                              Tony LaRussa
                              Baseball II

                             by Tony Curro


    The baseball season ended October 24. Toronto is the King of  the
    Heap for a second year in a row.  People now gather for the
    hot-stove league. What would you have done, if you were in Jim
    Fregosi's shoes? With this game you can find out.

    Strategic Simulations released one of the first baseball games for
    IBM. It was a statistical game that had graphics. However you did
    not see a ball scoot through the infield. You would see the ball,
    and then read about the play. Same with runners. They got a single,
    and were on first base. You did not get to see them run there.
    Matter of fact, if I remember correctly, baserunners were
    represented by a little box, not a graphic image. Since, everything
    has gotten better, so has the baseball game, with the release of
    Tony LaRussa Baseball II. The second release has proven to be even
    better than the first one. The graphics are better, scrolling
    smoother and they even added an exploding scoreboard and
    play-by-play announcer.

    The full installation of the game requires 12 MB. It includes 28
    teams and 13 stadiums. Many of these arenas are now defunct, but
    those who pride themselves in knowledge of the game will enjoy
    seeing: Baker Bowl, Ebbets Field, Griffith Stadium, Crosley Field
    and others.

    Upon startup you can play an exhibition game, or set up for an
    entire season. When you select a season you have the option of
    playing games that you select, or have the computer play out the
    whole season.

    When you are ready to play, you see your batting order and starting
    pitcher. You also have an option here for one pitch per batter or
    complete pitching. Make your selections, and move on to the field.
    After the National Anthem, your announcer, Ron Barr, tells you who
    is playing and in what stadium you are in. When you are on the field
    you can choose: Pitch (Fastball, Curve, Slider, Changeup), and your
    infield and outfield alignment. When at bat,  you can opt to: bunt,
    swing, hit for power, hit and run, etc. Hit a home run or make a
    close play and you will see an instant replay of the event.

    I enjoyed this game. The graphics and sound effects are superb. It
    supports all major sound cards. There was on thing though, that
    disappointed me about the game. I do understand the worry about
    copyright and copy protection. Tony II has off-disk document checks.
    At the start of the game you are requested to give a word from a
    page and line in the manual. I can live with this. However, after I
    finished a game and was still in the program, I decided to play a
    second game. Again I was asked for a document check. Playing a third
    game brought the same results. I had to enter one the first time,
    which I understand. But, without ever leaving the game, I had to
    enter one for each succeeding game I played. This irked me to no
    end.

    There are add-on stadium disks and season disks to further enhance
    your enjoyment.



                          Product Information

                              Tony LaRussa
                              Baseball II

                             List Price --

                      Strategic Simulations, Inc.
                            675 Almanor Ave.
                               Suite 201
                        Sunnyvale, CA 94086-2901
                              408-737-6800
