EDITOR'S NOTE: The following story was written by
Rick (Wolfman) Shapiro of Skokie, IL. commissioner of the International
League (IL), a play-by-mail SOM baseball organization. who has pioneered his
table-gaming by playing in the mail, an all-star series with a member of
the female sex, Donna Chevrette, Plainfield. CT.
Rick has been a frequent contributor to the Review, in addition to his
work with the Internal League (IL), he was in attendance at last
summer's S0M Convention in Kalamazoo, MI. In the picture here, Rick is
dressed in his "Wolfman Jersey" with his famous Skokie cap with his fist
extended in a sign of victory. The "'Wolfman" title incidentally was
bestowed upon his for his beard and not his antics in pursuit of the
opposite sex.
How did the series between Rick and Donna originate, and how did it come
out? We'll let Rick tell it in his own words.
================================
ATTENTION STRATO FANS!
THE SERIES OF THE YEAR!!
One day I was reading the November Issue of the (SOM)
Review and I saw an article about a girl who plays the (baseball SOM)
game, Donna Chevrette. At first I didn't believe a girl would be so
interested (in SOM), so I wrote a letter to her to discover what was the
truth to this story. Also, another thought was swimming through my mind
- publicity! Here was an opportunity for me to do something which no one
else had done (before, as far as I knew) -CHALLENGE A GIRL TO PLAY
AGAINST A GUY IN STRATO. Naturally, this would have to be done by the
mail since Donna lived in Plainfield. CT (and I was in Skokie, IL), but
with all the mail experience (I had been doing recently to play the
game) there should be no (real) problems for setting up such a series if
I had Donna's consent.
Also this series answer two questions: what does a girl (lady) look like
that plays the game and can a girl beat a (so-called) experienced pro in
Strato? (Wolfman's Note 2005: I was a bit carried away in my
early days -- NO?).
Besides worrying about publicity (Wolfman's Note 2005: Not
sure where my head was at this time -- but I have calmed down a bit in
my later year), I also was
interested (curious) how this series would turn out. Well, I did get an
answer and Donna agreed to play (against) me.
We decided to use the All Stars (the best players) from 1971 and I let
Donna have her choice between the NL and AL. To my delight she picked
the Americans. As far as I was concerned, the National League was the
(far) better of the two leagues (and I'm sure I'll get letters to this
article, from other players disagreeing); and with players like Aaron,
Stargell, Clemente and Torre on the same team, (I thought to myself),
how could I lose? We each picked thirty players and any starting
pitchers (were allowed to) go with a three-day rest. We used shortened
injury charts and had the IL rainout rule. The series would be four game
sets, alternating between Skokie and Plainfield, and if there should be
a tie at the end of the 16th game, the playoff game would be in Skokie.
On a grim day in December the contest began in Skokie. Little did I
dream the series would be as bitterly fought as it was. One thing I must
mention is what my reaction was to Donna's instruction sheets. They were
typed very neatly and even though I disagreed with some of her player
selections, I could follow her instructions perfectly. If a stranger
looked at these papers, he/she wouldn't have been able to see that a
girl (lady) was responsible for them. Getting back to the series, the NL
was favored to win (disregarding the manager) because of their superior
hitting, speed, power and relievers. The AL held an advantage in
defense, better starters and hit-by-pitch.
The first game was a shock to my male pride as I realized it wasn't
going to be as easy as I thought. In the 4th inning, Chevrette scored
eight runs and won the game,9-2. I was baffled but determined. I won the
next three games to take a three-game to one lead however. In
Plainfield, the AL tied the series up at 3 games apiece but lost the
last two games (there) to make the series stand at 5-3 in the NL's
favor. Back in Skokie, after a first game (game #9) bloodbath won by the
NL, the pitchers took over and the NL again took charge as they won
three out of the four games and led the series 8-4. One win would bring
me victory.
At this point my team was almost assured of victory unless a disaster
struck; was one win asking for too much? The picture (you see) of me
with this article was taken at this time, so I kind of cheated. But I
was so confident of victory. Anyone would have done the same. Well, my
men must have been over confident because when I received Donna's
results did I see just one scoresheet? No, four and when I looked at the
16th game I saw an American League win. I couldn't believe it, but leave
it up to a girl (woman) to do the impossible. Now I was going out of my
mind. The playoff game was at hand and if I lost, I would never hear the
end of it. I had promised the "Review" editors that I would send them a
report of this series so I couldn't break a promise, or could I? Also, I
had told all my friends in the IL about the series and they would begin
asking questions about the series if I didn't say anything. Donna would
also be on my back because here she had won and nobody would know about
it. Well, with all these thoughts running through my mind, anyone could
see why I was so nervous. A line I shall never forget (that was) in one
of Donna's letters said, "If you lose, you'll have a lot of explaining to
do." The big question now was would I be humiliated in front of all my
friends in the SOM world? The only way to find out was to play the game
(YES?).
(So) I sat down to play the final game and tried to stay calm. I just
sat there saying things like: its only a game -- I've been under
pressure like this before -- just play it cool. Do you think any of the
stuff helped me? Nope, right from the start Chevrette was out for my
blood. The AL picked up two runs in the first inning and five more in
the second. So my friends, if your addition is correct that makes it 7-0
in Donna's favor. Wood was pitching for the AL and through the whole
series he had been almost unhittable. I managed to cut the lead to 7-2
in the bottom of the second and in the fifth to 7-4 on Cepeda's two-run
homer. At this point I still didn't think I could win so I just threw
the dice, not really caring.
Then, in the bottom of the seventh with two outs,, I couldn't stop
throwing hits on my hitter's cards and with the help of Wood's error, I
managed to tie up the score. Just as I was getting ready to concentrate
on winning, Freehan hit a homer to put Donna back ahead 8-7. In the
bottom of the 8th, my hitters continued a massive hit barrage and we
were able to score three runs to take a 10-8 lead. Immediately I made
defensive changes, but even though I had a two-run bulge, I still didn't
feel secure. The first man up in the 9th was Kaline, pinch-hitting for
the pitcher. He grounded out. That's "ONE"! The next man, Belanger,
lined out. That's "TWO"!! Rettenmund, who always found ways to get on
base, hit a long drive to center field. Willie Davis went back (to the
wall) and pulled it in. The fans at Skokie Park went wild. The players
were mobbed, but most importantly MY TEAM HAD WON!! so, male players
around the world, our female counterpart can be tough cookies and I
wouldn't be surprised if more girls (ladies/women) will become
interested in "our" game.
The MVP of the series was Joe Torre. He hit an amazing .469 in 17 games.
Donna couldn't stop him and in many of her letters asked if Torre ever
gets sick physically, or of playing the game. Donna and I decided to
switch teams to see if the series was determined because one team was
better then the other or because of the managers (I think both reason
could be true, but only our next series will tell. Besides, if a guy
can't do a little bragging in his own article, then where can he do it?)
(Wolfman's
Note:
Well since our series ended up so close, we really couldn't tell who was
the so-called better manager. So later in this year, we decided to
switch teams and play again. Please find a link below to read
about Part II of this epic contest to see if Chevrette could even the
score ....)
Battle
of the Sexes, Part II
Chevrette vs Shapiro,
again, later in 1973
(click above)
1973 Strat-o-matic
Convention
Brookyln, New York (SOM Game Co.)
(click above)
