From: nss3@kimbark.uchicago.edu (Noel Steere)
Subject: (LONG) My adventures at the Chi. Strat Tourn.
Reply-To: nss3@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 08:03:06 GMT

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

If you're interested in playing in a tournament, feel free to drop the
Tournament Director a line.  His name is John Kreuz and his address
is:

John Kreuz
TBA
4732 Laurel
Glenview, IL 60025

His Ph # is (708) 635-6747

Cost:
Adult: $90
18-22 yrs.: $60
<18 yrs.: $30

Tournaments are going to be played all over the country, so it's
likely one will be played near where you live.  Prize money is usually
given the the top two players in each division, with additional money
given to the Tournament Champion.

I should add that John has asked me to say that only people who are
serious about playing should call.  The tournament is a rather intense
schedule: Draft team at 8:00 am Sat.  Play 14-20 games Sat aft/eve.
Play in finals on Sunday.  It's more Strat than you can shake a stick
at! :-)

Anyway, here's the draft list.  You pick 25 players and 1 stadium.
The first stadium picked can be tailored to the manager's tastes, but
the L/R splits must be equal (People used to pick parks where
everything was a hit/homer for a lefty/righty and out for the other).
You must have a backup for each position (though not necessarily
someone you would actually play there, as you'll see):

Round 1:
1. Sandberg (Huh????  The three shortstops usually go 1,2,3.) 
2. Larkin
3. Ripken
4. Bonds (Interesting.  I'd take O. Smith, and I love power
            as much as this guy, but Bonds would be next)
5. O. Smith
6. Griffey
7. McGriff (Before Frank, wow.  What a waste of a pick.)
8. Clemens (Before *Ryan*)
9. Ryan
Me: Tettleton (A fine player...)

Round 2:
Me: Whitaker (Early for a platoon player, but...)
9. R. Thompson
8. Alomar (Those next two picks made me feel a *little* better :-)
7. Morgan (Another pitcher.  How quaint :-)
6. MacFarlane
5. Canseco (Before Tartabull.  Unbelievable.)
4. Tartabull
3. Dykstra
2. Cone
1. Ventura (One of the few good picks this guy made.  However,
              it soon became clear that he wasn't drafting based
              on talent)

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

Round 4:
Me: R. Henderson (He and K. Mitchell are the only two good LFs after
                    Bonds that can play both ways.  Little was I to know
                    what I was to get in the 17th round...)
9. J. Bell
8. Greene
7. Maddux
6. De. Martinez
5. Juan Guzman (4 pitchers in a row before the 5th round.  Gag.)
4. Bonilla (passing up a chance on...)
3. Thomas (Bonilla was the last good 3b though)
2. Sierra (Before Straw, Buhner, and O'Neill.  Drug induced? Check out
             the next one he comes up with.)
1. Puckett 

Round 5:
1. Gwynn (Another fine right fielder :-)
2. Swindell (A mind is a terrible thing to waste...)
3. Mack
4. Villanueva (Unbelievable.  He could have had the Outfield From Hell,
                 Thomas, *and* Villanueva)
5. Julio Franco (since he's a 4 at 2b, this is way too early)
6. Justice (Oh yeah, this guy was available in rf too)
7. D. Henderson (Kind of early, but really crunched me in cf)
8. W. Clark
9. Benes
Me: Belcher (despite all those starters getting picked, this guy...

Round 6:
Me: G. W. Harris (... and this guy were available.  In fact, I was
                    debating whether to pick "the good Harris" or
                    Tom Candiotti.)
9. Calderon (way too early)
8. Stanton
7. R. Martinez
6. Reynolds (I don't understand this one)
5. Harnisch
4. Harvey (I don't know.  He should have gotten two starters with this
             pick and the next, IMHO)
3. Melendez
2. Glavine (Another lefty.  Drugs, or death wish?  You make the call...)
1. Hrbek (Hmmm... Gagne, Puckett, and Hrbek.  Wonder if it had anything
            with the Twins jersey he was wearing?  Nah, couldn't be.)

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

Round 8:
Me: Strawberry (Too bad D. Henderson was gone.  He would have been 
                  perfect here.  Then I would have had someone with a
                  reasonable amount of hits on his card)
9. Avery (Lefties, lefties, lefties...)
8. M. Thompson (Uncle Miltie's gone too?  Great, *now* what am I going
                  to do for a center fielder?)
7. E. Martinez
6. Bosio
5. Hurst
4. Fassero
3. Bailes
2. Kruk
1. Tapani (Twinkie, twinkie, little star...)

Round 9:
1. Wegman
2. Aguilera
3. Randolph
4. T. Fernandez
5. Gray
6. Howell
7. Henke
8. 0 homer, 0 single park (Actually, this park made my life easier, since)
                             I was thinking about using a pick very soon
                             to take the 20/20 park.  This allowed me to get
                             some *really* good players instead)
9. Karkovice (DIPOR)
Me: Palmeiro (The third best 1st baseman in the set.  Still a little early
                for 1st, but it *is* Palmeiro!)

Round 10:
Me: Phillips (Whitaker's caddy and HoJo's defensive replacement)
9. O'Neill (Finally!)
8. O. Nixon
7. Lind
6. Da. Martinez
5. D. White (Oops, forgot about him.  Still, he stinks vs. Righties)
4. J. McDowell
3. Gott
2. Bagwell
1. Smiley (Geez, even Twins-to-be! :-)

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

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

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

Round 14:
Me: Frowirth (I think I messed up here.  I should have picked...)
9. Molitor
8. Radinsky
7. Key
6. Flanagan (...this guy.  I think either Frohwirth or Habyan would have
               slid to me)
5. J. Carter
4. G. Harris ("The bad Harris" from Boston)
3. Belinda
2. M. Maddux
1. Erickson

Round 15:
1. Assenmacher
2. J. Gonzalez (TEX)
3. Boston (Eek! Another center fielder!)
4. Albert Belle
5. McElroy
6. H. Morris (a steal)
7. Osuna
8. Buhner (a *real* steal)
9. Habyan (yup.  One of them probably comes around to me.)
Me: MacDonald (The only good backwards lefty remaining, believe it or
                 not.)

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

Round 17:

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

Round 18:

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

Round 19:

1. Randy Myers
2. Gregg Olson (BAL)
3. Palmer (An unbelievable steal.)
4. Caminitti
5. Timlin
6. G. Pena
7. McReynolds
8. Spiers
9. T. Wilson
10. Righetti

Round 20:
Me: Huff (My cf in pitchers parks.  Or so I thought)
9. Appier
8. Gallagher
7. Sveum
6. Willis
5. J. Russell
4. Ritchie
3. Baines
2. Tomlin
1. Brunansky

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

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

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

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

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

Round 26:
Me: Steve Finley (solved a lot of problems in cf.  Now I could field a
                    team of 7 lefties if necessary)
9. Veterans Stadium
8. Gruber
7. Templeton
6. Raines
5. Dw. Evans
4. Cadaret
3. Schumpert
2. Doran
1. Montgomery


Noel Steere                  |...of the Dave Rossing fan club
GM/Manager, New York Knights |Knights' Run Total: 467 Runs in 93 games
Internet Baseball League     |Projected Season Total: 813  Target: 1000!
nss3@midway.uchicago.edu     |HECTOR VILLANUEVA FOR PRESIDENT
                             |(Heck, the Cubs sure aren't using him!)


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