A classic baseball board game is marking its golden anniversary with fans flying in from around the country for a big party. Enthusiasts gathered early this morning in Midtown for the 50th anniversary celebration of Strat-O-Matic baseball.

The game has been described as similar to fantasy baseball, but with a more active role in managing the lineup of players with cards and dice, or on a computer. Hal Richman was just 11 years old when he came up with Strat-O-Matic.

"I was a frustrated baseball player, not that good, but I wanted to be there with the stars. So I played a game called 'All Star Baseball.' That measured only one thing -- hitting. And I said, 'I can do better,'" said Richman. "But I had no idea what dice probabilities were, and I rolled the dice 5,000 times. Took me a few days, and eventually created a probability table, and from that I was able to make up player cards. One fan says his Strat-O-Matic league in Queens is starting its 31st season, with nine months of playing and 162 games ahead.