Game Review: Baseball Mogul

Any game that features a frog with large eyes wearing a ballcap on the opening screen …well that’s automatically gonna score you some brownie points. Baseball Mogul 2005 (BM) is a game that anyone who has spent time playing Strat-o-Matic or an APBA simulation game, or even Micro League Baseball on their Apple II with its hideous green monitor, will want to have. Featuring many of the tools we have come to expect from PLAYSTATION games such as Triple Play, BM offers a complex yet easily usable product to help pass those cold winter nights when the only thing on TV is some form of skeet-shooting or bass fishing.

WHAT IS IT?

BM is a simulation program that allows you to be the team owner, general manager and manager all at once. There is no gameplay involved, and by that I mean you don’t need a joystick to play the game. What BM simulates, well, it can simulate about anything you want. You start by choosing a team and then deciding how you want the program to simulate your game action (you can choose to play games one at a time, a week at a time, all the way up to a full year at a time…it takes mere minutes). Hell, you can even simulate 20 or more years if you want.

The game basically puts you in the shoes of that damn Yankee owner, or the A’s GM Billy Beane. You can draft a team from scratch, make trades (which the computer GM likes to comments upon), hell, you can even adjust how much to charge for malts or hotdogs! You are in total control of the whole operational side of the ballclub including such other items as ticket prices, the amount of money to spend on scouting and the farm system as well as what type of TV/Radio deal you want to strike (you can even receive a report at the end of the season to determine whether or not your ballclub was profitable). Now you can run your team the way you always said you would if you came into $250 million!

EASE OF USE

Being that I am not one of the most technologically savvy computer users in the history of the world I was pleased to find the simple and clearly marked controls that are available for the game (my favorite video game of all-time is the 1987 classic RBI Baseball, of which I’m the proud owner of a full size arcade version. For a description of the game see: http://dee-nee.com/rbi/). The toolbar clearly marks the options that are available to cover all aspects of the game and there is also a HELP section which allows you to connect to the Internet to download instructions and other relevant information from Sportsmogul.com. I also was able to slowly familiarize myself with the games complexities at a leisurely pace which did nothing to detract from the games overall experience.

This is an area in which the game shines. BM has all of the usual stats, plus many others that those of us involved in more complex baseball discussions have become familiar with (on offense things like OPS and SB success rates, and on the pitching side of the ledger OPP. AVG/OPS/SLG/Quality Starts). These stats are easily accessed on either the team’s homepage or through the leader board section.

Another useful avenue for statistical analysis is the SCOUTING REPORTS of each player. These reports read just like the back of a baseball card with all the stat lines that you would expect. They also include an Overall Players Score which is a combination of all the aspects that players are graded on (power, speed, defensive ability etc.). However that is not the best part of the statistical package. That would be the actual Scouting Reports themselves.

Anyone can say that Greg Maddux is a good pitcher, but BM actually has a scouting report that deals specifically with the season that you just simulated and tells you why Maddux is great! This is what was said when I had the computer simulate the 2004 season. “The 37 year old Maddux took the mound 32 times in 2004, averaging almost 6 and a half innings per game. His 3.16 ERA and 141 strikeouts yielded a 16-6 record on the year. They say Maddux is starting to show signs of age but I sure don’t see it.” That type of personalized Scouting Report adds legitimacy plus an air of authenticity to the game.

GAME REPORTS

Another cool part of the game is the fact that you get more than just the score when you look up the games. After simulating the year you can pick a day, say May 6th, and review all games played that day. You can view a paragraph description akin to a synopsis you might read in your local paper of out of town games. You can also augment this brief report with an actual boxscore for the game you are readying about. In fact, there is so much material located in the game reports that it actually pretty well simulates what a daily jaunt through your local sports page would be like.

At the end of the season there is also a full leaderboard that includes a section which lists the winners of all the major awards.

PLUS

(1) The SCOUTING REPORTS are excellent. They speak to “in-season” stats. Reports are also in 1st person adding flair of authenticity. (MIGHT WANT TO ADD WHIP since its fantasy related)

(2) The ability to control all aspects of your franchise from is a welcomed addition to this game. This control extends to:

~ The ability to make decisions on trades, drafts, setting up minor league scouting. Heck, you can even choose to pay more of less for your medical staff.

~ You are also able to control concessions, marketing, ticket prices and you are even able to reconfigure the dimensions of your home park to better fit the talents of your team.

(3) Full Box Score features as well as the HEADLINES section which gives the newspaper wire stories.

(4) The TRANSACTIONS section includes a milestones section to track player performance (things like 1000 RBI, 2000 hits). It also lists all injury reports.

MINUS

I haven’t mentioned any of the downside of this game yet, I was saving it for this section. All of the positives that I have listed truly are great, but there is one sizable negative that I saw, and that is how the game actually simulates the action. After simulating the 2005 and 2006 seasons, here are some of the statistical outcomes that BM provided.

~ Barry Zito won the Cy Young with a 2.14 ERA and 15 wins. A problem with that is that in the last 20 years only Pedro, Clemens and Saberhagen ever had an AL ERA that low making Zito’s mark extremely questionable.

~ AROD won the MVP, not surprising, but 69 HR and 163 RUNS are, especially since no Yankee right-hander has hit 40 HR in season since Joe Dimaggio in 1937 had 46 (http://www.athomeplate.com/coorsfield2.shtml).

~ Derrek Lee won the MVP with 48 HR and 133 RBI, numbers he has never come remotely close to (career highs are 32/98).

~ Antonio Osuna had 50 saves (he’s not even a closer).

~ In the 2005 season, neither Scott Podsednik nor Carl Crawford was in the top 10 in steals.

~ Some guy named Mike Hessman leads baseball hitting .353 (I don’t even know who this is?).

~ Some other guy named Bob Wismer had a 2.62 ERA for Cubs (3rd in majors). Huh?

And the kicker…
In 2006 the Giants released Barry Bonds because he was making too much $ for what he was producing.

The nuances that Baseball Mogul 2005 offers make this a game that most hardcore simulation enthusiasts should have on their shelf. If you can overlook the sometimes bizarre outcomes of the simulated seasons, then the rest of the great features of the game will most certainly warm your heart on those cold nights during the off-season.

Our Rating System is based on a four ball system as follows:
One Ball: Average. It has something to say but is nothing special.
Two Balls: Something men usually have - also means its a cut above average, and worth reading/owning.
Three balls: Stands out from its peers and is highly recommended.
Four Balls: More than just what two men have when hanging out together, it means it is an exceptional book that truly earns a walk - straight to the local book store to get a copy.

Game Review: Baseball Mogul 2005