I'm taking part in a Strat-O-Matic simulation of the 1986 season at SportingNews.com this winter. You can follow the fun here.

I play in the Postwar Baseball League. The league is getting ready to expand and is looking for new managers, as well as a replacement manager:

The Postwar Baseball League (PWBL) is looking for a general manager to take over the Seattle Pilots starting in 1966.

Founded before the start of the 1946 season, the PWBL is a play-by-email league that has been in existence for six calendar years. Seven of its original twelve owners are still with the league, testifying to its stability. (One of the original owners describes the PWBL as a "terrific league--best non-FTF league I've ever been involved with by a long margin. . . .") Now consisting of sixteen teams, the PWBL is populated by an exceptional group of GM's, who have a wide and varied knowledge of baseball and its history (and who get along exceptionally well).

Because the PWBL has played twenty complete seasons, it has a rich history of its own, especially in the accumulated statistics. Last year (1965) Robin Roberts of the New York Mets became the second PWBL player to reach 300 wins when he defeated the San Diego Padres in a game in which teammate Willie Mays hit three homers, giving him 67 for the season and 498 for his career. (Warren Spahn, who pitched his last season for St. Louis Cardinals in '65, was the league's first 300-game winner. He retired with 328 victories.) Eddie Mathews is the career leader in homeruns with 546.

The league is remarkably competitive. So competitive, in fact, that no team has ever won back-to-back Mulcahy Cups--named after Hugh Mulcahy, the first major league baseball player to enlist in the armed forces after Pearl Harbor. Twelve different teams have captured the championship in the league's history.

League games are played in round-robin fashion by those GM's who volunteer. Other GM's prefer to stick to the front office, drafting and trading and keeping track of their players. Because of its remarkable stability and quick pace--we finish at least three seasons per calendar year--the league "runs itself," and GM's can fluctuate between active involvement and a more detached interest as their schedules permit.

The Seattle Pilots enter the 1964 season with a strong nucleus, including its Gold Glove doubleplay combination of Bill Mazeroski and Luis Aparicio. Third baseman Tony Perez and slugging first sacker Boog Powell round out its infield. Tony Oliva is the team's leading hitter, while Ken Holtzman and Fritz Peterson are Seattle's top mound prospects. After winning their division in 1962, the Pilots have fallen under .500 and need a new winning attitude.

Looking ahead to the 1969 season, about one calendar year from now, the league hopes to expand by two or even four teams, if we can find responsible, committed GM's willing to build teams from scratch. Our previous expansion, from 12 to 16 teams at the turn of the decade, was a successful one, with new teams quickly becoming competitive. By keeping the ratio of PWBL teams to real-life teams high (currently 80%), we have avoided "All-Star-itis," maintaining player usage at realistic levels by permitting 110% usage for most players, with unlimited usage allowed for mediocre "replacement-level" players.

Ideally, we would like expansion team GM's to join the league far enough in advance that they can become fully immersed in the PWBL even before they begin building their teams, participating in league decision-making, voting on current-season awards, perhaps even lending a hand with game play.

If you are interested in Sixties baseball and think you might like to join the PWBL, please drop a line to David Myers (dgmyers@tamu.edu), the league's commissioner.

I really enjoy seeing the boxscores cross every day. I'm not one of the more active members, but the drafts are challenging, as you balance your needs for the season vs. your needs for the future. Check it out.

Larry Mahnken simulated the 2006 season using three different sets of projections. The Twins do surprisingly well. I guess good pitching can take you a long way.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive during March. Click here for details.

Congratulations to the SOMBILLA on their 25th anniversary. Sorry I could not make the party today. :(

You can read the history of the Pinto Hatchbacks' best SOMBILLA season here.

Steve Treder offers up his memories of Strat-o-Matic baseball at the Hardball Times. I started playing the game in college, where I was a proud member of the Thirteenth Floor Strat-o-Matic League. Later, I joined the Sombilla, and participated in two seven-game World Series (I lost both, you can read the summaries here and here). I also played in a play-by-mail league for a couple of seasons. I love the game, and many of my best stories are a result of Strat-o.