I can't believe that I missed this thread the first time around.
I grew up owning and playing any Strat-O-Matic game made. I played hours of baseball, football, hockey, basketball and even College football. Ahhhh.
Baseball was my first, I bought it for my 10th birthday. A year later, I convinced my mom to let my buy Axis and Allies with my birthday money. It wasn't easy, as $45 bucks is a lot for an 11 year old.
Plus this game was seriously close to my all time fav:
The Farming Game, and Masterpiece were also played for hours.