NS> know what I was to get in the 17th round...)

But you should have known. Left field and first base are *the* two deepest positions in the draft. Picking this guy before a decent center or rightfielder (cf Puckett, O'Neill, Bonilla, etc.) was criminal.

At this point in the draft, it's obvious that teams 3, 4, and ten had the potential to be the strongest. A common theme throughout their drafts so far (the above pick notwithstanding) is the idea of drafting for scarcity instead of straight talent.

 NS>  9. J. Bell 8. Greene 7.
 NS> Maddux 6. De. Martinez 5. Juan Guzman (4 pitchers in a row before the
 NS> 5th round.

 NS>  Gag.) 4. Bonilla (passing up a chance on...) 3. Thomas
 NS> (Bonilla was the last good 3b though)

Knowing the managers involved, there was a good probability of Bobby Bo coming back.

 NS>  2. Sierra (Before Straw, Buhner,
 NS> and O'Neill.  Drug induced? Check out the next one he comes up with.)
 NS> 1. Puckett

 NS> Round 5:
 NS> 1. Gwynn (Another fine right fielder :-)

The smiley is there because, for some reason, Tony is associated with the kiss of death for a team. Inexplicably, teams with Tony seem to lose.

 NS> 2. Swindell (A mind is a terrible thing to waste...)
 NS> 3. Mack
 NS> 4. Villanueva (Unbelievable.  He could have had the Outfield From
 NS> Hell, Thomas, *and* Villanueva)

Yes, folks. That's Hector Villanueva. Remember, in TBA tournaments, there are no usage restrictions. If a player is eligible to be drafted (200 plate appearances for all position players except catchers (175 for them)), he can play *every* *day*. The only detraction from Hector is his weak arm...

 NS>  5. Julio Franco (since he's a 4 at 2b,
 NS> this is way too early) 6. Justice (Oh yeah, this guy was available in
 NS> rf too) 7. D. Henderson (Kind of early, but really crunched me in cf)
 NS> 8. W. Clark 9. Benes Me: Belcher (despite all those starters getting
 NS> picked, this guy...

 NS> Round 6:
 NS> Me: G. W. Harris (... and this guy were available.  In fact, I was
 NS>                     debating whether to pick "the good Harris" or
 NS>                     Tom Candiotti.)

 NS> 9. Calderon (way too early)
 NS> 8. Stanton
 NS> 7. R. Martinez
 NS> 6. Reynolds (I don't understand this one)
 NS> 5. Harnisch
 NS> 4. Harvey (I don't know.  He should have gotten two starters with this
 NS>              pick and the next, IMHO)
 NS> 3. Melendez
 NS> 2. Glavine (Another lefty.  Drugs, or death wish?  You make the
 NS> call...)

Left-handers have the unfortunate tendency as a group to get smoked in tournaments.

 NS>  1. Hrbek (Hmmm... Gagne, Puckett, and Hrbek.  Wonder if it
 NS> had anything with the Twins jersey he was wearing?  Nah, couldn't be.)

 NS> Round 7:
 NS> 1. Santiago (Wow!  Let's see how many more great-defense/bad-offense
 NS>                players we can draft!)
 NS> 2. Reed (way too early.  Not even the worst pick of the round.  See
 NS> #7) 3. Hamilton (Mr. Mega-clutch) 4. Mitchell (His 1st baseman, when
 NS> Palmeiro is available.  Oh well...) 5. Langston (*another* lefty!
 NS> Hee, hee) 6. Miller (a decent 3rd baseman.  Maybe #4 should have taken
 NS> Thomas after all and taken Miller in the 7th) 7. Pagnozzi (DRUG
 NS> INDUCED PICK OF THE ROUND) 8. Boggs 9. Kelly Me: Candiotti (Gee, I
 NS> guess I didn't have to decide after all)

 NS> Round 8:
 NS> Me: Strawberry (Too bad D. Henderson was gone.  He would have been
 NS>                   perfect here.  Then I would have had someone with a
 NS>                   reasonable amount of hits on his card)

The pick that ensured a loss in the finals. Still lacking a centerfielder, he goes for a bad defensive, marginal offensive player in what was still a deep position. Seeing pick number eight in this round, you should be kicking yourself. Hard.

 NS> 9. Avery (Lefties, lefties, lefties...)
 NS> 8. M. Thompson (Uncle Miltie's gone too?  Great, *now* what am I going
 NS>                   to do for a center fielder?)
 NS> 7. E. Martinez
 NS> 6. Bosio
 NS> 5. Hurst
 NS> 4. Fassero
 NS> 3. Bailes

The only two excellent backwards lefties (read: pitch better vs. RH batters than left) leave in a flash.

 NS> 2. Kruk
 NS> 1. Tapani (Twinkie, twinkie, little star...)

