Ratings of Online Historical Baseball Simulation Games

Did you ever want to create your own baseball team from scratch and act as the GM and manager to take that team to the World Series? These online historical baseball simulation games allow you to handpick players like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, and Cool Papa Bell. Manage them through the season and grab the pennant.

Here are my ratings of the best online historical baseball simulation games:

1. http://www.imaginesports.com

This is the best of the bunch because it is the most realistic and has very active message boards.

Features:

Based on player career stats.
Includes 19th century and Negro League players.
Very realistic and accurate coding, including fielding range.
Based on Tom Tippett's Diamond Mind simulation software.
$19.95 for a a 162 game season using 100 mil salary cap.
3 games played daily vs. 11 other owners.
Excellent customer service.

2. OOTP: Out of the Park Baseball
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ootp10/

Features:

Includes 19th century players, but not Negro Leaguers.
You can start up a universe in any season in history and do a progression that includes minor league farm systems, drafting, and trading for each season thereafter.
You can easily add a free photo pack of every player in baseball history so you can see photos of Koufax and Aaron as they face each other.
For $39.99 you get the software and can play in online leagues for free or run the game on your mac or pc.

3. http://whatifsports.com

Features:

Based on single season stats of historical players.
Allows live online play vs. other owners.
Includes 19th century players, but not Negro Leaguers.
$12.95 gets you a 162 game season.

Weaknesses:

Standard leagues allow "clones" so two owners could both have 1966 Sandy Koufax on their rosters.
They use fake named AAA prospects that can be gamed by the veteran owners.

4. Stratomatic Online:

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/stratomatic/

Various games based on single season or career stats.
No 19th century or Negro League players.
$24.95 for a 162 game season.
Has some interest if you cut your teeth on the Strat-o-matic board game.

Weaknesses:
Computer dice roll gives you 50-50 chance of basing each play completely on the pitcher card or completely on the batter card creating unrealistic results.
Some of the games have a feature called "Mystery Card" where you can randomly get any of 3 seasons for the player. Pay a ton of money for a star and get the year he hit .229, great!

Honorable Mention: http://www.pennantchase.com

Features:

For free, you get a 120 game season with 4 games run per day.

Includes single season stats for 19th century players, but no Negro Leaguers.

Weaknesses: The draft is easy but funky: You must make a forced selection from five player choices at each position.
Message boards are horrible.
Fielder range is not coded.
Pitchers are not coded for HR allowed.
Players may turn in a performance wildly different from real life.