Based on the research for my book “Hardball Retrospective“, I assigned every Major League ballplayer to the first team that signed them to a professional MLB contract. Each player remains on their assigned “Original” team for the duration of their careers. For comparison purposes, I also compiled “Actual” teams using the individuals that actually played for each franchise. In both cases, I created half-decade leagues for the “Originals” and “Actuals”.

To determine the rosters for my “Actual” half-decade leagues, I utilized the following criteria:

• Half-decades were designated as 1900-1904, 1905-1909, 1910-1914, 1915-1919, etc. up to 2015-2019. For the older National League franchises, I am not including any 19th Century player-seasons.
• I take the top 40 players for each roster based on Win Shares using each player’s best season in the five-year period. For example, Mike Trout registered 42, 36, 30, 38 and 34 Win Shares from 2015 to 2019. On the Angels 2015-2019 “Actuals” roster, Mike Trout’s 2015 season will be represented.
• I manually entered the team information into Earl Weaver Baseball 1.5 for the IBM PC. I selected this version of EWB for several reasons – personal preference (I’ve a huge fan of EWB since the game was released!), challenge (I had the Amiga and Apple ][ versions back in the day, but only recently acquired the IBM PC version), aesthetics (the physics modeling, animations, sounds were all top-notch for a game produced in the late 1980’s). Another determining factor – the IBM PC edition allows the user to ‘fast-play’ a series of games without any user intervention. For example, I created the schedule and saved it to disk. Then I can reference the schedule after I launch the game using the command, “WEAVER p d %” and enter the first game number along with the number of days to play. I usually play ten days at a time then back up the EWB files. I can also increase the amount of CPU cycles in the DOSbox emulator to speed things up a bit. Here is an excellent FAQ for EWB by Demystifier which explains the various command-line parameters and other interesting information about the game.
• Earl Weaver Baseball has a roster limitation of 25 players, so each roster will consist of either 14 batters / 11 pitchers or 15 batters / 10 pitchers.
• One of the few omissions in the original Earl Weaver Baseball computer game is the inability to save lineups and designate pitching roles for a computer-managed team. The teams that are managed by “Earl” use algorithms to generate lineups before every game, substituting players as needed based on injuries and fatigue.
• Another minor flaw is the lack of “reserves” so the user is limited to a 25-man roster for each team.
• Playoffs / World Series – I will manage a series of games between the top two teams in the simulation and livestream the results to my Twitch and YouTube channels.

Angels “Actuals” – Playoffs & World Series Videos

Championship Series – 2010-2014 Angels vs. 1975-1979 Angels – view videos here!

Championship Series – 2005-2009 Angels vs. 2000-2004 Angels – view videos here!

World Series – 1975-1979 Angels @ 2000-2004 Angels – Game 1

World Series – 1975-1979 Angels @ 2000-2004 Angels – Game 2

World Series – 2000-2004 Angels @ 1975-1979 Angels – Game 3

World Series – 2000-2004 Angels @ 1975-1979 Angels – Game 4

World Series – 2000-2004 Angels @ 1975-1979 Angels – Game 5

World Series – 1975-1979 Angels @ 2000-2004 Angels – Game 6

World Series – 1975-1979 Angels @ 2000-2004 Angels – Game 7

Angels “Actuals” – Statistics, Standings & Leader Boards

Angels “Actuals” – Final Regular Season Standings

Angels “Actuals” – Team Totals

Angels “Actuals” – League Leaders – Batting

Angels “Actuals” – League Leaders – Pitching

Angels “Actuals” – Team Rosters with Individual Batting & Pitching Statistics

This is the twentieth entry in a series focusing on computer baseball simulations to supplement the chapter “Play Retro Baseball Video Games In Your Browser” from my Hardball Retroactive book along with the corresponding post at Baseball Analytics. The series focuses on baseball simulations – games in which the primary emphasis is on managerial strategy and the ability to replay entire seasons with a degree of realism. Baseball video games that are strictly arcade representations of baseball (based solely on reflex and hand-eye coordination) are excluded.

Tony La Russa Baseball 3

Publisher – Stormfront Studios

Release Year – 1995

Platforms – IBM PC

Credits

Old Time Baseball

Publisher – Stormfront Studios

Release Year – 1995

Platforms – IBM PC

Credits

Tony La Russa Baseball 4

Publisher – Maxis

Release Year – 1997

Platforms – IBM PC

Credits

Interview

Don Daglow served as the Executive Producer for the Tony La Russa Baseball series along with Old Time Baseball. He graciously responded to my inquiries specific to TLRB3 & 4 and OTB.

DB – Tony La Russa Baseball 3 and Old Time Baseball were nearly released simultaneously in 1995. When was the concept for OTB conceived and was it intended to be a parallel project to TLRB3? Was there any concern about releasing two baseball products into the marketplace around the same time?

DD – The decision to release both was a calculated risk. Our theory was that the baseball history fans (like me) whose baseball desires were satisfied by Old Time Baseball and wouldn’t buy TLRB wouldn’t cannibalize too many TLRB sales. I also had dreamed for many years of creating something like OTB and we had our proprietary baseball engine upon which to base it, and that felt like the moment when I could “make the dream come true.” Of course, the factor we didn’t think about was the baseball strike!

DB – Is there any significance to the number “11” on the backs of the player uniforms?

DD – We weren’t yet at the point where available RAM and processor speed in the typical consumer machines would allow us to individualize the animations, and 11 was the least likely number to draw attention to that fact.

DB – The GM Challenge mode includes an undocumented feature where women begin to appear in the game after you progress into the 2040 season. MLB has been slowly moving in this direction on the field (female coaches and managers in the Minor Leagues) and the front office. Do you believe there is enough momentum towards this initiative to fulfill this prophecy within that timeline? When the Silver Bullets team was formed in the mid-90’s, there was some momentum in this direction.

DD – That’s outside my forecasting abilities, but I certainly hope we see more girls playing baseball in Little League etc. if that’s what they want to do. The hiring of Alyssa Nakken is also an encouraging signpost.

DB – Old Time Baseball featured the “Time Machine” to convert player statistics across different eras. What statistics were utilized when converting player data from one era to another? Did you utilize park factors, league runs per game, or a combination of formulas?

DD – We aggregated a series of factors, and I have to admit that 30 years later I don’t remember every step. Obviously, the toughest part was trying to maintain some kind of meaningful competition across the dead ball to modern ball transition. We even tried simulating 1871-92, though I’m not sure if that was a failed experiment.

DB – Tony La Russa 4 was the final edition in the series. Were further sequels with a revamped engine under consideration? What were some of the enhancements that you would have considered for a new game or series?

DD – There were two factors that caused us to end work on the series. First of all, the 1994-95 strike decreased consumer spending on everything baseball, even after play resumed. Our forecasts for unit sales of the games were dramatically affected. Second, over the course of the 1990s the large game publishers went public and started making games with much bigger budgets as a way to outsell and marginalize smaller publishers. Since we developed original games for publishers but baseball games were the only titles we published ourselves, this placed us at a big disadvantage. The combined effect of these two factors was to make another sequel a bad bet.

DB – You attempted to revive the La Russa product line in 2012 after a 15 year absence. “Tony La Russa’s Baseball With Fans” was targeted for Smartphone platforms but the Kickstarter support ultimately fell short. What would a re-imagined “Tony 5” look like and do you have any future plans for TLRB or perhaps an Old Time Baseball II with the ability to import statistics from online sources, internet play, etc.?

DD – That effort was undertaken when my passion for baseball caused me to not properly factor the fact that Kickstarter users usually support physical games, not digital ones. I always have dreams about making new kinds of baseball games, and one day one of them may come to life.

DB – If there are any important points about the Tony La Russa Baseball series and Old Time Baseball that I’ve missed, please share your thoughts here!

DD – Just that the roles of Mark Buchignani, David Bunnett and Hudson Piehl (in alphabetical order) in creating the games were critical in our initial and long-term success, and that without Katie Kelly coordinating everything the series would never have launched.

Review

Old Time Baseball

One of the neat features implemented in Old Time Baseball is the “Time Machine” which allows you to configure your league (universe) based on different eras in baseball history or you can select a specific season so the outcomes veer towards high, neutral or low-run environments. The available eras include:

All-Time Average, Early Baseball (1871-1892), Dead Ball Era (1893-1919), Babe Ruth Era (1920-1945), The Golden Age (1946-1960), Expansion Era (1961-1976), and Modern Baseball (1977-1994). The only competitor’s product offering similar functionality during this timeframe was Pursue the Pennant / Diamond Mind Baseball, to my knowledge. I imported the 1979 rosters and ran a test season using the Dead Ball Era to test-drive the Time Machine. Fred Lynn led the Majors with 10 round-trippers in the regular season. Five players tied for the runner-up spot with 6 circuit clouts apiece. Billy North (114 SB) was one of three players topping the century mark in steals as a dozen thieves pilfered at least 80 bags! David Palmer flummoxed the opposition, posting a Major League-best 1.44 ERA.

Experimenting further with the expansive Old Time Baseball statistics, I loaded the 1981 season into OTB and then imported that universe into TLRB3. Using the Player Stats function under the Utilities menu, I tabbed through each franchise and corrected the player names for individuals who were still active in 1995. Due to licensing issues with MLBPA, those player names in the OTB database were simply “Center Fielder” or “Pitcher”. However their actual statistics allowed me to easily discern their identities by browsing through the corresponding team roster on Baseball-Reference. So the Yankees “Pitcher” with an ERA of 0.77 and 46.2 IP became Rich Gossage while I ascertained the southpaw with the 2.05 ERA and 105.1 IP as rookie sensation Dave Righetti. I also encountered an issue with batter handedness. None of the players imported from the Old Time Baseball CD-ROM were listed as switch-hitters, so I had to scroll through each roster and compare to that season’s entry on the Baseball-Reference website. One other quirk involved primary positions for some outfielders. Many of them default to right field, making it necessary to peruse the actual games by position and correct those that should be in left or center field. I adjusted the lineups and rotations according to the historical record and simulated the season using a 162-game schedule.

I used the “Create Team” option in Old Time Baseball to build rosters from another project that I’m working on, tentatively titled “The Ones That Got Away”. I organized the best players that each franchise traded, released, or allowed to otherwise leave via free agency or other means, sorted by their WAR and Win Shares totals in their best seasons for their new club and divided into teams by decade. In this edition I elected to use the squads from the 1970’s as OTB contains all player-seasons through 1981. After I drafted the players on to their respective franchises, I selected starting lineups (vs RHP and LHP), starting rotations and bullpens. Stadiums were assigned to each team from the list of 16 beautifully rendered old-time ballparks that are included in the game. Since I had 24 teams (the 16 “original” franchises from the turn of the century plus the expansion teams through 1969), I opted to assign two teams to some of the stadiums.

The 70’s Yankees, Phillies, Athletics and Giants’ “Got Away” squads led their respective divisions at the All-Star Break. I signed on as the skipper for the American League All-Stars. A couple of left-handers, Vida Blue (OAK) and Wilbur Wood (PIT), were rewarded with the starting assignments. The afternoon affair at Fenway Park commenced with a scoreless first inning but George Foster (SFG) but the Senior Circuit on the board with a solo blast over the Green Monster. Davey Johnson (BAL) crushed a three-run shot into the netting above the left field wall to propel the Junior Circuit into the lead with two outs in the bottom of the third. He repeated the feat with two aboard in the fifth as the American Leaguers extended their advantage to 6-1. Foster tallied another RBI when he hit into a fielder’s choice with runners on first and second in the visitor’s sixth. Gaylord Perry (TEX) relieved Blue to begin the seventh frame and proceeded to set the NL crew down in order. Perry’s brother Jim held the opposition in check during the eighth inning and Andy Messersmith entered the contest to nail down the final three outs as the American League triumphed by a score of 6-2.

The season concluded with the Tribe outlasting the Bronx Bombers by a five-game margin in the AL East while the Angels, Athletics and Rangers each posted 90+ victories in the AL West. Texas emerged with the division title by a lone victory over Oakland. In the National League, Philadelphia claimed the Eastern Division crown and finished five games ahead of St. Louis. The Astros topped the Majors with 97 wins and prevailed in a tight race with the Reds to take the NL West.

Cleveland stormed out to a 3-0 lead in the American League Championship Series. Tommy Harper clubbed a round-tripper and knocked in four runs while Dennis Eckersley hurled 8 strong innings as the Tribe took Game 1 by a score of 7-3.  Sonny Siebert (CLE) and Bert Blyleven (TEX) engaged in a pitcher’s duel in Game 2, trading zeroes for eight frames until Ray Fosse singled home Joe Rudi with the game’s lone run off Don Stanhouse to propel Cleveland to a 1-0 triumph. Harper led the Indians’ offensive ambush with 4 of the team’s 13 base knocks in Game 3. Jim Perry and Jim Kern held the Rangers at bay, allowing 4 base hits as Cleveland pushed Texas to the brink of elimination. The Rangers showed their resiliency in Game 4 with a 4-3 victory in a ten-inning affair. Texas hurlers Joe H. Coleman, Stan Thomas and combined for a 2-0 shutout in Game 5. Harper swatted a big-fly and Rudi drove in 3 runs to clinch the AL pennant as Cleveland defeated Texas, 6-5 in Game 6 to advance to the World Series.

Philadelphia prevailed 12-9 in Game 1 as Houston wasted a home run and 5 RBI from first-sacker John Mayberry and Joe Pepitone’s 3 RBI. The Phillies countered with four circuit clouts – a couple of taters off the bat of Barry Foote along with big-flies by John E Briggs and Don Money. Also known as “Brooks” for his fielding prowess, Money cashed in with a 5-for-5 day at the office. Everyone in the Phillies lineup contributed at least one base hit as Astros’ southpaw Dave A Roberts and a trio of relievers yielded 20 base knocks. The Fightin’ Phillies repeated the feat in the second contest, a 12-0 shellacking in which the Houston staff allowed 19 hits while Fergie Jenkins spun a 5-hit shutout. Dick Allen went yard twice and John “Bad Dude” Stearns delivered a solo shot. The Astros triumphed on the road in Game 3 as the ball club rallied with 2 runs in the ninth to secure a  7-6 victory. Rusty Staub plated three baserunners and Joe Ferguson added a pair of RBI. Ken Brett (PHI) twirled a 3-hitter to claim victory in a 1-0 affair in Game 4 despite a one-hitter by Houston’s Jerry Reuss. Unfortunately for the ‘Stros, that one hit was a solo round-tripper by Toby Harrah in the sixth inning. The visiting Astros held a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth in Game 5 when the hometown Phils erupted for 3 runs against Howie Reed and Fred Scherman to capture the NL pennant. I elected to skipper the Phillies in the upcoming Series.

Philadelphia travelled to Cleveland and the World Series commenced with a pair of aces on the hill for their respective clubs. Dennis Eckersley got the Game 1 nod for the Tribe while the Fightin’ Phillies countered with Fergie “Fly” Jenkins. Toby Harrah advanced to second on a two-base error by left fielder Joe Rudi. “Eck” walked John Stearns and Dick Allen to load the bases with nobody out. Oscar Gamble lofted a fly ball to center, deep enough to score Harrah. John E. Briggs rapped into a 5-4-3 double play to end the threat. Tommy Harper laced a two-bagger off the center field wall to ignite a potential rally for the Indians. Rudi atoned for his earlier miscue to knot the game at 1-1 with a double to right-center field. Eckersley held the Phillies hitless until Cesar Tovar delivered a clean single to left with one away in the top of the fifth. The match remained tied until the bottom of the eighth when Jenkins yielded consecutive two-base hits to Alfredo Griffin and Harper. Cleveland assumed a 2-1 lead and Philadelphia elected to call upon Grant Jackson after issuing a free pass to George Hendrick. Jackson got out of the jam and the Tribe brought Jim Kern on to pitch the ninth inning. Oscar Gamble drew a base on balls. Briggs bounced a high chopper back to the mound. Kern whirled and fired to second to gun down the pinch-runner, Bill Robinson. Don Money drilled a double up the gap in left-center and Briggs was off to the races, scoring all the way from first to tie the game at 2-2! Cleveland’s skipper held up four fingers and Kern walked Del Unser intentionally to face Tovar. I countered with pinch-hitter Willie Montanez, who promptly whiffed on a 3-2 curveball. Dave Cash lined out to third for the final out of the frame. Jackson retired the Indians in order and the game headed into extra innings. Harrah belted a double high off the center field wall to commence the top of the tenth and he advanced to third on a slow roller to first off the bat of Stearns. Cleveland chose to pitch to Allen even though first base was unoccupied and the slugger drove in Harrah with a sacrifice fly to left to put the Phillies in front, 3-2. Darold Knowles shut down the Tribe offense in the home half of the tenth to notch the save as Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead in the Series.

Jim Perry merited the starting nod for the Indians in Game 2 while the Phillies countered with Rick Wise. Cleveland scratched across a run in the first when Toby Harrah booted Joe Rudi’s grounder to short with the bases loaded. Another miscue by Harrah with two outs in the second allowed George Hendrick to bat with a pair of baserunners aboard. “Silent George” took a mighty cut and deposited the ball far beyond the center field fence for a three-run bomb as the Indians extended their lead to 4-0. Harrah drew a leadoff base on balls in the fourth and later scored with two down on an opposite-field single off the bat of Oscar Gamble. Ron Schueler relieved Wise after he issued a free pass to Alfredo Griffin with one out in the sixth. Tommy Harper promptly rapped into a 6-4-3 double play to keep the score at 4-1. Rudi’s web gem, a diving catch that robbed Cesar Tovar of a base knock, keep the Phils at bay in the visitor’s seventh. Griffin laced an RBI double in the eighth to provide further cushion for the Tribe. Perry cruised to a complete-game six-hitter, retiring pinch-hitter Johnny Callison on a pop-up to Ray Fosse to end the contest and knot the series at one game apiece.

In the City of Brotherly Love, the two teams prepared to square off in Game 3. Tommy Harper worked a base on balls leading off the contest and Jose Cardenal followed with a two-run blast off Ken Brett which landed just inside the left-field foul pole. Tommy John served up a gopher ball to left-center field off the bat of center fielder Jerry Martin to cut the Indians lead in half. Toby Harrah and Dick Allen tagged solo shots off “TJ” in the third frame to put the Phillies on top, 3-2. Rico Carty belted a triple over Martin’s outstretched glove in center to start the visitor’s fourth. Brett whiffed Graig Nettles and Joe Rudi to nearly escape the inning unscathed, but Chris Chambliss laced a single to center to drive home the tying run. Alfredo Griffin singled to commence the fifth frame, moved to third on Harper’s two-base knock and scored on a solid single to center by “Silent” George Hendrick. Jackie Brown relieved Brett in the top of the sixth. The Tribe tacked on a run in the eighth after Harrah committed a pair of errors. John hurled scattered eight hits across eight innings before Jim Kern entered the game in the bottom of the ninth. The “Emu” yielded a one-out single to John “Bad Dude” Stearns but he induced a 6-4-3 double play ground ball off the bat of pinch-hitter Willie Montanez to secure the 5-3 victory as Cleveland assumed the advantage in the Series.

The Tribe had another ace up their sleeve as the wily right-hander Gaylord Perry got the starting assignment in Game 4. The Fightin’ Phils countered with southpaw Rudy May. I noticed a bug in the box score when Cleveland tallied an unearned run in the top of the third inning. Chris Chambliss singled and advanced to third base on a two-out base knock off the bat of Tommy Harper. However, Chambliss twisted his ankle on the play and had to be removed from the contest in favor of Vada Pinson. A surprise bunt by Jose Cardenal caught May off-guard and the pitcher bobbled the ball, allowing Pinson to score as Harper moved up to second and Cardenal beat the throw to first. The box score credited Chambliss with the run scored instead of Pinson. Regardless, the Indians held a 1-0 advantage after May whiffed “Silent” George Hendrick. Philadelphia knotted the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third. Toby Harrah drilled a two-bagger up the gap in left field. Willie Montanez and John E. Briggs delivered consecutive base hits with Harrah coasting home when Cardenal trapped Briggs’ liner to center. May struck out nine batsmen through 6 2/3 innings but ran out of gas and yielded the bump to right-hander Dyar Miller. Harper drew a walk to load the bases. Cardenal jumped on Miller’s first offering and ripped a double that one-hopped the fence in left-center, scoring a pair to put the visitors out in front, 3-1. Hendrick struck out but the damage was done. Jim Kern entered the game in the bottom of the ninth after Perry held the Phillies to one run through eight frames. Don Money coaxed a base on balls leading off the inning and Johnny Callison blooped a base hit to right field. Del Unser slapped a single past a diving Pinson at first base, cutting the lead to 3-2. Kern proceeded to strike out the side as Oscar Gamble, Harrah and Richie Hebner were punched out in succession to slam the door shut on the Phillies’ rally.

Philadelphia returned to the ballpark for Game 5 facing a must-win scenario with Ferguson Jenkins on the hill for the hometown squad and Dennis Eckersley slinging for the visiting ball club. Both hurlers held the opposition in check until the visitor’s fifth when Jose Cardenal laced a sharp single over the head of second-sacker Dave Cash, scoring Ray Fosse from third. In the bottom of the seventh, Del Unser led off with a base hit to center field and reached second on a throwing error by Cardenal. Dave Cash delivered a single but Unser was only able to advance one base. John Stearns drew a base on balls following a strikeout by Toby Harrah. Dick Allen whiffed for the second out but Willie Montanez stroked a solid single back through the box and into center field to tie the game at 1-1. Johnny Callison slashed an opposite-field single to left with one away in the eighth, sending “Eck” to the showers in favor of the Tribe’s closer, Jim Kern. Cesar Tovar came on as a pinch-runner. Cash executed the hit-and-run to perfection, lining the ball up the right-center field gap for the go-ahead double. Grant Jackson replaced “Fly” to begin the ninth frame and he retired the Indians in order to secure the save as the Phillies prevailed, 2-1 and sent the Series back to Cleveland.

The skippers for Philadelphia and Cleveland turned to veterans Rick Wise and Jim Perry, respectively, for Game 6 matchup. Joe Rudi commenced the scoring with a two-run blast over the right-center field wall in the home half of the second inning. Ray Fosse drilled a one-out double to deep center field in the fifth to plate Vada Pinson. The Indians loaded the bases but Wise extracted himself from the jam with a pair of grounders to shortstop Toby Harrah, the first one resulting in a force out at home. John Stearns and Dick Allen rapped back-to-back two-base hits in the top of the sixth to put the Phillies on the board. Oscar Gamble ripped a hot grounder past a diving Tommy Harper to drive in Allen, cutting the Cleveland advantage to 3-2. Darold Knowles replaced Wise to start the sixth inning. He kept the Tribe in check for two frames before yielding to Dyar Miller in the eighth. Miller and southpaw Grant Jackson worked in and out of trouble in the eighth. Cleveland’s manager summoned Jim Kern from the bullpen to pitch the ninth. Gamble led off with a line-drive single to center. Don Money ripped a tailor-made double play grounder to shortstop but Tommy Harper failed to handle the throw from Alfredo Griffin and the ball sailed into right field for a two-base error. The unexpected gift gave the Phillies new life, placing runners on second and third with nobody out. Johnny Callison’s next swing silenced the hometown faithful as he connected on an opposite-field, three-run round-tripper over the left field wall. The FIghtin’ Phils loaded the bases on one-out singles by Dave Cash and Harrah, followed by a base on balls to Stearns. Kern struck out Allen but Willie Montanez laced his fourth base knock of the day to extend the Phillies’ lead to 6-3. Kern was mercifully removed in favor of portsider Brent Strom. Pinch-hitter Bill Robinson greeted him with a single to center, tallying another run for the visitors. Money grounded out to Griffin to conclude the inning with the Indians trailing 7-3. Bill Champion took the mound for the Phillies and promptly served up an opposite-field long ball to Rudi. Consecutive two-base hits by Chris Chambliss and Duke Sims brought the fans to their feet and sent Champion to the showers. Veteran left-hander Woodie Fryman entered the fray with Sims on second base and the tying run at the plate with nobody out. Harrah made a diving stop on a hot grounder up the middle and fired to first base in time to retire Griffin. Harper went down swinging and Rusty Torres flew out to center for the final out as Philadelphia claimed a 7-5 victory to force a seventh game.

