@gallowglass #FirstGames #TabletopQuestions
I mentioned this in my intro, but it was Strat-o-Matic baseball. I remember seeing an ad for it in the back of (I think) Sports Illustrated when I was around 8, and asking a clerk at a big San Francisco department store for it. Played that game to death. (I used to keep score on index cards. I still have most of them.)
I later moved on to APBA, and other sports games, then branched out to AD&D when it came out (yes, I'm old), Avalon Hill, etc.