In a lively Zoom session with members of the Official Strat-O-Matic Club, legendary baseball broadcaster Jon Miller shared his passion for Strat-O-Matic Baseball, reminiscing about memorable games and unforgettable players. Since July 2023, Strat-O-Matic Clubs have popped up nationwide, providing a dedicated space for fans to connect and play regularly. These clubs bring enthusiasts together monthly for exciting, head-to-head competition and offer unique perks to members, including annual discounts, exclusive Zoom Q&As with Strat-O-Matic personalities, and a free personalized card. For Jon Miller, joining this community is a way to rekindle his love for the game and share it with others who appreciate the magic of baseball’s iconic tabletop experience.
The session opened with a quintessential question: How did Jon become such an enthusiastic Strat-O-Matic fan?
Miller reminisced, "I was 10 years old, growing up in the Bay Area, and I was a big Giants fan," he shared, recalling how, back in the early '60s, baseball in San Francisco was all about the radio. With only nine Giants games televised each year, he absorbed the sport through the voices of Hall of Fame broadcasters Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons, narrating the exploits of Giants legends like Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Juan Marichal. This love of the game found a new outlet when he stumbled upon an ad for Strat-O-Matic in Baseball Digest. "I sent away for the game... and I became a Strat-O-Matic fanatic," Miller admitted, recalling how he would broadcast his own games, complete with crowd noise and play-by-play.
The depth of Miller’s fandom is clear, as he explained how he played throughout his childhood, even creating a one-man broadcast for his Strat-O-Matic games. “I thought it was more fun to play them if there was some play-by-play, maybe a public address announcer,” he explained. This early immersion sparked a love for the game’s intricacies, which he’s kept alive even today.
The Strat talk continued as a fan on the Zoom call, asked Miller if he remembered any particular games from his Strat-O-Matic years. While no specific play came to mind, Miller recalled a memorable league with his friend Lars Sorensen. Together, they dove into the online Strat-O-Matic experience, selecting players from a 1970s Mystery League. "I started drafting all of my favorites," he said, listing Mays, McCovey, Cepeda, and Marichal. But his excitement quickly took a twist when he realized, "Uh-oh…all my guys were old." With players from an earlier era, Miller found that injuries frequently benched his legends. Still, he shared, “When they were all healthy, it was a great team and so much fun.”
Strat-O-Matic has even brought Miller closer to the baseball greats. He often picked Joe Morgan, his ESPN Sunday Night Baseball partner, in his Strat leagues. “I used to talk to Joe Morgan about it…and he would kind of weigh in on it,” Miller revealed, underscoring how Morgan would occasionally offer strategic advice on his team. Miller's fondness for classic players extended to Willie Mays as well, and he shared a humorous exchange where Mays, learning of his virtual success, turned to his assistant and joked, "We got to check that."
As Miller described his roster-building experiences, one could sense his genuine enthusiasm for the game. For him, Strat-O-Matic allows “all those guys…back in action doing those incredible things again.” This spirit and love for the game, whether on the field or at the Strat-O-Matic table, shone brightly throughout the Zoom call.
In the conversation, I asked Jon, drawing on his unique experiences broadcasters and former players have with Strat o matic, the baseball simulation game. I inquired if players, like Keith Hernandez, Doug Glanville, and others, ever reflected on their Strat o matic cards and whether their virtual stats matched their real-life performances—or sometimes even surpassed their own expectations.
Jon responded enthusiastically, sharing anecdotes from his conversations with Keith Hernandez, a long-time Strat o matic player. Keith would often replay entire seasons on his computer, immersing himself in the histories of teams from the 1960s and 70s. While he never joined online leagues, Keith found the game both fun and educational, particularly when learning about top players, standout defenders, and strikeout pitchers from that era. This historical knowledge even helped enhance his broadcasting insights, as he could compare past defensive greats to modern players like Juan Lagares, whose Stratomatic card ratings were sometimes lower than expected due to rookie status.