A couple of southpaws, Ken Brett for the Phillies and Tommy John for the Indians, received the starting assignment in Game 7. Both lineups were stacked with right-handed batsmen save for Graig Nettles. The visitors loaded the bases on consecutive singles by Bill Robinson and Jerry Martin, followed by a walk to Don Money. John whiffed Cesar Tovar but Barry Foote crushed an 0-1 curveball deep over the fence in center field for a grand slam! In the fourth, John Stearns ripped a two-run single to left which knocked John out of the contest. Brent Strom came on in relief as Cleveland trailed 6-0. Money deposited a long ball in the right-center field bleachers for a solo shot off Strom in the seventh. Brett yielded his first tally in the home seventh when Ted Ford drilled a two-bagger off the center field wall to plate Rico Carty. Jackie Brown entered the game in the eighth with a 7-1 lead. He skated through his first frame without issue but ran into trouble in the ninth as Duke Sims and Alfredo Griffin produced successive RBI singles. The Phillies’ skipper called upon the closer, Darold Knowles, to extinguish the fire. He got Tommy Harper to ground into a fielder’s choice and Jose Cardenal on a two-hopper to second-sacker Dave Cash for the final out. The Fightin’ Phils gathered near the mound to revel in the victory. Fergie Jenkins earned MVP honors with 15 1/3 innings pitched, 11 strikeouts and 3 runs allowed.

Tony La Russa Baseball 3

Tony La Russa Baseball 3 introduces the GM Challenge, a “career mode” option in which the user assumes the role of the General Manager. You begin in the currently selected universe’s year. I imported the 1961 Season from Old Time Baseball so I could oversee the roster construction for the expansion Angels’ ball club. So you have the players from 1961 on their actual teams to start the GM Challenge. You adjust the levers on the Scouting Emphasis screen to determine an order of preference with regards to available amateur talent in the upcoming draft. The drafting is performed behind-the-scenes and consists of fictional players. This is where my interest in this mode drifted… I am just unable to find any enjoyment managing fictional players when it comes to baseball simulations. I put the game through its paces for several seasons using the GM Challenge but it failed to capture my attention. One interesting note that I came across during my research – if you play into the 2040 season or thereabouts, female ballplayers will begin to appear on your rosters.

All three games include the Fantasy Draft. This allows you to create a brand new baseball universe using a variety of standard fantasy or Rotisserie baseball options. You can choose the draft order (cycle, snake or random) and whether to utilize “Rotisserie Points” or conduct an Auction Style draft, where owners can bid on each player. You can assign human or computer general managers to each team prior to the draft and the user is able to modify the General Manager Profile for each individual GM with custom or preset biases: Tony La Russa (balanced pitching, hitting, defense), Power Hungry (emphasis on homers), Steal Bases/Steal Hits (emphasis on speed and generating one run at a time), Pitching-Pitching-Pitching, and Tough in the Field (defense and pitching). Each draft can last for up to 40 rounds, provided there are enough players in the free agent pool.

I elected to simulate the 1995 season with the hopes that my favorite team, the Angels, would somehow avoid their September collapse and reach the playoffs. The Halos achieved this goal with 95 victories in the regular season. California triumphed over Baltimore in the first round, 3 games to 1. Chuck Finley went the distance in Game 1, yielding only two hits while striking out seven O’s. Mark Langston out-dueled Scott Erickson as the Halos took Game 2 by a score of 5-2. The Orioles prevailed in an extra-inning slugfest in Game 3, 9-8, in a contest featuring 8 circuit clouts. Mark Dalesandro, Tony Phillips and J.T. Snow cleared the fences at Camden Yards as the Angels advanced to the next round with a decisive 6-1 victory in Game 4.

Cleveland and Boston squared off in the other American League Division Series. Dennis Martinez blanked the BoSox on three hits in Game 1. Carlos Baerga rapped four base knocks as Cleveland prevailed 7-5 in Game 2. Albert Belle swatted a pair of big flies and drove in five runs to propel the Indians into the next round with a convincing 9-0 rout of Tim Wakefield and the Sox in the third contest.

The National League Division Series featured Cincinnati’s sweep of San Diego. The Redlegs’ Jerome Walton provided the margin of victory with a two-run jack in the top of the ninth off Scott Sanders. Eddie Taubensee clubbed a couple of long balls and knocked in four runs as Cincinnati rolled to a 9-1 triumph in the second game. Back on their home turf in Game 3, the Cincinnati lumber crew belted 4 round-trippers and David Wells twirled a 3-hit shutout to close out the sweep of the Friars.

Los Angeles won a hard-fought series over Florida in 5 games. The Dodgers outlasted the Marlins, 6-5 in Game 1 as Jose Offerman recorded 3 hits and Bill Ashley mashed a two-run tater. Bobby Witt whiffed 10 in 6 2/3 innings as Florida evened the series at one game apiece. The Marlins nearly wasted a brilliant effort by Chris Hammond in Game 3 (8 IP, 5 H, 0 R) when the Dodgers rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to tie the score, but the LA bullpen imploded in the bottom of the inning. Antonio Osuna walked Gary Sheffield, then Todd Worrell issued free passes to Charles Johnson and Jesus Tavarez before pinch-hitter Jerry Browne slapped a game-winning single! Hideo Nomo flummoxed the Fish in Game 4, striking out ten and allowing only three hits in an 8-0 rout as Offerman homered and knocked in 4 runs. Dave Hansen plated 3 baserunners and Tom Candiotti’s flutterball finished off Florida with a convincing 8-2 triumph in Miami.

The Angels took the Indians to six games in the American League Championship Series but California’s pitching staff took a collecting beating from the Tribe offense. Orel Hershiser struck out 13 Halos in Game 1 while Kenny Lofton and Paul Sorrento knocked in three runs apiece as the Tribe notched a 9-1 victory. Angels’ hurlers served up seven gopher balls in Game 2 including 4 jacks by Paul Sorrento! Shawn Boskie allowed 11 earned runs and Brian J. Anderson coughed up 5 of the round-trippers as Cleveland trounced California, 19-8. The Angels’ offense came to life in Game 3 as the club registered 19 base hits, but the Indians countered with 15 of their own in a 13-8 decision that put the Tribe in position to sweep the series. Tim Salmon produced 3 hits, a home run, 3 RBI and stole a base as California finally recorded a win, 6-5 in 10 innings. J.T. Snow, Rex Hudler and Spike Owen cranked circuit clouts and southpaw Mark Langston held Cleveland in check over 8 1/3 innings as the Halos claimed Game 5 by a score of 5-3. Alas, the Indians returned home for Game 6 and got their mojo back as Hershiser spun a five-hitter and blanked the Angels, 8-0. The “Bulldog” was mobbed by his teammates at the mound and Cleveland was headed to the World Series.

The Dodgers coasted to victory in the National League Championship Series in six games. Raul Mondesi launched two long balls and drove in four runs as the Dodgers defeated the Reds in Game 1. Cincinnati only registered three base knocks in Game 2 but they somehow managed seven tallies against one for Los Angeles while Pete Schourek scattered 9 hits over 8 innings. Todd Hollandsworth swatted a big-fly and knocked in 3 runs for LA to secure a 5-3 victory in Game 3. The Dodgers belted three solo shots but fell to the Reds, 4-3 in Game 4. With the series knotted at two games apiece, Los Angeles seized the upper hand when Raul Mondesi walloped a majestic three-run blast and his teammates scratched out a couple of late-inning tallies in a 5-4 triumph. Jose Offerman and Roberto Kelly delivered 3 hits each and the Dodgers prevailed in Game 6, 5-4 in 10 innings to claim the National League pennant!

The World Series commenced at Dodger Stadium and I elected to manage Los Angeles. Carlos Baerga delivered a solo blast off Ismael Valdes in the top of the first. Mike Piazza countered with a line drive that cleared the fence in left-center off Mark Clark to tie the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. Paul Sorrento slapped a bases-loaded single just beyond the reach of shortstop Jose Offerman to briefly give the visitors a 2-1 lead in the sixth but Eric Karros led off the home half of the frame with a towering four-bagger into the center field bleachers to knot the game at 2-2. Valdes supplied seven strong innings of 5-hit ball but the manager summoned Antonio Osuna from the bullpen to start the eighth. Osuna immediately allowed a double up the gap in right-center to Kenny Lofton and later issued a pair of walks. John Cummings extinguished the blaze when he fanned Sorrento for the third out. LA loaded the bases against Clark on successive singles by Piazza and Karros followed by an intentional pass to third baseman Dave Hansen later in the frame. Pinch-hitter Henry Rodriguez popped up to Jim Thome in foul territory to quell the threat. Light-hitting backstop Tony Pena greeted the Dodgers’ closer Todd Worrell with a deep fly that landed in the left field seats. The hushed crowd stared in disbelief as Worrell grabbed the rosin bag and tossed it behind the mound in anger as Pena trotted around the bases. He retired the next three hitters in order. I noticed a potential glitch in TLRB3 at this point. Jose Mesa was announced as the new pitcher, followed by a notification that Julian Tavarez and Paul Assenmacher were warming up in the bullpen. Immediately thereafter, the game advised that Tavarez was now pitching. To confirm that I wasn’t imagining this, I checked the box score and confirmed that indeed Mesa was listed for the Indians and removed without pitching to a batter. Perhaps he was injured on his journey from the bullpen to the mound, or hurt himself throwing warm-up tosses? Chad Fonville reached on a single and advanced to third when Offerman’s grounder snuck through the hole vacated by Omar Vizquel when the shortstop went to cover second on the hit-and-run play. Raul Mondesi stepped up to the plate with runners on the corners and nobody out. Tavarez whiffed Mondesi and Piazza hit a slow roller towards Vizquel who wheeled and fired to Baerga for the second out. However, Piazza just beat the relay to first and Fonville easily crossed home plate with the tying run! Vizquel settled under Karros’ pop-fly to shallow left and the game drifted into extra innings. Baerga belted a two-base knock into the left field corner to start the visitors’ tenth and the Dodgers elected to issue an intentional pass to Albert Belle. Willie Banks replaced Worrell on the bump and peered in to Piazza for the signs as Manny Ramirez took a couple of practice swings. Ramirez grounded into a fielder’s choice, erasing Belle from the base paths. One man out and runners at the corners for Thome, who delivered a liner between first and second for a run-scoring single as Baerga trotted home with the go-ahead run. Mondesi gunned down Belle at third base as Thome snuck into second. Sorrento drew a base on balls, so I summoned Pedro Astacio from the bullpen. Pena ripped a sharp single to left and Roberto Kelly came up firing. Inexplicably, Offerman cut off the throw and fired to first base which allowed Thome to reach home plate uncontested! Vizquel lined out to Fonville to end the inning but the Tribe now held a 5-3 advantage. Tavarez remained on the bump to begin the frame. Roberto Kelly scorched a hot grounder down the third base line. Thome gloved it, fired across the diamond and almost nailed Kelly but the ball ticked off Sorrento’s mitt and landed near the tarp. Pena backed up the play so Kelly did not attempt to advance. Jim Poole answered the call to the ‘pen. Hansen rapped a base hit to right sending Kelly scampering over to third. Brett Butler popped up to the catcher behind the plate. Billy Ashley, batting for Astacio, coaxed a base on balls to load ‘em up. Fonville lofted a fly ball to medium center, just deep enough to score Kelly. Offerman skied a pop-up behind the dish and Pena settled under it for the last out to secure a 5-4 triumph for the Indians.

Game 2 was slated to be the “Battle of the Martinez’s” as Ramon J. of the Dodgers prepared to square off against Dennis of the Indians. Sandy Alomar Jr. put the Indians on the board with a solo blast in the top of the second. Later in the frame, Dennis Martinez clubbed a two-run dinger off his counterpart to give the Tribe an early 3-0 advantage. Carlos Baerga belted a long ball leading off the third, which sent Ramon J. Martinez to the showers in favor of Pedro Astacio. Albert Belle walloped a tape-measure job deep into the left field bleachers. Manny Ramirez laced a double into the gap in left-center followed by a Jim Thome single. After Paul Sorrento popped up to third, Alomar slapped a base hit to right field to plate Ramirez. Omar Vizquel drilled a two-run triple to left-center, knocking in a pair of runs. When the dust finally settled, Willie Banks was on the bump for LA and the Tribe had a comfortable 8-0 lead!  Undaunted by the deluge of runs tallied by their opponents, the Dodgers mounted a comeback against “El Presidente” in the home half of the third. Jose Offerman and Raul Mondesi hammered back-to-back doubles with two outs to put LA on the board. Mike Piazza drew a base on balls and Eric Karros smacked a three-run bomb into the right-center field bleachers to cut the Indians’ lead to 8-4! Offerman injured himself on a defensive play in the fourth, so Chad Fonville moved from second to short and the Dodgers substituted Garey Ingram at second base. Los Angeles scratched out a run in the bottom of the sixth. With a pair of runners aboard, Fonville delivered a sacrifice bunt and pinch-hitter Todd Hollandsworth grounded out to short for an RBI fielder’s choice. John Cummings and Antonio Osuna held the Indians in check. Roberto Kelly led off the eighth with a base knock. Dave Hansen executed a perfect hit-and-run play as he slapped a slow roller through the hole vacated by Vizquel. Fonville’s two-hopper between short and third was fielded cleanly by the Tribe shortstop, who gunned the ball to second for a fielder’s choice. Dennis Martinez remained on the mound as the Dodgers sent pinch-hitter Henry Rodriguez to the plate with runners on the corners and only one away. Baerga snared Rodriguez’s liner for the second out and Brett Butler grounded out to short to retire the side. Todd Worrell served up a two-run blast to Sorrento in the ninth to extend the Indians’ lead. Martinez finished off the Dodgers to preserve the 10-5 victory and send the Indians home with a 2-0 advantage in the Series.

The festivities commenced in “The Forest City” with Charles Nagy on the hill for the hometown team. Japanese rookie sensation Hideo Nomo got the nod for the visitors with the added pressure of his squad’s 0-2 deficit entering the contest. Eddie Murray batted cleanup for Cleveland, making his first appearance as the designated hitter was implemented only in the American League ballpark per the rulebook. Nomo suffered control problems throughout the early innings, issuing 5 free passes through the third inning. He wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam when Manny Ramirez took a mighty cut and came up empty in the home half of the third. Kenny Lofton launched a moon-shot into the right-field seats to give the Tribe a 2-0 lead in the fifth. Nagy and Nomo racked up the strikeouts as both clubs flailed wildly at their offerings. Nomo yielded to Antonio Osuna to start the eighth frame after his pitch count climbed to 129 with his 10 strikeouts offset by 7 bases on balls but only 3 hits allowed. Nagy was absolutely dominant, completing a 12 strikeout, 2-hit shutout by fielding a comebacker off the bat of Eric Karros and flipping to Paul Sorrento to ice the game. The Indians shook hands at the center of the diamond and looked ahead to tomorrow’s match, confident that they would sweep the Dodgers and secure the trophy.

Veteran right-handers Orel Hershiser and Tom Candiotti took the mound for their respective ball clubs in Game 4. Paul Sorrento crushed a knuckleball deep into the right-center field bleachers to notch the first tally of the contest in the third inning. Later in the frame, Kenny Lofton drew a walk and scored on Carlos Baerga’s big fly. The Tribe led 3-0 and they had Candiotti on the ropes. Albert Belle struck out to end the threat but Pedro Astacio entered the game in the bottom of the fourth. Brett Butler led off the top of the sixth with a two-bagger off the center field wall. “Bulldog” escaped the jam with a soft fly out to right, a strikeout of Raul Mondesi, a free pass to Mike Piazza and a lineout to first by Eric Karros. Cleveland threatened to extend their lead in the seventh, loading the bases on a pair of singles by Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome, along with an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Herb Perry. Mark Guthrie departed in favor of Antonio Osuna, who was called upon to face Sandy Alomar Jr. with the infield in and nobody out. Alomar delivered a sacrifice fly to center, easily plating Ramirez for the 4-0 lead. Thome wisely tagged up and reached third on the play. Omar Vizquel slapped a hard grounder to third which was fielded cleanly by Dave Hansen, who fired home in plenty of time for Piazza to apply the tag on Thome for the second out. Lofton flew out deep to center but the Dodgers’ hopes of extending their season were rapidly fading. Butler ripped a long single towards right-center to start the eighth. Hershiser induced Chad Fonville to hit a comebacker and he nailed Butler at second base, but Fonville beat the relay to first. Perry took the wind out of LA’s sails when he snared a liner off the bat of Mondesi and instinctively tagged Fonville for an unassisted double play! Hershiser retired Piazza on a one-hopper to Vizquel and appeared to be in complete command as he attempted to shut out the Dodgers and finish the series sweep. Eric Karros lined a double up the gap in left-center and he advanced to third on Roberto Kelly’s ground out to Baerga. Henry Rodriguez coaxed a base on balls and Hansen subsequently singled to left to drive in Karros with LA’s first run of the contest. Billy Ashley, batting for Garey Ingram, swung through a full-count off-speed delivery. Hershiser was mobbed by his teammates in the middle of the diamond and there was pandemonium at Jacobs Field as the Indians prevailed 4-1!  Cleveland thoroughly outplayed their opponents in all facets of the game, breezing through October with an 11-2 record in the playoffs to secure the World Series trophy.

Tony La Russa Baseball 4

Tony La Russa Baseball 4 comes with the 1996 Season and the 1997 Opening Day rosters. TLRB4 includes a Remote Game option (which I never tested) that permits a connection to another TLRB4 user via modem, serial or local area network (LAN). The ballpark resolution is enhanced from the prior iterations but the gameplay, announcers, and menu options will otherwise be familiar to individuals who played any of the first 3 editions in the series or Old Time Baseball. Additional bells and whistles in TLRB4 consist of League News, Trade Offers and Free Agents. League News will provide up-to-date information for your replay league such as injuries, recently released and traded players. Trade Offers indicates which players might be available in a deal with another ball club. Free Agents displays a sortable list of the players currently not under contract by any of the teams in your league.

I replayed the ’96 campaign and stopped the action at mid-season to manage the American League squad in the All-Star matchup. Both lineups were stacked and the Senior Circuit elected to send Al Leiter (11-8, 2.22) to the hill while I handed the ball to Pat Hentgen (6-7, 3.71). Both hurlers extracted themselves from jams in the first inning. The Senior Circuit loaded the bases with three walks in the third but Hentgen whiffed Gary Sheffield and Todd Hundley to keep the contest scoreless. Ivan Rodriguez plated Alex Rodriguez to draw first blood for the A.L. squad in the fourth. The pitcher was due up next so I pulled a double-switch with Hentgen, sending Cal Ripken up to bat. The “Iron Man” whiffed on a 3-2 pitch but I kept him in the game at third base, replacing Dean Palmer as Roger Clemens trotted in from the bullpen. Sheffield tied the score at 1-1 with a run-scoring single to left off the “Rocket Man” in the fifth frame. Alex Fernandez entered the ballgame for the AL in the sixth inning. “Rip” laced a one-out single off Leiter in the seventh and Roberto Alomar followed with a base hit. Chuck Knoblauch replaced Ripken as a pinch-runner at second base as Frank E. Thomas strolled to the plate. The “Big Hurt” grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat. Fernandez put up a pair of goose eggs to preserve the tie game. Leading off the next inning, Juan “Igor” Gonzalez belted a solo shot over the fence in left-center to propel the Junior Circuit into the lead. The National Leaguers failed to tally a run against Troy Percival in the eighth, saving their heroics for the following frame when pinch-hitter Ellis Burks launched a game-tying circuit clout into the center-field bleachers off John Wetteland. Leiter reluctantly yielded to Rich Batchelor as the match entered extra innings. “A-Rod” delivered a base knock to start the eleventh and advanced to second on a slow roller to the pitcher. Batchelor issued a free pass to pinch-hitter Terry Steinbach. The N.L. skipper made the call to the bullpen and Mark Petkovsek took the mound. Ivan Rodriguez flew out to left for the second out. Knoblauch slashed a liner through the hole between shortstop and third but it was hit with such force that the third-base coach signaled for the lead runner to put on the brakes. Two outs, bases loaded for Jim Thome. The lefty slugger took a mighty cut but fanned on a 2-2 changeup. Jose Mesa jogged in from the pen, took his warmup tosses and picked up the rosin bag as Jeff Bagwell knocked the dirt from his cleats and settled into the batter’s box. “BagPipes” worked the count to 3-2 before drawing a base on balls. Barry Larkin barely got a piece of the ball, tapping a little dribbler in front of home plate. “Pudge” Rodriguez pounced out it and threw down to first to nail the speedy Larkin as Bagwell advanced to second. Steve Finley was walked intentionally to set up the double play and bring up the pitcher’s spot in the batting order. Andres Galarraga took a couple of practice swings in the on-deck circle, surveyed the defense and walked up to the plate. Galarraga swung at Mesa’s 3-0 delivery and hit a sky-high pop up towards third base. Thome camped under it as the umpire ruled “infield fly”. Eric Young struck out on a 1-2 changeup and the contest extended into the twelfth inning. Scott Sanders entered the game for the National Leaguers and set the opposition down in order. Heathcliff Slocumb retired the side in order in the bottom of the twelfth and escaped a jam in the thirteenth when he struck out Finley with two outs and the potential winning run on third. Mike Piazza rapped a pinch-hit single down the left field fence off Andy Pettitte in the bottom of the fourteenth. Eric Young popped up to third for the first out. Ken Caminiti hammered a fastball over Ken Griffey Jr.’s outstretched glove in center field for the game-winning double!

The Cleveland Indians topped the Junior Circuit with 102 triumphs and the Texas Rangers snatched the AL Wild Card spot while the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners claimed the remaining division titles. The M’s rallied from a 0-2 deficit to defeat the Bronx Bombers with three consecutive wins at the Kingdome in the opening round of the playoffs. The Tribe swept the Rangers to advance to the next round. In an epic Championship Series, Seattle emerged victorious after a fierce seven-game bout with Cleveland.

The Atlanta Braves (96-66) recorded the highest victory total in the Senior Circuit. The San Diego Padres and the St. Louis Cardinals seized the other divisional crowns while the Montreal Expos outdistanced the Cincinnati Reds by a five-game margin to snag the NL Wild Card entry. The Braves trailed the Redbirds two games to one before rallying to take a pair of contests at home to prevail in the Divisional Series. The Friars obliterated the Expos in three games to move on to the Championship Series. Atlanta again found themselves behind the eight ball as San Diego nabbed a 2-1 lead in the NLCS before the Braves rebounded with three successive wins to secure a World Series berth.

