Clearly Championship Caliber

I won my fantasy baseball championship this week. My team looked like this on Opening Day. I put them in the batting order I'd have used if they were a real baseball team I was managing:

CF - Rajai Davis

2B - Dustin Pedroia

1B - Justin Morneau

3B - Evan Longoria

RF - J.D. Drew

LF - Jason Kubel

C - Matt Wieters

DH - Travis Snider

SS - J.J. Hardy

My lineup for the final round of our fantasy baseball playoffs:

LF - Rajai Davis

CF - Gregor Blanco

DH - Jim Thome (only had 3 AB)

RF - J.D. Drew

3B - Mike Lowell

C - Matt Wieters

1B - Chris Carter

SS - J.J. Hardy

2B - Jayson Nix

Yup, that's what a championship team looks like.

Random Game Thoughts...

Dodgers vs. Red Sox

1. Manny's first game back. It sounded like a good mix of cheers and boos for the first AB, but definitely mostly boos moving forward after that.
2. J.D. Drew today hit a home run, extending my fantasy baseball lead in that category. Then he caught a sinking liner hit by Manny (shortly after Cameron muffed a sinking line drive hit by Ethier), which excited me, because I still like Manny but I don't want him to get any hits. Of course, J.D. immediately pulled up lame after making the catch and left the game hurt. Ugh.
3. Reed Johnson has a stupid mustache.
4. I didn't think that Roger Clemens went out in public anymore, but there he was in the monster seats. He looked pretty good, much younger than he should, and seemed to be in good spirits. I'm also fairly sure that the pretty lady sitting next to him is not his wife.
5. So, I'm so F'ing tired of people talking about soccer when I'm trying to watch baseball or basketball. If I wanted to see/hear about soccer I would turn the TV to ESPN 5 or wherever.
6. Felix Doubront. Sure. He'll be serviceable for some team like the Pirates or Reds.
7. Russell Martin has a stupid mustache too. Maybe they're having some kind of stupid Andy Garcia stupid mustache-growing contest. Stupid.
8. Ooh, Rihanna is at the ballpark. Is she dating Matt Kemp? They were seen canoodling in Mexico recently. Is she the singer who got beat up all the time?
9. Dustin Pedroia just tried to go from first to third on a foul ball down the line.
10. Adrian Beltre and his dropping-to-one-knee home runs are unbelievable.
11. The Red Sox are really breaking it open this inning. This game was tied at three before the bottom of the fifth, now it looks like Doubront might notch his first career win. And as I type this, the Dodgers still haven't recorded an out in the inning.
12. The names of the three Dodgers pitchers I've seen so far: Monasterios, Troncoso (who didn't retire any of the five batters he faced) and Schlichting.
13. Scott Atchison ties a career high by going three innings. Wow.

Well, that's it.

A Look Back

I watched the scroll at the bottom of my television screen the other day and it informed me that Max Scherzer was optioned to Triple-A Toledo. So, in addition to the excitement that the Mud Hens (I think that's what they're called) are getting a great new top-of-the-rotation starter, the fantasy baseball ramifications also leapt to the front of my mind. Now, I knew that in my Baseball Stars fantasy league (named after the customizably awesome NES game) Scherzer was taken by worthy foe Islamabad Beard. This tickled me, because the Beard's owner has fleeced me on several occasions in trades. All of this got me thinking about how the other first-rounders have looked so far this year.

The Baseball Stars league has ten keepers, so our draft began in the eleventh round and went a little something like this:

1st - Javier Vazquez (Chin Music; Dan A.)

2nd - Jose Valverde (Kenny Powers All-Stars; Michael Y.)

3rd - Rich Harden (Momaw Navaughn; JMR)

4th - Jered Weaver (the eightpounders; Emily W.)

5th - Scott Sizemore (Hulk Hogan's Heroes; Andy M.)

6th - Juan Pierre (the Trumpet of Conscience; Luke K.)

7th - J.J. Hardy (Momaw Navaughn; JMR)

8th - J.D. Drew (Momaw Navuaghn; JMR)

9th - Max Scherzer (Islamabad Beard; Nick S.)

10th - Carlos Santana (O'Boizez with Two Z's; Joe R.)

11th - Rafael Soriano (Shut Up And Love It; Mike G.)

12th - Brian Fuentes (Balti's Boomsticks; Jon B.)

So, let's start from the top here. Javier Vazquez goes number one overall to Chin Music. It was hard to argue with this choice on draft day, although I wouldn't have made it. Did it work out? Well, Javier Vazquez has a WHIP of 1.78, a 2-4 record (and one of those wins was a relief appearance where he retired one batter) and an ERA north of eight! So, Chin Music struck out with this selection for certain. Perhaps Vazquez will right the ship, but I doubt it at this point. The guy has to be thinking that he'll never be able to pitch in the AL East.

