Newsday (Nassau Edition) from Hempstead, New York • 385

Baseball by Bits and Bytes By Steve Home Bottom of the 13th tie score Yankees vs Meta Rickey Henderson leads from second with two out Mattingly rips an Orosco curveball into right field Henderson rounds third as Strawberry picks up the hall "Send the Yankee fans scream The short curly-haired man in the Yankee cap finished reading the words on the computer screen "The throw comes through Henderson slides and The Yankees beat the "Never the Met fans scream "I thought this game was supposed to be one of them grumbles Emoticns aside the game is realistic APBA Major League Players Baseball a computer version of the popular APBA baseball board game a computer game that performs according to the real statistics of each player It lets you manage a team the way you want to You can bunt hit-and-run play the infield in steal home nd even fire the manager Four times If you have an IBM that is Due out this month The APBA (American Professional Baseball Association) computer game will sell for $8995 and is compatible only with IBM's PC PC Jr XT and AT computers "We realize we get the masses purchasing said David Fiore advertising and promotions manager for the Electronic Publishing division of Random House which is marketing the game for APBA "It's for the better-educated thinking sports Fittingly the APBA game was introduced at a demonstration and press conference at Manhattan's exclusive 21 Club The may sit in the bleachers but the people Random House is going after sit in the luxury boxes shooting for a more upscale Fiore said going after people who appreciate Those who "appreciate may like the fancy packaging but baseball fanatics should like the game It gives complete statisics for 676 major league players The players are given ratings for all dulls such as throwing running bunting fielding and bat control Don Baylor gets hit by pitches Jim Rice grounds into double plays and Dwight Gooden strikes out anything that moves Players can use real teams or draft players to make their own teams setting up leagues and divisions The system will keep league standings and up to 100 teams can be created on a data diskette Anything that happens in baseball a triple play a rainout a player ejection interference can happen in the APBA game "Other computer baseball games come near in said Leigh Goldstein owner of Computers in Manhattan and a base be 11 fan miles Other computer baseball games like the bestselling Mi cro League which has excellent graphics sacrifice realism for fancy pictures Goldstein said A customer told Goldstein that in one computer game Don Mattingly went 0-for-200 to start the season The APBA game is just the opposite Its 128-K memory is devoted almost entirely to statistics and strategy The only graphics are the names of the defensive players and the batter on the field at the time and the batting orders of both teams Words on screen show the result of each play There are no pictures "If you want little men running around on screen then this not for said Kenneth Miller co-developer of the game with his brother Roswell "But if you want real baseball then maybe this is your The game comes with the player statistics for 1984 New statistics for each season will be available a couple of weeks after the World Series for no more than $1995 Fiore said and there may be old-timers teams put together in the fixture Goldstein said the APBA game should be a big hit but that Random House is denying itself potential customers by pricing the game at $8995 and by making it compatible only with the IBM "At $4995 it would blow everyone he said IBM is only the fourth-best seller of computer baseball games behind Apple Commodore and Atari Goldstein said Richard TUlnhnn a production editor for Random House said an Apple version of the APBA game is being worked on and may be available in a few months Fiore said Random House will very likely produce computer versions of other APBA games like football and basketball if the baseball game is successful The APBA computer game includes all the strategy available with the board game but there is one drawback With the board game as with other board games like Strat-O-Matic the result of a play is known immediately after the dice are thrown The computer on the other hand takes several seconds to tell the outcome of a play taking away much of the spontaneity end pace of the game Still it offers the most realistic computer baseball game available Strat-O-Matic biggest rival in sports board games is working on its own computer version which may be available in a few months Baseball on computers moved out of the dark ages Armwrestlers Apply the Elbow Grease 3 By David Steele The tournament had everything an armwrestling fan could want: the stereotypical competitors I big bulges at the biceps and bellies) a few deceptively skinny underdogs a good mix of champions and first-timers a celebrity bartender and some with menacing nicknames such as Mad Dog It also drew a crowd of 400-500 which drifted through Sunrise Mall in Massa-pequa yesterday and stayed long enough to see part of the Lite Beer-New York State Armwrestling Championships The event was sponsored by the World Professional Armwrestling Association The championships lasted from 1-6 pm The WPAA sent invitations to previous participants but some found out about the tournament through radio and newspaper advertisements and some saw the hoopla while passing through the mall and decided to pay the $10 fee at the walk-up registration Larry Carrick 24 of New Hyde Park had never seriously arm wrestled but heard about the tournament on radio and decided to compete He reached the lightweight quarterfinals was asking all these guys who looked like they knew what they were doing 'What do I do Carrick said Jim Venero 28 a pizza-maker from West Islip won the lightweight title beating Max Wegner of Wantagh Venero has been arm wrestling 10 years and won the 1981 WPAA lightweight title His brother Joe 18 had followed him to tournaments and decided to compete too Joe Venero lost to Lyle Niles of Greenwich NY in the final of featherweight competition "Most of these guys are around said Joe who will be a senior at Farmingdale High "But when I won my first big tournament I beat a guy 38 years old I was Early in the competition the crowd began picking favorites One early favorite was Scott Baud 23 of Manhattan who went unnoticed until it was announced that he was the bartender at Studio 54 who beat Mark Gastineau in armwrestling on the same night in 1983 that the defensive end became involved in a fighting incident there "It was for money it was for $25 the price of two Baird said about his wager with Gastineau Baird who is going to acting school lost in the the semifinals of the lightweight class but he issued another challenge to Gastineau "Well wrestle again for Baird said "He even have to beat me He can just hold me for three seconds That offer is still Six-foot 194-pound John (Mad Dog) Bosley of Reisterstown Md quickly got the crowd fired up when for his first match he was led to the table on a leash while holding a rubber bone between his teeth And he was growling all the way He let loose a constant scream throughout his matches and always struck an Incredible Hulk pose after he won By the time he reached the final he was be-in gbooed and barked at by the crowd "They usually wheel me in in a dog cage dapping and beating on me the whole Bosley said while signing autographs between matches "The fans love it I just try to add a little color and Scott Mateyunas of Smith town won the light-heavyweight title and he and Jim Venero will receive byes if they decide to compete in the WPAA championships in Detroit in September "We do this hold competition all the said Neil Goldberg WPAA vice president and a former WPAA light-heavyweight (195-219 pounds) champion "We want to get people caught up in arm wrestling A lot of spectators a good number of wrestlers we do about this well every year we come The event had 88 men and five women In F1WIII: Lyle lUea Orwnwkh MY Jo Venera Faimmsdalt: UikmSM: Jim Venero Wait lallp del Mai Weiner Wantafh HMSmlitt: John Boiler leMmnm Md del Bay Xdmonaon Selden UM aifoliM: Sean Ma-leyunaa SniltMown del Blck LnBe Allentown Pa: BoajnlM: Sure Yuhai Allentown Pa dot Dand Brand Ead blip tori UMweiM: Aatoin itte Cardenaa Brook-lyn del I lua Melnick Brooklyn Open: Antoinette Cardinal Brooklyn del Ilua Melnick Brooklyn 3 CO 8 a 8 McwadnyMnrk Hodman Richard Spurlock competes during the Armwrestling Championships im luirait iniittOi tc i ui iff-.