Sweetheart’s Day, right? Bah humbug. Somehow the older we get the less enthused we are with these dates. About the only thing sweet for me this time round is knowing that just around the corner is the opening of another year of Baseball Manager. Ha.

And that is nice.  If you’ve never played this game you too are in for a treat. For years I’ve played and it’s yet to get old. Unlike some of the beauties of my youth this game has aged well (sorry ladies). In fact, the game has actually improved. It seems to get a face lift each year and unlike some of those Hollywood stars that cause you to cringe when you see a picture of them too soon after surgery, these improvements look good.

Take this year’s treats. We draft two catchers instead of three, six relievers instead of five and the salary structure for determining those dime a dozen relievers changed so that we’ll have more money to spend elsewhere. What’s not to love?

This sounds like an advertisement and I don’t mean it to come out that way. But when you talk about something you love, that sometimes happens. So even though this is just a baseball game, it’s something I am really passionate about.

First thing every morning I check my scores. Baseball Manager plays a game each night using that day’s real statistics. How your players and your opponent’s players did that day is what you get in your game that night. How cool is that? No goofy points in this game. It’s all about hits, and walks, and errors, and pitching performances – a real box score from a “real” game. Totally sweet.

And let me tell you something about seeing those results each morning. For a while (I’m a little embarrassed to say it)…but for a while I either feel good or grumpy. I know…it sounds stupid. How can a silly little game make a grown man feel good (or a loss make him feel down)? I don’t know but it does. I’m going to call it the competitive nature but I love to win….and hate to lose. And so I try hard to see good things each morning. And no other fantasy game I know allows you to really have a lot of impact on that. There are so many things you can control – the draft, the lineup, rotation, which players are active and which are on the bench, free agent claims, trades…you even on a batting lineup versus the throwing hand of your opposing pitcher!

I’m telling you, you gotta try this game. Click here and check it out. You won’t be disappointed.