I also would like to congratulate Steve Steinberg, Lyle Spatz and Mitchell Nathanson for their award-winning books!

—

“The 2025 Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Awards, which honor outstanding research projects completed during the preceding calendar year that have significantly expanded our knowledge or understanding of baseball, have been awarded to:

Steve Steinberg and Lyle Spatz, Mike Donlin: A Rough and Rowdy Life from New York Baseball Idol to Stage and Screen (University of Nebraska Press)

Mitchell Nathanson, Under Jackie’s Shadow: Voices of Black Minor Leagues Baseball Left Behind (University of Nebraska Press)

Derek Bain and John Racanelli, Hardball Retro’s Compendium of
Baseball Video Games and Electronic Handhelds (Self-published)”

Source: SABR – 2025 Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award winners announced

Many thanks to Beatles Eternally for organizing our chat and my co-author John Racanelli for joining us on short notice!

Check out the video here:

Derek Bain is the author of five baseball books and co-chair of the SABR Games and Simulations Committee. John Racanelli is the membership director for the Emil Rothe (Chicago) SABR Chapter, founder and Co-Chair of the SABR Baseball Landmarks Research Committee, and a regular contributor to the SABR Baseball Cards Research Committee blog.

Check out the meeting video here!

available now at Amazon for $29.99 (paperback) and $9.99 (Kindle)

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!

400 pages, full-color

Book Discussions / Promotional Appearances

SABR’s Emil Rothe Chicago Chapter – John Racanelli and Derek Bain present “A Brief History of Baseball Video Games and Electronic Handhelds” – April 29, 2026

Hittin’ Season: A Philadelphia Phillies podcast (WHYY) – Derek Bain and John Racanelli drop by to discuss their book, “Hardball Retro’s Compendium of Baseball Video Games and Electronic Handhelds,” with Justin Klugh of Baseball Prospectus. – June 20, 2025

Romantic About Baseball podcast – Jason Wood and Bruce Sarte interview Derek Bain – June 11, 2025

Sports Sim Magazine – “A Sports Sim Roundtable Examines the Charm and Torment of All-Time Greats Gaming Sets” – by Dan Verdun – May 2025 (Issue 20)

Beatles Eternally – “A Saturday Night Baseball Chinwag with Authors Derek Bain and John Racanelli” – March 22, 2025

SABR Games and Simulations – John Racanelli and Derek Bain discuss their book, “Hardball Retro’s Compendium of Baseball Video Games and Electronic Handheld. – January 8, 2025

Praise for Hardball Retro’s Compendium of Baseball Video Games & Electronic Handhelds

“Hardball Retro’s Compendium is a nostalgic treasure trove for baseball video game enthusiasts. (Authors) Bain and Racanelli take readers on a journey through baseball’s digital evolution… Packed with updated insights, interviews with legendary game designers, and reflections from players, this book is both a time capsule and a celebration of baseball’s virtual past. A must-read for fans of baseball and gaming history alike!” – Jamie Marshall, Sports Games Journal

https://forms.gle/MfQp46x5BKVS2pJz5

Please consider filling out this survey – I’m looking for your feedback for any and all baseball video games that you’ve played or owned.

Please scan the list of baseball video games on the form and ONLY enter an overall rating for each game that you have played or owned on a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best) and optionally provide a comment for those titles. Several games have a single entry for the original title along with sequels. You may only enter one rating per game title. However you can utilize the Comments section to enter specific ratings for the different versions in those instances. (for example, a rating of 6 for Bases Loaded and a rating of 7 for Bases Loaded 2). Comments that are thought-provoking or detailed have a higher likelihood of making it into the book!

Please DO NOT rate or comment any games that you have never played! If I’m missing a game, there are text and rating fields at the end of each section to capture this information. Games that exist in console, computer and/or arcade should have an entry in each of those sections, so don’t confuse the Hardball! (console) entry with Hardball! (computer).

Be sure to click NEXT at the end of the each section form and SUBMIT when you’re done (arcade baseball games is the last section!)

Completion of this form indicates permission and authorization for me to utilize your responses including name/nickname, ratings and comments in my upcoming baseball video game book project.

Thank you for participating! – Derek Bain