A pair of portsiders prepared to square off in Game 1 of the 1996 World Series as Tom Glavine and Sterling Hitchcock warmed up in their respective bullpens. Atlanta quickly put a crooked number on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first. Hitchcock yielded a base hit to Mike Mordecai and issued successive walks to Chipper Jones and Fred McGriff. Ryan Klesko laced a long single that one-hopped the wall in right-center to drive home Mordecai and Jones. Side note: TLRB (all versions) seemed to suffer from an inordinate number of “long singles” – understanding that the occasional hard-hit ball in combination with a strong-armed outfielder will cause a slow-footed slugger to think twice about stretching a single into a double, the frequency of these outcomes seemed a bit off. I believe one or more patches attempted to resolve this issue, but thought I’d mention it here since it occurred in the fourth edition of the game. Back to the action.. Javy Lopez lofted a sacrifice fly to center field and McGriff cruised home with the third tally. Marquis Grissom sprinted into the gap in left-center and made a diving catch of a line drive off the bat of Jay Buhner for the first out in the fourth frame. Two batters later, “Hard-Hittin’” Mark Whiten belted a hanging curveball over the fence in left for a solo blast, cutting the Braves’ advantage to 3-1. Luis Sojo clubbed a long drive over Grissom’s head for a two-base knock leading off the fifth but Glavine retired the next three Mariners in succession. Glavine noticeably tired in the sixth when he allowed singles by Hitchcock, Edgar Martinez and Ken Griffey Jr. to load the bases with one out. As the Braves skipper in this series, I summoned Greg McMichael from the bullpen. Jay Buhner deposited a split-fingered fastball into the left field bleachers for a grand slam and the Atlanta crowd sat in utter disbelief as the M’s dugout erupted! Seattle suddenly had a 5-3 advantage. The Braves orchestrated a two-out rally in the bottom of the inning. Grissom reached via base on balls and Jermaine Dye delivered a pinch-hit single. Chipper Jones rapped a grounder back through the box that bounced into center field for a base hit, scoring Grissom and cutting the Mariners’ lead to 5-4. Seattle skipper Lou Piniella made the slow walk to the mound, retrieved the ball from Hitchcock and waited for Mike Jackson to jog in from the ‘pen. The “Crime Dog” stepped into the box and belted one high in the air towards the gap in right-center, but Buhner camped under it on the warning track and made the catch for the third out. Jackson got into trouble again in the seventh as Klesko ripped his third hit of the contest and Andruw Jones drew a free pass with one out. David Justice batted for light-hitting shortstop Rafael Belliard and promptly rapped into a 4-6-3 double play to extinguish the threat. The game doesn’t remind you that your pinch-hitting from the previous inning is now playing out of position, so you need to be cognizant of that scenario. I moved Chipper Jones over to shortstop and substituted Terry Pendleton for Justice. Mike Bielecki came into the ballgame in relief of McMichael and hurled a scoreless frame. Norm Charlton trotted in from the bullpen as the Mariners clung to a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth. With the Braves’ bench nearly depleted, Luis Polonia grabbed a bat and strolled to the plate to pinch-hit for Bielecki. The fleet-footed outfielder came through with a line drive single over the second baseman’s outstretched glove. Grissom fouled out to third baseman Dave Hollins. Dwight Smith, pinch-hitting for defensive replacement Ed Giovanola, flew out to Griffey Jr. for out # 2. Chipper Jones kept the inning and Atlanta’s hopes alive when he coaxed a four-pitch walk. The stadium was rocking as McGriff dug in to face Charlton. He connected on a deep drive down the right field line.. would it stay fair? … yes!! McGriff’s mammoth blast measured 496 feet. His teammates mobbed him at home plate after he circled the bases to celebrate the walk-off, come-from-behind, 7-5 victory for the Braves!

Greg Maddux and Chris Bosio received the starting assignments in Game 2. The Braves threatened in the bottom of the third when Maddux and Marquis Grissom produced back-to-back singles and Bosio issued a four-pitch walk to Mike Mordecai. Bosio carved up the heart of the Atlanta lineup, sandwiching a pair of strikeouts to Chipper Jones and David Justice around a line out by Fred McGriff. The Bravos botched another bases-loaded opportunity in the fourth when Maddux popped up into a double play and Grissom whiffed. Seattle placed a couple of runners aboard and Bosio successfully sacrificed them over to second and third, but Joey Cora hit a harmless fly ball to right field for the last out of the visitor’s fifth as both hurlers continued to put goose eggs on the scoreboard. Chipper Jones hammered an off-speed offering from Bosio deep into the center field seats (475 feet) to put the Braves on top, 1-0. Jay Buhner drilled a two-base knock to place runners on second and third with one out in the sixth. Maddux got a reprieve when Mordecai ranged into short right-center to snare a pop fly off the bat of Paul Sorrento, then whirled and fired a strike to home plate to nail Ken Griffey Jr. Maddux departed after a loud single of the bat of Edgar Martinez with two outs in the eighth. Terrell Wade entered the contest and induced “Junior” to bounce back to the box. Salomon Torres kept the Braves at bay after relieving Bosio with two down in the fifth before he finally ran out of gas in the bottom of the eighth. Justice singled and Ryan Klesko doubled to begin the frame. After Javy Lopez whiffed, pinch-hitter Luis Polonia grounded into a fielder’s choice to plate Justice. Terry Pendleton, batting for Wade, delivered a worm-burner up the middle to score pinch-runner Andruw Jones to provide the Braves with a 3-0 cushion. Mark Wohlers took the mound in the top of the ninth. Buhner drew a base on balls and Sorrento singled to left field. Mark Whiten scorched a line drive to short which was snagged by defensive replacement Rafael Belliard. Buhner was caught in no-man’s land, too far off second base, and he was easily doubled off as Mordecai took the throw from Belliard. Luis Sojo lined out to short on a 3-0 heater from Wohlers to complete the shutout. The teams headed to the Pacific Northwest as the Braves held a commanding two games to none advantage.

Injuries to starting pitchers Randy Johnson and John Smoltz forced both managers to improvise. The M’s moved Bob Wolcott into the third slot of the rotation while the Braves countered with lefty Steve Avery. Alex Rodriguez returned to the Seattle lineup after missing the first two games in the series, as did Atlanta shortstop Jeff Blauser. After Joey Cora reached on an error to commence the bottom of the first, “A-Rod” ripped a double into the left field corner to put his squad ahead, 1-0. Avery battled control issues, loading the bases with only one out. Paul Sorrento drilled a double into the right-center field gap to plate two of his teammates. Dave Hollins contributed a sacrifice fly to put the M’s ahead by a score of 4-0. Edgar Martinez and Jay Buhner produced back-to-back RBI singles to extend Seattle’s advantage to 6-0 in the bottom of the second. Jermaine Dye led off the visitor’s third with a long ball deep into the left field seats. Avery was replaced on the mound after only two innings of work in favor of right-hander Jason Schmidt. Dave Hollins drew a base on balls and later scored when Fred McGriff muffed a pop-up near the first base cutout (the “Crime Dog” claimed that the ball disappeared against the backdrop of the Kingdome roof). The Braves threatened in the fifth but Marquis Grissom lined into a double play with runners on the corners. Seattle scratched a pair of runs across in the home half of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Buhner and a sharp single off the bat of Sorrento. Atlanta unloaded their bench in the seventh inning, sending out five defensive replacements. Brad Clontz pitched two frames in relief of Schmidt, yielding an RBI single to Hollins in the eighth. “A-Rod” made a dazzling, diving stop of a hot grounder up the middle and then fired a strike to first to nab pinch-hitter Eddie Perez for the final out of the contest. Wolcott scattered eight hits for a complete game, 10-1 triumph.

The starters from Game 1 would greatly benefit from one more day of rest, so the bullpens would likely get a workout in the fourth match. Bob Wells of the Mariners and Mike Bielecki of the Braves received the unexpected honor of making a World Series start, but both right-handers were on a short leash. Darren Bragg blasted a three-run dinger off Bielecki with two outs in the bottom of the second to give Seattle a 3-0 lead. Bielecki got a quick hook from Atlanta’s skipper as southpaw Brad Woodall jogged in from the ‘pen. Meanwhile, Wells held the Braves hitless through four frames before David Justice grounded a clean single up the middle. Marquis Grissom connected on a 400-foot long ball over the fence in left-center field to put the Braves on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning. Later in the frame, Chipper Jones reached on an error by Sorrento. Fred McGriff laced a single to right to put runners on the corners and Ryan Klesko coaxed a walk to load the bases. Justice crushed an inside fastball from Wells into the right-center field bleachers for a grand slam and suddenly Atlanta went ahead, 5-3! Seattle stormed right back in the bottom of the sixth. Joe Borowski issued three bases on balls and he was rewarded with a quick trip to the showers. Bragg tied the contest at 5-5 with a base knock to shallow center and Dan A. Wilson slashed another single to plate the go-ahead run. Pedro F. Borbon recorded three outs and Greg McMichael struck out Jay Buhner to end the seventh. The Braves knotted the scoring at 6-6 when Chipper Jones led off the visitor’s eighth with a 385-foot drive to right-center that just cleared the wall. Mike Jackson relieved Wells with one out in the inning. Klesko earned another free pass but Jackson escaped without allowing any further damage. Seattle had McMichael on the ropes in the bottom of the eighth following back-to-back singles by Dave Hollins and Mark Whiten, but the Braves caught a break when Wilson whiffed and Hollins was inexplicably gunned down attempting to steal third base. Jermaine Dye greeted M’s reliever Norm Charlton with a big fly that landed in the left field seats to put the Braves back on top, 7-6! Mike Mordecai bounced back to the mound but Charlton fired the ball over defensive replacement Brian R. Hunter and down the right field line for a two-base error. Charlton regained his composure and retired the next three batsmen in order. Mark Wohlers was summoned from the Atlanta ‘pen to face the top of the Mariners’ lineup in the bottom of the ninth. Wohlers gave up three consecutive singles to Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez to load the bases with one out in the frame. Buhner struck out after battling Wohlers to a full count. Atlanta’s manager made the unorthodox move of the game as he called upon the young left-hander, Terrell Wade to face the right-handed Hunter. The gamble paid off when the first-sacker grounded into a 6-4 force play and the Braves outlasted the Mariners, 7-6.

Game 5 offered a rematch of the opening contest as Tom Glavine and Atlanta geared up to clinch the Series while Sterling Hitchcock and his Seattle mates hoped to stave off elimination. It was quickly apparent that both hurlers were dealing. Glavine held the Mariners hitless into the sixth frame when Joey Cora and Alex Rodriguez delivered consecutive singles. Ken Griffey Jr. sent Marquis Grissom back to the warning track to retrieve a long fly ball to center, easily scoring Cora on a sacrifice fly to put the M’s on top. Edgar Martinez ripped a two-bagger up the gap in left-center to knock in “Junior” for a 2-0 lead. Glavine retired Jay Buhner on scorching hot grounder to Chipper Jones at third for the final out. Atlanta threatened in the top of the seventh as Jeff Blauser led off the inning with a single back through the box and Chipper Jones drew a base on balls. The Braves’ middle-of-the-order batsmen failed to come through in the clutch as Fred McGriff and Javy Lopez flew out and Jermaine Dye lined out to third base. “Hard Hittin’” Mark Whiten started the home seventh with a base hit and advanced to third on a double by Dave “Head” Hollins. Glavine issued an intentional pass to Brian R. Hunter to set up a force at any base. Brad Clontz was summoned to face John Marzano. The backup backstop belted a base hit to left, plating Whiten. Joey Cora hit into a fielder’s choice but another run scored. “A-Rod” ended Clontz’s night with a solid single to left as the M’s went ahead, 5-0. Terrell Wade entered the contest and induced Griffey Jr. to hit a short pop-fly to right. Martinez laced a line drive to left-center to knock in Cora, then Buhner struck out to mercifully close out the frame as the Mariners assumed a commanding 6-0 advantage. Joe Borowski took the mound in the bottom of the eighth. Whiten coaxed a walk and with one away, Hunter put the icing on the cake with a two-run blast into the center field seats. Atlanta went quietly in the ninth and Hitchcock’s teammates greeted him at the pitcher’s mound with high-fives and handshakes. The southpaw etched his name in the record books with a two-hit shutout that sent the Series back to Georgia.

John Smoltz was healthy enough to go in Game 6, so the Braves’ skipper elected to start him and give Greg Maddux an extra day of rest, lining him up for a potential Game 7 assignment if necessary. Seattle countered with Chris Bosio. David Justice connected on a 401-foot blast to right-center in the bottom of the second to put the hometown team on top, 1-0. Bosio issued three successive walks to open the sixth before inducing a 4-6-3 double play grounder by Justice. However, Jeff Blauser scored on the play, and the Mariners called upon Terry Mulholland to face the left-handed hitting Ryan Klesko with a runner on third and two away in the inning. The crafty portsider pulled the string on an inside breaking pitch and Klekso swung right through it for the final out. In the seventh with Atlanta clinging to a 2-0 advantage, Andruw Jones drew a base on balls as a pinch-hitter for Mike Mordecai. After striking out Smoltz, Mulholland promptly picked off Jones to keep the contest tight heading into the eighth but the M’s were running out of chances. Smoltz was in complete command but the Braves began warming up a pair of relievers, Pedro Borbon and Greg McMichael, just in case. “Smoltzie” culminated a 1-2-3 eighth with a punch-out of Alex Rodriguez. Atlanta went quietly in the bottom of the eighth, registering merely two safeties against Bosio and Mulholland. Smoltz was back on the hill for the ninth with Mark Wohlers getting ready down in the ‘pen. Facing the heart of the Seattle lineup, he got Ken Griffey Jr. on a pop fly to short right field that Fred McGriff snared for the first out. Edgar Martinez ripped a base hit to center field and that was it for Smoltz. Jay Buhner worked the count to 2-0 against Wohlers, then scorched a sizzling grounder to deep short. Jeff Blauser corralled it and fired to Rafael Belliard at second, who pivoted and fired a bullet to McGriff. The relay beat Buhner to the first base bag and the Braves’ bench and bullpen emptied as the Atlanta faithful erupted in cheers. The Mariners battled but came up short as the Braves took the Series in six games, with Smoltz and Wohlers combining for the 2-0 shutout.

Ratings

Note – ratings below for Old Time Baseball – deduct 1 point for Rosters in Tony La Russa Baseball 3 and 4

Graphics – [5] – All three games deliver the goods with stunning ballpark renderings that are highly detailed and based on blueprints from the modern (TLB3 & 4) and classic (OTB) stadiums. The player animations are on par with the competition from that timeframe. I encountered some stuttering with the animation at times but that might be specific to my emulator configuration, so I’m not deducting points for it. The Jumbotron display also lagged a bit for me; while amusing at first, I ended up disabling this option. The menus are well-designed and intuitive but TLB4’s scroll bars hinder navigation instead of helping. You can select a manager view (overhead) or close-up view for balls in play and there are four options when watching the batter/pitcher matchups: (camera behind the) batter or pitcher, or home team / visiting team view which alternates the camera angle depending on the team that is currently on the field. Instant replay is available for the previous play in all versions. However TLB4 adds the ability to change the camera angle between a preset view and free-floating, allows the user to zoom in/out, and load/save a highlight. TLB3 includes a “Making of Tony La Russa Baseball 3” video – you can view it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_d05f46_X8&t=2s

Sound – [4] – Ambient crowd noise is a welcome addition to the three games covered here. The audience will offer an occasional “boo” when the visiting team scores. The original music that is heard as you navigate the various menus is upbeat and memorable. The organist delivers a bubbly rendition of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch and blasted several different versions of “Charge!” when the home team attempted to rally from behind in the late innings.

Strategy – [4] –

The offensive and defensive strategy options remain consistent through the entire TLB series (including OTB). TLB3 & 4 incorporated “Tony’s Tips” videos highlighting La Russa’s insights and strategies for various pre-game and in-game situations. This link contains all of the Tony’s Tips in a single video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOqlgM6hLFo

Artificial Intelligence – [4] – Customized manager profiles enable the granular configuration of each team’s skipper with regard to lineup selection and game-level strategy. “Tony” effectively handles the in-game decisions with enhanced algorithms, giving the illusion that you’re facing a human opponent. TLRB3 introduced the “Argue with Umpire” option. You can give the ump an earful but don’t wait too long before walking away, or you might find yourself ejected from the contest! (You can go back into the Game Options and restore yourself as the manager.)

Box Score – [3] – When the ballgame ends, you are taken to the first of several screens to review the results from the contest. After perusing the line score, the user can navigate between expanded batting and pitching box scores for the visiting and home team. The pitching box also contains the location, time, attendance, runners left on base and double plays. There are no options to view a game summary (how they scored). You can save the box score to disk or print out a hard copy (the box score is automatically saved if you selected that option in the Season / Games of Note menu.

Rosters – [5] – You manage a 40-man roster with 25 active and 15 reserve players at any time (excluding exhibition games, where all of your players are available). The active roster is divided among 15 batters and 10 pitchers with reserve slots allotted for up to 9 additional batsmen and 6 hurlers. All 3 games come with the Fantasy Draft option. The Old Time Baseball CD allowed the user to import 110 seasons with more than 12,000 ballplayers!

Statistics – [5] – The number of categories for record-keeping increased from 19 batting, 22 pitching and 7 fielding in TLB2 to 33 batting and 35 pitching in TLB3 with a nod to Sabermetric formulas such as RC (Runs Created), RP (Runs Produced), ISO (Isolated Power) and OP (Opponents Production). The ability to sort the league leaderboards with a multitude of options persisted through the balance of the series. TLB4 offered a League News feature to provide the latest injury and other pertinent information.  

Usage/Injuries/Ejections – [4] – Just like your real-life counterparts, as the manager of your squad, you now have the ability to argue with the umpire. Spend too much time debating “The Boys in Blue” or say the magic words and you’ll get the heave-ho. Unlike real life, you are able to go into the Game Options screen and resume your managerial responsibilities if you wish, or you can allow the computer skipper to manager the remainder of the contest once you’ve been tossed. The injury and fatigue options from TLRB2 remain the same in TLRB3/4 and OTB. You can elect to use Injuries but a player’s stint on the sidelines is capped at 30 days. Pitcher usage must be monitored as they can become fatigued with regular or over-use (denoted by a “#R” in the Days Unavailable column on your roster).

Ballparks / Park Factors – [4] – TLRB3 and 4 deliver the 28 ballparks that were currently in use in the mid-1990’s. Old Time Baseball allows the user to select one of sixteen classic ballparks such as Crosley Field, Ebbets Field, Forbes Field, Griffith Stadium, L.A. Coliseum, and the Polo Grounds. Park effects – altitude, wind speed and direction, average humidity and temperature – add another level of realism. OTB also provides “Stadium Histories” with succinct, well-written outlines of each ballpark along with one or two postcard photographs depicting the exterior and interior.

Commentary – [3] – You get to choose among three broadcasters for the play-by-play in TLRB3 and 4: Yankees legend Mel Allen, Lon Simmons and Hank Greenwald. Old Time Baseball offers the voices of Allen and Curt Gowdy. The player’s names are spoken if they were among the words vocalized during the recording sessions with those announcers, otherwise the program will identify them by their position. In comparison to APBA Broadcast Blast, there does not appear to be nearly as much variety in the narration.

Scale:  Ratings from 1 (worst) to 5 (best)

Tony La Russa Baseball 3 – Total Score: 40 out of 50

Old Time Baseball – Total Score: 41 out of 50

Tony La Russa Baseball 4 – Total Score: 40 out of 50

Enhancements and Features

Observations

If you want to visualize how baseball was played at the turn of the (Twentieth) century with fully rendered ballparks restored to their original glory, look no further than Old Time Baseball. The organ music, stadium histories and Time Machine will stimulate your senses and whisk you back in time to the early days of the National Pastime. Tony La Russa Baseball 3 and 4 represented significant progress in the baseball simulation field. The ability to select among three announcers, the beautiful and highly detailed depictions of modern stadiums along with the GM Challenge helped to deliver the most complete product on the market in the mid-1990’s.

Please add a comment below if you spent a significant amount of time and/or have any recollections of Tony La Russa Baseball 3, Old Time Baseball and Tony La Russa Baseball 4.  

Screenshots

Old Time Baseball

Tony La Russa Baseball 3

Tony La Russa Baseball 4

Articles in the Series

	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – SSI Computer Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review –Computer Statis Pro Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – MicroLeague Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Avalon Hill Pro Manager / Major League Manager
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Pure-Stat Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Monday Morning Manager
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Radio Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Earl Weaver Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Full Count Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – MicroLeague Baseball II – III – IV
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Tony La Russa’s Ultimate Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Earl Weaver Baseball II
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – APBA Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Tony La Russa Baseball II
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Front Page Sports Baseball ’94 – ’96 – ’98
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – ESPN Baseball Tonight
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Hardball 3-4-5-6
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Pursue the Pennant – Diamond Mind Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Pro League Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Tony La Russa Baseball 3 – 4 – Old Time Baseball

Additional Links

Playthroughs – Hardball Retro

Tony La Russa Baseball 3

Old Time Baseball

SABR Stay at Home – Don Daglow

Tony La Russa Baseball 3 – Gindin, Jim. “Baseball: Diamonds Are A Fan’s Best Friend”. Computer Gaming World. May 1995. p62. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_130.pdf

Tony La Russa Baseball 3 – Gindin, Jim. “Swinging For the Fences: Stormfront Studios Goes For the Long Ball With Tony La Russa 3”. Computer Gaming World. August 1995. p110-112. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_133.pdf

Tony La Russa Baseball 3 – Jones, George. “Holiday Top 100: Sports”. Computer Gaming World. December 1995. p110. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_137.pdf

Tony La Russa Baseball 3: 1996 Edition – McCauley, Dennis. “Atop the Mound: Baseball Slides Head-First Into Your PC”. Computer Gaming World. July 1996. p76. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_144.pdf

Tony La Russa Baseball 3: 1996 Edition – Green, Jeff. “Holiday Hot 100: Sports”. Computer Gaming World. December 1996. p180. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_149.pdf

Tony La Russa Baseball 4 – McCauley, Dennis. “Sim World Series: Winners and Losers in This Year’s Baseball Sim Contest”. Computer Gaming World. December 1997. p312.

http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_160.pdf

https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/tony-la-russa-baseball-3

https://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/tony-la-russa-baseball-4

https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/old-time-baseball

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0ckttRyjdU, Tony La Russa Baseball 3, video by John Fowler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVF8xLHkh_A&t=63s, Tony LaRussa Baseball 1996 Edition, video by John Fowler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YroFO5Dz2Ls, Tony La Russa Baseball 3: 1996 Edition (PC) – Gameplay, video by 30-30 Club – Baseball Video Game Encyclopedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOqlgM6hLFo, All of Tony’s Tips from Tony La Russa Baseball 3: 1996 Edition (PC), video by 30-30 Club – Baseball Video Game Encyclopedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_d05f46_X8&t=2s, The Making of Tony La Russa Baseball 3, video by Zeke Miller

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dNPQpMvDLc, Tony La Russa Baseball 3 | Sports Game Ballparks, video by Pichu London Sports and Stadiums

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wRGnIopRww, Tony La Russa Baseball 4 | Sports Game Ballparks, video by Pichu London Sports and Stadiums

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOgVEP_Lo18&list=PLc2AYL7_CrPGUavZpH4EDVDwY376047TU, Old Time Baseball Opening Sequence, video by Brad Kay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nNSLV5DmYU, Old Time Baseball PC Game 1941 Redsox @ 1910 Philadelphia A’s, video by mrwrestlingII

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhlzNb8Vj7g, Old Time Baseball Full Game (’27 Yankees v. ’68 Cardinals), video by Enrico Dandolo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J95g0DJ3Ilc, Old Time Baseball | 1975 Reds and Red Sox, video by Beatles Eternally

About the Author

I am a New Jersey native with a passion for baseball, statistics, computers and video games who enjoys spending quality time with his family.

