Click on my author page on Amazon to view all of my books that are available for purchase in either paperback or digital (Kindle) formats.
Here’s a brief description of each book, along with a direct link to their Amazon page.
Hardball Retro’s Compendium of Baseball Video Games and Electronic Handhelds
by Derek Bain and John Racanelli
Celebrating 50 years of our pixelated National Pastime, this compendium documents the pertinent details for baseball video games and electronic handheld games released in the last half-century and follows the evolution of the genre. Game ratings and reviews for hundreds of baseball games are included along with interviews of designers, programmers and pioneers of the computer, video and handheld gaming industry – Don Daglow, Eddie Dombrower, Lance Haffner, Mark Lesser, Tom Tippett and Glen Wolfram. The authors wish to encourage readers to explore these games, both past and present, create your own teams and leagues, and share those results with fellow baseball gaming and simulation enthusiasts!
Hardball Retro’s Compendium of Baseball Video Games and Electronic Handhelds is one of three winners of the 2025 Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award.
Hardball Architects – Volume 1 (American League Teams): Evaluating Roster Construction and Team Performance Based On Player Acquisition Methods
Hardball Architects (Volume 1 – American League Teams) examines the trades, free agent acquisitions, draft picks and other transactions for the 15 Major League Baseball – American League franchises. This is the first of a 2-volume set (Volume 2 – National League Teams was published in April 2022). All key moves are scrutinized for every team and Sabermetric principles are applied to the roster construction throughout the lifetime of the organization to encapsulate the hits and misses by front office executives. Team performances are analyzed based on transaction type with graphs depicting the WAR (Wins Above Replacement) in every decade. Individual results for each player-transaction is charted over the duration of their stint with the franchise. Every team chapter includes All-Time Rosters and Single-Season Leaders based on transaction type. The Team Trade Record chronicles the WAR and WS (Win Shares) accumulated by players acquired in comparison to those traded to opposing teams. The opening chapter is devoted to the Evolution of the General Manager and incorporates a discussion with former Dodgers GM Fred Claire on a variety of front office topics. Prepare yourself for a journey through baseball history to discover the path to building a contending ball club!
Hardball Architects – Volume 2 (National League Teams): Evaluating Roster Construction and Team Performance Based On Player Acquisition Methods
Hardball Architects (Volume 2 – National League Teams) examines the trades, free agent acquisitions, draft picks and other transactions for the 15 Major League Baseball – National League franchises. This is the second of a 2-volume set (Volume 1 – American League Teams was released in July 2020). All key moves are scrutinized for every team and Sabermetric principles are applied to the roster construction throughout the lifetime of the organization to encapsulate the hits and misses by front office executives. Team performances are analyzed based on transaction type with graphs depicting the WAR (Wins Above Replacement) in every decade. Individual results for each player-transaction is charted over the duration of their stint with the franchise. Every team chapter includes All-Time Rosters and Single-Season Leaders based on transaction type. The Team Trade Record chronicles the WAR and WS (Win Shares) accumulated by players acquired in comparison to those traded to opposing teams. The opening chapter is devoted to the Evolution of the General Manager and incorporates a discussion with former GM’s Fred Claire (Dodgers) and Mike Port (Angels, Red Sox) along with current GM Nick Krall (Reds) on a variety of front office topics. Prepare yourself for a journey through baseball history to discover the path to building a contending ball club!
Hardball Retroactive
“Hardball Retroactive” is a modest collection of selected articles that I have written for Seamheads.com along with my Baseball Analytics blog since 2010. Each piece is chosen based on audience response – a combination of social media “likes”, replies to a particular essay along with my personal favorites. Exclusive content is incorporated into the book – additional charts and graphs that were omitted from the original posts as well as three new compositions. “General Manager Scorecard” and the “Worst Trades” chapters evaluates the front office acumen of top MLB executives since 1950. “Taking the Extra Base” examines the art of base running on an individual and team basis. Trivia for one of the most breathtaking plays in baseball is chronicled in “Fun Facts About Inside-the-Park Home Runs”. “The Journey From Expansion to Competitive Team” chronicles the path to success for each franchise established since 1960. “Rotisserie vs. Reality” measures organizational performance by the standard Fantasy Baseball categories. The “Best Pitchers Who Never Threw a No-Hitter” are determined based on Sabermetric principles, “BABIP By Location” is a comprehensive look at individual and league statistics with regards to batted balls in play. The WBC is re-imagined back to the dawn of professional ball in “Baseball Birthplaces and the Retro World Baseball Classic”. Rediscover your favorite hardball arcade and simulations in “Play Retro Baseball Video Games In Your Browser”. “Minors vs. Majors” assesses every franchise’s minor league successes and failures in relation to their major league operations.
Hardball Retrospective: Evaluating Scouting and Development Outcomes for the Modern-Era Franchises
Would your favorite baseball team make the playoffs if player X had not been traded? Imagine your team’s roster from any particular year. Remove all of the players that your team acquired through trades and free agency. Would you be able to field a competitive team? All right, let us re-populate the roster with every player that the organization originally drafted and signed. Yes, we will include undrafted free agents and foreign players who signed with their first Major League team, as well. How does the team stack up now? Is the club better or worse than the squad that you imagined at first? In Hardball Retrospective, I placed every ballplayer in the modern era (from 1901-present) on their original teams. Using a variety of advanced statistics and methods, I generated revised standings for each season based entirely on the performance of each team’s “original” players. I discuss every team’s “original” players and seasons at length along with organizational performance with respect to the Amateur Draft (or First-Year Player Draft), amateur free agent signings and other methods of player acquisition. Season standings, WAR and Win Shares totals for the “original” teams are compared against the real-time or “actual” team results to assess each franchise’s scouting, development and general management skills.Edited by Marianne Landrum. Foreword by Don Daglow.
Mermaid: Enchanted Ocean
My children and I designed a “homebrew” game for the Mattel Intellivision classic video game console: Mermaid: Enchanted Ocean. The project began in 2015 as part of the IntyBasic Programming contest. I eventually refined the code and enlisted the help of several individuals (see credits below) to complete the project. The game was released in 2025 and won the Best Original Game award in the 2025 Intellivision Homebrew Awards:
Mermaid: Enchanted Ocean is available for purchase through Intellivision Revolution and includes the box, manual, two overlays and the game cartridge.
Here’s a Mermaid: Enchanted Ocean gameplay video by Papa Pete:
