Strat-O-Matic: The Fantasy League Prequel

Advertised as “Realistic! Scientific!” and the game that “puts you in the manager’s seat,” Strat-O-Matic Baseball, first issued in 1961, was a forerunner to rotisserie and fantasy leagues. Gamers manage their teams using cards that list the actual season statistics of major leaguers from the previous year, and a roll of the dice advances play. During the 1981 major league players strike, sportswriters used Strat-O-Matic to simulate the cancelled games. Today gamers can also use the Strat-O-Matic smartphone app.