“Hardball Architects – Volume 1 (American League)“, published in July 2020 and
“Hardball Architects – Volume 2 (National League)”, published in April 2022, examines the trades, free agent acquisitions, draft picks and other transactions for the 30 Major League Baseball franchises, divided into a 2-volume set. Both books are available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. 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 (along with former Angels and Red Sox GM Mike Port and current Reds GM Nick Krall in Volume 2) on a variety of front office topics.

“Hardball Retroactive”, published in June 2018, is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com.  Hardball Retroactive is a modest collection of selected articles that I have written for Seamheads.com along with my Baseball Analytics blog since 2010. Exclusive content includes the chapter on “Minors vs. Majors” which assesses every franchise’s minor league successes and failures in relation to their major league operations.

“Hardball Retrospective” is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. Supplemental Statistics, Charts and Graphs along with a discussion forum are offered at TuataraSoftware.com. 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.

Don Daglow (Intellivision World Series Major League Baseball, Earl Weaver Baseball, Tony LaRussa Baseball) contributed the foreword for Hardball Retrospective. The foreword and preview of my book are accessible here. 

“Hardball Retrospective – Addendum 2014 to 2016” supplements my research for Hardball Retrospective, providing retroactive standings based on Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and Win Shares (WS) for each “original” team over the past three seasons (2014-2016). Team totals from 2010 – 2013 are included for reference purposes. “Addendum” is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. 

IBM PC version

ESPN Baseball Tonight

Publisher – Sony Imagesoft

Release Year – 1994

Platforms – IBM PC

Credits

Programmer Interview

Don Daglow and the Stormfront Studios team collaborated with Sony Imagesoft on this title. He replied to a series of questions about the ESPN Baseball Tonight – PC version.

DB – Please tell me about the ESPN Baseball Tonight. Who proposed the development of this title and how did the Stormfront team along with Sony Imagesoft determine which features to keep or omit from the “Tony La Russa Baseball 2” engine? Were any features specifically added or removed in order to differentiate the products?

DD – We created the ESPN National Hockey Night game for Sony, and they were looking to build a sports line across all the major leagues that ESPN supported. We agreed to do a modified version of Tony La Russa Baseball for them to publish under the ESPN brand. We met and mutually agreed on which features to keep — they wanted a simpler game that didn’t feel like a La Russa clone. I’m afraid I don’t remember the details.

DB – Were any design choices implemented in order to mimic the console versions? While there is a “sim” component to the game, it feels like the product was catered towards arcade play.

DD -That’s accurate — the ESPN brand is about showing all the action, so what we today would call more of a console style game was the target. I don’t remember the degree to which we used the Sega Genesis version of La Russa as a template.

DB – Comparing this title to other baseball simulations, I immediately noticed the omission of box scores along with the ability to view scores or results from completed games. Was this a direct result of gearing the title towards the casual gamer?

DD – Yes, this was to be more about the gameplay of the moment rather than the long term of how stats could guide strategy. We also wanted to keep a clear differentiation between the titles.

DB – Were there any features left on the cutting room floor due to time constraints or deadlines?

DD – None that were frustrating enough for me to remember them now after 30 years.

DB – Did you or any Stormfront team members have the opportunity to interact directly with any of the on-air talent or crew from the ESPN Baseball Tonight show?

DD – No, that was handled by the team at Sony. Publishers doing this themselves when working with outside studios was already the norm in the 1990s.

Review

In the same vein as the Earl Weaver and Tony La Russa Baseball games, ESPN Baseball Tonight is a hybrid as it offers the opportunity to play an arcade-type baseball game or manage a simulation with human or computer opponents. However it differs greatly from EWB and TLBB as a number of core features that I would consider must-haves in a competent baseball sim are either de-emphasized or stripped entirely from this effort. For these reasons I strongly considered omitting ESPN Baseball Tonight along with Accolade’s later Hardball releases from my “Retro Review” series. I ultimately decided to include them for the sake of completeness while noting the differences between these entries versus pure baseball simulators.

Cranking up the game in Dosbox, the audio and video segments catch your attention immediately as the Baseball Tonight theme song blares through your computer speakers. The mouse-driven main menu facilitates batting practice, trades, viewing player statistics, league play and exhibition play. Selecting the League Play option, I immediately noted the inability to edit or manipulate my roster. As far as I can tell, there is no way to create new players or teams nor is there an option to modify existing rosters except for the “Trade Player” module. This frustrated me to no end when I purchased the title back in 1994 but I was determined to forge ahead and attempt to simulate a season. Moving on to lineup creation, you can create a default lineup and defensive positions for each team, but you don’t get to select different batting orders based on the pitcher’s hand. The default lineups and pitching rotations are riddled with mistakes. A few examples – rookie catcher Chris Turner (86 plate appearances) batting leadoff for the ’93 Angels or Jeff Bagwell hitting atop the Astros’ order instead of third or fourth. If the batting orders were computer-generated, those algorithms needed more fine-tuning to improve the realism.

Box scores?  They don’t exist in this game – at all! Understanding the desire to craft a more action-based (arcade-like) game, I’m perplexed by this omission. In hindsight, perhaps a feasible compromise would have been the inclusion of a standard box score without all of the bells and whistles of the expanded (USA Today-style) box scores. While hardcore users would likely miss the detailed record of each game, my assumption is that the casual hardball fan would want the option to peruse the results of the contest. Given the available storage mediums at the time, I would expect at least the option to save box scores to a hard drive. This missing feature along with the lack of a player editor nearly led me to exclude the game from my review list.

Quirks – I found that it’s possible to substitute a pitcher into the game after he’s been removed. After the regular season ended, I selected the Start Playoffs option in the schedule. Then I realized that I forgot to grab screenshots of the final regular season league leaders. Too late! Those statistics are wiped out. During the playoffs I noticed that the graphic displaying the current batter’s statistics failed to calculate batting average correctly (all hitters were listed with a .000 BA). It is possible that a subsequent patch remedied some of these issues but I was unable to locate this file a quarter-century after the game was released.

1993 Season Replay

ESPN Baseball Tonight game comes with the 1993 and 1994 seasons, so I decided to simulate both seasons using the default lineups and pitching staff configurations with injuries enabled. Working in chronological order, I selected “Start New Season” from the main menu, chose 1993 from the available leagues and reviewed the settings (DH for the American League, number of games in each playoff round, etc.) I browsed ahead on the schedule, choosing a game just prior to the All-Star Break (July 16) and all of the games up to that point were simulated in under 15 seconds!

For the Mid-Summer Classic, I opted to use rosters based on the simulated stats up to that point in the season. The results were an interesting mix of players that I expected to make the team (Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Tony Gwynn, Greg Maddux) along with a group that hadn’t quite reached All-Star status during their careers (Mike Pagliarulo, Troy Neel). The contest was held in Baltimore at the new home of the Orioles, Camden Yards. The National Leaguers jumped out to a 4-0 advantage in the opening frame but the home team returned fire with 3 runs of their own. Fred “Crime Dog” McGriff rocked a pair of home runs including a grand slam and Lenny “Nails” Dykstra added a 3-run blast as the Senior Circuit opened up a 14-3 lead with a 10-run third inning against AL starter Ben McDonald and Kevin Tapani. “Junior” followed singles by Kenny Lofton and Roberto Alomar with a deep drive into the center field seats in the bottom of the fifth to help the American Leaguers close the gap to 15-9. Twice in the fifth inning, Roberto Alomar fielded a ground ball with runners on first and second. He stepped on the bag and proceeded to throw to third (the runner was safe both times) instead of wheeling and throwing to first. This move cost the American League All-Stars a pair of runs. Griffey mashed a two-run tater to center after Alomar walked with two outs in the fifth, running the score to 17-11 after five complete frames. Wayne Housie, apparently batting .984 on the season (?), replaced Barry Bonds in the NL lineup and knocked in one of the six runs that they tallied against David Cone and Jesse Orosco in the top of the sixth. Every pitcher yielded multiple hits and runs although I have no way to document this (no option to view box scores?). The game concluded with Pedro Martinez on the hill for the National League. Griffey was caught stealing third with two outs and his team trailing by 12 runs! Guess he wanted to catch an early flight back to Seattle after this debacle. The final score (25-13!) appears, Dan Patrick signs off and you are promptly returned to the main menu. Besides the lack of a box score to peruse after the fact, this would have been a great place to deliver a highlight reel or a “scores from around the league” segment.  

I had the computer simulate the remaining regular season contests along with the Championship Series in both leagues. The Braves swept the Phillies and the White Sox outlasted the Orioles to advance to the World Series. I elected to manage Atlanta while Gene Lamont skippered the Southsiders.  The team’s aces squared off in Game 1 – “Black” Jack McDowell on the hill for the hometown Pale Hose against the “Professor”, Greg Maddux. “Neon” Deion Sanders led off the game with a deep drive to center. Sensing a three-base hit, he sprinted out of the box but Lance ”One Dog” Johnson dove at the last moment and made an incredible over-the-shoulder catch for the first out of the contest! Jeff Blauser ripped a single to center and Fred McGriff followed with a two-base knock, placing a pair of runners in scoring position for the heart of the Braves’ order. Dave Justice beat out a slow roller to short which allowed Blauser to score. Ron Gant walked to load the bases and Terry Pendleton delivered McGriff on a sacrifice fly to center. McDowell nearly escaped the threat when Joey Cora gloved Mark Lemke’s weak roller towards second, but Gant snuck into second before Cora’s throw reached Ozzie Guillen. Damon Berryhill cashed in a pair of runs with a two-run double up the left-center field gap. Maddux lifted a pop-fly into short right field which landed between Cora and the right fielder, Ellis Burks, extending Atlanta’s lead to 5-0. Sanders popped out in foul ground on the third base side as an exasperated McDowell finally retired the side. Johnson doubled to left-center field to kick off the home half of the first inning. Tim “Rock” Raines laced a rocket to left but Johnson wisely held up at third with his squad behind by 5 runs. Frank Thomas aka “The Big Hurt” knocked in the first ChiSox run with a hot smash to left field. Robin Ventura coaxed a base on balls to bring Burks up to the dish with the sacks juiced. Lemke snared a soft liner up the middle for out #1. Maddux exhaled and then proceeded to whiff the Sox mustachioed backstop, Ron Karkovice. Cora uncorked a long fly to right, driving Justice to the warning track and sending the home crowd into a brief frenzy before the ball settled into the right fielder’s glove for the third out of the frame.  Donn Pall relieved McDowell in the fifth after he yielded his 12^th hit of the game to put runners on second and third with no outs. Justice delivered an RBI groundout to increase Atlanta’s advantage to 6-1. The Sox scratched across a run in the bottom of the ninth but Kent Mercker extinguished the threat with a punch-out of third baseman Robin Ventura.

Tom Glavine took the hill against Alex Fernandez in Game 2. Ron Gant doubled to center to drive home Otis Nixon with the first run of the contest. Terry Pendleton ripped a two-base hit off the base of the right field wall in the fourth, scoring Dave Justice all the way from first base. Chicago tied the score in the bottom of the fourth. Frank E. Thomas tripled to center field to plate Lance Johnson. Tim Raines followed with a single back through the box. “Neon” Deion Sanders laced an opposite-field double down the left field corner as the Braves reclaimed the lead in the visitor’s fifth. Atlanta tacked on a run in the sixth when Ellis Burks booted Damon Berryhill’s single and then made an errant throw to third which skipped past Robin Ventura, allowing Mark Lemke to score. Norberto Martin lofted a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to pull the Pale Hose within a run in the bottom of the seventh. “One Dog” Johnson delivered the tying run with a sharp single to left, knocking Glavine out of the game. Thomas greeted Steve Bedrosian with a two-bagger up the left field gap and Johnson scooted around the bases to give the ChiSox the lead, 5-4. Pendleton blooped a base hit against Fernandez and Lemke blistered a double up the right-center field gap. Sox manager Gene Lamont summoned reliever Donn Pall who promptly escaped from the frame when Sid Bream hit a foul pop to third and Nixon grounded out to Ventura. In the top of the ninth, Roberto Hernandez yielded a leadoff single to Sanders. Fred McGriff lashed a safety between first and second, sending “Neon Deion” to third with nobody out. Gant coaxed a walk to load the bases. Justice whiffed but Pendleton came through with a base hit that dropped in between the right fielder (Burks) and the second baseman (N. Martin) to knot the game at 5-5. Hernandez was lifted in favor of veteran right-hander Jose DeLeon. Lemke hit a can of corn to Johnson, but McGriff tagged up and slid safety under the tag as the Braves regained the advantage, 6-5. The White Sox came to bat in the home half of the ninth. Mike Stanton got two quick outs but Johnson dunked a base hit into right field just over the outstretched glove of Lemke. Greg McMichael entered the match and got Thomas to bounce a one-hopper to Pendleton, who fired wildly to second. With the tying run only 90 feet away and the potential winning run standing on second, McMichael was ordered to issue an intentional pass to Tim “Rock” Raines. Robin Ventura strolled to the dish with the sacks juiced and the home crowd was whipped into a frenzy. Unable to find the strike zone, McMichael hurled four consecutive balls to walk Ventura as the White Sox tied the game at 6-6. Jay Howell jogged in from the pen. Burks got the green light on a 3-0 offering and smashed a hot grounder up the middle. Jeff Blauser fielded and flipped to Lemke for the second out. The relay throw appeared to nab Burks but the umpire ruled “safe!” and the ballgame ended with the Sox claiming a 7-6 victory! Atlanta argued vehemently and lodged a formal protest with the League, but to no avail.

The Series was knotted at one game apiece and I fully expected the action to move southeast to Atlanta. Apparently the schedulers did not agree with me as I fired up Game 3 to find the White Sox listed as the home club. John Smoltz got the call for the Braves while the ChiSox countered with Wilson Alvarez. Smoltz exited the contest after injuring himself warming up in the top of the second. He was later diagnosed with sore ribs and ruled out for the remainder of the series. Southpaw Kent Mercker replaced “Smoltzie” on the bump. The contest remained a pitcher’s duel into the bottom of the sixth when Mercker loaded the bases on walks and Chicago pushed a run across on a fielder’s choice as Jeff Blauser tried for a 6-4-3 double play instead of throwing home for the force play. Alvarez held the Braves hitless through six frames but manager Gene Lamont removed him due to a high pitch count. Veteran righty Jose DeLeon came on in relief and issued a base on balls to pinch-hitter Javy Lopez. After striking out Ryan Klesko (who batted for reliever Jay Howell), third-sacker Robin Ventura made a diving stab of a line drive off the bat of Otis Nixon to preserve the no-no with one out in the seventh. Blauser followed with a slow roller to shortstop Ozzie Guillen for an infield hit and Fred McGriff rapped a base hit up the middle to load the bases. Ron Gant busted out the boom-stick, launching a long ball to right field for a grand slam! DeLeon recovered to retire David Justice on a fly ball to right, but Atlanta suddenly held the 4-1 advantage. Side-arming right-hander Greg McMichael entered the game and retired the Sox in order to secure the victory as Atlanta went ahead two games to one.

Game 4 – wait, now we’re in Atlanta?! Yes, the Series has finally shifted to Georgia albeit one game later than expected. The young left-hander, Steve Avery, took the ball for the Braves while veteran right-hander Tim Belcher got the nod for the ChiSox. Terry Pendleton tomahawked a two-run shot over the right-center field fence to stake Atlanta to an early lead in the bottom of the second. Belched yielded a 442-foot blast into the center field bleachers by “Neon” Deion Sanders leading off the fifth frame. Avery worked his way out of a jam in the top of the seventh. With Sox on the corners, the southpaw whiffed pinch-hitter Bo Jackson and retired Ozzie Guillen on a harmless comebacker. Mark Lemke tallied an insurance run against reliever Jose DeLeon in the bottom of the eighth when he beat out an infield hit to short, scoring Fred McGriff. Steve Bedrosian twirled two hitless innings to close out the contest, combining with Avery to shut out Chicago. The Pale Hose managed only three hits against Avery and trailed Atlanta 3-1 in the Series with the top of the each club’s respective rotations set to square off in Game 5.

Otis Nixon’s fleet feet contributed to Atlanta’s first run of the game as he legged out an infield single to the shortstop, swiped second and advanced to third when Mike Lavalliere’s throw sailed into center field. Jeff Blauser promptly laced a liner to left and Nixon trotted home. “Black” Jack McDowell retired the heart of the Braves’ order to escape further damage.  The swift center fielder smacked a single to his opposite number in the second frame to knock in Terry Pendleton. Chicago loaded the bases against Greg Maddux in the top of third but only mustered a lone tally on a fielder’s choice. Fred McGriff launched a long ball to left-center leading off the home half of the third and the bottom of the Braves’ batting order tacked on three additional runs for a 6-1 lead. Sox skipper Gene Lamont displayed no sense of urgency as he left McDowell on the mound instead of seeking an assist from his relief corps. Chicago battled back in the fifth, scoring a pair on a fielder’s choice groundout by Joey Cora and a long double over Nixon’s head off the bat of Ozzie Guillen. Maddux departed with a 6-3 advantage after hurling 108 pitches in 5 1/3 innings while McDowell lasted five frames, replaced by Pete Smith and Jose DeLeon, respectively. In the top of the seventh, the Sox crept closer on a two-base knock by Ellis Burks and a single by Cora. Southpaw Mike Stanton jogged in from the ‘pen to take over for Smith. He induced a harmless pop fly by Guillen and then Lamont signaled for Bo Jackson to pinch-hit for Lavalliere. Atlanta countered with right-hander Jay Howell. On a 1-2 delivery, the slugging former multi-sport star swung and missed, and the inning ended when Damon Berryhill gunned down Cora attempting to steal second! Dave Justice plated a couple of insurance runs with a two-run single off Donn Pall in the bottom of the eighth. Ron Gant ripped a base hit to left and Pendleton followed with a hot smash up the middle as the Braves took a commanding 10-4 lead. Atlanta emptied the bench with defensive changes in the ninth. Greg McMichael pitched the final inning and got Guillen on a fly ball to right field for the last out of the Series. The Braves celebrated their victory and took turns hoisting the World Series trophy high above their heads as their fans hollered enthusiastically.

Ratings

Graphics – [4] – The batter/pitcher matchups, ball-in-play camera angles and animations are patterned closely after the Tony La Russa Baseball series. An instant replay option allows the user to review the previous play in super-fast, regular speed or frame-by-frame, but only from the original angle (you can’t switch cameras, zoom in/out, etc. like EWB2 or the FPSBB series). A scroll option facilitates access to sections of the ballpark which were not in the original shot (left or right field corners, or the outfield scoreboard / upper deck).  In-game menus are accessible via the ESC key and the on-screen statistical displays look similar to the ESPN broadcasts from that era.

Sound – [3] – The crowd will boo or cheer at the appropriate intervals and there is an ambient crowd noise throughout the game. The sounds of the crack of the bat and the ball popping into the mitt are realistic.

Strategy – [3] – Standard options are available here. Bases empty choices are limited to pitching around the batter or issuing an intentional walk. With a runner on base, the defense can elect to pitchout or toggle the hold runner / play off the bag option in addition to the pitch around and intentional walk selections. On offense, with no runners on base, the only option is to take a pitch. Once you have baserunner(s), your variety increases: steal, double steal and hit & run. You can customize the defensive positioning for each fielder after every pitch or leave them at their default locations. Double-switch rule is offered along with the usual substitution options. There is no indication when a replacement is playing out of position.   

Artificial Intelligence – [1] – The computer manager usually replaced his pitcher at the appropriate instances. However on several occasions the AI waited until the score was fairly lopsided before pulling the trigger. A number of offensive player substitutions were questionable such as swapping out a veteran or star player in a tight contest for a youngster with hardly any big league experience.

Box Score – [1] – There are no box scores available during or post-game.

Rosters – [1] – Player names and statistics are licensed from the 1993 and 1994 seasons. Unfortunately you are unable to edit rosters, draft players or create your own teams. The trade function is the only means of transacting player movement in this game.  If player ratings exist, there is no way to edit them.

Statistics – [2] – In league play, you can display the historical statistics for the given season or the simulated stats through the current (scheduled) date. No advanced or split stats here – your options are constrained to at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, stolen bases and batting average for offense while the pitching side shows wins, losses, ERA, saves, innings pitched, complete games, strikeouts, walks and shutouts. The user can switch between individual and team leaders. There is no ability to print or export results.

Usage/Injuries/Ejections – [1] – Injuries (on/off) are listed in the menu although I don’t recall encountering any notifications during the game in which I managed. Pitcher stamina appears to be tracked based on the comments below the current pitcher’s name when you visit the mound. Without having access to the manual, I’m not sure if ejections are possible and whether player usage is monitored during league play.

Ballparks / Park Factors – [2] –

The game comes with 15 ballparks (circa 1994) and a generic stadium. Graphics are rendered in sufficient detail. I’m not certain if park factors come into play. In the stadium selection screen, I noted that temperature, wind, humidity and altitude are documented along with each park’s dimensions.

Commentary – [2] – Dan Patrick handles the play-by-play commentary while Chris Berman hosts the pre- and post-game show. Player names are not implemented so Patrick refers to them by position – “Now batting, the center fielder…” Of course strikeouts are described with Patrick’s trademark call – “The whifffffffff”.

Scale:  Ratings from 1 (worst) to 5 (best)

ESPN Baseball Tonight – Total Score: 20 out of 50

Observations

Although it was derived from the fine Tony La Russa Baseball series, ESPN Baseball Tonight is not intended for serious simmers. Only recommended for a quick fix of nostalgia from the classic intro theme music to Dan Patrick’s dry delivery.

Please add a comment below if you spent a significant amount of time and/or have any recollections of ESPN Baseball Tonight.

Screenshots

Articles in the Series

	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – SSI Computer Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review –Computer Statis Pro Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – MicroLeague Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Avalon Hill Pro Manager / Major League Manager
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Pure-Stat Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Monday Morning Manager
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Radio Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Earl Weaver Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Full Count Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – MicroLeague Baseball II – III – IV
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Tony La Russa’s Ultimate Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Earl Weaver Baseball II
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – APBA Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Tony La Russa Baseball II
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Front Page Sports Baseball ’94 – ’96 – ’98
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – ESPN Baseball Tonight
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Hardball 3-4-5-6
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Pursue the Pennant – Diamond Mind Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Pro League Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Tony La Russa Baseball 3 – 4 – Old Time Baseball

Additional Links

SABR Stay at Home – Don Daglow

Play ESPN Baseball Tonight in your browser -> https://archive.org/details/msdos_ESPN_Baseball_Tonight_1994

ESPN Baseball Tonight – Gindin, Jim. “Double Play: Turn Two With Reviews of Hardball IV and ESPN Baseball Tonight”. Computer Gaming World. April 1995. p132, 134, 136. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_129.pdf

ESPN Baseball Tonight – Gindin, Jim. “Baseball: Diamonds Are A Fan’s Best Friend”. Computer Gaming World. May 1995. p62. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_130.pdf

ESPN Baseball Tonight – Jones, George. “ESPN Baseball Tonight: Chris Berman Charisma, Tony La Russa Design”. Computer Gaming World. February 1995. p132, 134. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_127.pdf

https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/espn-baseball-tonight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWJOEk66K9o ESPN Baseball Tonight preview from IE (Interactive Entertainment, video by fmvgamer2010

The Sega Genesis manual (PDF) for ESPN Baseball Tonight ->

https://r.mprd.se/Sega%20CD/Manuals/ESPN%20Baseball%20Tonight%20(U).pdf

About the Author

I am a New Jersey native with a passion for baseball, statistics, computers and video games who enjoys spending quality time with his family.