Jon continued with stories of other players, including Doug Glanville, who once expressed disappointment over receiving a "two" rating in center field, despite his confidence that he deserved a "one." Jon even recounted memories of players like Mike Krukow and Dwayne Kuiper, who viewed having a Strat o matic card as a badge of honor—a token of their contributions to baseball.
Perhaps most striking was Jon’s discussion of Strat o matic’s impact on analytics. He referenced Theo Epstein, who began his journey into baseball analysis with Strat o matic, gaining an early understanding of on-base percentages and the value of walks—even before those metrics became mainstream. For John, players like Ron Hunt, known for his gritty plate appearances and getting on base, embodied the strategic advantage Strat o matic cards offered. Hunt’s approach frustrated pitchers like Steve Carlton, who would save pitches by deliberately hitting Hunt on his first pitch to avoid long at-bats.
In closing, Jon praised the simplicity and effectiveness of Strat o matic’s cards, saying they gave players a straightforward insight into a player’s abilities without complex charts.
Another zoom participant sporting an Oakland A's shirt, took a moment during the Zoom to share his admiration for the dynamic between Jon and Joe Morgan on Sunday Night Baseball. He mentioned that he’d been watching baseball since 1974 and how that duo’s presence made the broadcasts something special. "There’s nothing, absolutely nothing, like when you and Joe would come on the air,” he said. “I don’t know if it was your voices or something else, but it made those broadcasts magic."
Jon graciously acknowledged the fan's sentiment, and he began to reminisce about what made that partnership so memorable. The two Bay Area natives shared a deep love for baseball, but Jon recalled how different their paths had been. Joe Morgan, a second baseman known for his skill, resilience, and undeniable Hall of Fame career, took the hard road to success. “Joe had a lot of naysayers early on. One scout even told him to focus on his degree because he’d never make it in baseball. But Joe took that as a challenge, proving them wrong every step of the way,” John shared.
As the conversation unfolded, Jon reflected on Joe’s time with the Cincinnati Reds and his bond with teammates, particularly catcher Johnny Bench. "Joe had this rapport with Bench that you wouldn’t believe," John recalled. “When Joe batted third for the Big Red Machine, and Bench hit cleanup, they had this understanding, a silent communication on the field. Joe could steal bases with uncanny precision, and he’d signal Bench on whether he’d take off on the first or second pitch. If Bench felt he could bring Joe home without the extra risk, he’d signal back—a subtle sign to hold off.”
The mutual trust Bench and Morgan shared went beyond technical skill; it was rooted in deep respect for each other’s instincts. If Bench signaled, Joe would hold back, trusting Bench’s strategy without question. This dynamic underscored a level of mental mastery few players possessed and spoke to Joe's humility and commitment to teamwork. John remembered, “Joe respected Bench so much. And Bench, in turn, trusted Joe’s instincts to handle a situation without needing a single word. It was baseball at its purest.”
Jon further reflected on how much he’d learned from Joe, both on and off the field. “Joe’s stories of that trust, of those partnerships, were fascinating. And even after our time on-air, we’d sit at the hotel bar, reliving games and dissecting plays, with Joe sharing stories from the dugout and from players he admired, like Bench,” he said. Jon recalled Joe’s warmth and willingness to share not just game insight, but his personal journey—the triumphs and setbacks that had defined him.
It was these moments, those small revelations from their conversations, that brought layers of depth to the Sunday Night Baseball broadcasts, making each game more than just a game. It was a lesson for all of them on the beauty of trust, resilience, and the friendship forged on the field that carried over into the booth.
During the interview, Jon was asked how his Strat Giants team had done and if he had any better luck than Herman Franks, the Giants' manager in the 1960s. Jon chuckled, explaining that the real Giants under Franks had faced a frustrating cycle of close calls. "Herman Franks' Giants were always battling with the Dodgers back in the '60s—classic pennant races,” Jon said, reminiscing about that era of baseball. "They’d win 98 or 99 games and still end up just short. And back then, second place didn’t get you a wild card. You just went home."
