HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – When Strat-O-Matic inventor Hal Richman got a phone call from a Chicago man, little did he realize how important it would be.
For years, Richman had wanted to incorporate the old Negro Leagues into his baseball game. However, statistics – the lifeblood and key to the game’s realism – were hard to come by.
“We had no data,” Richman said. “They didn’t even have doubles or triples. I could not put out a product under the Strato name.”
Then came the phone call.
“I got a phone call about five years ago from Scott Simkus, of Chicago,” he said. “He had access to 3,000 Negro League box scores.