Tag Archives: simulation

Cleveland Tops L.A. In Strat-O-Matic MLB Simulation Season

Terry Francona (credit: Arturo Pardavillo III)

The 2020 baseball season will be unlike any other, a 60-game sprint that began last night replacing the normal 162-game grind. And just as that means different strategies and maybe a different outcome than a full slate would have produced, Strat-O-Matic’s (www.strat-o-matic.com) simulation of the truncated schedule meant a new winner, as Cleveland topped Los Angeles, four games to two, in the World Series.

Cleveland, which posted the second-best A.L. record at 39-21, swept No. 7 Boston (29-31) in the expanded first round and No. 3 Tampa Bay (38-22) in the ALDS, then survived a seven-game series with No. 1 Houston (44-16) in the NLCS before topping Los Angeles (44-16), the N.L. top seed, winning the last three games to erase a 2-1 series deficit. Domingo Santana was a surprise hero, batting .417 with two homers in the series, and Franmil Reyes slugged three round-trippers for the winners.

Major award winners were as follows:

AL MVP: Carlos Correa, Houston

NL MVP: Kris Bryant, Chicago

AL Cy Young: Charlie Morton, Tampa Bay

NL Cy Young: Mike Foltynewicz, Atlanta

AL Rookie of the Year: Luis Robert, Chicago

NL Rookie of the Year: Alec Bohm, Philadelphia

This was in contrast to the full season simulation that Strat-O-Matic conducted day-by-day since March and completed this week, in which the Dodgers defeated Houston in the finals. The expanded 16-team playoff Fans can access the full 2020 “short” season at https://www.strat-o-matic.com/announcements/2020-60-game-season-simulation/ and full season simulation standings, statistics and game results at https://www.strat-o-matic.com/2020-season-simulation/.

“We figured there would be a difference between the 162- game and 60-game simulations, but Cleveland winning is certainly a surprise,” said Hal Richman, Strat-O-Matic founder. “The upcoming ‘sprint’ season and expanded playoffs mean that truly anything can happen, and Cleveland winning it all for the first time in more than 70 years certainly qualifies.”

Some other statistics and items of note from the season:

  • Daniel Murphy of Colorado (.380) and Xander Bogaerts of Boston (.345) won the league batting titles, respectively
  • Joey Gallo of Texas got on a home run roll, blasting 17, matched by his N.L. counterpart, Kris Bryant of Chicago. Carlos Correa of Houston knocked in 46 runs to lead the A.L., and Eduardo Escobar had 39 RBI to pace the N.L.
  • Charlie Morton won an A.L.-high 9 games for Tampa Bay, while Jack Flaherty’s 10 wins for St. Louis led all of baseball.
  • Atlanta’s Mike Foltynewicz posted a miniscule 1.27 ERA, best in baseball, while Gerrit Cole of New York led the A.L. at a stingy 1.51.
  • Four pitchers had 20 saves: Roberto Osuna, Houston; Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles (N.L.); Hector Neris, Philadelphia; and Daniel Hudson, Washington
  • Division winners were Tampa Bay (38-22), Cleveland (39-21), Houston (44-16), Atlanta (38-22), St. Louis (39-21) and Los Angeles (44-16). 
  • Seven of the first-round series were sweeps, six of those won by the home team/higher seed. Only No. 7 Colorado’s win over No. 2 St. Louis went the full three games.

Strat-O-Matic has experienced unprecedented growth over the past quarter, registering sharp increases in sales, traffic and social numbers. Board and Windows games, digital platform Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365, Website traffic, new users and social media have all seen significant boosts over comparable time periods as fans continue to satiate their thirst for baseball, Strat-O-Matic style, connecting with the game and each other across all of these areas.

Strat-O-Matic Baseball Simulation: Trout, Freeman, Morton, Scherzer Earn June Awards

Mike Trout (Credit: Keith Allison)

As Strat-O-Matic’s (www.strat-o-matic.com) simulation of the 2020 baseball season moves past the halfway point and with the All-Star Game less than two weeks away, award winners for June were announced today. Mike Trout of Los Angeles and Freddie Freeman of Atlanta were selected as A.L. and N.L. Players of the Month, respectively, while Charlie Morton of Tampa Bay and Max Scherzer of Washington earned League Pitcher of the Month honors.

