What makes Baseball Mogul an instant classic as opposed to merely a “good” game is the near-perfect balance between behind-the-scene finances and on-the-diamond performance. Plan the team’s finances poorly, and you will suffer the consequences even if your team is performing well. The game is very open-ended, and virtually limitless in scope: you can run through an entire season in days or weeks—or more—depending on what time increment you set. You can adopt just about any management style, and tinker with hundreds of parameters to your heart’s content. For example, you can play around with prices for tickets, concessions, and broadcasting rights, to successfully balance fans’ demand and your financial goals. The AI provides a solid challenge, and there are reams of statistics die-hard fans can pore through. And the results are just about as realistic as you can hope to see — if your management skills are up to par, the game doesn’t throw illogical or inexplicable events in your way to derail your success.

Although this first version of the game doesn't have the license to use real-life team and player names that its successor, Baseball Mogul 1999 enjoys, it is still a rock-solid simulation that garnered a loyal following among die-hard fans. Two thumbs up for this baseball sim – yet another proud entrant in our Hall of Belated Fame. After an endless stream of arcade-ish baseball “sims” and pretenders, Baseball Mogul is finally THE game that the hardest of hard-core baseball fans will love. A must-have, without a doubt, and a deserving winner of Computer Gaming World's "Best Sports Game of The Year" award in 1997.