“Hardball Architects – Volume 1 (American League)“, published in July 2020 and
“Hardball Architects – Volume 2 (National League)”, published in April 2022, examine the trades, free agent acquisitions, draft picks and other transactions for the 30 Major League Baseball franchises, divided into a 2-volume set. Both books are available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. 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 (along with former Angels and Red Sox GM Mike Port and current Reds GM Nick Krall in Volume 2) on a variety of front office topics.

“Hardball Retroactive”, published in June 2018, is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com.  Hardball Retroactive is a modest collection of selected articles that I have written for Seamheads.com along with my Baseball Analytics blog since 2010. Exclusive content includes the chapter on “Minors vs. Majors” which assesses every franchise’s minor league successes and failures in relation to their major league operations.

“Hardball Retrospective” is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. Supplemental Statistics, Charts and Graphs along with a discussion forum are offered at TuataraSoftware.com. 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.

Don Daglow (Intellivision World Series Major League Baseball, Earl Weaver Baseball, Tony LaRussa Baseball) contributed the foreword for Hardball Retrospective. The foreword and preview of my book are accessible here. 

“Hardball Retrospective – Addendum 2014 to 2016” supplements my research for Hardball Retrospective, providing retroactive standings based on Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and Win Shares (WS) for each “original” team over the past three seasons (2014-2016). Team totals from 2010 – 2013 are included for reference purposes. “Addendum” is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. 

IBM PC version

Tony La Russa Baseball II

Publisher – Strategic Simulations Inc.

Release Year – 1993

Platforms – IBM PC

Credits

Review

Tony La Russa Baseball II, the second in a series of four titles developed by Stormfront Studios (previously known as Beyond Software), introduced major upgrades over its predecessor. Roster sizes expanded from 30 to 40 players per team, an assortment of stadiums were either included or offered in an expansion disk and Ron Barr voiced the play-by-play commentary. The user now has the ability to view scores of other games in progress along with the option to store box scores and find results that contain special events such as no-hitters and cycles with ease. Managerial profiles enhance the game by allowing you the option to customize the computer manager’s strategic tendencies for each ball club.

Originally released in 1993, an updated version (1.3R) shipped in the “1994 Edition” to accommodate MLB divisional realignment and incorporate several fixes to the original game code.  Since I have both versions I opted to install and review the 1994 Edition. The main menu consists of 5 options: Baseball, Season, Manager, Utilities and Home Plate. Choose the baseball icon and a sub-menu appears. You can play an exhibition game, load a previously saved game, view the credits or general help instructions, or exit from the application. If installed, the Fantasy Draft (initially an expansion pack but later integrated into the ’94 edition) is also accessible from the Baseball menu. Fantasy Draft facilitates the drafting of entirely new leagues from the pool of available players. The inclinations of every General Manager can be tweaked to focus on specific player types or organizational approaches. Your GM can opt to look for power, speed, pitching, defense, a customized ranking among those classifications, or they can simulate La Russa’s team-building preferences. Draft options include the order (cycle, snake or random), salary cap and scale (real world dollars vs. Rotisserie-style) and style (auction vs. draft). The Season menu grants the ability to begin a new season, play a scheduled game or review the calendar for upcoming games that you wish to manage. Game and box scores are available here along with the ability to schedule an All-Star contest and view playoff results.  The Manager menu permits roster, lineup and pitching alterations. You can ask “Tony” for advice regarding your pitching rotation, batting orders and defensive alignment versus left and right-handed hurlers. If you wish to override La Russa’s suggestions, simply click the Restore button to revert the proposed changes. Amendments to the manager profiles can be implemented here as well. Sliding scales enable adjustments for in-game tactics and lineup selection (the computer skipper will inevitably need to substitute for an injured player). League configuration tasks such as editing player statistics, team names and uniform colors are handled via the Utilities menu. You can initiate trades, sort through league leaders in dozens of categories, team totals and individual statistics, assign stadiums to each club, and import stats. The Home Plate icon aids in the viewing and printing of statistics, either to a printer or a file. Context-specific Help can be accessed here. TLBB2 comes with 26 classic teams, 26 “All-Time Teams” (one per franchise) and 2 All-Star teams. Season disks were available for purchase.   

I conducted a draft using a player pool from the classic teams in order to assemble rosters from my Retro World Baseball Classic research (Baseball Birthplaces and the Retro World Baseball Classic), based on the 1961-1980 teams. After the draft ended, I manually entered the statistics for the players who were on the Retro WBC rosters but missing from the Classic Teams in TLBB2. I prepared the lineups, pitching rotations and defensive alignments, assigned a stadium to each team (choosing ballparks in close proximity to their Retro WBC team locations whenever possible) and opted to utilize the default managerial profile for all teams. Once the season commenced, I tasked TLBB2 with the simulation of a week’s worth of games so I could periodically peruse the box scores, leaderboards and check each team for injuries. In the event that an injured player would miss a substantial amount of games (generally 7 or more days unavailable), I intervened to substitute the appropriate bench or reserve player while documenting temporary lineup or rotation changes. The roster automatically expands from 25 to 40 players on September 1. The Retro WBC 1961-1980 Rosters complete with lineups, rotations and schedule are available here for TLBB2 ->

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/w2g51qnn2dm3v/TLBB2

Note:  Download and extract 6180W.zip to your Tony2\Teams subfolder.  Open TLBB2 and select Utilities -> Change Leagues. Select 6180W from the list. Go to Season -> Standings and confirm all teams have a record of 0-0 and the date is April 1.

A quick rundown of the Retro WBC 1961-1990 season is presented below along with standings, league leaders and team totals, followed by the team-by-team batting and pitching breakdowns. For the World Series, I exported the box scores and play-by-play scripts from every contest.

Retro World Baseball Classic: 1961-1980 Regular Season

Ohio (20-7) and California (21-6) sprinted out of the gates while it was evident that Puerto Rico (4-23) and the Mexico / Central America (7-20) squads were going to be in for a long season. Al Oliver (.356 BA) and Carl Yastrzemski (.291/15/30) set the offensive pace through April. On the mound, Tom Seaver posted a 5-0 record with a 1.82 ERA through 6 starts. Knuckleballer Phil Niekro (4-0, 0.86) limited the opposition to 3 earned runs in 39 2/3 innings.

USA Southeast triumphed in 19 contests to claim the top spot in the Eastern Division. The eventual league batting champion Rod Carew (.368) along with runner-up Rico Carty (.335) assumed the top two slots in the rankings as the calendar turned to June. Koji Yamamoto of the Canada-Europe-Japan team tied “Yaz” for the home run lead with 24 apiece. Dean Chance paced all hurlers with an ERA of 1.19. J.R. Richard (82) and Mario Soto (80) battled for the top spot on the strikeout charts.

Pennsylvania pulled into contention with 20 victories in the month of June. Yamamoto blasted 11 round-trippers in June to overtake Yastrzemski. Carew paced the circuit with 111 base hits entering July while Willie “Pops” Stargell rapped a League-leading 29 doubles. The race for the stolen base crown featured Rickey Henderson and Tim Raines (39 each) followed closely by Billy North with 38. USA Southeast lefty Mike Caldwell topped the leaderboards with 13 wins against 1 loss. Tom Seaver (113 strikeouts) was one of four starters to surpass the century mark in whiffs at the halfway point, joined by J.R. Richard (108), Mario Soto (106) and Nolan Ryan (104). Jim Kern (18 saves, 0.28 ERA) and Ron Perranoski (18 saves) ranked tops among closers along with Rich “Goose” Gossage (17 saves). Chance (1.26 ERA) retained a significant advantage in the ERA category over runner-ups Seaver and Gaylord Perry (2.14).

USA South overtook California in the Western Division after averaging 17 wins per month since May 1.  The batting and home run leaders maintained their positions as July came to a close. Yamamoto (41) outpaced Yastrzemski in dingers as Dave Kingman (33), Rico Petrocelli (31) and Mike Schmidt joined the 30-homer club. No less than twelve speedsters pilfered at least 30 bases. Three flamethrowers were tied atop the strikeout charts with 145 – J.R. Richard, Tom Seaver and Mario Soto. Southpaw Dave A. Roberts lowered his ERA to 2.27, nearly a run higher than Dean Chance’s 1.36 mark.

Rickey Henderson aka “The Man of Steal” took a commanding lead with 72 stolen bases, 9 ahead of fellow outfielder Billy North. Mike Caldwell (18-5) maintained the leadership in the wins column over Mike Scott (17-6). Rich Gossage (28) surged into the lead in saves, one ahead of Ron Perranoski. Rosters expanded to 40 per ball club on September 1 and several non-contenders responded by shuffling a few of their battered hurlers into long relief. John Candelaria (56 HR allowed) and Juan Berenguer (52 HR allowed) were among those who found themselves demoted to lesser roles.

Mike Schmidt pulled even with Koji Yamamoto with 50 circuit clouts each as the campaign careened towards its conclusion. Schmidt paced a group of 10 batters with at least 100 RBI. Ohio’s precarious lead in the East stood at two games ahead of USA Southeast while USA South preserved a 3 1/2 game advantage over California on October 1. Rod Carew sustained a 10-point cushion in batting average over Rico Carty.  Texas’ reliever Donnie Moore tied Rich Gossage with 30 saves. Four starting pitchers eclipsed the 20-win plateau – Mike Caldwell, Jim Palmer, Dave A. Roberts and Mike Scott.

Perennial batting champion Rod Carew (Mexico-Central America) secured another title with a .363 BA despite a long-year threat mounted by the “Beeg Boy” Rico Carty (.355). Representing the Dominican Republic squad, Carty outpaced Carew and Koji Yamamoto in on-base percentage, .450 to .421. Yamamoto slugged .662 for the Canada-Europe-Japan club to register the top spot ahead of Ohio third-sacker Mike Schmidt (.630). Carty (216), Carew (207) and California shortstop Alan Trammell (201) surpassed the 200-hit mark. Illinois teammates Wes Parker (45) and Fred Lynn (44) placed one-two on the doubles chart while Carew, Dave Parker (USA South) and Manny Trillo (Carribean-South America) ended in a three-way tie for triples. A late-season injury allowed Schmidt (54) to edge Yamamoto (53) for the home run crown. Jack Clark (Pennsylvania) embodied the “Three True Outcomes” with 37 blasts and a League-best 140 walks while placing runner-up to Texas third baseman Billy Grabarkewitz (155) with 149 strikeouts. Schmidt emerged as the RBI leader, outdistancing George Foster (USA South), 138 to 133. Yutaka Fukumoto (Canada-Europe-Japan) tallied 129 runs, four more than Rickey Henderson (Illinois). However, Henderson aka the “Man of Steal” nabbed another title as his 91 stolen bases firmly trounced the 77 swipes recorded by his principal opponent, Billy North (USA West).

Tony La Russa Baseball II allows the user to store the box scores for all games played by a specific team or all teams on their hard drives. Additionally you can select from twelve “special” box score categories in order to search for highlights, such as hitting for the cycle, no-hitters, etc. Individual single-game feats documented during the regular season included a no-no by Juan Berenguer (Mexico-Central America), seven one-hitters, seven contests in which a slugger belted 3 home runs, and a pair of batters who hit for the cycle.  Twenty players posted 5 or more hits in a game including opponents in the same game (Ron Cey & Davey Lopes, June 24) and teammates in the same game (Larry Hisle & Al Oliver, Sept. 30). Four batters achieved the feat twice: Rod Carew, Ken Griffey, Dave “Cobra” Parker and Willie “Pops” Stargell. Griffey and Parker deserved special mention as Griffey notched 6 safeties on September 26 and Parker racked up 12 RBI with his 5-for-5 performance on July 26!

Regular Season – Batting Highlights

Regular Season – Pitching Highlights

Wins by Month

Retro WBC 1961-1980 Regular Season

Final Standings and League Leaders

Rosters

Team-by-Team Statistics

Team Totals

Retro WBC 1961-1980 World Series

I took the managerial reins for the USA South ball club while Tony La Russa strategized for the Ohioans. Dean Chance (14-5, 1.76) and Ron Guidry (13-9, 2.77) faced off in Game 1 at Riverfront Stadium. “Louisiana Lightning” was lit up like a Christmas tree and yanked in the second frame trailing 7-0 after yielding gopher balls to Jimmy Wynn, Garry Maddox and Mike Schmidt. USA South scratched a pair of runs across in the fifth on a RBI groundout by Johnny Bench and an infield hit by Ozzie Smith. Frank Linzy allowed two inherited runners to score in the bottom of the fifth and then served up a grand slam to Ohio backstop Thurman Munson. Shortstop Eddie Brinkman belted a two-run shot off Chuck Taylor to extend the lead to 15-2. Bench along with pinch-hitter Rusty Staub delivered RBI singles against reliever Kent Tekulve, but the submariner retired Cleon Jones and “The Wizard of Oz” to wrap up the blowout. Pinch-runner Amos Otis twisted his ankle during a pinch-running appearance in the ninth and the South recalled Lyman Bostock to take his place on the roster.

The USA South squad, still reeling from the beatdown issued by Ohio in the first contest, sent crafty right-hander Don “Black & Decker” Sutton (19-13, 3.84) to the hill. The Buckeyes countered with knuckleballer Phil Niekro (17-9, 3.47). In the bottom of the first, Sal Bando singled to center to knock in Al Oliver with the game’s first tally. Ron Oester, a .242 batter with only one homer in the regular season, connected with a Sutton offering for a solo shot in the bottom of the second. Following a base hit by Eddie Brinkman, left fielder Pete Rose cranked a round-tripper over the right field wall to increase Ohio’s advantage to 4-0. The match swiftly descended into a carbon copy of Game 1. With a depleted bullpen, Sutton remained on the bump as the Ohio lumberjacks took turns pummeling his pitches. The home team opened the inning with four straight safeties and a walk to extend their lead to 6-0. In his second bases loaded situation in as many days, Thurman Munson clubbed a deep fly ball to the opposite field. The dejected hurler could only watch in disbelief as “Tugboat” circled the bases – grand salami! Potential Game 4 starter Doyle Alexander was pressed into a long relief role and struggled initially to stop the bleeding. Rose ripped a run-scoring double to register Ohio’s eleventh run before the inning came to its’ conclusion. Bobby Murcer put the South on the board with an RBI base knock in the top of the fifth and Tommy Harper lofted an opposite-field long ball into the right-field seats in the subsequent frame. Alexander settled in and cruised into the bottom of the sixth when he suddenly signaled the trainer and walked off the mound. Diagnosed as a sore arm, Alexander was forced to miss the rest of the Series. Reliever Ken Tatum twirled an inning and one-third of scoreless ball. Lee Smith entered the contest in the home half of the eighth, looking to get some work in. The move backfired as Smith was torched for 6 runs after allowing 9 opponents to reach base. Niekro struck out 7 in 8.2 innings and Doug Bair retired Lyman Bostock for the final out. Brinkman racked up 5 hits and Ohio outscored the opposition 32-6 as the Series shifted to Houston, Texas.

J.R. Richard (17-5, 2.79) received the starting assignment for Game 3 with his team trailing in the Series, 2 games to none, and staggered by the fireworks generated by their opponent’s lineup. Crafty southpaw Bob Knepper (14-11, 5.47) got the nod for Ohio. Tommy Harper sparked the South when he singled, stole second and came around on a Willie Wilson two-base hit in the bottom of the second. One inning later, Dave “Cobra” Parker uncoiled on a Knepper changeup and blasted a two-run bomb into the second deck in right field. The visitors broke up Richard’s shutout in the fifth when Sal Bando launched a long ball to left-center. Batting from the right side against Knepper in the home half of the sixth inning, Ozzie Smith drilled a shot towards the center field fence. Garry Maddox aka “The Secretary of Defense” drifted back and made a leaping attempt at the wall, but he came down empty handed. The folks in the stands went crazy as the “Wizard” rounded the bases. This was a stunning development as Smith had not left the yard during the regular season! Johnny Bench provided an insurance run with a solo shot in the eighth frame. Jimmy Wynn cranked a four-bagger off the left field foul pole in the ninth, but it was not enough as Richard spun a complete game four-hitter to earn the victory and save his ball club from a 3-0 deficit.

Ron Guidry was seeking redemption for his dreadful effort in the Series opener and he locked horns with Joe Niekro (12-15, 4.10). Both hurlers tossed scoreless ball into the sixth frame, when Niekro got into a bit of trouble. Willie Stargell ripped a line drive that dropped in front of Garry Maddox in center for a base hit. George Foster followed with a nearly identical hot smash, advancing “Pops” to second base. Niekro whiffed Dave Parker for the second out of the inning but Johnny Bench belted a hanging knuckler into the “batter’s eye” in center field for a 3-run dinger. The “Gator” held a 3-0 lead heading into the top of the eighth. After Eddie Brinkman laced a clean single to center, Pete Rose reached base when Stargell booted his grounder to first. However, “Pops” recovered quickly and gunned down a startled Brinkman as he raced for third! Jimmy Wynn went down on strikes for the second out. Mike Schmidt drove a slider from Guidry into the right-field seats for a two-run jack, clipping USA South’s advantage to 3-2. Guidry departed and his replacement, Chuck Taylor, yielded successive singles to Sal Bando and Al Oliver before retiring Thurman Munson to end the threat. Lee Smith rebounded from a horrific outing in Game 2 to pitch a hitless ninth inning as the South knotted the Series at two games apiece.

Bob Veale (4-2, 2.87) was activated off the USA South reserve roster to replace Doyle Alexander and he was pressed into a starting assignment as Vida Blue (injured list) and Don Sutton were unavailable. Ohio returned to the top of their rotation with Dean Chance making his second appearance in the Series. Veale loaded the bases in the top of the first and yielded a pair of runs on an RBI single off the bat of Thurman Munson and a walk to Garry Maddox. Veale’s control issues continued in the second inning as he issued free passes to Pete Rose and Jimmy Wynn. He managed to strike out Mike Schmidt but got behind in the count to Sal Bando. The designated hitter crushed a fastball over the right-center field wall to stake the Buckeyes to a 5-0 lead. Chuck Taylor trotted out of the bullpen as Veale headed to the showers. Taylor held Ohio scoreless for 2 1/3 innings and his mates tallied twice in the bottom of the fifth on a Bill Madlock RBI double and a fielder’s choice groundout by Willie Wilson to cut the gap to 5-2. Schmidt demolished a Cecil Upshaw change-of-pace in the sixth and Wynn went yard after Frank Linzy plunked Rose with two outs in the top of the seventh. USA South answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame. Dave Parker and Lyman Bostock reached on consecutive singles. Parker scored on a double by Ozzie Smith and Bostock crossed the dish on a slow roller by Wilson. Following a scoreless inning from the reliable arm of Ken Tatum and with the South behind by 4 runs entering the ninth, Lee Smith strolled in from the ‘pen. In a performance reminiscent of his Game 2 outing, Smith poured gasoline on the fire as the Ohioans erupted for 4 runs. Pete Rose laced a hard single to right and Wynn coaxed a walk. The “Toy Cannon” rolled his ankle but safely slid into second on a fielder’s choice by Schmidt. Bando’s sharp grounder skipped through the infield and into left, scoring “Charlie Hustle” and moving pinch-runner Larry Hisle to third. Al Oliver connected on a 3-run circuit clout to center and Smith kicked the dirt in the front of the mound, wishing he had that pitch back. In the home ninth, Lou Brock and Bostock delivered back-to-back two-base hits to chase Chance from the contest. Al Oliver fractured his fibula as he fielded a bounding ball off the bat of Rusty Staub. Doug Bair whiffed the next two batters to send the Series back to Ohio with his club ahead, 3 games to 2.

The crowd buzzed with anticipation as they filtered into Riverfront Stadium. The hometown team took the field and veteran right-hander Phil Niekro strolled to the mound to take his warmup tosses. After a rousing rendition of the National Anthem, the home plate umpire cried “Play Ball!” and the match got underway. “Knucksie” yielded a one-out single to Bobby Murcer and a walk to Willie Stargell, but he escaped unharmed when George Foster and Dave Parker flailed helplessly at his flutterball. Vida Blue sauntered out to the hill in the bottom of the opening frame, taking the ball for the first time in a month after recovering from a hamstring injury. “True Blue” coasted through the first 3 innings as he traded goose-eggs with Niekro. Ohio third baseman Mike Schmidt launched a long ball in the bottom of the fourth to put his ball club on the scoreboard. Blue faltered in the sixth as he yielded back-to-back gopher balls to Jimmy Wynn and Sal Bando. The southpaw was beginning to show signs of fatigue following the extended layoff due to injury. Though Blue struck out 11 through 6 frames, his manager relieved him of his responsibilities as Cecil Upshaw came in to pitch in the seventh inning. “Schmitty” clubbed a one-out four-bagger into the left field seats extending the Buckeyes’ lead to 4-0. Niekro was cruising along with a shutout into the eighth when he stumbled a bit. Murcer delivered a base hit and the speedy Lou Brock entered the contest as a pinch-runner. One out later, Foster coaxed a base on balls which prompted the Ohio skipper to emerge from the dugout. After a brief conference with Niekro and Thurman Munson, Doug Bair was summoned from the bullpen. Dave Parker had an opportunity to drive in Brock at the very least, or if he could get a hold of one, make it a 1-run game. Instead he hit a worm-burner to Ron Oester for the third out. Tommy Harper blasted a big fly to left-center in the top of the ninth off Bair, but Rollie Fingers quashed the South’s comeback attempt as Willie Wilson grounded out to Eddie Brinkman to end the Series as Ohio claimed the trophy with their fourth victory!

Several candidates emerged for World Series MVP honors. Eddie Brinkman compiled a .542 BA (13 hits in 24 at-bats). Thurman Munson supplied a pair of grand slams and drove in 10 runs. Mike Schmidt bashed 5 round-trippers and knocked in 9 baserunners. Dean Chance and Phil Niekro (1.10 ERA) both pitched 16 1/3 innings and won both of their starts. In a close call, “Schmitty” seized the award with a .345 BA (10-for-29) to supplement his home run exploits.

Retro WBC 1961-1980 World Series Boxscores

Ratings

Graphics – [5] – The batter / pitcher matchups are rendered from a behind home plate perspective. The offensive and defensive strategy menus are briefly displayed along the first and third base lines, then the hurler delivers the pitch. You can toggle the scrolling option such that the camera pans according to the path of the ball if scrolling is enabled, otherwise the view cuts to the location where the ball is destined to land. The fly ball cursor helps track balls in flight (especially useful in arcade-style play). Portraits, last names, and the historical ERA or BA of the current pitcher and batter are presented in the bottom left and right-hand corners of the screen. The scoreboard resides between the portraits, detailing the current score and inning along with the ball-strike count and the number of outs.  The player graphics incorporate diving stops and leaping grabs while umpires are added to the mix, making animated safe or out calls. Canned replay video is shown on the Jumbotron monitor if this option is enabled, or you can press the ‘R’ (replay) button to review the actual play.

