APBA Baseball for Windows 5.5
Publisher: APBA International
Developer: APBA and Miller Associates
Release Date: Available Now

Befitting its status as the premier product of the company that invented sports board gaming in 1951, APBA Baseball for Windows 5.5 is a baseball historian's dream come true. This text sim plays the same role that Diamond Mind 8 plays, but comparisons between these games make as much sense as using Ty Cobb as a benchmark for Rickey Henderson. There's a completely different feel here.

Night baseball at Yankee Stadium

That unique atmosphere comes courtesy of broadcast blast, a feature that adds audio commentary and all the sounds of the ballpark ("Get your hot diggety dogs right here!") to games. Renowned Detroit Tigers play-by-play man Ernie Harwell provides his dulcet tones to every at-bat, lending each contest the charisma of an old-time radio broadcast. Anyone who's ever listened to a game while basking in the heat of a summer's day will instantly fall in love with this style of presentation.

That's not to say that broadcast blast is perfect. On the contrary, words and phrases are frequently jammed into one another, emphasizing the disparity between samples recorded at different times. It can be almost as uneven as a ransom note assembled from a dozen newspaper headlines. At the same time, it is light years beyond the textual play-by-play in other management sims. There's little repetition, and hearing Ernie utter wonderful old-time phrases like "He stood there like the house at the side of the road and watched it go by!" is worth the price of admission.

Jim Edmonds is always a deep threat

Thankfully, though, there is more to the game than just Ernie Harwell. APBA Baseball for Windows is a full season replay simulation that gives you the ability to revisit yesteryear whenever you like. Playoff rounds can also be drawn up. Play isn't quite as statistically exhaustive as that in Diamond Mind Baseball 8. For example, the basic stat bio of batters doesn't include split totals vs. lefties and righties. Still, only number fetishists will find much to complain about.

Data presentation is straightforward, thanks to an intuitive and attractive (the backdrop pictures of historic and contemporary ballparks would be right at home in Cooperstown) interface. More-complex features, such as advanced drafting, stat tracking, and league management, have been divided into separate programs with their own executables. This helps simplify things somewhat, though newbies should expect to delve into the help files and tutorials while setting up their first leagues and drafts.

The friendly confines of Forbes Field

APBA Baseball for Windows 5.5 is a near-perfect effort that's ideal for just about anyone. It offers the accuracy and statistical depth that veterans appreciate, along with delightful added touches, like Broadcast Blast, which let casual players pretend they're visiting the ballpark from their desktops. It's recommended whether you want to play through every at-bat yourself or set up spectator mode and listen to the action while surfing the Web. The latter, by the way, is a great way to stave off those cold winter nights while waiting for spring training to get underway.

Visit the APBA Stadium official Web site for more information on buying the game and the many add-on discs available.
 

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