Tampa Bay (53-34, 9.5 game lead over New York), Cleveland (54-32, nine games ahead of MInnesota), Houston (MLB-best 56-28, six games ahead of Oakland), Washington (51-35, six games better than Atlanta) and Los Angeles (57-29, 8.5 lengths past San Diego) remain atop their respective divisions, while Milwaukee (45-39) moved into the N.L. Central lead with a 14-11 month, percentage points ahead of Chicago (46-40), a game ahead of St. Louis and four better than Cincinnati in the tightest division race to date. Strat-O-Matic updates results and standings daily at www.strat-o-matic.com/2020-season-simulation/.

Trout earned the A.L. honors by hitting .327 with 10 home runs and 24 RBI in the month, while posting a 1.136 OPS. Freeman was even better, slashing .378/.461/.724 for a 1.185 OPS in June. Morton won all four of his decisions, pitching to a 1.06 ERA and 0.82 WHIP, fanning 36 across 34 innings, while Scherzer went 5-1 with a 1.89 ERA and 0.95 WHIP, whiffing 53 in 38 innings in the month.

The wild card races are very tight in both leagues, with Oakland (51-35) in first place in the A.L., Minnesota (45-41) one game up on Kansas City (44-42) for the second spot, two ahead of New York (43-43), 2.5 up on Los Angeles (42-43) and three ahead of Boston (42-44). In the Senior Circuit, San Diego (48-37) sets the pace, with Central-leading Milwaukee (45-39) and Chicago (46-40) a game better than St. Louis and Atlanta (45-41) and three ahead of Arizona (43-43) for the second slot.

Some of the individual league leaders through June 30 include:

  • Shogo Akiyama, Cincinnati, N.L. batting (.349);
  • Nick Madrigal, Chicago, A.L. batting (.342)
  • Trevor Story, Colorado, N.L. home runs (31); runs (75)
  • Jorge Soler, Kansas City, A.L. home runs (31); RBI (91)
  • Keston Hiura, Milwaukee, N.L. RBI (73)
  • Mike Trout, Los Angeles, A.L. runs (77)
  • Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles, N.L. victories (12); ERA (2.25)
  • Danny Duffy, Kansas City, A.L. victories (10)
  • Gerrit Cole, New York, A.L. victories (10); strikeouts (158)
  • Blake Snell, Tampa Bay, A.L. ERA (2.18)
  • Jacob deGrom, New York, N.L. strikeouts (153)

“Just like on the field, the teams have started to separate themselves at the top of each division, but there are still close races and unexpected results in the Strat-O-Matic simulation of the season,” said Hal Richman, Strat-O-Matic founder. “With some of the league’s superstars like Mike Trout, Max Scherzer and Clayon Kershaw among the leaders along with newer faces in Shogo Akiyama, Nick Madrigal and Keston Hiura, the last three months of the season should be as exciting and interesting as the first three have been.”

Monthly winners to date:

  • A.L. Player: Jorge Soler (April), Jorge Soler (May), Mike Trout (June)
  • N.L. Player: Trevor Story (April), Daniel Murphy (May), Freddie Freeman (June)
  • A.L. Pitcher: Blake Snell (April), Kenta Maeda (May), Charlie Morton (June)
  • N.L. Pitcher: Stephen Strasburg (April), Luke Weaver (May), Max Scherzer (June)

About Strat-O-Matic

Strat-O-Matic was invented by 11-year-old Hal Richman in his bedroom in Great Neck, N.Y. in 1948 as a result of his frustration with the statistical randomness of other baseball board games. He discovered that the statistical predictability of dice would give his game the realism he craved.