Sound – [2] – The organ belts out the last few bars of the “Star-Spangled Banner”. The announcer, Ron Barr, identifies himself and welcomes the listener to the specific ballpark where today’s game is being played. Authentic sounds include the crack of the bat and the ball meeting the glove. “Charge!” is played by stadium’s organist at the appropriate times. The crowd remains silent when an opponent launches a long ball. Barr provides scoring updates, lineup announcements by fielding position (“Now batting, the center fielder”) and some play-by-play commentary (“High fly ball.. up the alley to left.. it’s a home run!) The game still suffers from a lack of ambient crowd noise and minimal cheering as with the case with Tony La Russa’s Ultimate Baseball.

Strategy – [4] – The defensive team has a selection of three standard pitches (fastball, curve, changeup) along with one that is contingent upon the current hurler’s specialty (slider, knuckleball, screwball, etc.) The skipper can elect to hold a runner on first base or play off the bag, pitch around the batter, attempt to catch a baserunner with a pitchout, or deliver an intentional walk. The playing depth and alignment can be adjusted on a per-batter basis. Offensive options include the hit & run, steal or double steal, or the coach can advise the batter to take a pitch with runners on base. Before each at-bat you can guide your batsmen to try to hit for power, choke up and hit for contact, or direct them to execute a bunt. One or two relievers can be called upon to warm up in the bullpen, but take care not to allow them to remain active in the bullpen indefinitely or they will become fatigued. Normal substitutions are permitted along with the double switch. When facing a computer manager, you will receive notifications when your opponent has pitcher(s) warming in the ‘pen and when they substitute players during the game.

Artificial Intelligence – [4] – Customized manager profiles enable the granular configuration of each team’s skipper with regard to lineup selection and game-level strategy. “Tony” effectively handles the in-game decisions with enhanced algorithms, giving the illusion that you’re facing a human opponent.

Box Score – [3] – Upon completing of a contest (or if you’ve opted to save box scores during League Play) you can sift among four screens worth of data. The visitor and home batting screens include the player’s names with fielding positions in parentheses listed in descending order based on their slot in the batting order. Substitutes are indented to clearly denote them as such. Pitching results are also separated into home and away teams, with the top half enumerating the participants in their order of appearance. The bottom section of the pitching display contains the line score while the mid-section reports the hurlers credited with a win, loss and save along with the time, attendance and location. Twelve categories are tabulated for batters and eleven are recorded for pitchers. If the number of participants exceeded 18 batters or 9 pitchers in a given match, which is possible when rosters expand to 40 in September, you can click on MORE to view the additional contributors.

Rosters – [4] – The 25-man active rosters are comprised of 15 position players and 10 pitchers. Reserves have expanded to 15 players (9 batters and 6 pitchers). The computer General Manager will make suitable substitutions during league play for injured players but you may override those selections. The Fantasy Draft add-on utility aids in the formation of new leagues with an abundance of choices, such as draft order and type, salary cap, player pools, etc.   

Statistics – [5] – Historical and simulated statistics along with team totals can be viewed throughout the season via the Utilities – Statistical Leaders option. You may sort on any of the available categories and filter by best/worst, leagues (both, AL or NL-only), all players/one team/by position, and vs. RHP/vs. LHP or total stats. Editing individual players allows the user to select a player portrait, change their historical statistics and edit totals or split stats. Offensive ratings such as speed, power, bunt, hit and run, clutch and pitching grades including control, velocity, endurance, pickoff, release and quality and enhanced with the esoteric assessments:  morale, leadership, streak and day/night.

Usage/Injuries/Ejections – [5] – If you choose to play with Injuries enabled, any player can be knocked out of commission for up to 30 games. Fatigue is a factor for pitchers, denoted by a number and an “R” listed in the Days Unavailable column. Injured players are not permitted to participate in league games until they fully recover from their ailments. Fatigued hurlers can be used at the risk of pitching poorly along with an increased likelihood of injury. Ejections do not exist in TLBB2. 

Ballparks / Park Factors – [4] – TLBB2 comes with 11 classic ballparks – Baker Bowl, Connie Mack Stadium, L.A. Coliseum, Old Comiskey Park, Crosley Field, etc. Additional stadium disks (AL, NL and expansion parks) could be purchased, increasing the number of available ballparks up to 39. Park effects are factored into each stadium, comprised of altitude, wind speed and direction, average humidity and temperature.

Commentary – [2] – Ron Barr of Sports Byline USA fame lends his voice to the play-by-play. The dialogue is limited and repetitive, as Barr does not announce the players by name:  “Now batting, the catcher.. Hot grounder to short.. He throws to first. One away.” Given the physical media limitations of the day (’93 and ’94 editions were issued on multiple 3.5” floppy disks instead of CD-ROM, hard drive capacity on most home PC’s was minimal), I recognize the constraints and welcome the added flavor.

Scale:  Ratings from 1 (worst) to 5 (best)

Total Score: 38 out of 50

Enhancements and Features

Observations

Tony La Russa Baseball 2 leapt to the forefront of graphical baseball simulations in 1993. A combination of major enhancements (beautifully illustrated stadiums, voice commentary and myriad tweaks to the original version) in conjunction with the demise of the Earl Weaver Baseball series and the stagnation of MicroLeague allowed the La Russa Baseball series to position itself as the leader in the genre. Sadly the MLB players strike in 1994 coupled with the subsequent cancellation of the World Series and lockout in ’95 Spring Training greatly affected sales of the follow-up TLBB3 product and ultimately knocked Stormfront Studios out of the baseball business after the release of TLBB4 in 1997. Circling back to “Tony2”, I had a blast with this game and urge you to track it down and try it out!

Please add a comment below if you spent a significant amount of time and/or have any recollections of Tony La Russa Baseball II.  

Screenshots

Articles in the Series

	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – SSI Computer Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review –Computer Statis Pro Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – MicroLeague Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Avalon Hill Pro Manager / Major League Manager
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Pure-Stat Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Monday Morning Manager
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Radio Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Earl Weaver Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Full Count Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – MicroLeague Baseball II – III – IV
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Tony La Russa’s Ultimate Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Earl Weaver Baseball II
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – APBA Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Tony La Russa Baseball II
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Front Page Sports Baseball ’94 – ’96 – ’98
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – ESPN Baseball Tonight
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Hardball 3-4-5-6
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Pursue the Pennant – Diamond Mind Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Pro League Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Tony La Russa Baseball 3 – 4 – Old Time Baseball

Additional Links

Download Derek’s Retro WBC Rosters for Tony La Russa Baseball II – https://www.mediafire.com/folder/w2g51qnn2dm3v/TLBB2

Play Tony La Russa Baseball II in your browser -> https://archive.org/details/msdos_Tony_La_Russa_Baseball_II_1993

Playthrough – HardballRetro

SABR Stay at Home – Don Daglow

Poulter, Wallace. “Tony La Russa 2 Earns Some ‘A’s’”. Computer Gaming World. June 1993. p24,26. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_107.pdf

Wilson, Johnny L. “Another At Bat For Tony La Russa”. Computer Gaming World. April 1993. p8-10. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_105.pdf

https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/tony-la-russa-baseball-ii

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV223Hl7BIg Tony La Russa Baseball II, video by SquakeNet

About the Author

I am a New Jersey native with a passion for baseball, statistics, computers and video games who enjoys spending quality time with his family.

“Hardball Architects – Volume 1 (American League)“, published in July 2020 and
“Hardball Architects – Volume 2 (National League)”, published in April 2022, examine the trades, free agent acquisitions, draft picks and other transactions for the 30 Major League Baseball franchises, divided into a 2-volume set. Both books are available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. 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 (along with former Angels and Red Sox GM Mike Port and current Reds GM Nick Krall in Volume 2) on a variety of front office topics.

“Hardball Retroactive”, published in June 2018, is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com.  Hardball Retroactive is a modest collection of selected articles that I have written for Seamheads.com along with my Baseball Analytics blog since 2010. Exclusive content includes the chapter on “Minors vs. Majors” which assesses every franchise’s minor league successes and failures in relation to their major league operations.

“Hardball Retrospective” is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. Supplemental Statistics, Charts and Graphs along with a discussion forum are offered at TuataraSoftware.com. 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.

Don Daglow (Intellivision World Series Major League Baseball, Earl Weaver Baseball, Tony LaRussa Baseball) contributed the foreword for Hardball Retrospective. The foreword and preview of my book are accessible here.  “Hardball Retrospective – Addendum 2014 to 2016” supplements my research for Hardball Retrospective, providing retroactive standings based on Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and Win Shares (WS) for each “original” team over the past three seasons (2014-2016). Team totals from 2010 – 2013 are included for reference purposes. “Addendum” is available in paperback and digital (Kindle)

Publisher – Strategic Simulations Inc.

Release Year – 1991

Platforms –Commodore 64, IBM PC

Credits

Review

Tony LaRussa’s Ultimate Baseball (aka TLUB) offers the authentic outcomes of a dice or text-based hardball simulation combined with meticulously drawn player and stadium graphics. The TLUB series offers an arcade mode as well but I will concentrate my appraisal on the management and stat-keeping aspects of the game. TLUB spawned four sequels (Tony LaRussa Baseball 2, 3 and 4 along with Old Time Baseball) in a 6 year period! Available in IBM PC and Commodore 64 flavors, I based this analysis on the IBM version.

I selected the League Play option and opted to simulate an entire 162-game season using the Franchise Greats rosters that are included with the game.  The process displays the standings screen that is updated as each day’s schedule is completed. You have the ability to play to a specific game/date as well as straight through to the end of the regular season. The simulated regular season completed in 20 minutes with the computer AI handling all of the minutiae such as replacing injured players in each team’s lineup and pitching staff. As I scrutinized the individual and team statistics upon the conclusion of the regular season, I was impressed with the game engine’s accuracy and sense of realism. I reached out to the game’s designer, Don Daglow, to discuss the artificial intelligence and philosophy behind the creation of this innovative series:

DB: Among the games I have reviewed to date, TLUB’s ability to manage injuries, days off and roster shuffling is top-notch.

DD: Thanks! We tuned the heck out of the AI to reach that level. Toughest problem I remember was that we kept under or over-using relievers, so starters kept having too few or too many innings/decisions and it took forever to find the center. Looking back I think that in part reflected the tendency of managers in the 90’s to leave starters in too long, and Tony’s strong focus on not doing so when the machine was simulating him.

I was determined to avoid the “1981 Rick Monday” problem where a user could play a part-time player with stronger stats in place of a starter who was weaker and “game the season.” I played solitaire Cadaco All Star Baseball board games for a 96-game season of 16 teams when I was about 15 (part of over 2,500 games where I saved all the stats and box scores), so I’d thought a lot about season play! My 1971 mainframe game was the first to replicate a full season… though it took close to an hour!

DB: Did you and your team make a conscious effort to differentiate the product from Earl Weaver Baseball? For example, TLUB omits the stadium announcements and the ballpark construction features but counters with the standard/featured game for user-friendly league play along with the in-progress scoring updates. I realize ballpark construction with such detailed graphics for stadium modeling would have been a major undertaking!

DD: My big thing regarding Weaver and my friendship with Eddie (Dombrower) was that I didn’t work on a baseball game for 2 years after I left Electronic Arts. That way I would not be turning around and competing with him immediately. After the two years I felt I’d honored the friendship and could pursue a category I loved again.

As I recall, stadium construction was an expensive wish-list item that never made it into an annual update budget, let alone the original. The 1994 strike also killed the baseball market, and though I tried to fight it for a couple of years the changes in the industry and the slow recovery of baseball led us to end the series. We added several announcers and enhanced the commentary as we could afford to do so in the subsequent editions.

—

Returning the discussion to my simulated season – After leading the Majors with 111 victories, the White Sox snatched the American League pennant by defeating the Yankees 4 games to 1. In the National League, the Giants overcame a 3-0 deficit in the Championship Series to oust the Cubs in 7 games. I chose to take over the managerial reins for San Fran.

The Southsiders journeyed to the City by the Bay for Game 1 of the World Series. Eddie Cicotte accepted the starting assignment against Giants’ ace “Iron Man” Joe McGinnity. Willie Mays lined a single to center field leading off the bottom of the second. He was promptly erased on a stolen base attempt when Ray Schalk delivered a perfect throw to shortstop Luke Appling. Successive hits by Mel Ott and Frankie Frisch placed runners at the corners. “Knuckles” escaped the threat as Travis Jackson tapped a harmless grounder to Eddie Collins at second base. McGinnity drew a base on balls to start the home half of the third. Roger Bresnahan squared around to bunt and pushed the ball towards first. Cicotte pounced on it, whirled and fired to second, but McGinnity snuck in under the throw. Bill Terry dribbled a slow roller to Collins, who raced in and fired to first for one out. Willie McCovey hit a one-hopper to first baseman Zeke Bonura who tagged the bag. However, McGinnity scrambled home as the Giants took the lead. Mays beat out an infield hit, scoring Bresnahan. Collins’ acrobatic diving stop on Ott’s sizzling grounder up the middle prevented further damage. In the fifth, Cicotte had no play when Bresnahan tapped a ball 20 feet up the third base line. Carl Reynolds made a valiant attempt to catch a vicious drive of the bat of “Smiling” Bill Terry but came up short. The Giants’ first sacker coasted into second while Bresnahan raced around the bases. McGinnity began to tire in the eighth. Bonura doubled into the right-field corner to plate 2 runs for the Pale Hose. Collins reached on an error when Travis Jackson uncorked a wild throw over Terry’s head. I signaled to the ‘pen and brought in my closer, Frank Linzy. The move paid off as Carl Reynolds popped one up into foul territory where Bresnahan settled underneath it for the last out of the eighth. Linzy retired the Sox in order to clinch a 3-2 victory for Frisco in the initial match.

“Big” Ed Walsh squared off with Carl “Meal Ticket” Hubbell in the second matchup at Candlestick Park. After Zeke Bonura singled with two outs in the opening frame, Willie Mays sprinted into right-center field and lunged at the last moment to flag down a Minnie Minoso drive. Bonura opened the fourth with a ringing two-bagger into the left field corner. Johnny Mostil delivered a one-out base knock to left but Willie McCovey’s throw nailed Bonura at the dish. McCovey ripped a one hopper off the chain link fence in right field for a two-base hit to commence the bottom of the fourth.  Mays walked and Ott flew out to the warning track in left. Walsh induced Freddie Lindstrom to ground into a 6-4-3 double play. “Stretch” lined a base hit up the middle to plate Roger Bresnahan with the first run of the contest in the home half of the sixth. Bill Melton doubled to left in the top of the eighth. Pinch-runner Harry Lord advanced to third on a fielder’s choice but the White Sox failed to capitalize. Carl Reynolds ill-advised squeeze bunt with two outs was fielded cleanly by Hubbell and the throw to first arrived in plenty of time. McCovey coaxed a base on balls with two down in the bottom of the eighth. The “Say Hey Kid” launched a long fly off reliever Bob Locker into the left field corner, barely clearing the wall for a 2-run jack to extend San Fran’s lead to 3-0. Travis Jackson made a leaping grab of a Minoso liner with one out in the ninth and Bonura on first. Frankie Frisch camped under Mostil’s pop fly to secure the shutout for Hubbell and both teams headed to Chi-Town with the Giants holding a 2-game advantage.

Christy Mathewson delivered his warm-up tosses in the pen as Wilbur Wood strode to the mound for the Pale Hose. Bill Terry ripped a double into the right-field corner and Willie McCovey walked after Frankie Frisch smashed a loud out to right fielder Carl Reynolds. “Wilbah” provoked Willie Mays to offer at his knuckleball, and Luke Appling started a 6-4-3 twin-killing to extinguish the rally. Frisco assumed the lead when Travis Jackson led off the third with an opposite-field double and came around on a long single to right by “Stretch”. Orlando Cepeda belted a 2-run blast into the right-center field bleachers in the top of the sixth, extending Frisco’s advantage to 3-0. “Matty” encountered some trouble in the bottom of the eighth, but Zeke Bonura grounded into a double play and Eddie Collins followed with a two-hopper to Jackson.  Roger Bresnahan legged out a three-base hit to begin the visitor’s ninth and Jackson blooped a base knock into short left field to provide an insurance run. Minnie Minoso slashed a liner towards Mel Ott, who snared the ball with a magnificent diving grab in right-center field. Appling bounced to Frisch for the final out as “Big Six” completed a 7-hit shutout. The White Sox faced a possible sweep at Comiskey Park in less than 24 hours.

The ChiSox nominated Red Faber for the task of staving off elimination while San Fran’s skipper countered with Juan Marichal. With two on and two out in the bottom of the first, Travis Jackson made a valiant attempt to corral Minnie Minoso’s blooper into short left field, but the ball avoided his outstretched glove for a single. Eddie Collins trotted home and Carl Reynolds raced to third. Minoso was promptly cut down attempting to swipe second. Ray Schalk launched a 2-run moon-shot into the left field corner in the second frame to increase the White Sox lead to 3-0. Harry Lord delivered a base hit and Zeke Bonura belted an opposite-field two-bagger beyond Mel Ott’s reach, plating the fourth run for the Sox. Johnny Antonelli began warming up in the bullpen but Marichal escaped the inning when Collins popped up to first base. The Giants got on the board in the top of the third. Roger Bresnahan remained on fire as he lashed a double that bounced on the warning track and ricocheted off the left field wall. Bill Terry dribbled a worm-burner through the right side and Bresnahan dashed homeward. The floodgates opened in the home half of the inning. Bonura tripled with the sacks full, sending the “Dominican Dandy” to an early exit. Southpaw Mike F. McCormick replaced Marichal and yielded a long single as the Pale Hose reached double-digits. Orlando Cepeda swatted a big-fly into the center field bleachers in the fourth off Faber but Frisco trailed 10-2. Luke Appling and Bibb Falk ripped back-to-back run-scoring doubles in the fourth. Chicago reestablished their double-digit advantage and “Toothpick” Sam Jones entered the match. The diamond carousel continued as the Southsiders peppered the ball all over the field. When the dust settled, the scoreboard operator posted a 7-spot and Giants began to empty their bench. The Sox tacked on a run in the fifth when Bobby Thomson booted an easy grounder to third. Marquard served up a gopher ball to Reynolds with a runner on first and the Chicago faithful rejoiced as the “20” registered in the home team’s run column. San Francisco rallied against Faber to start the visitor’s eighth, loading the bases then tallying a pair of runs on consecutive hits by Frankie Frisch and Jackson. Faber forced home another run when he issued a base on balls to Ross Youngs. Despite the commanding 15-run cushion, the Sox skipper summoned Terry Forster from the bullpen. The inning concluded swiftly when Chicago turned a picturesque 3-2-3 double play. The Giants placed runners on the corners with 2 down in the ninth, but Jim Ray Hart was injured on his route to third. Forster got Bobby Thomson on a grounder to Appling and the White Sox lived to play another day as they defeated the Giants in convincing fashion, 20-5.

The fifth bout featured a rematch between Joe McGinnity and Eddie Cicotte. “Laughing” Larry Doyle clubbed a deep drive into the lower deck in right field to put San Francisco ahead 1-0 in the third. Bibb Falk and Ray Schalk helped the ChiSox assume a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the frame on a fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly. Willie Mays scooted home when third baseman Harry Lord fired wide of second base while attempting to start a double play, then Doyle hit into a fielder’s choice to knock in another run as the Giants reclaimed the lead in the top of the fourth. Minnie Minoso demolished an “Iron Man” offering into the second deck in left-center field to knot the score at 3-all in the home half of the fourth. Frisco answered in the top of the fifth as Willie McCovey mashed a two-base hit high off the top of the fence near the right field corner and Roger Bresnahan scored all the way from first. The Pale Hose tallied a run in the bottom of the seventh when Johnny Mostil tripled into the left field corner and raced home on a slow roller to shortstop off the bat of Luke Appling. Bob James relieved Cicotte to start the ninth for the ChiSox. He allowed a two-out walk to Doyle but whiffed Frankie Frisch. Frank Linzy replaced McGinnity in the home ninth. After issuing a pair of walks with two outs, he recovered to set Appling down on a called third strike, sending the contest into extra innings. Bill Terry drilled a one-out double and scooted to third on a high chopper by McCovey. Mays lofted a 2-1 heater from James towards the right field stands. Striking just a few inches from the top of the wall, the ball dropped on to the warning track as Terry bolted home with the go-ahead run. Mel Ott followed with an opposite-field safety and the “Say Hey Kid” scurried across the dish for an insurance run. Orlando Cepeda popped up to second-sacker Eddie Collins for the final out. The Southsiders were three outs from elimination. Portsider Johnny Antonelli entered the game to face fellow lefty Bibb Falk. The left fielder lifted an easy pop fly to Bill Terry for the first out. The Sox backstop, Ray Schalk, coaxed a base on balls. The Giants’ skipper allowed Antonelli to stay in the match to pitch to Lord. Four straight pitches off the plate and the Sox were not only alive, they were threatening to send the series back to the West Coast. Antonelli exited in favor of right-hander “Toothpick” Sam Jones. With a 1-1 count, Jones caught Schalk napping and picked him off second base! Zeke Bonura still represented the tying run in the batters’ box and Lord stretched his lead off first. Jones delivered a curveball and Bonura tapped it to Frisch at shortstop who flipped the ball to Terry for the last out. The Giants congregated near the pitcher’s mound and celebrated their World Series victory!

Ratings

Graphics – [5] The center of the screen features a close-up of the batter-pitcher matchup. After the pitch is delivered, the close-up view disappears and the infield shot is revealed. The play rewinds to one second prior (presumably done to assist with fielding in arcade mode) then the camera follows the path of the ball if it travels into the outfield or beyond. A shadow (circular cursor) appears when a fly ball is hit to help the player track the flight path. The bottom third of the screen is split into 3 sections: left – the count, inning and number of outs; center – baserunners; right – the score, current batter and pitcher. The player animation is fluid and represents the progression from character-based graphics of SSI Computer Baseball to the lifelike batter-pitcher confrontations in Earl Weaver Baseball.

Sound – [2] Sound effects are fairly sparse in this edition. The bat/ball and ball/glove sound effects are credible and the umpire’s calls are a welcome addition especially on close plays. The crowd roars when a home run is hit, but the sound abruptly stops before the batter reaches second base. The lack of music and ambient crowd noise left me with the impression that we were playing baseball in an empty stadium.

Strategy – [4] The manager can call for a specific pitch with the standard choices of fastball, curve and changeup. Depending on the current hurler’s repertoire, the fourth pitch may be a slider, knuckleball, splitter, screwball, etc.  Defense options include holding the baserunner(s) or playing off the bag, charging the bunt, calling for a pitchout or intentional walk. You may adjust the alignment and depth of your defenders.  Each batter has the ability to swing normally, aggressively (power) or controlled (contact) as well as bunt. Play-calling with runners on base include the straight steal, double steal, squeeze, and the hit & run. You can warm up one or two pitchers at a time. Relievers will become tired if left unattended while throwing in the pen.  The usual substitutions are allowed and managers are prompted when defensive adjustments are required. When facing the computer manager, you will receive a brief on-screen prompt advising which pitchers are warming up for the opposition.

