I love baseball and consider myself a big fan of the game. I watch a lot of it on television, go to as many games as possible, listen to it on the radio, and play in so many fantasy leagues that I literally lose track of my teams. Hell, my wife and I even went on a Western United States baseball road trip one summer. But Baseball Mogul 2007 goes into detail that is beyond even me. Don't get me wrong - this is an amazing game, but I personally don't "get it." The only reason I'm pointing any of this out is this: in order to enjoy BM2K7 you must live, breathe and bleed baseball 24/7/365.

Let me preface this review by laying down a few ground rules. First, BM2K7 is a spectacular simulator of "America's Favorite Pastime." It's unequivocally the best one on the market. Second, unless you've played one of the previous versions (which stem back to 1997), there will be an extremely steep learning curve for rookies. I've never touched the game before, and I found it daunting. Third, this review will brush broad strokes across a very detailed and complex product as opposed to going into any great details simply because this isn't a "game" as much as a hardcore simulator aimed at the most fanatical of baseball fans. BM will be appeal to a very small segment of baseball fans, like those who go to the ballpark with a pencil and a scorecard, tracking every single play, and keeping that card for twenty years.

In simplest terms, BM is a stat-based simulator that inundates you with a slew of numbers. Up until this year there was virtually no graphical portion to the game. The 2007 version has changed all that with the inclusion of new animated Play-By-Play and Pitch-By-Pitch Modes. The graphical batting and pitching interface gives you control over each pitch. It's not even close to the graphics based baseball games on the market, but at least it's something.

BM gives you complete control over any baseball team from 1901 to 2006. It can be filled with real life players from your favorite teams, or an entirely fictional one of your own making. As the General Manager (GM), it's up to you to put together the best lineup of players in order to get them to the World Series. But your involvement as GM doesn't stop at the glass partition of your luxury box because this year's version of BM gives you complete control over your team on the field as well.

When you first start a game you're confronted with a load screen that builds the rosters for the first time. It's interesting to see the legends from the past scroll across the screen, especially given the controversy in today's game. From there you'll get a screen that lets you choose the City, Team Name, Mogul Name (which is your name), and Difficulty Level. There are four types of difficulty: fan, coach, manager, and mogul. What's more, you're also given stats about your franchise, like the stadium capacity and quality, and your team's payroll and budget. Plus, it gives the city's population, the region's population and annual growth, and fan base average and fan income. Guess what? All of these individual factor's can play a part in your franchises success. There is so much depth and detail to this game that if this is your first time playing you will find yourself lost, frustrated and confused.

As the GM you can build your team by making complex trades or signing players to multi-year contracts. But you'll be competing with other virtual GMs, and will even have to negotiate with player's agents on occasion. In the most general of terms, you'll start by setting up the batting order, pitching rotation and starting defense for your team. The flexibility of the game is really its heart, letting you choose your level of involvement. You can either sit back in your cushy luxury box chair, or control each player, going so far as choosing what pitches to throw, when to bunt, hit and run, etc. You play one game at a time, or simulate an entire season in about 30 seconds.

Since you are the acting "Steinbrenner" in the game you'll also have to manage all the finances for your ball club. The last thing you want is for your team to go bankrupt. Thus, you can increase revenue by setting ticket prices and even concessions (down to the price of beer and hotdogs). It gets so detailed that you even sell TV broadcast rights. Of course you'll also be in charge of budgeting. This includes team expenses that trickle all the way down to your farm system, player scouts, medical staff, and player payroll. And like in real life, you must always pay attention to the fickle fan, because if your team is a loser and you're overcharging for tickets... they stop coming. Which means they stop buying concessions. Which means you lose money. Lots of money.

Since statistics play such a huge role in BM, Sports Mogul Inc. went and became the exclusive licensee for the Sean Lahman Baseball Database. The database includes hand-edited rosters, ratings and stats for over 10,000 major and minor league players going all the way back to the 19th century. When you click on a player to see his stats it brings up a myriad of information, including stats about personality. On this tab are ratings for a number of characteristics like aggression, ambition, charisma, drive and ego. It even includes who his friends are, and what teams they play on. A player's happiness and popularity levels are also included - both of which can play a part in your bottom line. It will even tell you what that player is looking for or feels about the situation he's in with his team. As your players age, their abilities mature and decline realistically.

BM is designed so you can manage your team over many simulated years, so you should build your team for the long haul rather than taking the Yankees approach every year. Thus, you'll need to watch your bank statement as much as your player's stats, and keep up with the news stories about the other clubs not just in your league, but both leagues.

While this version has increased the amount of graphics, this is still not a game you want to buy just for them. It's driven by lots of menus, sub-menus and sub-sub menus. The sound is also very minimal. If you want an arcade game, do not buy Baseball Mogul (even at the excellent price of $19.99). However, if picking the right players, managing your finances, memorizing the deluge of stats, and adhering to a winning strategy all sounds intriguing to you... this game is for you. And if you're lucky... maybe - just maybe, you'll take your Boys of Summer to the Fall Classic!

Our Final ScoreGood

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