SI.com's "Things We Miss in Baseball."

We had the 1987 cards. Great season because of the homers of course. My cousin recreated a season when he went off to college. The stats were pretty close to their cards. Tim Burke was fucking amazing that season and his card was absurd. You couldn't get a hit off of his card. And he didn't walk anyone. Tim Burke. He converted a Gagne-esque 50 out of 50 saves or something that season (which of course was not close to his actual stats).

The most annoying card was Jack Clark's. Had about 15 walks on his card, even in the primer home run slots, like 1-5.

Haven't gone through all the pages yet, has anyone mentioned The Baseball Bunch?

 

When it came to baseball simulations, I was a Pursue The Pennant man.

I still have the complete, original limited edition set from the '84 season, though the box is in a bad way. I got subsequent seasonal cards, which were much more involved, and converted the '84 cards to the new version.

Greatest game I've ever had. Being the nerd I am, I've tried to replicate the experience on various platforms, including video games, ever since. Right now I'm playing a '78 tournament on my High Heat PC game, the closest video game approximation of the board games I ever came across.

But why take my word for it when celebrity endorsers Bob McClure and Jim Gantner play PTP too!

 

Other Strat-O memories:
We eventually got the 1994 cards, but didn't use them much as we matured and stopped playing the game. Actually we just kept using the 1987 cards. But the 1994 cards produced the only no-hitter we ever had in Strat-o, which had to have been hundreds of games. And the pitcher? the immortal - and fat - David West. He had about six walks, but tossed a no-no. My buddy stopped playing for a month after having his team suffer that indignity.

* A friendship nearly ended because of Houston closer Dave Smith. One of our buddies got bored with the game and upset that he was low in the standings. He had crappy starters. So he would bring Smith in like the fourth inning and use him the entire game. We tried to be true to real baseball and this was a complete disgrace. We eventually stopped playing when he'd bring him in so early and he went home in a huff and didn't return for a few weeks.

* Paul Molitor could not field anything in 1987 but had an amazing card, so my cousin always had him at second base. he must have averaged an error every other game, but he'd also get two hits each game.

* I crumpled up Alan Ashby's card into a tiny ball and threw it across the basement when he struck out with the bases loaded in a Game 7 against my cousin.

* THe best memory was the "draft." We'd take all the cards and throw them into a huge pile, then have a blind drawing. We'd take like 50 guys, then have to cut your team down to 25. Teams could trade before the teams were cut down to 25.

* I tore up one of the little number cards when it gave me a 20. I forget what stadium we were playing in, but 1-15 would have been a homer, which would have won the game. And I drew a fucking 20. Ripped it up, which of course played havoc because from then on we always knew which one was the 20.

* We'd have to pick managers for our team. My favorite choice ever was my cousin's choice of Roger Ebert. He'd never say anything, simply give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down when we'd ask him what he was thinking. I had Earl Weaver one year, who, oddly was nicknamed The Bantam Rooster, at least according to a book I had as a kid. Then I found an old toy that played various animal sounds, including the rooster. I waited until the right moment and when one of my guys went deep, I pulled that thing out, pulled the string and my teammate was taunted with "The Rooster says, 'Cockadooooooodledo."

None of us had girlfriends during these years.

 

Why not?

 

I want to go back in time and be friends with your younger self.

 

Billy Ripken's "Fuck Face" card.

 

I only got 8 on the card quiz.

I feel shame.

 

Sadly - I did better on the WWF quiz than the baseball card quiz.

 

Ha, just listening to Ashby doing the Jays-Yankees game on the radio.

 

I'm not sure who's more likely to kill you: IJAG...or A_QB for stealing his schtick!

 

I didn't know Dennis DeYoung played for the Indians.

EDIT: Not my schtick anymore. IJAG told me to stop or I'd wake up in an alley missing a kidney.