Yes, even virtual players are on 'roids. Of all the jobs in the world, I never thought I'd be managing a
baseball team. I like baseball. I watch baseball. I've even played
baseball. But managing baseball is all about directing a group of men
toward a unified goal. It's an American ideal. And I'm not sure I can
even navigate all of these menus.
MLB Front Office Manager is a
baseball simulation that sits on the screen like an operating system
from the last century. A tower of choices is stacked up along the side
of the screen with names such as "Payroll," "Transactions" and "Budget
Allocation." Somehow, amidst these unintuitive options, I'm supposed to
find the path to victory.
During my first career-with the New
York Yankees-I managed to lose most of my best players because I failed
to visit the menu that would have let me renew their contracts. After
ruining that venerable franchise, I transferred my ignorance to the
L.A. Dodgers where I was unable to successfully negotiate with Manny
Ramirez. It's not that I wasn't willing to pay him a superstar's
salary-I just couldn't figure out how to control the arbitration.
