<s>
Tony	B-Application
La	I-Application
Russa	I-Application
Baseball	I-Application
is	O
a	O
baseball	B-Application
computer	O
and	O
video	B-Device
game	I-Device
console	I-Device
sports	O
game	O
series	O
(	O
1991-1997	O
)	O
,	O
designed	O
by	O
Don	O
Daglow	O
,	O
Michael	O
Breen	O
,	O
Mark	O
Buchignani	O
,	O
David	O
Bunnett	O
and	O
Hudson	O
Piehl	O
and	O
developed	O
by	O
Stormfront	O
Studios	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
appeared	O
on	O
Commodore	O
64	O
,	O
PC	O
,	O
and	O
Sega	B-Operating_System
Genesis	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
different	O
versions	O
were	O
published	O
by	O
Electronic	O
Arts	O
,	O
SSI	O
and	O
Stormfront	O
Studios	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Application
artificial	I-Application
intelligence	I-Application
for	O
the	O
computer	O
manager	O
was	O
provided	O
by	O
Tony	O
La	O
Russa	O
,	O
then	O
manager	O
of	O
the	O
Oakland	O
Athletics	O
and	O
later	O
the	O
St.	O
Louis	O
Cardinals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
best-selling	O
baseball	B-Application
franchises	O
of	O
the	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
baseball	B-Application
simulation	O
methods	O
Daglow	O
evolved	O
through	O
the	O
Baseball	B-Application
mainframe	O
computer	O
game	O
(	O
1971	O
)	O
(	O
the	O
first	O
computer	O
baseball	B-Application
game	O
ever	O
written	O
)	O
,	O
Intellivision	B-Application
World	I-Application
Series	I-Application
Baseball	I-Application
(	O
1983	O
)	O
and	O
Earl	B-Application
Weaver	I-Application
Baseball	I-Application
(	O
1987	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TLB	O
refined	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
simulation	O
elements	O
of	O
Earl	B-Application
Weaver	I-Application
Baseball	I-Application
,	O
and	O
introduced	O
a	O
few	O
"	O
firsts	O
"	O
of	O
its	O
own	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
User	O
Interface	O
and	O
the	O
Fly	O
Ball	O
Cursor	O
--	O
Prior	O
to	O
Intellivision	B-Application
World	I-Application
Series	I-Application
Baseball	I-Application
in	O
1983	O
all	O
hits	O
in	O
baseball	B-Application
games	O
were	O
grounders	O
,	O
since	O
there	O
was	O
no	O
way	O
to	O
display	O
the	O
ball	O
in	O
flight	O
in	O
3D	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
World	O
Series	O
Baseball	B-Application
,	O
from	O
1983-1990	O
games	O
had	O
fly	O
balls	O
but	O
used	O
a	O
ball-shaped	O
shadow	O
to	O
trace	O
the	O
ball	O
's	O
path	O
on	O
the	O
ground	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Fly	O
Ball	O
Cursor	O
introduced	O
real	O
fly	O
balls	O
and	O
pop-ups	O
to	O
computer	O
baseball	B-Application
games	O
,	O
eliminating	O
the	O
last	O
segment	O
of	O
the	O
sport	O
that	O
had	O
never	O
been	O
simulated	O
accurately	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Every	O
graphic	O
baseball	B-Application
game	O
published	O
since	O
1991	O
has	O
used	O
some	O
variation	O
on	O
Daglow	O
's	O
Fly	O
Ball	O
Cursor	O
for	O
outfield	O
play	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fantasy	O
Draft	O
--	O
La	O
Russa	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
computer	O
baseball	B-Application
game	O
to	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
conduct	O
drafts	O
and	O
set	O
up	O
their	O
own	O
leagues	O
,	O
all	O
with	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
comprehensive	O
player	O
statistics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tony	O
La	O
Russa	O
would	O
draft	O
on	O
behalf	O
of	O
all	O
non-human	O
users	O
in	O
a	O
league	O
,	O
and	O
users	O
could	O
tune	O
the	O
AI	B-Application
draft	O
strategy	O
uniquely	O
for	O
each	O
team	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Head-to-Head	O
Stats	O
and	O
Simulation	O
Accuracy	O
--	O
La	O
Russa	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
baseball	B-Application
game	O
to	O
offer	O
accurate	O
stats	O
for	O
each	O
individual	O
pitcher	O
against	O
each	O
individual	O
hitter	O
,	O
data	O
that	O
actual	O
managers	O
use	O
extensively	O
in	O
the	O
dugout	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Player	O
stats	O
and	O
ratings	O
were	O
supplied	O
by	O
baseball	B-Application
sabermetrics	O
pioneers	O
John	O
Thorn	O
and	O
Pete	O
Palmer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Baseball	B-Application
stadiums	O
--	O
Ballparks	O
in	O
the	O
game	O
were	O
larger	O
and	O
more	O
richly	O
detailed	O
than	O
any	O
prior	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AI	B-Application
--	O
In	O
contrast	O
to	O
many	O
sports	O
celebrities	O
who	O
merely	O
lent	O
their	O
names	O
to	O
games	O
,	O
Tony	O
La	O
Russa	O
spent	O
extensive	O
sessions	O
over	O
a	O
period	O
of	O
years	O
working	O
to	O
make	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
as	O
accurate	O
as	O
possible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
team	O
leveraged	O
the	O
lessons	O
learned	O
working	O
with	O
Earl	O
Weaver	O
to	O
make	O
the	O
"	O
baseball	B-Application
manager	O
as	O
game	O
designer	O
"	O
feedback	O
loop	O
even	O
more	O
efficient	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
La	O
Russa	O
,	O
Tony	B-Application
La	I-Application
Russa	I-Application
's	I-Application
Ultimate	I-Application
Baseball	I-Application
,	O
was	O
released	O
almost	O
exactly	O
twenty	O
years	O
after	O
the	O
first	O
playable	O
version	O
of	O
Baseball	B-Application
went	O
live	O
at	O
Pomona	O
College	O
in	O
1971	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computer	O
Gaming	O
World	O
in	O
1993	O
stated	O
that	O
Tony	B-Application
La	I-Application
Russa	I-Application
Baseball	I-Application
2	O
was	O
especially	O
strong	O
in	O
league	O
play	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
citing	O
several	O
bugs	O
and	O
stating	O
that	O
the	O
action	O
game	O
"	O
is	O
not	O
as	O
clean	O
as	O
it	O
should	O
be	O
"	O
,	O
the	O
magazine	O
concluded	O
that	O
"	O
this	O
is	O
quite	O
simply	O
the	O
best	O
baseball	B-Application
game	O
on	O
the	O
market	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
reviewer	O
for	O
Electronic	O
Gaming	O
Monthly	O
gave	O
La	O
Russa	O
Baseball	B-Application
'	O
95	O
a	O
70%	O
,	O
commenting	O
that	O
"	O
The	O
controls	O
for	O
the	O
pitcher	O
and	O
the	O
batter	O
need	O
some	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1996	O
,	O
Computer	O
Gaming	O
World	O
declared	O
Tony	B-Application
La	I-Application
Russa	I-Application
Baseball	I-Application
3	I-Application
the	O
128th-best	O
computer	O
game	O
ever	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
