Baseball Mogul 2008: Statter Up! Company: Sports Mogul There was a time when every red-blooded American boy wanted to grow up and be the next Babe Ruth or Nolan Ryan. But what about the kids who wanted to grow up and be the next George Steinbrenner or Marge Schott? Where are they supposed to get the experience needed to manage and run their own baseball team? Luckily, Enlight Software and Sports Mogul’s Baseball Mogul series is just the thing to get them that experience. Baseball Mogul 2008 is the latest entry in the long-running series. For anyone unfamiliar with the games, Baseball Mogul is a simulation baseball game that runs purely on stats and management skills rather than your reflexes. In other words, it is an expanded version of what usually happens between seasons in games like MLB 2k. This is a purely managerial game where much of your time is spent clicking through menus and making decisions based on statistics and other formulas. In addition to providing up-to-date rosters for every team in the MLB, Baseball Mogul 2008 also includes stats for thousands of minor league players as well as a player database that goes all the way back to 1901. This means that you can go back and take control of any team during any era. The game even adjusts finances based on the era. In other words, you won’t have to deal a multimillion dollar contract to players in the 1930's. In addition to playing as teams past and present, you can also create and edit your own team. One of the new features in the ’08 version is the “Baseball Mogul Encyclopedia.” This feature puts thousands of pages of HTML databases at your disposal, allowing you to research anything and everything you could ever want to know about teams, players or even financial records. You can even use this information, as well as an in-game tool, to compare players and try and determine just how good your rookies are and where they might be headed. Decisions don’t just involve players. You can also manage all of the smaller, day-to-day operations of your team. You can set the ticket and concession prices or even negotiate the TV rights for your games. An in-game news tracker is also available to keep you up to date on what else is going on in the league so you can adjust accordingly. Though most of the game takes place in the front offices, Baseball Mogul 2008 does let you go into the dugout during games. Here you can make pitching changes or manage other aspects of the game. You can even choose which pitches are used and even watch the effects of weather and friction on the ball. Of course, you can also sit in the owner’s box and watch the team or quickly simulate the entire season so you can jump back into the off-season fun. Baseball Mogul 2008 isn’t likely to be a game that will appeal to every baseball fan, though if you’re the type that can quote baseball stats like Rainman or have always wanted to manage your own team, Baseball Mogul 2008 is worth a look. -Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker Related Links: Sports Mogul Enlight Software