 NS> Round 9:
 NS> 1. Wegman
 NS> 2. Aguilera
 NS> 3. Randolph
 NS> 4. T. Fernandez
 NS> 5. Gray
 NS> 6. Howell
 NS> 7. Henke
 NS> 8. 0 homer, 0 single park (Actually, this park made my life easier,
 NS> since) I was thinking about using a pick very soon to take the 20/20
 NS> park.  This allowed me to get some *really* good players instead)

Some explanation is in order. As we play with the sup-ad diamonds and triangles, all teams must draft a ballpark. The first team to do so may 'design their own' by merely naming the dimensions. All other teams must draft existing ballparks. IMHO, round nine is *much* too early not to take a player with a draft pick.

 NS>  9.
 NS> Karkovice (DIPOR) Me: Palmeiro (The third best 1st baseman in the set.
 NS> Still a little early for 1st, but it *is* Palmeiro!)

Not at all. Palmeiro is a steal in the ninth. The bozo picks on the other end of the draft help immensely.

 NS> Round 10:
 NS> Me: Phillips (Whitaker's caddy and HoJo's defensive replacement)

Another player who shouldn't have been around that long.

 NS> 9. O'Neill (Finally!)
 NS> 8. O. Nixon
 NS> 7. Lind
 NS> 6. Da. Martinez
 NS> 5. D. White (Oops, forgot about him.  Still, he stinks vs. Righties)
 NS> 4. J. McDowell
 NS> 3. Gott
 NS> 2. Bagwell
 NS> 1. Smiley (Geez, even Twins-to-be! :-)

 NS> Round 11:
 NS> 1. A. Cole
 NS> 2. Cerone
 NS> 3. M. Jackson
 NS> 4. Galliego
 NS> 5. Joyner
 NS> 6. Dunston
 NS> 7. Schofield (DIPOR)
 NS> 8. Guillen
 NS> 9. Biggio
 NS> Me: McClendon (Palmeiro's caddy and Tettleton's backup)

A one dimensional slug to ride the bench. 11th rd pick used *once* in the final series. Sheesh.

 NS> Round 12:
 NS> Me: Berenguer (One of the best relievers in the set, and I got him
 NS>                  3 rounds after Henke, Aggie, et. al)
 NS> 9. Innis (Let the run on right-handed relievers...)
 NS> 8. Eichhorn (...begin)
 NS> 7. E. Davis (Foolish mortal!  He already had Henke, but he could have
 NS>                taken someone better than Eric Davis.  DIPOR)
 NS> 6. Ward
 NS> 5. Mitch Williams
 NS> 4. Swift
 NS> 3. Scioscia
 NS> 2. Farr
 NS> 1. Eckersley

 NS> Round 13:
 NS> 1. Brady Anderson (DIPOR.  The cards are based on the *'91* season.
 NS>                      Maybe he likes the sideburns :-)
 NS> 2. Zeile
 NS> 3. Slaught
 NS> 4. Daulton
 NS> 5. I. Rodriguez
 NS> 6. Fielder
 NS> 7. Terry (Picking a RH reliever after forgoing one in the last round.)
 NS> 8. Barfield
 NS> 9. McGee
 NS> Me: Trammel (My ss)

 NS> Round 14:
 NS> Me: Frowirth (I think I messed up here.  I should have picked...)

You did well. See below.

 NS> 9. Molitor
 NS> 8. Radinsky
 NS> 7. Key
 NS> 6. Flanagan (...this guy.  I think either Frohwirth or Habyan would
 NS> have slid to me)

Frohwirth would not have. Either Dave (team 4) or John (team 3) would have snapped Frohwirth. Habyan is a poor substitute for Todd.

 NS>  5. J. Carter 4. G. Harris ("The bad Harris" from
 NS> Boston) 3. Belinda 2. M. Maddux 1. Erickson

 NS> Round 15:
 NS> 1. Assenmacher
 NS> 2. J. Gonzalez (TEX)
 NS> 3. Boston (Eek! Another center fielder!)

It's round fifteen here. If you don't have a CF by now, it's *your* fault.

 NS> 4. Albert Belle
 NS> 5. McElroy
 NS> 6. H. Morris (a steal)
 NS> 7. Osuna
 NS> 8. Buhner (a *real* steal)

Not so's you'd notice. Remember, this is the 0-0 team.

 NS> 9. Habyan (yup.  One of them probably comes around to me.)

And if you'd let Frohwirth go before, you'd be rather miffed now. :)

 NS> Me: MacDonald (The only good backwards lefty remaining, believe it or
 NS>                  not.)

