The pioneers of Strato are an eclectic triumverate indeed.  Louis Agostino, the elder statesman of the Game.  Tom Lucey, his hapless side-kick.  And Joe Agostino, Lou’s good-natured ragamuffin kid brother.  Lou and Joe I know well.  Tom Lucey I met only once or twice.  During one of these brief encounters the subject of Strato came up.  All I can remember about this conversation is Tom Lucey taunting Lou and Joe about their fear of George Foster. 

As I understand it, during the several seasons their league was in existence, Lou would inevitably finish in first place, Tom Lucey in second, and Joe in last.  Joe would beat Tom Lucey in the playoffs, before being beaten by Lou in the World Series.

During one season, legend has it, Tom Lucey had fallen out of contention and played out the remainder of his games for one reason only: George Foster’s stats.  Another tale spun into the lore of the Game involves Louis, Tom Lucey, Johnny Bench, and a fat kid named Willie Clark.  The tale goes something like this: Johnny Bench hits a two-out two-run homerun in the bottom of the ninth to propel Louis to victory over Tom Lucey.  This sends Tom Lucey into a rage that can only be brought on by Strato, and only understood by those who have played the game.  After regaining his composure, Tom Lucey returns to the table where the decisive 2-10 remains on the dice (taunting him?).  Well this is too much for Tom Lucey to bear.  His anger returns ten-fold and poor Willie Clark is the recipient of his wrath.  Legend has it that Tom Lucey proceeded to throw poor Willie Clark off of a second-story deck.  Tom Lucey….. one of the colorful figures of the pre-modern Strat-O-Matic era.