I first played the game back in 1985 after years of playing SOM (beginning in 1971) and Statis Pro. I really loved the game. I only recently began playing again.
I bought this game off of Baseball Digest in 1976. Previously I had been playing Stratomatic Baseball, but this game won me over. It had so many more features than that at-the-time most popular tabletop game had. The ability to create players with simple statistical formulas, stadium charts, how the wind affected the ball in flight, the ability to make every batted ball unique and based on fielding and running, the ease of playing a simulated season with a roll of the dice, and countless others.
Great video, Travis! As much as I love the PLAAY library, Sherco is still my baseball game of choice because it has a couple of things that HMB doesn't. For one, the chart that combines the batter's rating with the pitcher's rating to give you the "hit number." It ensures that both of them affect each at-bat, with more emphasis on the pitcher's rating. No 50/50 split. Even HMB has too many results where there's no pitcher rating check and the pitcher automatically has "routine stuff" with no way for his rating to affect that play. The other reason I prefer Sherco is the stadium effects, including the stop-action fielding. In many baseball games, stadium effects are either non-existent or are an add-on that's not part of the original design or basically an afterthought and don't affect things much (like HMB). But in Sherco, it makes a big difference. Where one has the fielders positioned, the way a ball might carry and drop in for a hit in some parks but be easily caught in others, the nooks and crannies of each stadium (like the Willie Mays play in CF in the Polo Grounds), all of these plus homerun differences can affect play. I should also point out that the main stadium chart that comes with the game is a COMPOSITE of all modern stadiums. If the ball lands in the yellow area it is not necessarily out of the park--one needs to check the particular chart of the stadium one is playing in to see if the ball remains in the park or not. Also, Brien designed some new stadium charts for the game that are awesome. One can order the smaller normal versions, or the deluxe versions which come one to a page. One could use small beads as playing pieces and play directly on the chart to reduce one's gaming footprint! Plus they have special spaces marked on the charts such as the ball landing in McCovey Cove, for instance. Really nice. Forgive me for rambling here. Again, great video.
It is hard to make comparisons. I think HMB is a total different mechanism. You might compare Sherco to one variance of Baseball Classics where you can purchase ballpark layouts. I am not criticizing you. I enjoy other posters take on games.
@@ericbond5276 Thank you. It IS a totally different mechanism. HMB is a great game and a lot of folks love it. But it doesn't hit my sweet spot in a baseball game, and Sherco does.
@@martyklestadt6766 You might look into Baseball Classics. They have a variant where you can play a game in the Baker Bowl to the Astrodome or any other grid park you want - for a price, of course. I've played the basic game because it reminds me of Milton Bradley (not the LA Dodger) MLB BB. I've played Sherco (pink & green box) many, many yrs. ago. I still have the stapled sheets of the old-time park grids. I also have the "gold" page where I can rate my own players. I thank you for your understanding. Most gamers are tolerant.
@@ericbond5276 I'll stick with Sherco, since I already have all the stadiums I need, plus access to all the seasons I want with their formula. You mentioned Milton Bradley--are you referring to Championship Baseball? I had that game too, back in the day. It was my bridge between Cadaco All-Star Baseball and Pursue The Pennant. That was all before I got Sherco, of course.
@@martyklestadt6766 Nope if you type Milton Bradley MLB baseball game, you will see it in the image (not the BB player). That game was the gateway game to Strat.
WOW, Travis...!! This is exactly the version of this beautiful game I have been looking for for years... I fell in love with this game when I bought it on a trip to Chicago in 1994. As I had nobody to play with - I live in Flensburg, Germany - my then girlfriend had to suffer a lot playing it with me... ;-) Then the computer era came into my life and as it took to much time to set all the game up in the analog format, I searched the internet for years to find a digital version. Now I saw your video and thought: THAT'S exactly what I want! So I bought the tabletop simulator, and I'll try to build it up as nicely as you have. :-) Hopefully with success! Greetings from Germany!
Haven't played History Maker Baseball, but I've played Strat-O-Matic Baseball for years and just started playing Payoff Pitch. Always looking for new, interesting games.
Love the feel of History Maker, grew up on Strat and started APBA just last year and now am addicted to Payoff Pitch!! Sherco os next. Inside Pitch looks too difficult
One point, when the dodgers were batting I sent the ball to the SS but should've been the 2B because the batter was a lefty. Same result, just wrong fielder. TH-cam doesn't let us annotate anymore or I'd annotate it in the video.