 NS> Round 16:
 NS> Me: D. Jackson (Prospectively, my starting cf.  However, that changed
 NS>                   with Round 26)
 NS> 9. Mulholland
 NS> 8. Cuyler
 NS> 7. Charlton
 NS> 6. Buechele
 NS> 5. Gant
 NS> 4. A. Pena
 NS> 3. Wells
 NS> 2. Sanderson
 NS> 1. Newman (even Ex-Twinkies! :-)

 NS> Round 17:

 NS> 1. Cleveland Municipal Stadium (way too early.)
 NS> 2. Fryman
 NS> 3. Nichols
 NS> 4. Gibson
 NS> 5. Reardon
 NS> 6. Dawson
 NS> 7. Lee Smith
 NS> 8. Pecota
 NS> 9. Blauser
 NS> Me: Pasqua (A steal.  My lf against righties that kill righties)

 NS> Round 18:

 NS> Me: Pall ("Pope" Don Pall.  My backwards righty ["backwards" means
 NS> that he gets out batters who hit the opposite of what he throws]) 9.
 NS> Grace 8. Sasser 7. Oquendo 6. K. Patterson 5. Bichette ('91 stats!
 NS> '91!) 4. Bergman 3. Eisenreich (Called "The Tick" by team #4.
 NS> Sometimes the nicknames are so cruel they're funny.) 2. Dibble 1. Bip
 NS> Roberts

 NS> Round 19:

 NS> 1. Randy Myers
 NS> 2. Gregg Olson (BAL)
 NS> 3. Palmer (An unbelievable steal.)

For the curious, Dean has a tendency to hit homeruns - lots of 'em - against left hand pitchers. Although not destined to get a lot of playing time, Dean's presence on the bench keeps RH pitchers in the game...

 NS> 4. Caminitti
 NS> 5. Timlin
 NS> 6. G. Pena
 NS> 7. McReynolds
 NS> 8. Spiers
 NS> 9. T. Wilson
 NS> 10. Righetti

 NS> Round 20:
 NS> Me: Huff (My cf in pitchers parks.  Or so I thought)

A disgusting thought, naturally.

 NS> 9. Appier
 NS> 8. Gallagher
 NS> 7. Sveum
 NS> 6. Willis
 NS> 5. J. Russell
 NS> 4. Ritchie
 NS> 3. Baines
 NS> 2. Tomlin
 NS> 1. Brunansky

 NS> Round 21:
 NS> 1. Bill Landrum
 NS> 2. Sax
 NS> 3. B. Smith
 NS> 4. Lancaster
 NS> 5. Sojo
 NS> 6. Chili Davis (another steal)
 NS> 7. Magadan
 NS> 8. Guerrero
 NS> 9. Grissom
 NS> Me: Guetterman (In lieu of having one really good leftie, I took two
 NS>                   mediocre ones.  If only I had taken Flanagan)

 NS> Round 22:
 NS> Me: Wrigley Field (Maybe a little early, but I didn't want to take
 NS>                      any chances)
 NS> 9. Baerga ('91, guys!)
 NS> 8. Gooden
 NS> 7. Maldonado
 NS> 6. Nokes
 NS> 5. Harper
 NS> 4. Sharperson
 NS> 3. Fossas
 NS> 2. Greg Olson
 NS> 1. Lance Parrish (So, with two catchers who have guns, who does he
 NS> take next?)

 NS> Round 23:
 NS> 1. T. Pena (DIPOR)
 NS> 2. Dodger Stadium (Could have waited until his last pick for this)
 NS> 3. Houston Astrodome
 NS> 4. DeJesus (decent pitcher, but those walks.  I once had to have him
 NS>               for my #2 pitcher.  Ouch.)
 NS> 5. Jose
 NS> 6. Riverfront Stadium (He thought Toronto was already taken)
 NS> 7. J. Murphy Stadium
 NS> 8. Reyes
 NS> 9. Burke
 NS> Me: Grebeck (Trammel's caddy.  Actually, Grebeck played 2nd and
 NS> Phillips played ss.  I had so many players that could play
 NS> each position someone nicknamed my team "Team Pretzel" :-)

 NS> Round 24:
 NS> Me: Murray (I should have picked Chito Martinez.  Though I did hit
 NS>               Murray's 2-6 hr split to beat Bryan Harvey in the
 NS> finals, so I guess I shouldn't complain.)
 NS>  9. George Bell 8.
 NS> Hillegas 7. Hoiles 6. Hammond 5. Knoublach 4. Surhoff 3. Ken Hill 2.
 NS> Olerud 1. McGwire

 NS> Round 25:
 NS> 1. DeLeon (a fine pick in the 25th round)
 NS> 2. Benzinger
 NS> 3. Valle
 NS> 4. Toronto Skydome
 NS> 5. Fenway Park
 NS> 6. Moore
 NS> 7. Carpenter
 NS> 8. Machado
 NS> 9. Smoltz
 NS> Me: Jack Morris (I apologized to team #1 :-)

 NS> Round 26:
 NS> Me: Steve Finley (solved a lot of problems in cf.  Now I could field a
 NS>                     team of 7 lefties if necessary)

What a joke. Steve Finley being drafted in the *last* round. This player was drafted about 10 rounds later than he should've been.

 NS> 9. Veterans Stadium
 NS> 8. Gruber
 NS> 7. Templeton
 NS> 6. Raines
 NS> 5. Dw. Evans
 NS> 4. Cadaret
 NS> 3. Schumpert
 NS> 2. Doran
 NS> 1. Montgomery

Be glad to have gotten the team you did.

At any rate, for the others out there, this should give you some idea of how a draft is conducted.

Joel