A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, played, heard, observed, worn, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here.

What: “Baseball Tycoon” board game, $29.95, available from LaForest Products 888-657-4483) or at https://www.baseballtycoon.com

Bill Barber grew up playing the traditional baseball board games--APBA, Strat-O-Matic and the like--that offered fans the chance to play manager and general manager. You picked the players, made trades, prepared lineups and then rolled the dice to see who hit a home run and who struck out.

How quaint. Florida’s Dave Dombrowski might be the best general manager in the major leagues, but the Marlins have no chance to win this year. Montreal’s Felipe Alou might be the best manager in the majors, but the Expos have no chance to win until they get a new stadium or move to Virginia.

Sure, you can explain to a kid that the best teams have the best players, but why is that?

“Ultimately, it comes down to the fact they have more money than the other teams,” Barber said.

So Barber, 45, a Michigan economist, invented this board game in which you are an owner, not a manager or general manager. Instead of a home run or a strikeout, the cards and board spaces in this game include such outcomes as collecting money from broadcasting revenues, spending money on stadium maintenance, suspending players and firing managers. As you collect more money, you build a better team.

And, if a certain card is drawn, the players strike and the game ends immediately. So then who wins?

“The guy with the most money wins,” Barber said.

Indeed.