Artificial Intelligence – [4] The silicon skipper handled substitutions appropriately, getting his relievers ready at the right times and employing the correct mix of strategy.

Box Score – [2] A spreadsheet with the participants’ names along with 12 batting categories appears upon the conclusion of each contest. The batters are arranged in defensive order (not their actual lineup order) and their positions are not listed, creating further confusion when substitutes are used. The pitching screen depicts the names of each hurler (in order of appearance) with 7 counting stats. Winning and losing pitchers are denoted in the lower half of the display. If a reliever earned a save, it’s logged here along with the time, attendance and location.

Rosters – [4] – The 25-man active rosters consist of 15 position players and 10 pitchers while the 5 reserves must include 3 batsmen and 2 hurlers. In reviewing the results from the simulated season, the computer General Manager made judicious use of the entire squad for each team based on injuries and other factors. The Fantasy Manager add-on disk permitted the configuration of various league / division structures, stadium assignments and facilitated drafting players onto those teams. Manager profiles can be customized for each ball club and salaries can be assigned to individuals.

Statistics – [5] – Team names, player ratings and statistics can be edited through the Utilities menu in the main program. League leaders can be sorted on the best/worst in each category with the ability to incorporate players from both leagues or limit to a specific league. You can view leaders for a single team and look at team totals. Additionally you can view splits (vs. RHP or LHP) as well as historical vs. simulated statistics. Player ratings encompass speed, power, bunt, hit & run, range, arm, clutch, streak and injury. You can designated the “fourth” pitch for every pitcher (all are capable of throwing fastballs, curveballs and changeups). The optional “Great Teams 1901-1968” disk features 26 of the finest squads from that era.

Usage/Injuries/Ejections – [4] – Players can be injured during the course of the game (based on their injury rating) and fatigue is also a factor for pitchers. The “Days Unavailable” column tracks the number of days remaining until the player is healed or fully rested. An “R” next to the number indicates that the player is fatigued and needs to rest. You are permitted to use a pitcher with the “R” designation but it comes with an increased risk of injury and/or diminished performance. To my knowledge players cannot be ejected from the game. Part-time players are subject to increased injury probability due to overuse.

Ballparks / Park Factors – [3] – The add-on AL and NL stadium disks offer accurate depictions of the ballparks that were in use during the late 80’s while the Classic Stadium package features old-time cathedrals such as Ebbets Field, Polo Grounds, Forbes Field, Shibe Park, Old Yankee Stadium, etc. Park factors are not specifically mentioned in the manual.

Commentary – [1] – Commentary is limited to the umpire’s calls such as “Out!”, “Strike Three”, “Foul Ball” and “Ball Four – take your base”.

Scale:  Ratings from 1 (worst) to 5 (best)

Total Score: 34 out of 50

Observations

A rock-solid addition to the computer baseball lineage employing a game engine refined over 3 decades by Don Daglow, Tony LaRussa’s Ultimate Baseball establishes a strong foundation for the sequels that followed throughout the next half-decade. Several innovations including the fly ball cursor, flexible stat package and the ability to simulate an entire season in ten minutes boost the overall score and advance the genre into the Nineties.

Please add a comment below if you spent a significant amount of time and/or have any recollections of Tony LaRussa’s Ultimate Baseball.

Screenshots

Articles in the Series

	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – SSI Computer Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review –Computer Statis Pro Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – MicroLeague Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Avalon Hill Pro Manager / Major League Manager
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Pure-Stat Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Monday Morning Manager
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Radio Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Earl Weaver Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Full Count Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – MicroLeague Baseball II – III – IV
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Tony La Russa’s Ultimate Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Earl Weaver Baseball II
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – APBA Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Tony La Russa Baseball II
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Front Page Sports Baseball ’94 – ’96 – ’98
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – ESPN Baseball Tonight
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Hardball 3-4-5-6
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Pursue the Pennant – Diamond Mind Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Pro League Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Tony La Russa Baseball 3 – 4 – Old Time Baseball

Additional Links

Play Tony LaRussa’s Ultimate Baseball in your browser! –

https://classicreload.com/tony-la-russas-ultimate-baseball.html#

Playthrough – HardballRetro

SABR Stay at Home – Don Daglow

Murray, Rink. “386 Down the Power Alleys: Baseball Simulations Emerge From Spring Training.” PC Magazine. April 28, 1992, p493. https://books.google.com/books?id=HERlo0BgpGYC&pg=PT475&dq=pc+magazine+386+apba+baseball+simulation&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZipuBgZjoAhUCc98KHcOkDqoQ6AEwAHoECAEQAg#v=onepage&q=pc%20magazine%20386%20apba%20baseball%20simulation&f=false

Rogers, Win. “Great A’s Baseball: SSI’s Tony LaRussa’s Ultimate Baseball.” Computer Gaming World. Volume 88, November 1991, p104, 106. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_88.pdf

Rogers, Win. “Not Yet the Ultimate: SSI’s Expansion Disks for Tony LaRussa’s Ultimate Baseball.” Computer Gaming World. Volume 97, August 1992, p80, 82. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_97.pdf

Tony LaRussa’s Ultimate Baseball manual (IBM PC version) –  https://archive.org/details/tonylarussasultimatebaseball/mode/2up

Tony LaRussa’s Ultimate Baseball manual (Commodore 64 version) –  http://www.stadium64.com/manuals/tonylarussasultimatebaseball.htm

https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/tony-la-russas-ultimate-baseball

http://www.stadium64.com/gameinfos/tonylarussasultimatebaseball/tonylarussasultimatebaseball.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNjXgoVRtyU Tony LaRussa’s Ultimate Baseball, video by Squakenet

About the Author

I am a New Jersey native with a passion for baseball, statistics, computers and video games who enjoys spending quality time with his family.

“Hardball Architects – Volume 1 (American League)“, published in July 2020 and
“Hardball Architects – Volume 2 (National League)”, published in April 2022, examine the trades, free agent acquisitions, draft picks and other transactions for the 30 Major League Baseball franchises, divided into a 2-volume set. Both books are available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. 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 (along with former Angels and Red Sox GM Mike Port and current Reds GM Nick Krall in Volume 2) on a variety of front office topics.

“Hardball Retroactive”, published in June 2018, is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com.  Hardball Retroactive is a modest collection of selected articles that I have written for Seamheads.com along with my Baseball Analytics blog since 2010. Exclusive content includes the chapter on “Minors vs. Majors” which assesses every franchise’s minor league successes and failures in relation to their major league operations.

“Hardball Retrospective” is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. Supplemental Statistics, Charts and Graphs along with a discussion forum are offered at TuataraSoftware.com. 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.

Don Daglow (Intellivision World Series Major League Baseball, Earl Weaver Baseball, Tony LaRussa Baseball) contributed the foreword for Hardball Retrospective. The foreword and preview of my book are accessible here. 

“Hardball Retrospective – Addendum 2014 to 2016” supplements my research for Hardball Retrospective, providing retroactive standings based on Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and Win Shares (WS) for each “original” team over the past three seasons (2014-2016). Team totals from 2010 – 2013 are included for reference purposes. “Addendum” is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. 

Amiga version:

IBM version:

Publisher – Electronic Arts

Release Year – 1987

Platforms – Amiga, Apple ][, IBM PC, Macintosh

Credits

Review

Earl Weaver Baseball represented a transformation in the computer baseball gaming experience from a text-based or minimally animated exercise into an authentic re-creation of America’s Pastime. From the realism of the statistical engine to the striking audio and visual effects, EWB signified a tremendous leap forward in sports simulations and set an extremely high bar that most challengers in the past 3 decades have failed to achieve. When I first cast my gaze upon the Amiga version, I was captivated by the sound effects, speech and graphics. After playing a few series I discovered that the variety of strategic options, ability to create ballparks and the accurate game outcomes contributed to a remarkable product unlike anything I had seen before. Many years later, I purchased an Amiga 500 for the sole purpose of playing this game. However in 1987 I had to settle for the Apple ][ version (which omitted several key features due to memory constraints). I regrettably sold my Apple ][e Enhanced system in the early Nineties. Although I currently have the Amiga and IBM versions, I’m using emulation for the sake of convenience. In order to provide an objective comparison of the versions I scheduled a series against Earl using both the IBM (PC / MS-DOS) edition and Amiga games.

The IBM series featured the teams that lost the 1982 AL and NL Championship matchups in a what-if World Series – Atlanta Braves vs. California Angels. I managed the Angels squad while “Earl” skippered the Bravos. After selecting the teams and game options, I was prompted to enter my season ticket number from the wheel of copy protection:

After selecting the starting pitchers and lineups, Game 1 was underway. Geoff Zahn (18-8, 3.73) took the mound for the home team against veteran knuckleballer Phil Niekro (17-4, 3.61). Claudell Washington split the defenders in left-center field gap and the ball rolled all the way to the wall. Fred Lynn retrieved the ball but Washington raced around the bases and beat the relay throw for an inside-the-park homer! Zahn settled in and retired the next 3 Braves in order. Brian Downing laced a flutterball into the right field corner for a two-bagger to lead off the bottom of the first for the Halos. Rod Carew walked and was promptly erased on a fielder’s choice grounder to shortstop as Reggie Jackson safely reached base. With runners on the corners and one away, Fred Lynn drew a walk to load the bases. Don Baylor ripped a two-hopper to Rafael Ramirez at short, forcing Lynn at second. Baylor beat the relay to first as Downing crossed home plate, knotting the score at 1-1. Doug DeCinces hit into a 6-4 force at second base for the final out. In the home third, Carew and Jackson blooped successive singles in front of Washington to set up a first-and-third situation for Lynn with one down. Hubbard scooped up Lynn’s slow roller and flipped to Ramirez for the second out, but the relay was too late allowing Carew to cruise home as the Angels took a 2-1 lead. Braves’ third baseman Jerry Royster sparked a rally in the fifth with a single and a pair of stolen bases. Glenn Hubbard’s dribbler up the third base line was slow enough to score Royster with the tying run. Jackson and Lynn delivered back-to-back opposite-field doubles in the home half of the frame to re-take the lead. Atlanta roared back in the top of the sixth when Ramirez legged out an infield hit to third and Bob Horner lashed a two-base knock up the right-center field gap. Bob Watson tagged a long fly ball over the center field fence, giving Atlanta a 5-3 advantage. I gave the signal for the right-hander Don Aase as Zahn marched slowly to the dugout. Aase whiffed Terry Harper and Royster to end the inning. Bobby Grich smacked a double down the right-field line to open the bottom of the sixth and Tim Foli followed with a base hit to left, cutting the Braves’ lead to 5-4 as Foli advanced to second base on the throw home. Earl visited the mound but elected to leave Niekro in the game to face the #9 hitter, Bob Boone. California evened the score at 5 runs apiece when Boone delivered a solid single to left. Harper gobbled it up and fired home but Foli evaded the tag. Atlanta rallied again in the seventh when Hubbard singled up the middle and Aase plunked Bruce Benedict. Luis Sanchez entered the contest after Washington flied out to right and Hubbard tagged up to put runners on the corners with one out. Ramirez tripled to right-center, plating Hubbard and Benedict with the go-ahead runs. Sanchez issued an intentional pass to Dale Murphy. Horner followed with a ground-rule double to left and Watson supplied a sacrifice fly as the Braves tacked on two more runs. Earl brought Steve Bedrosian into the match in the bottom of the seventh as Atlanta had a four-run cushion. The Angels threatened when DeCinces cracked a double off the left field wall with one away, placing runners on second and third. “Bedrock” doused the blaze by striking out Grich and inducing pinch-hitter Ron Jackson to lift a harmless fly ball to right. Dave Goltz hurled a scoreless eighth for the Halos. Boone and Downing started the bottom of the frame with successive safeties to left. Carew tapped a slow roller towards first. Watson wheeled and fired to second base but Downing beat the throw. Jackson stepped to the dish with the sacks full and nobody out. He took a mighty cut but hit a three-hopper towards Hubbard, who shoveled to Ramirez to get the lead runner (Carew). Earl stormed from the dugout when the first-base umpire called Jackson safe on the relay throw. Boone crossed home plate on the play to bring California within 3 runs at 9-6. The subsequent play yielded another 4-6 fielder’s choice with Lynn safe at first and Downing scoring. Bedrosian struck out Baylor and the Braves retained a 9-7 lead. In the ninth, Grich coaxed a one-out walk and pinch-hitter Juan Beniquez knocked Bedrosian out of the game with a long double to left. Earl called upon Gene Garber to close out the contest.  Boone greeted Garber with a medium fly towards left-center. Grich and Beniquez tagged up on the play and witnessed a collision between Murphy and Harper. Murphy scrambled to recover the ball as Grich raced home and Beniquez scooted to third. On Murphy’s throw home, the potential winning run (Boone) tiptoed into second. The side-arming Garber whiffed Downing for the second out. Earl gestured towards his battery that he wanted to intentionally walk Carew. Garber and Benedict complied, bringing “Mr. October” to the plate in a bases loaded, 2 out, bottom of the ninth confrontation. Jackson’s patience paid off as Garber issued a base on balls to force in the tying run. Lynn drilled a hard grounder to Royster who fired down to Hubbard, sending the game into extra innings. Bruce Kison gave up back-to-back base hits to Harper and Royster to start the top of the tenth. Hubbard hit into a 4-6-3 double play with Harper advancing to third base. Benedict grounded out to Rob Wilfong at shortstop to suppress the threat.  Garber retired the Angels in order in the home half of the tenth and Kison returned the favor in the visitor’s eleventh. Beniquez sent Garber to the showers with a ground-rule double that one-hopped the right-center field fence. Earl summoned the left-hander Al Hrabosky to pitch to the veteran backstop Boone. “The Mad Hungarian” had trouble finding the plate and Boone drew a walk. Downing’s slow roller up the middle evaded Hrabosky’s glove and the Braves were only able to secure the out at second. Carew strolled to the dish with one out and runners at the corners. “Hungo” walked the perennial All-Star on four pitches. Wilfong lashed a line drive to right as the Angels walked off with a 10-9 victory!

Rick Mahler (9-10, 4.21) squared off against Ken Forsch (13-11, 3.87) in Game 2. Chris Chambliss lifted a fly ball to Reggie Jackson leading off the top of the second. The ball glanced off Jackson’s glove for a two-base error. Chambliss advanced to third on a fly out to right off the bat of Glenn Hubbard, then tagged up and scored on a sacrifice fly by Larry Whisenton. California loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the second inning on a fielder’s choice, an errant throw by Rafael Ramirez and a walk. Dale Murphy raced into foul territory to snare Brian Downing’s sky-high pop up to extricate Mahler.  In the third, Rod Carew flicked an opposite field two-base hit into the left field corner. “Mr. October” launched Mahler’s next offering into the right-center field bleachers for a 2-run jack. Fred Lynn legged out an infield hit and came all the way around from first when Don Baylor drilled a double up the gap in right-center. Doug DeCinces reached on Ramirez’s second error of the inning. Baylor scooted home on a Tim Foli groundout to increase the Angels’ advantage to 4-1. The Halos resumed their offensive barrage in the fourth. Downing led off with a single to center and Jackson drew a one-out walk. Lynn lofted a can of corn towards the right field line. Claudell Washington lost it in the sun and the ball bounced over the wall for a two-base error with Downing scored. Earl replaced Mahler with Pascual Perez. DeCinces drew a base on balls with two away but Grich grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the frame. Atlanta got a run back in the top of the fifth. Bruce Benedict lined a shot off Forsch’s hip. Forsch recovered but threw the ball past Carew for an error. Brett Butler hit a frozen rope to right-center sending Benedict to third, but Jackson cut down Butler when he tried to stretch a single into a double. Washington knocked in the Braves’ backstop with a three-hopper to second. Atlanta crept closer in the visitor’s sixth. DeCinces booted a hot smash off the bat of Bob Horner. Both runners were safe on a slow grounder by Chris Chambliss. After a walk to Whisenton loaded the bases with one out, Benedict beat the relay on a potential double-play ball to extend the inning and allow Horner to cross the plate. Butler batted into a 6-4 force with the Angels clinging to a 5-3 lead. California came storming back in the bottom half of the sixth. Carew and Jackson supplied back-to-back singles, then Lynn absolutely crushed a moon-shot to straightaway center. Earl grimaced and cussed at no one in particular as his favorite weapon, the 3-run homer, effectively extended the Angels advantage to 8-3. The Braves scratched a run across against Andy Hassler in the eighth when Benedict doubled into the right-field corner to knock in Chambliss. Washington skied a sacrifice fly to right to bring the Braves within 3 runs. Ramirez walloped reliever Doug Corbett’s sinker to the left field wall, but the sure-handed Downing gloved it to retire the side. In the top of the ninth, Corbett clipped Chambliss with a changeup then yielded a two-out double to Hubbard. Luis Sanchez relieved Corbett and induced pinch-hitter Jerry Royster to hit a slow roller towards the third base line. DeCinces fielded the ball and made a diving stab at Hubbard, who avoided the tag to keep the inning alive. Rufino Linares smacked a fly ball to medium center where Lynn corralled it for the final out. The Angels boarded a plane bound for Atlanta holding a 2-0 advantage in the Series.

A pair of young right-handers got the call in Game 3 as sophomore Mike Witt (8-6, 3.50) prepared for his first post-season assignment versus Bob Walk (11-9, 4.87). Atlanta handed the Halos a cheap run in the first when Walk failed to get out of the way on Don Baylor’s pop-up to the infield, resulting in a collision with Glenn Hubbard. The ball dropped untouched allowing Reggie Jackson to score from second base. Claudell Washington commenced the bottom of the first with a ringing double into the right field corner. Rafael Ramirez followed with an infield hit. Mike Witt struck out Dale Murphy with a knee-buckling curve, but he issued a free pass to Bob Horner to load the bases. The Braves tied the game on a wild pitch to Chris Chambliss as Washington scurried home. California put ducks on the pond in the top of the second after successive singles by Bobby Grich and Tim Foli. Bob Boone bunted the ball towards Walk who wheeled and fired to Horner at third base, but Grich avoided the tag. Brett Butler snagged Brian Downing’s long fly to center as Grich tagged and tallied the Angels’ second run. Rod Carew rapped a clean single past Horner and into left field to knock in Foli. Jackson whiffed then Fred Lynn walked to re-load the bases for Baylor. “Groove” took a healthy hack but fouled it high in the air behind home plate. Biff Pocoroba whipped off his catcher’s mask, ran back towards the screen and made a fancy sliding catch, eliciting cheers from the hometown crowd. Washington whacked a clean single to right, stole second and came around on a base hit to center by Murphy. Horner knotted the score at 3-3 with a bullet off the left field wall. Earl relieved Walk with two down in the fourth and two runners on base. Gene Garber struck out DeCinces to conclude the frame. Washington sliced a three-base hit up the left-center field gap with two away in the bottom of the fourth. Ramirez lined one sharply over Foli’s head to plate Washington with the go-ahead run. Murphy dunked a bloop double that hugged the left field line, advancing Ramirez to third. Witt delivered four consecutive balls to Horner. Down 4-3 with the sacks full of Braves, I brought Steve Renko in to face Chambliss. Foli flawlessly fielded Chambliss’ bounding ball to short and flipped to Grich for the force at second. Facing Al Hrabosky to start the top of the eighth, Foli cracked a two-bagger that one-hopped the left field wall. Pinch-hitter Ron Jackson and Downing hit consecutive groundouts that prevented Foli from advancing. Carew drew a walk, bringing Jackson to the plate with the tying run in scoring position. “Mr. October” served a soft single to center and Foli zipped home to tie the game at 4-4. “Hungo” rebounded to strike out Lynn. Ken Dayley relieved Hrabosky in the top of the ninth. Baylor led off with a screaming liner towards right-center that Washington misplayed into a three-base error. The Angels immediately capitalized when DeCinces thumped a low liner back through the box and into center for a base hit. Baylor trotted home as California took the 5-4 lead. Grich’s fourth hit of the contest sailed into the left field seats to endow the visitors with a 3-run cushion. Joe Ferguson left the yard with a solo shot to left-center, prompting Earl to call down to the pen for another arm. Rick Camp jogged to the mound to face the top of the order. Downing hit a high chopper behind third. Horner fielded the ball and airmailed it into the first-base stands for a 2-base error. Camp retired Carew on an easy two-hopper to short, then yielded to southpaw Carlos Diaz. Luis Sanchez closed out the ninth, allowing only a two-out single to Chambliss. The Braves fell behind 3 games to none in the Series, setting the stage for a possible sweep by the visiting club.

Geoff Zahn and Phil Niekro opposed each other in a rematch of Game 1 starters. Rod Carew and Reggie Jackson generated back-to-back safeties to place runners on the corners with one away in the opening frame, but “Knucksie” escaped the jam without conceding a run. Claudell Washington walked, swiped second and scored on a triple by Rafael Ramirez. An infield hit to deep short by Dale Murphy plated Ramirez with the Braves’ second run. Chris Chambliss rocked a two-base hit into the right field corner and Atlanta led 3-0. Brian Downing swatted an opposite field big-fly leading off the visitor’s third. Two-out safeties by Fred Lynn and Doug DeCinces followed by a base on balls to Bobby Grich provided a golden opportunity to Don Baylor. Niekro presented another Houdini act as “Groove” lofted an innocuous fly to Rufino Linares in left field, who camped under it and made the catch for the final out. Ramirez beat out a dribbler to DeCinces, pilfered second and recorded a tally on a double to right-center by third-sacker Bob Horner. Bob Watson slashed a two-bagger with two outs to extend the Atlanta advantage to 5-1. California rallied in the top of the fifth. Jackson registered an infield single and Lynn pounded a double down the line in right. A sacrifice fly to left by DeCinces brought the Angels within 3 runs. Grich grounded out to Ramirez allowing Lynn to score. Dave Goltz relieved Zahn to commence the bottom of the fifth with the Angels trailing 5-3. Ramirez laced his third base hit to right and Murphy walked. Horner put a charge into a Goltz fastball but Lynn flagged it down in deep center as Ramirez tagged up and cruised into third. Watson’s looping liner evaded Tim Foli’s outstretched glove, increasing the Atlanta lead to 6-3. Niekro issued a free pass to Jackson to open the seventh. Lynn thumped a sharp single to center, bringing DeCinces to the dish as the potential tying run. The wily veteran held the Halos at bay once again, provoking a weak fly ball to right by DeCinces and a two-hopper by Grich to his opposite number (Glenn Hubbard). Baylor opened the eighth with a base hit to left. Al Hrabosky relieved Niekro and promptly served up a single to pinch-hitter Juan Beniquez. Baylor scored when Ron Jackson bounced a high chopper behind third for an infield hit. Downing batted into a tailor-made 6-4-3 double play, with Beniquez advancing to third. Carew rapped a base hit up the middle, cutting the Braves’ lead to a lone run. Jackson tied the game when his long blast to center sailed over Murphy’s head and one-hopped the wall as Carew dashed around the bases. Lynn drew a walk but DeCinces struck out to quash the rally. Doug Corbett allowed a two-out double to Bruce Benedict, then pinch-hitter Jerry Royster ripped a single to center to knock in the go-ahead run. Earl called upon Pascual Perez in the top of the ninth. Beniquez and “Papa Jack” supplied consecutive two-out singles, placing runners on first and third. Steve Bedrosian entered the match to face Downing. The Halos pulled even at 7-7 when a laser beam off the bat of Downing pierced the left field wall. A subsequent bloop hit to center by Carew tallied 2 more runs for the visiting squad. Earl came out to argue the call at home plate, kicking up a severe dust storm in the process. Bruce Kison shut down the hometown Braves in the final frame as Watson flew out to Downing to end the Series. California claimed the World Championship with a 4-game sweep!

