Roger Freed...oh my!

That's a pretty good Strat-o memory you have. Not sure I would have punched Dave Silverman, either, but I know a few other more-irrational Strat-o buddies who would surely have taken a swing at him in similar circumstances. I have indeed heard stories of Strat-o brawls from a few fellow fanatics throughout the years.

You are right about Freed, but we decided to forego any warnings about overusing Freed and included him in all of our 1978 leagues (using '77 cards). Since we drafted those "All-Star" teams, Freed was always the first selection. I had Freed on my teams a few times, and opposing managers would often intentionally walk Freed rather than let me roll the dice, and I would sometimes do the same if I was pitching to Freed in leagues where he was on opposing teams. A couple of times we had "All-Star" leagues where we would combine teams from several years, such as the the '74-75-76-77-78 Cardinals (as an example), and in those cases we would have the teams remain as they were, all Giants, all Cubs, all Tigers, etc. The Cardinals were always in demand simply because of that Freed card from the '78 set. In those leagues, players would often play against themselves, when a much-traded guy like Bobby Bonds could be on as many as 4 different teams.

As for Freed, Barry Bonds had nothing on him, Strat-o wise, that is. Freed inspired fear and awe in all Strat-o managers, sort of a Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth rolled into one.

I always thought the Strat-o game designers had a little bit of a devilish streak in them to include cards like Freed's and that of Pepe Frias the following year. There was a set of "extra" players we could buy every season, I'm not sure if Freed was one of those for the '78 set but I know Pepe was one from the 1979 set. Pepe's card was, if possible, even more menacing than Freed's, and the most-unique we had ever seen. Nothing came close. In 15 at bats (that's all), Pepe lashed two doubles, a triple, and a single, so his card, if memory serves me correct, had doubles at juicy numbers like 1-6, 1-7, and 1-8, the same on the 3 column, with triples at 1-9 and 1-10, and 3-9 and 3-10 (I believe), and maybe another spot. All prime numbers!

Frias' card was so fun that we used him like any player, even though he had only a handful of at-bats that season. We were, however, sticklers for pitchers and how long they could pitch. Their "limits" were always listed on the back of the card, and the only exceptions we would make is if the pitcher was throwing a no-hitter beyind his allotted innings. Indeed, the only Strat-o no-hitter I ever had came with Ron Reed, of all pitchers (the '76 card, I think), and his limit was only 5 innings. But he stayed in that game because he was throwing a no-no, and I believe it was the only "perfecto" in my Strat-o history.

Interestingly, good relievers in those days, like Sutter and Gossage, usually had 3-inning limits. Some relievers had 2 inning limits. I haven't seen a new Strat-o card in over 20 years, but I bet most of the top relievers have 1 inning for their Strat-o max, because that's all most of the closers work these days.

In old Strat-o lore, Freed and Frias are legendary. And to this day, some of our old Strat-o buddies have similar memories. Freed's passing a few years ago was acknowledged by all of us who played in the league that year ("Did Roger Freed really die yesterday???!!!???"), hoping it wasn't true. The same with Jim Spencer, who had a legendary Strat-o power card from '79, I believe. Upon his passing not long ago, Dave Mault, one of our old Strat-o buddies and still involved with me in rotisserie and fantasy leagues, sent emails to all of the old Strat-o bunch, with a message something like this: "Jim Spencer, RIP. P.S.--1-7, GONE! 1-8, GONE! 1-9, GONE!"

Something tells me a Strat-o website, where guys could reminisce and tell their own Strat-o tales, might be a big hit. Maybe one already exists. I'll be checking...