Welcome to the "Drop the Bullpen" blog! My name is Ryan Strauss and I have been a tabletop sports gamer since c.1999, when I started playing MLB Showdown and APBA Baseball. What at first was an enjoyable solo pastime, over the years I realized that it's more fun to game with other people. As the hobby supposedly hasn't seen its heyday since the 1980's (before video games emerged), it became tough for most gamers to find other gamers to game with over time. The advent of the internet, social media, and smart phones has made people more distant and less connected, in ways. Kind of lame when you really think about it! Though, these online communities are also making "play-by-mail" leagues, co-ops, and community projects start from afar, too. On a person level, my high school friends and I did have an APBA Baseball league with six coaches running for a season and a half (complete with a rainout in the league's World Series, game 6) in Pennsylvania at the...