Strat-O-Matic turns 50 this year. The quintessential baseball board game, Strat-O-Matic sucked up a lot of my time over the years, though, because of a lack of face-to-face opponents, I played most of my games solo with both the physical board game and, later, the computer version. The game is a great time-killer for a baseball fan, but it really shines head-to-head. Some of my favorite moments from gaming come from the two years I played in a Strat-O-Matic league. The ability to play an entire series in less than an hour (much less really) and an entire season in a few months of weekly game nights just makes the game a marvelous collection of stories. I have little hope that I'll be able to get my daughter to play the game, but I can't wait until my son gets old enough to understand the game. I forsee number of games in my future.
Anyway, enough about me. Here is a great New York Times article on the 50th anniversary celebration.