Out of the Park Baseball 20

Here's the thing: for years (40 years ,actually) I was a strict cards-and-dice guy and nothing for me was better than the APBA Master game for replays. I once spent SIX YEARS replaying the entire 1964 season (master game,cards/dice,ballpark effects,etc)...1620 games; some of them dogs, but I was determined. During the same time, I discovered other dice games such as SherCo, good in its own right. But APBA was my go-to (never cared for Strat o Matic). Then I discovered the APBA computer game (BBW) and I was hooked on THAT. Played that for years (still do from time to time). Once in a while, a great real-to-baseball game popped up for the PC, like Hardball or Tony LaRussa or MVP, and these got me hooked on animated games of baseball. EVen Aaron vs Ruth was great in this regard. But none of them had the statistical accuracy for me that APBA had. And then in 2016 I discovered OOTP and I haven't looked back. It had everything as far as simming was concerned...I mean: EVERYTHING. And to top it off: EVERY SEASON in history could be replayed...accurately,for the most part...all in ONE GAME. How can you beat THAT? That to me is the most amazing part of this game. At first the "animation" was stilted,moving chess pieces,so to speak. Didn't bother me as even the APBA PC game didnt HAVE animation,though you could import beautiful ballpark pictures as backgrounds. But the OOTP management (admittedly it takes some getting used to, as the options are absolutely ENDLESS) is what shines. And they've been developing the animation aspect of the game for several years where it's pretty darn good now. Not to mention you've got people like pstrickert who are always on top of making sure the ballparks (historical BPs I mean) are updated i the workshop. The people who MAKE these parks (adion and others;check out the OOTP development forums) are invaluable to the enjoyment of the animated portion of the game. They're amazing. Same with the creators of the facegens (historical players faces). Plus, even the modern ballparks and facegens are good out of the box when you purchase OOTP. The "look at the game while you play" aspect gets better every year, and OOTP is the best YET. ANd the sim part also gets better...it's fascinating,really. Like having a living baseball encyclopedia of baseball in one game. ANd did I mention you can play other countries' baseball leagues, as well? (Japan,etc). It is ALL in OOTP 20. THe animation is decent (and much improved). THe simming is far better than any other on the market. ANd to be able to choose ANY season in history to replay...an exhibition, a worlds series, or an entire season...to be able to pit your "all-time team' (say, the best Mets or Yankees players) against another "best of" team...to play the current season with current rosters, or even replay the previous? And to have a wealth of statistics at your fingertips, or completely manage team finances. It's bewildering: the choices. But SO worth it. HEck, even if you wanted to watch 2D,static replays you can do THAT. ANd the play by play, while not voiced (a big drawing point for APBA BBW with the late Ernie Harwell's fantastic PBP), is detailed, as are the summaries of each and every game. I've said enough. THis game has everything, and the DEVS are intent on addressing any bugs which come up (and frankly, there aren't many). AND people online are constantly updating things: rosters, stadia,CG faces,even player photos (if you want to see THOSE instead of simulated faces). An amazing baseball-for-the-PC-world is what you get. IT is SO worth the money.

Been playing Out of the Park Baseball for fifteen plus years now. The game gets better every year and version 20 is no exception. Whether you are a baseball fan, a stats geek, or a lover of sports management games or all of the above this will be a great game for you. Most any league set up you can think of is available. There are fictional, historical and real life MLB options including an official MLB license so yes there are real players, logos, and uniforms. There simply is no deeper baseball game out there and yet and it can be as simple as pick up and play an MLB league and as complex as creating your own leagues based off of fictional worlds, cities and names. You are in control. One of the newest and best additions to OOTP is getting better each season and that is the implementation of the 3D engine to watch your games play out in front of you. It's made great strides from version 19 to 20... There is so much you can do with this game I can't possibly cover it all... Just get the game. The $$$$ investment is well worth the amount of enjoyment you will get from the game. 10/10 Thanks,