Using the 1988 Team Disk for the Amiga series, I elected to match up the worst teams in the American League (Mariners vs. Orioles) in the Battle for the Basement. Flamethrower Mark Langston (15-11, 3.34) faced off against junkballer Jeff Ballard (8-12, 4.40) in Game 1. Bill Ripken rocked a one-out double to the base of the center field wall at the Kingdome with one out in the opening frame. Langston settled down and retired Cal Ripken Jr. and Eddie Murray to end the inning. Alvin Davis scorched a changeup off the right field fence for a long single leading off the bottom of the second. Ballard set down the next 6 Mariners in order until Henry Cotto dialed long distance in home half of the fourth. Successive singles by Fred Lynn and Rick Schu gave the O’s a first-and-third situation with one away in the fifth. Langston escaped the jam when Rene Gonzales and Pete Stanicek lofted shallow flies to left. Glenn Wilson dove headfirst into the bag to sneak in safely with a two-base hit under Bill Ripken’s tag. Harold Reynolds’ soft liner to left barely evaded the reach of the “Iron Man”. Wilson was running at the crack of the bat with two outs and scored easily while Reynolds sprinted into second on the throw home. Steve “Bye-Bye” Balboni hammered a deep drive down the left field line which crashed into the second deck, extending the M’s lead to 3-0 with 2 outs in the bottom of the sixth. Baltimore rallied with 3 straight safeties off the bats of Rene Gonzales, Pete Stanicek and Bill Ripken to open the eighth. Michael Jackson came on to duel Cal Ripken in relief of Langston. “Rip” took a mighty cut and struck out swinging on a slider. Murray belted Jackson’s next pitch towards right-center but Wilson made the catch. Gonzales tagged up and scurried homeward to put the O’s on the board. Wilson camped under Mickey Tettleton’s fly ball to close out the inning with the Mariners holding a 3-1 advantage. Mickey Brantley drilled a two-bagger off the base of the center field wall. Earl visited the mound and opted for Doug Sisk to replace Ballard. Davis walked on four pitches. Balboni delivered an insurance run with a ringing single to left-center. Scott Bradley batted for Dave Valle and Earl countered with the lefty Mark Thurmond. Bradley lobbed a soft liner to left, scoring Davis. Another pitching change ensued as Tom Niedenfuer trotted in from the pen. Wilson hit a weak grounder to second and the Ripken brothers completed the force play. Mike Schooler entered the game in a non-save situation. Lynn flied out to the warning track in right and pinch-hitter Joe Orsulak whiffed, but Reynolds dropped an infield fly off the bat of Larry Sheets to keep the Orioles’ hopes alive. Gonzales whacked a sizzling three-hopper to short which was scooped up by Rey Quiñones and fired to Reynolds covering second base for the final out.

Rookie right-hander Jose J. Bautista (6-15, 4.30) headed to the mound for the Orioles in Game 2 to face veteran Mike Moore (9-15, 3.78). Baltimore set up a potential scoring opportunity in the top of the second when Larry Sheets doubled to deep center after Eddie Murray led off the frame with a sharp single to right. Fred Lynn plated “Steady Eddie” with a ringing single over the outstretched glove of Harold Reynolds. Moore avoided further damage with a shallow pop fly and a pair of strikeouts. Larry Sheets laced an opposite-field single down the left field line to knock in Brady Anderson in the top of the third with the O’s second run. Bautista worked around a single, a balk and a walk in the fourth to maintain the 2-0 advantage. Murray belted a 2-run round-tripper to left-center, doubling the Orioles’ lead to 4-0. Seattle got on the board when Henry Cotto rapped a two-base hit and came around to score on a Bill Ripken throwing error. Alvin Davis brought the M’s within one, crushing a 2-run shot to right off Bautista with one out in the bottom of the sixth. In the seventh, Reynolds rapped a double down the left field line but the third base coach wisely held Jim Presley at third. Bautista buckled down and retired Cotto on a medium fly to Lynn in left field. Brady Anderson opened the top of the eighth with a double to center off M’s reliever Jerry Reed. Anderson took off for third base on a stolen base attempt and Scott Bradley’s errant throw sailed past Presley into left field. Anderson quickly rose to his feet and scampered home to add a run to Baltimore’s tally. Reed got into further trouble by walking Murray and plunking Sheets. Bill Wilkinson entered the contest and induced Lynn to hit into a fielder’s choice. With two outs, Kennedy punched a routine grounder to short that Rey Quiñones booted as Murray glided home. Seattle went quietly in the ninth as Bautista completed an eight-hit, 6-3 victory to even the Series at one game apiece.

Both teams hopped on cross-country flights bound for Baltimore. The Series resumed one day later at Memorial Stadium where Scott Bankhead (7-9, 3.07) prepared to oppose Jay Tibbs (4-15, 5.39). A solo blast to right-center by Bill Ripken put the home team on the board in the bottom of the third. Neither team mustered any offensive threats until the top of the ninth. Tibbs was masterful through eight scoreless frames, limiting the Seattle lumberjacks to 3 singles. Henry Cotto, pinch-hitting for Bruce Fields to start the visitor’s half of the ninth, doubled up the right-center field gap. Earl signaled for right-hander Tom Niedenfuer to succeed Tibbs on the mound. The crowd roared and Tibbs tipped his cap as he walked off the mound. Mickey Brantley timed Niedenfuer’s heater perfectly and smoked a single past Cal Ripken Jr. Cotto raced towards home and deftly maneuvered around Terry Kennedy’s swipe tag to tie the game at 1-1. Clearly agitated by the turn of events, Earl bolted out of the dugout and yanked Niedenfuer in favor of Doug Sisk. Alvin Davis delivered a safety up the middle, moving the go-ahead run into scoring position with nobody out. Steve Balboni lashed a long single to left-center off southpaw Mark Thurmond as Brantley came around to give the Mariners a 2-1 lead. Pinch-hitter Jay Buhner grounded into a fielder’s choice but beat the relay throw to first. Earl chewed out the first base umpire, then called upon his fourth reliever of the inning, Don Aase. Jim Presley pulled the ball through the hole between short and third, extending the M’s advantage to 3-1. Mike Schooler entered the contest to do battle against the heart of the O’s order in the bottom of the ninth. He plunked Ripken in the ribs with a slider. Eddie Murray hit into a fielder’s choice and Jim Traber flew out to right field. Fred Lynn drilled a line drive to right but Mike Kingery snared it as the Mariners reclaimed the Series lead at 2 games to 1.

Mark Langston and Jeff Ballard toed the rubber in a rematch of Game 1 starters. Harold Reynolds led off with a sharp single to left and promptly stole second. Ballard issued a one-out walk to Mickey Brantley, then Alvin Davis plated Reynolds on a low liner to right field. Brantley scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Steve Balboni to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead. Baltimore rallied in the bottom of the fourth when Mickey Tettleton blasted a two-bagger off the warning track in center field, scoring Cal Ripken Jr. to cut the M’s lead in half. In the bottom of the seventh, Tettleton coaxed a base on balls. Fred Lynn, batting for Larry Sheets, surprised everyone with a two-strike bunt down the third base line for an infield hit. Rene Gonzales drove Langston’s heater down towards the left field corner. Brantley quickly cut off the ball and relayed it back to the infield, but “Froot Loops” easily cruised home with the tying run. Stanicek drew a walk to load the bases, but Bill Ripken lifted a routine fly ball which settled into Brantley’s glove to end the inning. Reynolds started the eighth with a base hit back through the box and swiped second. Ballard retired the next 3 Mariners in order to maintain the 2-2 tie. Mike Jackson hurled a clean inning for the M’s as Langston headed for the showers after 7 solid innings. Steve Balboni took a free pass to commence the ninth frame. Ballard’s 0-2 changeup struck Dave Valle in the left elbow, moving pinch-runner Mike Kingery into scoring position. None of which mattered when Jay Buhner connected on a mammoth 3-run home run that cleared the left-center field bleachers! Mike Schooler struck out 2 of the 3 batters that he faced to notch the save in Seattle’s 5-2 victory.

Baltimore attempted to stave off elimination as Seattle held a convincing 3 games to 1 advantage heading into Game 5. Mike Moore finished his pre-game bullpen session while rookie right-hander Oswaldo Peraza (5-7, 5.55) fired his warm-up tosses. The umpire bellowed “Play Ball!” and Harold Reynolds stepped into the batter’s box. Peraza set the M’s down in order. Joe Orsulak led off the bottom of the first with a one-hop double against the right-center field wall. He moved to third on a grounder to second off the bat of Brady Anderson. Cal Ripken Jr. delivered a sacrifice fly to right, allowing Orsulak to tag up and score effortlessly. Mickey Tettleton rocked a two-base hit over Glenn Wilson’s head following an Eddie Murray single, setting up a second-and-third with two outs situation for Fred Lynn. I held an impromptu conference on the mound to settle Moore down. Lynn hit a hot smash towards third but Jim Presley smothered it and threw over to first to minimize the damage. Presley walloped a Peraza fastball off the center field scoreboard, knotting the score at 1-1. Seattle loaded the bases with a hit batsmen (Rey Quiñones) and consecutive singles by Reynolds and Cotto to open the sixth. Mickey Brantley’s chopper was fielded cleanly by Peraza, who flipped the ball to Terry Kennedy for the out at home plate. Alvin Davis slapped a slow grounder up the middle and the Ripken brothers got the force at second, but Reynolds raced home for the go-ahead run. Bill Wilkinson, Jerry Reed, Mike Jackson and Mike Schooler each hurled scoreless frames in relief of Moore to clinch the Series as the Mariners edged the Orioles in the finale, 2 to 1.

Ratings

Graphics – [5] As the pitcher delivers the ball towards home plate, we are treated to a split-screen view with the playing field on two-thirds of the display (left side) and the batter-pitcher matchup in the rightmost section (the view of the right fielder is obscured). The scoreboard is positioned at the top of the screen, indicating the total runs, hits and errors for both teams along with the inning, number of outs and the ball-strike count on the present batter. In the batter-pitcher segment, the current hitter’s actual batting average, home runs and RBI are posted as well as his runner (speed) rating while the hurler’s ERA, won-loss record and fatigue rating are revealed. Once the ball is put into play or another event results in baserunner movement, the split screen disappears in favor of a full field view. The animation of the players is very fluid and smooth. Umpires signal out or safe, baserunners slide and fielders move their gloves into position at the last second. The close-up batter-pitcher confrontation is lifelike, a great achievement giving the state of personal computer graphics in mid-Eighties. The Instant Replay option allows you to review the previous play in real-time or slow motion (frame-by-frame).

Sound – [5] The Amiga and IBM versions perform John Philip Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever” during the introduction and as the batter rounds the bases during a home run trot. The music in the IBM game is a series of bleeps and bloops while the Amiga edition faithfully emulates the actual instruments. Similarly the IBM sound effects are fairly minimal in contrast to sweet resonances emanating from the Amiga such as the authentic crack of the bat, roar of the crowd or a ball nestling in a glove. Additionally the Amiga incorporates speech synthesis from the umpire’s calls to the enunciation of player names prior to each at-bat.

Strategy – [4] You can get fairly granular when adjusting your fielders’ depth and position. You cannot shift an infielder beyond the second base bag (i.e. no extreme shifts with 3 infielders on one side of the infield). As a manager, you have the ability to pitch around a hitter, have one or both corner infielders charge on a bunt attempt and determine baserunner aggressiveness. The squeeze play is an option and you can tell one or more baserunners to attempt a stolen base.

Artificial Intelligence – [4] Earl essentially made appropriate decisions with regards to batter and pitcher substitutions. The computer manager applied suitable in-game strategies such as when to bunt, hit-and-run and steal on offense or fielder positioning and intentional walks on defense.

Box Score – [4] The upper half of the post-game screen depicts the line score including innings, time, attendance, double plays and game-winning RBI along with the pitchers credited with the win, loss and save (if applicable). The lower-left corner allows the user to select the visitor or home sections of the box scores (batting and pitching) while the lower-right offers the ability to toggle output between the screen, printer or disk, view an instant or slow-motion replay from the final play of the game, Update Players Stats and/or Update W/L Records. The batting box score is enumerated in the correct order. However first names (or initials) are absent, making it difficult to differentiate between players with the same last name. The omission of defensive positions in the box score is an unfortunate oversight. The standard offensive statistics are compiled along with sacrifice hits, caught stealing, errors and passed balls while hit batsmen, wild pitches and balks are recorded with the conventional pitching data.

Rosters – [3] – Each team is permitted a 25-man roster. You can enter split statistics for batters and pitchers to indicate how they fare against righties and lefties. Each player is rated in several categories on a 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent) scale. Batter ratings include Power, Hit & Run, Bunt, Runs, Range and Arm while pitchers are graded on Speed (Velocity), Control, Fatigue, Bunt and Fielding ability. Players can be drafted, traded and cloned. In the Amiga version only, you can modify the phonemes for each player to tweak the pronunciation of their first and last name.

Statistics – [4] – Upon conclusion of a “League” game, the user has the ability to Update Players Stats and/or Update W/L Records. You can display actual and accumulated stats and standings using the main program. The optional (but highly recommended) Commissioner’s Disk affords the end-user with additional enhancements to the main Earl Weaver Baseball software. You can modify split and total statistics for any player using the Advanced Stats Editor. View and print the actual or accumulated statistics by individuals and teams, change the sort method (overall or by position) and specify minimum at-bats or innings pitched via the Advanced Stats Display. Accumulated statistics are merged into a single file using the Combine Accumulated Stats option. You may bestow days off to entire divisions, teams or individual players with Grant Days Off. This allows you to simulate travel days or modify injury status. Teams, divisions and league names can be modified via the League/Division Editor. Schedules can be created and sent to a printer, disk or the screen. With the exception of the IBM version, Earl Weaver Baseball does not adhere to generated schedules within the game program – this option simply allows you to generate a schedule that you will need to track manually. Create A Brand New League and Draft A League permit the creation of new leagues from scratch and the selection of players from an existing team disk. This utility allows you to trade, sign and cut players from a team’s roster.

Usage/Injuries/Ejections – [4] – Injuries can occur during the game (the user can toggle this feature on or off). Injured and fatigued players are denoted prior to each contest with the number of games that they are unavailable. This can be modified using the “Grant Days Off” option. The manager will argue an umpire’s call on occasion but I don’t believe players or managers can be ejected from the game.

Ballparks / Park Factors – [5] – 32 ballparks are included with the game – the 26 parks that were utilized in the late Eighties along with the Polo Grounds and 5 imaginary stadiums. The Commissioner’s Disk includes Advanced Ball Park Editor. You can fine-tune park factors (wind direction and speed), stadium dimensions (distance to fences, wall height and color, number of decks, foul ball area), capacity and turf type.

Commentary – [4] – The announcer in the Amiga version keeps us informed through the built-in speech synthesis with regards to the current batter (“At bat.. Cal Ripken”) as well as any player substitutions (“Now pitching.. Lee Smith”). When the computer manager calls down to the bullpen, the human manager is notified: “Earl’s got.. Kent Tekulve.. throwing in the pen”. During a pitching change – “Earl’s taking out.. Ron Guidry… Dave Righetti .. is now in the game.” In the Apple and IBM editions, the commentary scrolls across the center of the screen before any action takes place.

Scale:  Ratings from 1 (worst) to 5 (best)

Total Score: 42 out of 50

Observations

Earl Weaver Baseball offers an engaging computer baseball game that will stimulate your mind and your senses. Despite evolutions in console and computer processing power in addition to sound and graphics capabilities over the past 30+ years, I consistently find myself returning to EWB. Other games have come close and even surpassed EWB in certain respects, but this game just feels like baseball to me.

There are several key differences between the Amiga, IBM and Apple versions of EWB. The Amiga game utilizes the built-in speech synthesis and features the best graphics, sound and music. The Apple edition only comes with 2 teams (AL 00-30 and NL 00-30) and the game manual enumerates a number of glitches that were present at the time of release. The bugs include issues with the recording of strikes, errors and hit types along with several visual anomalies (fielders running through walls, balls rolling off the screen). I’m not sure if a patch was released to correct any of those flaws. With regards to the IBM version, I have EWB 1.5 and the manual references versions 1.0 and 1.1. According to designer and programmer Eddie Dombrower, version 1.1 addressed “several minor bug fixes” while 1.5 provided “some additional graphics and audio enhancements (like newer/additional sound card support) and possibly even an additional graphics resolution update”.

In the process of researching this article, I stumbled upon several references and a video of a prototype of Earl Weaver Baseball for the Sega Genesis. According to Mr. Dombrower, “While we were working on EWB 2, we were working on a Genesis version of EWB which, for reasons I cannot recall, never got finished and/or released.” The video confirms a 1991 copyright date and the EWB computer versions received many accolades, so I can’t imagine why Electronic Arts cancelled this project. EA whiffed on that decision!

Please add a comment below if you spent a significant amount of time and/or have any recollections of Earl Weaver Baseball.

Screenshots

Earl Weaver Baseball (Amiga version)

Earl Weaver Baseball (IBM version)

Articles in the Series

	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – SSI Computer Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review –Computer Statis Pro Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – MicroLeague Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Avalon Hill Pro Manager / Major League Manager
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Pure-Stat Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Monday Morning Manager
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Radio Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Earl Weaver Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Full Count Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – MicroLeague Baseball II – III – IV
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Tony La Russa’s Ultimate Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Earl Weaver Baseball II
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – APBA Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Tony La Russa Baseball II
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Front Page Sports Baseball ’94 – ’96 – ’98
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – ESPN Baseball Tonight
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Hardball 3-4-5-6
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Pursue the Pennant – Diamond Mind Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Pro League Baseball
	Retro Computer Baseball Game Review – Tony La Russa Baseball 3 – 4 – Old Time Baseball

Additional Links

Play Earl Weaver Baseball in your browser! –

https://archive.org/details/msdos_Earl_Weaver_Baseball_1987 *-copy protection code wheel required

Playthroughs – Hardball Retro

Computer Chronicles – “Games” episode (1987) – Eddie Dombrower demonstrates Earl Weaver Baseball on an Amiga 1000 (14:50 – 19:45).

SABR Stay at Home – Don Daglow

SABR Stay at Home – Eddie Dombrower

SeasonTool utility by Daniel Guenther – for use with one of the older (pre-2005) versions of the Lahman Baseball database (comma-delimited file) to import 1901-2005 seasons into EWB 1.5. Just follow the instructions in the SeasonTool readme file! -> http://www.jtc-ufo.com/ewb/

Connor, Peter. “Screen Test – Earl Weaver Baseball.” Advanced Computer Entertainment. October 1987, Issue 1, p68-69. https://archive.org/details/ACE_Issue_01_1987-10_Future_Publishing_GB/page/n67

Dombrower, Eddie. Text message to author. 27 Dec. 2019 and 2 Jan. 2020.

Jago, Francis. “Baseball Head to Head.” Commodore User. October 1987, Issue 49, p86-87.

https://archive.org/details/commodore-user-magazine-49/page/n85

Kendall, Mark. “Putting Bytes into the Old Ball Game.” Pomona College Magazine. June 26, 2013.

https://magazine.pomona.edu/2013/summer/putting-bytes-into-the-old-ball-game/

Leeds, Matthew. “Software Reviews – Earl Weaver Baseball.” May 1987, Issue 5, p48-49.

https://archive.org/details/05-commodore-magazine/page/n49

Lesser, Hartley and Patricia Lesser. “The Role of Computers.” Dragon Magazine. Issue 126, p84.

https://archive.org/stream/DragonMagazine260_201801/DragonMagazine126#page/n85/mode/1up

Lesser, Hartley and Patricia Lesser. “The Role of Computers.” Dragon Magazine. Issue 127, p78, 80.

https://archive.org/stream/DragonMagazine260_201801/DragonMagazine127#page/n79/mode/1up

Lesser, Hartley and Patricia Lesser. “The Role of Computers.” Dragon Magazine. Issue 132, p83.

https://archive.org/stream/DragonMagazine260_201801/DragonMagazine132#page/n84/mode/1up

McLean, Mickey. “Fast Looks – Earl Weaver Baseball 1.5” Compute! Issue 113, October 1989, p114.

https://archive.org/details/1989-10-compute-magazine/page/n116

Randall, Neil. “Reviews – Earl Weaver Baseball.” Compute! Issue 93, February 1988, p49-50.

https://archive.org/stream/1988-02-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_093_1988_Feb#page/n49/mode/1up

Sipe, Russell and Johnny Wilson. “An Interview With Earl Weaver.” Computer Gaming World. Volume 36,

April 1987, p36-39.  http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_36.pdf

Wilson, Johnny. “Bezbol Been Berry, Berry Good To Me!” Computer Gaming World. Volume 36,

April 1987, p6-8.  http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_36.pdf

Wyss, Tony. “Hall of Fame – Earl Weaver Baseball.” SportPlanet.

https://web.archive.org/web/20050904184735/http://www.sportplanet.com/features/articles/ewb

Shot97. “Earl Weaver Baseball Review.” AmigaLove. October 9, 2021.

https://www.amigalove.com/viewtopic.php?t=2010

FAQ – https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/564318-earl-weaver-baseball/faqs/21689

https://amigalove.com/games.php?game_id=22

https://www.mobygames.com/game/earl-weaver-baseball

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKp_fP06f0Q&t=7s (Earl Weaver Baseball – Amiga gameplay video by TheBaldingChimp)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWDHbPgc4ck (Earl Weaver Baseball – Apple ][ gameplay video by TheVideogameDatabase)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9s3Gq8d-X7o (Earl Weaver Baseball – IBM PC gameplay video by Squakenet)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s2LDanhlz4 (Earl Weaver Baseball – Sega Genesis prototype video by azn3349)

About the Author

I am a New Jersey native with a passion for baseball, statistics, computers and video games who enjoys spending quality time with his family.

“Hardball Architects – Volume 1 (American League)“, published in July 2020 and
“Hardball Architects – Volume 2 (National League)”, published in April 2022, examine the trades, free agent acquisitions, draft picks and other transactions for the 30 Major League Baseball franchises, divided into a 2-volume set. Both books are available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. 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 (along with former Angels and Red Sox GM Mike Port and current Reds GM Nick Krall in Volume 2) on a variety of front office topics.

“Hardball Retroactive”, published in June 2018, is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com.  Hardball Retroactive is a modest collection of selected articles that I have written for Seamheads.com along with my Baseball Analytics blog since 2010. Exclusive content includes the chapter on “Minors vs. Majors” which assesses every franchise’s minor league successes and failures in relation to their major league operations.

“Hardball Retrospective” is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com. Supplemental Statistics, Charts and Graphs along with a discussion forum are offered at TuataraSoftware.com. 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.

Don Daglow (Intellivision World Series Major League Baseball, Earl Weaver Baseball, Tony LaRussa Baseball) contributed the foreword for Hardball Retrospective. The foreword and preview of my book are accessible here. 

“Hardball Retrospective – Addendum 2014 to 2016” supplements my research for Hardball Retrospective, providing retroactive standings based on Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and Win Shares (WS) for each “original” team over the past three seasons (2014-2016). Team totals from 2010 – 2013 are included for reference purposes. “Addendum” is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com.