Creating All-Time Teams (Sort of)

by Paul Semendinger

September 7, 2026

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The following article was originally written and published by the IBWAA (on 9/5/26)

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I don’t play many computer games. If I have the time to play any baseball board game, I exclusively play Strat-o-Matic.

All that being said, my son introduced me to a simple but fun and somewhat addicting on-line game that’s free, isn’t gambling, or anything like that, and is also quick — so the game does not consume too much of the little time I have.

I’m new to this quick on-line game, so I only have played the “Easy” version, but it is still a lot of fun.

In short (I will get to the website in a moment), the game asks the player to build the best baseball team of position players among random teams selected by the computer.

The game begins with the computer selecting a team and a season, say the 2014 Red Sox. If one chooses David Ortiz, he then becomes that team’s designated hitter. Once that position is chosen, it is solidified for that game. As such, a player must choose wisely.

In the game, one might grab a big-name player, but then realize that he picked a star during an off-year — say the 2014 Derek Jeter. One might also choose a pretty good player, but then lose out on a better player for that position who would have come up in a later round.

Once the on-line player chooses a player for each position, the game figures out what that imaginary team’s win total would be.

I have played this just a few times. The best team I have built would have 113 regular-season games. You can see the "line-up" below.

The good news about this on-line game is that it is simple, fun, and quick.

The bad news is that I can see someone (myself) playing it for far too long as I try to create a team (as the name of the game states) that can go 162-0.

Another negative is that the “All-Time” version only goes back to 1980. (I’d like a chance to get Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron into my outfield. Maybe that will come with a later version of the game.)

Try your hand at this. It’s fun. It’s simple. But, please know that I take no responsibility if any reader fails to complete tasks at work or at home because of getting addicted to this simple new pastime.

See firstdown.studio for the game (and the NFL, NHL, and NBA variations as well).

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Paul Semendinger is working on Volume 2 of his West Point at Gettysburg series being published by Sunbury Press. Volume 1 has been heralded as a fantastic work.