[sdoug78]

I am also from Europe but unlike you was completely new to both baseball and OOTP when i purchased the game.

I love sports management games and the reputation OOTP has as being so in depth and immersive are what persuaded me to try. If you have a little understanding of the game its a good start but the more you do understand the better the game comes in my opinion, its so in depth it can be a little daunting at first. But if you want to try a complete management game, in my opinion the only one comparable is football manager. I love the stats side of it as well, so for me learning what each one means and corresponds to, and then correlating that into the in game stats has been great for me.

I spent a fair amount of time reading about what the stats and rules of baseball are and mean etc, and read many threads in this forum as well as watching some tutorials on you tube about it and have found it to be very helpful. You do have the option through the game settings to make it as in depth as you like, or likewise make it easier to begin with and progressively add the more in depth aspects as you play through.

I went for the full in depth game to begin and play both manager and GM, i play through all regular season games but give full control to the ai bench coach in game so i just spectate. A personal decision, but it allows me to both get a better understanding of the games and monitor each players progress as the season goes on. I have found so far in my play throughs the ai makes pretty good decisions, if you have a good coaching staff and playing staff you will have a good chance of building a good team. I have so far only started with teams in a position to challenge for possible playoffs spots but like to start fresh and trade high contracts or older players for younger prospects and minor league prospects, normally making the first year or two a bit of a struggle.

If you do have any questions, the forum here are pretty good at providing answers or suggestions or google them and more often than not you will find links to historical threads on here.

Overall my opinion is if you are interested in learning a bit more about baseball, prepared to spend a little time learning the more in depth aspects of the game and enjoy management games in general, then you can't go far wrong with it. But each to their own of course!

Edit: if you are unsure about purchasing the game i recommend watching some of the play through videos on you tube to get a feel of how the game plays before making the decision.