Clinton Carlson
South Bend, IN
Professor of Design
Favorite Team: Los Angeles Dodgers
Favorite All-Time Player: Orel Hershiser or Roy Halladay
Favorite Current Players: Clayton Kershaw, Francisco Lindor
Preferred Era in Strat: I love the 80’s because it’s when I first began playing simulated baseball and fell in love with the game. But I enjoy all era’s... except when the Diamondbacks, Cardinals, Marlins, or Manny Machado win the World Series.
Celebrity Strat Match-up: Vin Scully. His voice is always in my head as I play anyway. I just want to hear him say “It’s time for Dodger Baseball” right before I roll the first dice.
Something I’ve learned from Strat: The wonder of imagination, story, and patterns. In the words of the late A. Bartlett Giamatti, “I need to think something lasts forever, and it might as well be that state of being that is a game, it might as well be that, in a green field in the sun”
Caesar Montevecchio
South Bend, IN
University Program Administrator
Favorite Team: New York Mets
Favorite Player of All-Time: Keith Hernandez
Favorite Current Players: Jacob DeGrom
Preferred Era in Strat: 80s, 90s, Pre-WWII
Celebrity Strat Matchup: Peter Gammons, Tim Kurkjian
Andrew Tucker
South Bend, IN
Ecologist
Favorite Team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite All-Time Player: Jimmy Rollins
Favorite Current Players: Andrew McCutchen, Joey Votto, Zack Greinke, Lorenzo Cain
Preferred Era in Strat: 1980s
Celebrity Strat Match-up: Jayson Stark to talk Phillies. Jamie Moyer to talk me through the super advanced sheet. Billy Crystal to listen to his stories.
Something I’ve learned from Strat: If you need a win, throw Lefty. The 1980 Phillies always beat the 1993 Phillies. Baseball is fun no matter how it’s played.
Matthew Insley
South Bend, IN
Market Gardener
Favorite Team: Kansas City Royals
Favorite Player of All-Time: Kirby Puckett
Favorite Current Players: Salvador Perez, Juan Soto, Ji-Man Choi, Javy Baez
Preferred Era in Strat: Nostalgic teams for me, like ‘91 Twins, ‘86 Mets, and ‘90 Reds.
Celebrity Strat Match: Buck O’Neill. But alive maybe Bob Kendrick, Spike Lee, or Joe Posnanski. Or Josh Lewin—he would do the play by play and not be embarrassed.
Something I’ve learned from Strat: You win some and you lose some, and the result is largely out of your hands. But every moment in baseball is filled with either tension or satisfying knowledge, and that’s really something.
Josh Noem
South Bend, IN
Writer & Editor
Favorite Team: Minnesota Twins
Favorite Player of All-Time: Lou Gerhig, Kent Hrbek
Favorite Current Players: Willans Astudillo, Byron Buxton
Preferred Era in Strat: Pre-WW2 with guys like Ty Cobb and Walter Johnson — I love bringing black-and-white images of the game to life in my mind.
Celebrity Strat Matchup: Roger Angell
Something I’ve learned from Strat: As important as stats are to this dice-and-card game, and to baseball itself, they don't tell the whole story. Anything can happen.
Josh Kaiser
Oxfordshire, England
Theology Teacher
Favorite Team: St. Louis Cardinals
Favorite Player of All-Time: Ozzie Smith
Favorite Current Players: Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright
Preferred Era in Strat: 1980s and 1990s
Celebrity Strat Matchup: Maybe Bob Costas, or if I really want to test myself, Bill James.
Something I’ve learned from Strat: Park effects matter; OBP is king; a dominant pitcher can take you far (unless you are unlucky with the dice).
Josh Reeves
Mishawaka, IN
Construction Inspector
Favorite Team: Chicago Cubs
Favorite Player of All-Time: Andruw Jones
Favorite Current Players: Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Hendricks, Mike Trout
Preferred Era in Strat: I enjoy the 90’s, particularly the exploits of the Braves and Cubs. My love of baseball was honed and hardened in this decade.
Celebrity Strat Matchup: Aaron Sorkin- He has a gifted mind for dialogue and a love of sports and sports metaphors. It would be stimulating, entertaining and educational.
Something I’ve learned from Strat: SOM taps into my deeply held love for solving problems and puzzles. Deploying logic, past experience and wits to overcome a challenge gives me a thrill and a sense of accomplishment that little else has the capacity to do. Mesh that with the game of baseball and for me, it’s pure heaven.