Jon went on to describe his own experience trying to build a winning Giants team in a Strat-O-Matic “mystery card league,” where he could bring in baseball legends like Joe Morgan, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Juan Marichal. The thrill, though, came with the game’s quirks. "Sometimes I’d get those guys, but not necessarily in their best years. That’s the mystery—you don’t know if you’re going to get a vintage season or one where they’re a little off. One year, I had the dream lineup—Morgan, Mays, McCovey, even Henry Aaron—and still managed to lose 90 games. You just never know."
This unpredictability resonated with Jon’s son, Alex, who shares his dad's love for the game. Now working for Jeff Bezos' space company, Blue Origin, on the lunar lander project, Alex grew up playing baseball with Jon and is now a dedicated Strat-O-Matic fan. Jon shared how he and Alex, along with family friend Lyle Sorensen, bonded over the mystery card league. “Alex told me he prefers the mystery card leagues because it feels more like real baseball. You sign players with great track records, but you still don’t know how they’ll perform that season. It’s a bit like real-life baseball: injuries, off-years—you get what you get.”
Jon nodded with a sense of pride and nostalgia. “Alex said it’s what makes it real—taking the field each season with high hopes but no guarantees. It’s like going for Babe Ruth, knowing you might end up with one of his less memorable years. It’s a real-life reminder of what I love about the game—the uncertainty, the gamble, and sometimes, the heartbreak.”
Reflecting on his high school days, one memorable part of playing Strat-O-Matic wasn’t just about the game but the community that formed around it. "We had a six-man league," he recalls, laughing about how he took on the role of scheduler. "We played a 60-game season—30 home, 30 away. But the real fun was going to each other’s houses for away games." One friend, Law Sorensen, was a favorite host. His mother would set out root beer and an impressive spread of salami, cheese, and crackers—a charcuterie plate before they even knew what a charcuterie plate was! "When it was his turn to come to my place, I said, 'No, no. You stay home. I’ll come over there. Just make sure your mom knows I’m coming!'"
One card that stood out for him was Curt Motton’s from the Orioles’ 1969 season. With only about 100 at-bats, Motton hit .350 with a few homers, and Strat-O-Matic turned him into a powerhouse. "Back then, we didn’t have computer algorithms to limit us," he recalls, "so you could put him in the lineup every day, and Curt Motton became a league-wide cleanup hitter hitting 50, 60 home runs." Years later, when he was broadcasting Orioles games, Motton, then a coach, laughed when he mentioned it. "He told me, 'I’ve heard from so many people how many home runs I hit in that game. I wish Earl had given me a chance to do that for real.'"
In his first year broadcasting for the Oakland A’s, he met Gates Brown, who, he remembers, had one of the best Strat cards from 1968. "I’d go out to the field sometimes during batting practice," he says. "Reggie Jackson told me to stand in and take a swing. I hadn’t swung a bat since I was 15 and just tried to make contact. Gates Brown saw me and asked, ‘Who is this guy? Is he on trial?’ When Reggie explained I was a broadcaster, Gates chuckled, ‘Oh, that explains it!’" He laughed, recalling how they had Gates Brown’s infamous card on their teams, one that made him a near-unbeatable pinch hitter.
As the Zoom call drew to a close, Jon Miller left Strat-O-Matic fans with a powerful reflection on the game that had shaped his love of baseball and, in many ways, his career. He spoke about the friendships, memories, and endless possibilities that Strat-O-Matic brought to life, allowing him and countless others to relive baseball’s past glories and cherish the unpredictable nature of each season. For Miller, the game transcends its cards and dice; it’s a timeless bridge between generations of fans, players, and friends. Whether broadcasting a World Series or hosting a friendly Strat league, Miller reminded everyone that at its heart, baseball is about connection—between the field and the fans, between the legends and the dreamers, and, perhaps most importantly, between each other.
Comments