Strat-O-Matic 365 Adds League Commissioner Feature For Baseball, Football Online Games

credit: Mike Morbeck

With live sports still on hold (though hopefully coming back soon!), fantasy leagues have been looking for ways to keep their members together, combining their love of baseball and football with the camaraderie that goes with participating with friends. And for the first time, the popular Baseball 365 and Football 365 products from Strat-O-Matic (www.strat-o-matic.com), the market leader in sports simulations, give commissioners the tools to manage leagues of recent and all-time great rosters, with games simulated daily, just like regular fantasy sports.

Commissioner league users can invite specific guests to compete, incorporate league settings, draft teams at any pace, and even fill out spots with computer-controlled “bot” teams. Players serve as GM and manager, setting lineups, pitching rotations and managing styles (baseball) or starters, schemes and tendencies (football) for a realistic fantasy experience.

Baseball 365 Commissioner leagues can choose from the 2019 season, a new “All-Time Greats 9” set of more than 5,300 cards, additional single-seasons of 1982, 1986, 1999, 2007 through  2018, or mystery card sets from every decade from the 1960s through the 1990s. Football featured cards include the 2018 season, as well as an All-Time Franchises set with greats dating all the way back to the 1940s.

“Many Strat-O-Matic players are also huge fantasy sports fans, and just like Strat-O-Matic leagues stay together for years, a lot of the fun of fantasy is playing with your friends” said John Garcia, Strat-O-Matic’s Director of Research and exec-in-charge of 365. “There’s nowhere else to go right now to buy out a fantasy league in baseball or football with your friends.”

“The Commissioner leagues combine the excitement and strategy of Baseball 365 and Football 365 with the convenience and control that keep leagues and friends together,” said Bernie Hou, Director of 365 for Strat-O-Matic.

Strat-O-Matic Baseball Selected By People.com as ‘Best Board Game for Sports Lovers’ For 2020

Strat-O-Matic Baseball

Strat-O-Matic (www.strat-o-matic.com), the market leader in sports simulations, continued an unparalleled month of growth and recognition this week, being selected by People.com as “Best Board Game for Sports Lovers” amongst their list of iconic games that have gained steam during these unusual times. The list includes other classics such as Monopoly, Candor, Scrabble and Candy Land. The entire list can be seen here https://people.com/entertainment/best-board-games/

“While the events of the last six weeks are certainly not what anyone wanted or expected, we continue to forge ahead by providing quality and engaging content on a daily basis, not just for our traditional players, but for thousands of new consumers of every demographic who have found us for the first time or returned to us after time away,” said Hal Richman, Strat-O-Matic founder and president. “We are honored to make this list. and are continuing to find new ways to have consumers connect not just with us but with each other; a connection that we believe will continue into the future.”

Strat-O-Matic is also continuing to run daily MLB 2020 season simulations at http://www.strat-o-matic.com/2020-season-simulation/ as well as full simulations of the NBA Playoffs. Basketball results and boxscores can be seen at http://www.strat-o-matic.com/2020-basketball-playoffs/

In addition to the recognition, the increased interest is also reflected in sales, traffic and social numbers, which continue on the upswing. Board and Windows games, digital platform Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365, Website traffic, new users and social media have all seen significant boosts over comparable time periods as fans continue to satiate their thirst for baseball, Strat-O-Matic style, connecting with the game and each other across all of these areas.

Some Strat-O-Matic by the numbers highlights include:

  • Baseball Board and Windows platform sales from March 15-31, 2020, are more than 50% higher compared to the same time period in 2019
  • Baseball Board game product sales are more than 60% higher comparing second half of March 2020 to first half of March 2020
  • Baseball Windows platform sales are more than 45% higher comparing second half of March 2020 to first half of March 2020
  • New Members on Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365 are more than 75% higher between March 17-31, 2020, compared to the same time period in 2019
  • Traffic on Strat-O-Matic.com from March 27, 2020, was 472% higher compared to March 27, 2019
  • Since MLB’s scheduled March 26 Opening Day, traffic on Strat-O-Matic.com has been 380% higher compared to the same time frame of 2019
  • Since MLB’s scheduled March 26 Opening Day, new users on Strat-O-Matic.com have been 781% higher compared to the same time frame of 2019

Fans with questions about any facet of the Baseball Daily and Basketball simulations can contact Strat-O-Matic at [email protected].