Digital Diamond – Hardball Retro

A Saturday Night Baseball Chinwag with Authors Derek Bain and John Racanelli

Derek Bain — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 14:32:43 +0000

Here’s a 3+ hour discussion on the Beatles Eternally YouTube channel about our book, “Hardball Retro’s Compendium of Baseball Video Games and Electronic Handhelds”. We talked about a wide variety of baseball sims, console, handheld, arcade and card & dice baseball games along with the designers, programmers, managers and broadcasters involved with the development of those gems!

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

Check out the video here:

Hardball Retro Replays – 1984 Season

Derek Bain — Sun, 01 Dec 2024 18:00:31 +0000

I decided to embark on a quest to replay an entire season, managing my favorite team (the California Angels) and using the as-played lineups, rotations, schedules and transactions. Therefore, any injuries or transactions that occurred during the actual season will occur in my simulation (I’m using Digital Diamond Baseball v12.1). All teams are using the actual lineups and starting pitcher for a particular game. The computer managers and I have the flexibility to use our bench players and bullpens at our discretion, but the pitchers’ availability is limited by fatigue incurred from pitching in the days prior to the current game.

Objectives

simulate seasons using As-Played lineups, rotations, schedules and transactions as outlined above
as the manager of my team (and not the General Manager), I am not permitted to manipulate my roster (or other teams’ rosters) in any way
compile and review those results, post recap videos of the current standings and leaderboards at the end of each simulated month on the schedule, then seed the top teams in playoff rounds that mimics the postseason structure from the given season
live-stream the playoff and World Series games and upload the resulting videos to YouTube
try to out-manage my real-life counterpart
have fun!

Monthly Recaps

Playlist for Opening Day plus April through August Season Recap Videos

September 1984

Playoffs and World Series

Playoff Recap

World Series – Game 1 – Kansas City Royals @ Chicago Cubs

World Series – Game 2 – Kansas City Royals @ Chicago Cubs

World Series – Game 3 – Chicago Cubs @ Kansas City Royals

World Series – Game 4 – Chicago Cubs @ Kansas City Royals

World Series – Game 5 – Chicago Cubs @ Kansas City Royals

Standings

Hardball Retro Replay 1984 Final Standings

American League – Real-Life 1984 Final Standings

National League – Real-Life 1984 Final Standings

I managed the California Angels to a 78-84 mark, three games worse than real-life skipper John McNamara.

Leaders

Hardball Retro Replay 1984 Leader Boards – Batting

Hardball Retro Replay 1984 Leader Boards – Pitching

American League – Real-Life 1984 Leader Boards

National League – Real-Life 1984 Leader Boards

Team Totals

Hardball Retro Replay 1984 Team Totals – Batting

Hardball Retro Replay 1984 Team Totals – Pitching

Hardball Retro Replay 1984 Team Totals – Fielding

Team-by-Team Statistics

Hardball Retro Replay 1984 Team-by-Team – Batting

Hardball Retro Replay 1984 Team-by-Team – Pitching

Hardball Retro Replay 1984 Team-by-Team – Fielding

Special Events

3+ Home Runs in a game

05/14/1984 – Pat Putnam (1984-Seattle Mariners) hits 3 home runs [6].
06/13/1984 – Vance Law (1984-Chicago White Sox) hits 3 home runs [10].
06/24/1984 – Greg Walker (1984-Cincinnati Reds) hits 3 home runs [4].
07/14/1984 – George Brett (1984-Kansas City Royals) hits 3 home runs [12].
07/31/1984 – Mike Schmidt (1984-Philadelphia Phillies) hits 3 home runs [31].
08/16/1984 – Andre Thornton (1984-Cleveland Indians) hits 3 home runs [27].
09/09/1984 – Lance Parrish (1984-Detroit Tigers) hits 3 home runs [28].
09/16/1984 – Willie Upshaw (1984-Toronto Blue Jays) hits 3 home runs [18].

5+ Hits in a game

08/29/1984 – Dave Winfield (1984-New York Yankees) gets 6 hits [146].
09/01/1984 – Willie McGee (1984-St. Louis Cardinals) gets 6 hits [145].

Hit for the Cycle

04/06/1984 – Wade Boggs (1984-Boston Red Sox) hits for the cycle.
06/08/1984 – Dave Henderson (1984-Seattle Mariners) hits for the cycle.
07/20/1984 – Jim Wohlford (1984-Montreal Expos) hits for the cycle.
07/31/1984 – Tony R Armas (1984-Boston Red Sox) hits for the cycle.
08/29/1984 – Don Mattingly (1984-New York Yankees) hits for the cycle.
09/17/1984 – Steve Balboni (1984-Kansas City Royals) hits for the cycle.

Inside-the-Park Home Runs

07/08/1984 – David Green (1984-St. Louis Cardinals) hits an inside the park home run [9].
07/19/1984 – Roy Howell (1984-Milwaukee Brewers) hits an inside the park home run [5].
09/20/1984 – Randy G Johnson (1984-Atlanta Braves) hits an inside the park home run [5].

15+ Strikeouts in a game

04/02/1984 – Mario Soto (1984-Cincinnati Reds) strikes out 15 batters [15].

07/27/1984 – Dwight Gooden (1984-New York Mets) strikes out 15 batters [169].

No-Hitters

04/17/1984 – Mike Boddicker (1984-Baltimore Orioles) throws a no hitter. 06/07/1984 – Ken Schrom (1984-Minnesota Twins) throws a no hitter.

Please check back frequently to view the latest monthly recaps, playoffs and World Series videos!

Credits

Real-Life Standings and Leaders courtesy of Baseball-Reference

Digital Diamond Baseball is available on Steam.

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

Derek Bain — Sun, 22 Sep 2024 19:41:00 +0000

Introducing – Hardball Retro’s Compendium of Baseball Video Games & Electronic Handhelds

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

Celebrating 50 years of our pixelated National Pastime, this compendium documents the pertinent details for baseball video games and electronic handheld games released in the last half-century and follows the evolution of the genre. Game ratings and reviews for hundreds of baseball games are included along with interviews of designers, programmers and pioneers of the computer, video and handheld gaming industry – Don Daglow, Eddie Dombrower, Lance Haffner, Mark Lesser, Tom Tippett and Glen Wolfram. The authors wish to encourage readers to explore these games, both past and present, create your own teams and leagues, and share those results with fellow baseball gaming and simulation enthusiasts!

400 pages, full-color

Book Discussions / Promotional Appearances

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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