Strat-O-Matic game fanatics eager to roll the dice again

E-mail this article Print this article

Just days before pitchers and catchers report to spring training, Strat-O-Matic baseball loyalists lined up in a railroad-station parking lot in Glen Head, N.Y., yesterday for the first day of the popular game's 40th season.

This is a ritual, followed annually by players who travel from as far away as Ohio and Florida, Canada and Kentucky, addicts to a board game Hal Richman invented 40 years ago.

"We had 75 people in a blizzard one year," Richman said.

Bill Sindelar, one of Richman's first customers, made a nine-hour drive from Cleveland to pick up his new products. "It's my first opening day," he said, sounding solemn about the occasion.

Over the years, Strat-O-Matic has attracted a loyal following. There is a computer version of the original cards-and-dice game; both are updated yearly.

Some of Strat-O-Matic's customers are celebrities. Moviemaker Spike Lee and actor Tim Robbins are players. So are sportscasters Bob Costas and Jon Miller. Former major-leaguers Jim Kaat, Dale Murphy and Cal Ripken Jr. play, too.

One of the Strat-O-Matic loyalists is Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Doug Glanville. "He complained one year about his defensive rating," Richman said. "I gave him a two and he wanted a one."

The worst defensive rating in Strat-O-Matic is a five. That was the number assigned to Gregg Jefferies when he was unfortunate enough to try playing left field in Philadelphia.

"The fans kept yelling at him, 'You're a five! You're a five!' " Richman recalled.

Poor Jefferies stood there with a quizzical look on his face, wondering what that was all about. Glanville knew, though.

"He was over there in center field," Richman said, "doubled over, laughing."

Tennis

Pete Sampras and Andy Roddick each had some trouble, but won their matches to give the United States a 2-0 lead over Slovakia in the first round of Davis Cup play in Oklahoma City.

Sampras, playing Davis Cup for the first time since April 2000, lost a second-set tiebreaker and trailed 3-5 in the fourth set before rallying to beat Karol Beck 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 7-5.

Roddick then beat Jan Kroslak 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-1).

Elsewhere in world-group play, Sebastian Grosjean and Arnaud Clement won their singles matches to give defending champion France a 2-0 lead over the Netherlands. Grosjean beat Edwin Kempes 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 on clay in Metz, France, and Clement defeated Sjeng Schalken 7-5, 2-6, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 6-2.

Auto racing

Jimmie Johnson, a rookie who turned the fastest laps of offseason Daytona testing last month, further entrenched himself as one of the favorites for today's Daytona 500 pole qualifying.

Johnson averaged 184.862 mph around Daytona International Speedway, tops among 50 competitors on the first day of practice in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Johnson, 26, drove a Chevrolet Monte Carlo owned by Rick Hendrick and champion driver Jeff Gordon.

• Top Fuel driver Andrew Cowin made the best run of his career at Pomona Raceway, jumping to the top of the 16-car qualifying ladder at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.

Cowin drove his Yankee Dragster to a 4.490-second run at 324.98 mph to earn the early No. 1 qualifying spot.

Boxing

Thomas Hearns, a former champion in six weight classes, is trying to lure the Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis fight to Michigan, filing paperwork with the state requesting to stage a bout at the Pontiac Silverdome on April 6.

Gymnastics

Two U.S. gymnasts tested positive for marijuana in recent out-of-competition drug sweeps conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The American pair was not identified. WADA said the cases were pending before the International Gymnastics Federation.

The gymnasts were among 27 athletes from 18 countries who failed WADA drug tests. In all, the agency conducted 3,639 out-of-competition tests since early last year.

College basketball

West Virginia Coach Gale Catlett indefinitely suspended guards Lionel Armstead and Tim Lyles for unspecified violations of team rules.

• Kathi Bennett, coach of the Indiana women's team, was in stable condition after she was injured in a traffic accident on the way to Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind. Bennett broke the second vertebrae in her neck, but her spinal cord was not damaged and she has full use of her arms and legs, the university said.

Trish Betthauser, associate head coach, will coach the Hoosiers in tomorrow's game at Purdue.