Friday, June 19, 2015
MVP Baseball 2005: The Greatest Baseball Video Game of All-Time
In 2005, EA Sports released MVP Baseball 2005 for the Original Xbox, Playstation 2, PC and the Nintendo GameCube. It is one of the few video games to get a perfect score on every video game console that was available to the general public at that time because the game was innovative. For example, not only could you create your own ballpark, but the game also had an incredible soundtrack (example: Tessie by the Dropkick Murphys). Unfortunately, there would be no sequel to the greatest baseball game of all time because 2K Sports (The makers of the 2K baseball series) decided to buy the rights to MLB as retaliation to EA Sports getting exclusive rights to the NFL for their Madden series. The problem with this was that 2K makes terrible baseball games & EA makes terrible football games. Conversely, 2K made a great NFL game called NFL 2K5, and EA made an incredible MLB game in MVP Baseball 2005. So really, this exclusive rights stuff didn't help either company. But anyways, MVP Baseball still lives on because a dedicated group of computer nerds (like me) found a loophole through this exclusive rights nonsense. Just in case you don't know, the PC edition of MVP Baseball 2005 can be hacked and modified to your liking. For example, if you want to play as the 2015 Chicago Cubs, you can download a file from a website called MVP Mods and you can play as the 2015 Chicago Cubs. It's a tad bit illegal, because it voids your warranty, but it's worth it. In fact, MVP Mods recently released a 10th Anniversary edition of MVP Baseball 2005, cleverly titled MVP 15. Again, it's a tad bit illegal... or so I thought because, believe it or not, EA has approved what MVP Mods has done. So, maybe, just maybe, there will be an EA Major League Baseball game in the future, especially considering the FIFA scandals and the fact that EA removed themselves from making any soccer game for the foreseeable future. They need to cash in on what 2K failed to do: Make the perfect baseball game.
Monday, June 8, 2015
What I think of the MLB Draft
The MLB Amatuer Draft is today on MLB Network and I have absolutely ZERO interest in watching it. Why? Because it, like the MLB All-Star Game, is pointless... at least until my friend Rory, who is on a college scholarship, is eligible for the MLB Draft. Look I have loved baseball since infancy and I find interest in player development, Spring Training and the Minor Leagues. But I don't care about the baseball draft! The MLB Draft is different than the NFL Draft because there are no Minor League teams in football. Also, ½ of all MLB Draft picks are from High School and for every one Mike Trout, there are five Dustin Ackley's. I will only watch the MLB Draft if these two changes occur:
1. You can trade ANY draft pick
No change could skyrocket the popularity of the MLB Draft than if the Seattle Mariners announced they were trading their 1st 5 draft picks (and a .190 hitting backup catcher) to Anaheim for Mike Trout. Also, to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's credit, he's considering doing this: Letting teams trade draft picks for bona-fide superstars. It's brilliant!
2. Your 1st round draft pick MUST be on the Major League Roster by August 31st otherwise no draft picks for you
In the 51 years of the MLB Draft there have been twenty-one players who were drafted and called up with no Minor League time. That's not twenty-one first rounders, twenty-one picks out of the millions of draftees from the past 51 years! Additionally, The only two who were worth a damn were John Olerud and Dave Winfield! The average Minor Leaguer spends 3-5 years in the Minors. So I have to get excited about a player who won't be up until 2017? To change the MLB Draft, 1st rounders must be on the active 25-Man Major League roster by Auguat 31st, otherwise your round 2-7 draft picks are voided.
If these things were to happen, the MLB Draft would matter more for me. It would be interesting to see which star player would be traded for a few top draft picks. If you want the MLB Draft to be exciting, these ideas would sure do the trick.
1. You can trade ANY draft pick
No change could skyrocket the popularity of the MLB Draft than if the Seattle Mariners announced they were trading their 1st 5 draft picks (and a .190 hitting backup catcher) to Anaheim for Mike Trout. Also, to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's credit, he's considering doing this: Letting teams trade draft picks for bona-fide superstars. It's brilliant!
2. Your 1st round draft pick MUST be on the Major League Roster by August 31st otherwise no draft picks for you
In the 51 years of the MLB Draft there have been twenty-one players who were drafted and called up with no Minor League time. That's not twenty-one first rounders, twenty-one picks out of the millions of draftees from the past 51 years! Additionally, The only two who were worth a damn were John Olerud and Dave Winfield! The average Minor Leaguer spends 3-5 years in the Minors. So I have to get excited about a player who won't be up until 2017? To change the MLB Draft, 1st rounders must be on the active 25-Man Major League roster by Auguat 31st, otherwise your round 2-7 draft picks are voided.
If these things were to happen, the MLB Draft would matter more for me. It would be interesting to see which star player would be traded for a few top draft picks. If you want the MLB Draft to be exciting, these ideas would sure do the trick.
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