Hi Travis. I bought the original Sherco back in 1987 and still have it. Too bad that I did not know about your channel prior to Plaay.con. We could have played some Sherco there as well.
Nice job on this video. I know you posted this years ago now. Just found it lol Curious, on the first play of the game, the chart said it was a “grounder” but where it was hit was a “home run”? On a ground ball lol? Just wondering. Thanks!
Hi. I just wanted to comment that I bought a game around 1975 called Sherco II. I really enjoyed it and thought it was my favorite board game. I got married and started raising kids so I have no idea where it is now. Do you know if SherCo II is still available? I enjoyed your video very much. Thanks
The game that's available now is basically the same as what you remember. They have some new add-ons and bells and whistles, but you could definitely play it old school style if you want. That's what I'm doing for the most part, with a few of their bells and whistles and a couple of my own.
That's a big ask! I only have that kind of technology for rating History Maker Baseball and even that would take a long time. I'm sorry, but this is not something I can do quickly.
What software are you using to create your video? I am guessing this is the download version of the SherCo game so that is why the screen looks so sharp?
Thanks. Your video is very nicely done and I would like to see more. I play a different game usually but your video makes it look like a lot of fun especially with the ability to make ratings for any season. Is your module complicated to create?
Thank you! I plan to do one for the upgraded components in the near future. My normal game is history Maker baseball. What is yours? Modules for tabletop simulator are not hard to make once you get the hang of it. And you can even get into scripting which lets you do some really sophisticated stuff.
No, it's lua script. It's built in to the physics engine inside tabletop simulator. It can do things like flip cards, move them to different positions, deal a number of cards, move tokens, setup the whole board for you, etc...
I first played the game back in 1985 after years of playing SOM (beginning in 1971) and Statis Pro. I really loved the game. I only recently began playing again.
Excellent job. I owned this game back in the 70s. After watching this, I want to play again. Thanks.
I bought this game off of Baseball Digest in 1976. Previously I had been playing Stratomatic Baseball, but this game won me over. It had so many more features than that at-the-time most popular tabletop game had. The ability to create players with simple statistical formulas, stadium charts, how the wind affected the ball in flight, the ability to make every batted ball unique and based on fielding and running, the ease of playing a simulated season with a roll of the dice, and countless others.
Great video, Travis! As much as I love the PLAAY library, Sherco is still my baseball game of choice because it has a couple of things that HMB doesn't.
For one, the chart that combines the batter's rating with the pitcher's rating to give you the "hit number." It ensures that both of them affect each at-bat, with more emphasis on the pitcher's rating. No 50/50 split. Even HMB has too many results where there's no pitcher rating check and the pitcher automatically has "routine stuff" with no way for his rating to affect that play.
The other reason I prefer Sherco is the stadium effects, including the stop-action fielding. In many baseball games, stadium effects are either non-existent or are an add-on that's not part of the original design or basically an afterthought and don't affect things much (like HMB).
But in Sherco, it makes a big difference. Where one has the fielders positioned, the way a ball might carry and drop in for a hit in some parks but be easily caught in others, the nooks and crannies of each stadium (like the Willie Mays play in CF in the Polo Grounds), all of these plus homerun differences can affect play.
I should also point out that the main stadium chart that comes with the game is a COMPOSITE of all modern stadiums. If the ball lands in the yellow area it is not necessarily out of the park--one needs to check the particular chart of the stadium one is playing in to see if the ball remains in the park or not.
Also, Brien designed some new stadium charts for the game that are awesome. One can order the smaller normal versions, or the deluxe versions which come one to a page. One could use small beads as playing pieces and play directly on the chart to reduce one's gaming footprint! Plus they have special spaces marked on the charts such as the ball landing in McCovey Cove, for instance. Really nice.
Forgive me for rambling here. Again, great video.
It is hard to make comparisons. I think HMB is a total different mechanism. You might compare Sherco to one variance of Baseball Classics where you can purchase ballpark layouts. I am not criticizing you. I enjoy other posters take on games.
@@ericbond5276 Thank you. It IS a totally different mechanism. HMB is a great game and a lot of folks love it. But it doesn't hit my sweet spot in a baseball game, and Sherco does.
@@martyklestadt6766 You might look into Baseball Classics. They have a variant where you can play a game in the Baker Bowl to the Astrodome or any other grid park you want - for a price, of course. I've played the basic game because it reminds me of Milton Bradley (not the LA Dodger) MLB BB. I've played Sherco (pink & green box) many, many yrs. ago. I still have the stapled sheets of the old-time park grids. I also have the "gold" page where I can rate my own players. I thank you for your understanding. Most gamers are tolerant.