I'm from England. We don't play baseball, we don't watch baseball, and we know little about it. Sure, we have baseball bats as kids, same as cricket bats, and everyone has had a knock, but that's about it. So, i was bored of Football Manager, it just takes too long and i fancied something different but similar. I have always been intrigued by the American Draft System and wanted to play a game where you could have a rubbish team but improve it with great draft picks. I like games where you can build a team around great young talent. Anyway, turns out that Baseball's draft is nothing like I thought it would be. Apparently, that's more NFL than MLB. But this game is so involved. It was very overwhelming at first. I mean i know nothing about baseball, I've barely heard of Babe Ruth! After a crash course in the basics, I got stuck in. So far I've stuck to the GM only side of the game. It's great. You can whizz through a season in a few hours on GM mode. So that's exactly what i was looking for. Also, it has an editor mode to allow you to edit things as you go along, meaning i could correct a few rookie mistakes. Anyway, if you like sports management sims then you'll love this, especially for the price i paid. Thoroughly recommended, even for those who don't think they even like Baseball.

One of the most engaging video games i have ever played and I am passed hooked; I am addicted. Never before did I think that Excel Spreadsheets could be among the most fun video games that I have ever had the pleasure of playing. I cannot recommend this game enough to those who like strategy and statistics. I went into this game not liking baseball and simply playing for the in depth-ness of the game and have in the past year become an absolute baseball nerd. This game messes with you in the best possible ways and will have you thinking about it when you're not at home.

We're at the halfway point of the 2019 Major League Baseball season, and Daniel Vogelbach is riding an 8-game hitting streak, lifting him to a league-best .344 batting average on the season. Fearing that he has hit his peak and will only decline in the second half of the season, as the Mariners General Manager I click "Shop Player Around" to see if any front offices are willing to overpay for the beloved - and overperforming - first baseman. To my delight, the Philadelphia Phillies are interested, and we pull off a blockbuster trade that nets me All-Star catcher JT Realmuto, along with a haul of other promising players. Vogelbach goes 0-for-19 with the Phils to start his disastrous tenure in Philadelphia, batting .156 in the second half of the season. I pump my fist like I just sold a million dollars of Amazon stock before it went in the tank. This is just one of the many high's and low's one can expect while playing out a season in the PC baseball sim "Out of the Park Baseball 20." In its twentieth year, the OOTP franchise has never looked better. Like previous installments, OOTP 20 puts you in the front office as the general manager of any team -- Major League, minor league, Japan, you name it -- or on the field as manager to set lineups, green-light stolen bases, and go to the lefty in the bullpen. But the rising star in OOTP is its "Perfect Team" mode that launched midseason last year and shows no signs of a sophomore slump. Perfect Team, according to the OOTP Developments site, is a new free online mode that lets you collect baseball cards of players from the past, present, and future. You can "rip" cards from five free packs given to you at the start, and from there you can buy and sell cards using virtual currency or real money, if you so choose. My initial five packs of cards yielded an Anthony Rizzo "Live" card, which means his ratings will fluctuate according to his real-life performance in 2019 with the Cubs. I also landed a Don Larsen 1956 "Unsung Heroes" card. From there, I let the season play out against similarly-stacked rosters to accrue "Perfect Points" to spend on more packs or, better yet, bid on cards in an online auction house. It really is quite fun and addicting. I've seen other people assemble teams containing nothing but players from their favorite real-life teams, while others go crazy by spending their hard-earned real-life cash on the best cards in the game. While my Rizzo card will fetch anywhere from 2,000 to 2,600 perfect in the auction house, while a Walter Johnson card will command a price well north of 500,000 perfect points. Most folks (like me) are content to play with the cards they've been dealt, and patiently accrue perfect points along the way. Luckily, the players who go bonkers with real money tend to get promoted to leagues with other like-minded players, leaving you a fighting chance to play for a World Series. There is also a great community that is always willing to share tips on putting together that perfect team, whether that's in the forums or while watching a Twitch stream. During one particular stream on my Twitch channel, a very helpful veteran of the game stopped by to watch and didn't hesitate to steer me in the right direction on improving my starting rotation and finding solid buys on the auction house. But the true star of OOTP continues to be its offline game mode. Visually, the game has broken the confines of a "it's what's on the inside that counts" simulator with a beautiful interface and a rapidly improving 3D engine to play out those important games. After two decades of development, refinement, and community support, the game has the uncanny ability to accurately predict the outcome of the upcoming season. In my play-through with the Mariners, Seattle started 10-2 and then plummeted back to .500. Sound familiar? I made a flurry of swaps at the MLB Trading Deadline, acquiring Khris Davis from the A's and Tyler Olson from the Cardinals, but sputtered down the stretch to a respectable 83-79 finish, looking longingly at the Cleveland Indians as they defeated the LA Dodgers to win the 2019 World Series. But despair not, Mariner fans. If my play through is to be believed, you can expect big things this season from Mitch Haniger (.303 batting average, 28 home runs, and 100 RBI) and Justus Sheffield (13-7, 4.28 ERA). Just don't expect the longest playoff drought in MLB to end this season.