@@ericbond5276 I'll stick with Sherco, since I already have all the stadiums I need, plus access to all the seasons I want with their formula.
You mentioned Milton Bradley--are you referring to Championship Baseball? I had that game too, back in the day. It was my bridge between Cadaco All-Star Baseball and Pursue The Pennant.
That was all before I got Sherco, of course.
@@martyklestadt6766 Nope if you type Milton Bradley MLB baseball game, you will see it in the image (not the BB player). That game was the gateway game to Strat.
Nice job. Excellent graphics. Thank you, Travis.
WOW, Travis...!! This is exactly the version of this beautiful game I have been looking for for years... I fell in love with this game when I bought it on a trip to Chicago in 1994. As I had nobody to play with - I live in Flensburg, Germany - my then girlfriend had to suffer a lot playing it with me... ;-)
Then the computer era came into my life and as it took to much time to set all the game up in the analog format, I searched the internet for years to find a digital version. Now I saw your video and thought: THAT'S exactly what I want!
So I bought the tabletop simulator, and I'll try to build it up as nicely as you have. :-)
Hopefully with success!
Greetings from Germany!
Haven't played History Maker Baseball, but I've played Strat-O-Matic Baseball for years and just started playing Payoff Pitch. Always looking for new, interesting games.
HMB is may favorite game on the market. It's amazing, and unlike any other game out there. Check it out!
Love the feel of History Maker, grew up on Strat and started APBA just last year and now am addicted to Payoff Pitch!! Sherco os next. Inside Pitch looks too difficult
I had this game in the 70s. I'd rate all-time teams and had a ball. It was a realistic game.
Played the heck out of SherCo in 1975.
One point, when the dodgers were batting I sent the ball to the SS but should've been the 2B because the batter was a lefty. Same result, just wrong fielder. TH-cam doesn't let us annotate anymore or I'd annotate it in the video.
No wind factor? Thanks for this walk down memory lane. I played 2-3 games a day with my brothers in the early 90s.
Interesting game! I believe at 21:45 it was 3-19 not 3-9 which would be a base hit :-)
Yeah I think I might have made a few mistakes. First real gameplay video and first time playing the game without looking at the rules 😃
Hi Travis. I bought the original Sherco back in 1987 and still have it. Too bad that I did not know about your channel prior to Plaay.con. We could have played some Sherco there as well.
Mark Russell yeah I just bought the upgraded version which looks to be even better.
Thanks! Interesting game.
Nice job on this video. I know you posted this years ago now. Just found it lol
Curious, on the first play of the game, the chart said it was a “grounder” but where it was hit was a “home run”? On a ground ball lol? Just wondering. Thanks!
Hi. I just wanted to comment that I bought a game around 1975 called Sherco II. I really enjoyed it and thought it was my favorite board game. I got married and started raising kids so I have no idea where it is now. Do you know if SherCo II is still available? I enjoyed your video very much. Thanks
Yes! The new and improved version was released a year or two ago. You can buy it from ASG games. Thanks for watching.
The game that's available now is basically the same as what you remember. They have some new add-ons and bells and whistles, but you could definitely play it old school style if you want. That's what I'm doing for the most part, with a few of their bells and whistles and a couple of my own.
Could you possibly use your technology to rate 1985 1986 1988 seasons for me???
That's a big ask! I only have that kind of technology for rating History Maker Baseball and even that would take a long time. I'm sorry, but this is not something I can do quickly.
What software are you using to create your video? I am guessing this is the download version of the SherCo game so that is why the screen looks so sharp?
S M R this is tabletop simulator, I built a quick little module for it.
Thanks. Your video is very nicely done and I would like to see more. I play a different game usually but your video makes it look like a lot of fun especially with the ability to make ratings for any season. Is your module complicated to create?
Thank you! I plan to do one for the upgraded components in the near future. My normal game is history Maker baseball. What is yours? Modules for tabletop simulator are not hard to make once you get the hang of it. And you can even get into scripting which lets you do some really sophisticated stuff.
Travis Jansen I typically play APBA. What type of scripting are you talking about, is it something like a Visual Basic?
No, it's lua script. It's built in to the physics engine inside tabletop simulator. It can do things like flip cards, move them to different positions, deal a number of cards, move tokens, setup the whole board for you, etc...