A brilliant, challenging sports management game. I'm from the UK and grew up on cricket, football and rugby. I spent a lot of time managing York City, Celtic and Bayern Munich on various Football Manager games. It could only be Yorkshire on International Cricket Captain. I started watching American Football and, sadly I can't find a quality management game for that, but I also started to follow a bit of baseball. It seemed so similar to cricket to me, I could instantly understand the pitching/hitting duels, but there were also big questions for me, like why would you not shift as much as possible? So, a bit too quickly, I bought OOTP 19. It was good. I didn't know many of the management rules, I'm still terrible at managing actual games and it is really difficult to build a successful team. But, it is so fun. I moved on to OOTP 20 and started with the Atlanta Braves, a contending team in their division, I have just finished my third season and each year it has been a four-way fight for the pennant and the wildcard spots. The NL East is the tightest division in the MLB and it just keeps on being that way. I have made the playoffs every year, but never made it to the World Series yet. I have improved so much in valuing players, making effective contracts and good trades. I hope we can win the division this year, but my team has depth to continue contending. Baseball is a game of failure and heartbreak, I know that now, but this game is far from a disappointment. I haven't even tried some of the other modes, you can play historical saves from any period in baseball history, fully customised leagues with fictional teams and players and diamond dynasty, a card collecting micro-transaction game similar to Fifa and Madden Ultimate Team. I would highly recommend this game to anyone with a growing interest in baseball, and also to those who, like me, cannot hit or lay off a slider low and away in The Show.

I am recommending this game, but I do have a lot of negatives to say about it. This is my first time ever playing an OOTPB game. If you're expecting this to be a game where you are a player and get to play baseball games throughout the season whether you're a pitcher and want to pitch every at bat and be able to control where your pitch is going to go and all that... stop. This game puts you in a Manager/GM position. Instead of writing a story, I'll just list out some pros and cons. Pros: • Real players with accurate ratings • Real managing feel • Small details: season challenges, personal attributes, etc. • Tutorial videos are slightly helpful • You have the opportunity to participate in all the off-season tasks (HOF voting, Winter Break, etc.) Cons: • The 3-D view is so frustrating when players just stand with the ball as runners go around the bases • The player moods are seemingly impossible to please without upsetting other players • The GUI is very overwhelming for new players • Don't waste your time to get one star player, because injuries are very common (especially long ones) • I haven't found a way to change injuries so they can't be a year long. You'd have to disable injuries • You can't just skip the rest of a season if your team record is well below .500 This game is very frustrating if you're having a bad season, but it's a lot of fun if you're doing well. I purchased this game when it was half off, and thank goodness I did, because this game would not be worth the full price in MY PERSONAL OPINION. Overall, I enjoy this game and still play it, but sometimes I get online and don't know what to do because my team is doing bad, a couple of my studs are out for the season, and I can't win a game even if I play it out and don't sim it.

A really fun different take on a baseball game. If you're into more of the GM/Manager side of the game, then you'll love OOTP. Don't expect to experience a Madden/2K/The Show like in game experience. Its definitely more of a simulation game. But its a lot of fun.

This game is what you expect it to be. A baseball simulator. It's a good one too. HOWEVER They shut off the servers to the Perfect Team online leagues without warning. Without any notice at all. Seeing as how that was my favorite part of the game, I'm completely disappointed that they would do something like that. That is why, I can not recommend this game.