Next taken was Valverde, who has ten saves, a 0.51 ERA and a 0.79 WHIP. So, this ends up being a great pick. I would have made Jose the newest closer for Momaw Navaughn if he had slipped a spot, but he didn't and, clearly, he shouldn't have. I'm going to lump into this paragraph the other two closers who were taken in the first round: Soriano and Fuentes. Soriano has been very solid with ten saves of his own and a 1.59 ERA and 0.94 WHIP. Fuentes is a bit iffier of a selection. His ERA is terrible, but he has notched 5 saves despite a stay on the DL. Not what you want out of your first selection, but it could be worse and Fuentes should end up with decent numbers.

Rich Harden. Sigh. I literally could NOT prevent myself from taking Harden in this slot. Was it the best move? Well, I knew that I had two other selections in the first round, so I felt that I had a bit of wiggle room. And so far Harden has posted a 2-1 record with a 4.74 ERA, making it through the sixth inning in only three of his nine starts. The way my team is designed, though, the ERA and WHIP categories are punted about every week anyway. So, since Harden continues to make bats miss at a good clip he is helping my team a lot more than he's helping the Rangers. Still, maybe not the best value I could have gotten here.

For some reason, Jered Weaver never seems to be a valued commodity. He wasn't kept and thus entered the draft pool along with the newcomers to the AL. Probably, the only reason Jered was drafted here as it is was because the eightpounders were on auto-pick. Weaver's line is pretty spiffy so far this year (despite a disastrous most recent outing). His ERA sits at 3.40, his WHIP is 1.19 and he's on pace for 231 strikeouts (his 60 currently leads the league). Jered may be the pick of the litter.

Scott Sizemore was hitting .206 with a single homer when he was sent back down to play for the Mud Hens (they must be killing those other AAA teams) on Saturday after going 0 for his last 14. As far as first round selections go, Sizemore may go down as the biggest clunker of them all.

The Trumpet of Conscience chose Juan Pierre and added him to a lineup that already featured Ichiro, Elvis Andrus, Julio Borbon and Chone Figgins. Pierre has done exactly what you'd expect him to do. He's swiped eighteen bases and little else. If a different team, one who had needed speed, had taken Pierre here then I would've said "great pick". Instead, I'm just going to shrug and marvel at the fact that Luke owns four of the top ten base-stealers in the AL.

The next two picks represented a change in my drafting philosophy over previous seasons. Typically, I'd spend an early pick to take a Desmond Jennings-esque prospect here. Instead, after an excruciating season of failed expectations last year, I focused on winning this season. I took J.J. Hardy and J.D. Drew to fill positional needs. Hardy's been hurt for the last two weeks and was pretty unremarkable before that, but he might chip in with fifteen home runs if he heals up. He'd already hit three before hitting the DL. J.D. looked like a terrible first round pick through the first month of the season. His batting average in April was .197. Since the calendar page turned to May, though, J.D. has hit .375 with an OPS of 1.016! That's more than worthy of an exclamation point.

Max Scherzer, of course, is the Mud Hens' latest addition. Why is that? It could be his 7.29 ERA and 1.29 WHIP that got him sent down. It could also be that his K/9 was down from last year's 9.19 to 5.57. Or maybe it's that opponents have a .951 OPS against him. These are seriously troubling numbers for the Beard.

Finally, Carlos Santana. It's too early to tell, obviously, whether or not this is a solid pick. Santana does have 37 RBIs in 39 games in AAA this season. His OPS down at Columbus is a smashing 1.050. Next year at this time we may be declaring this the best pick of the draft.

I'll wrap things up by crosschecking my assessments using ESPN Player Rater data:

1 - Vazquez (345th best in AL)

2 - Valverde (60th best in AL)

3 - Harden (196th best in AL)

4 - Weaver (45th best in AL)

5 - Sizemore (350th best in AL)

6 - Pierre (80th best in AL)

7 - Hardy (205th best in AL)

8 - Drew (30th best in AL)

9 - Scherzer (387th best in AL)

10 - Santana (n/a)

11 - Soriano (65th best in AL)

12 - Fuentes (190th best in AL)

So, what should the first round have looked like in the Baseball Stars league?

1 - Ty Wigginton (11th best in AL) should have been Chin Music's first pick. He would have filled the 1B slot currently occupied by Casey Kotchman. Ty went in round 20 to the Trumpet of Conscience.

2 - Jose Bautista (13th best in AL) should have gone second. Instead, Momaw Navaughn snagged him in round 21.

3 - Alex Gonzalez (19th best in AL) should have been taken here by Momaw Navaughn. His output has been excellent and he would have filled the SS position JMR needed to fill. Alex went in the 22nd round to Islamabad Beard.

4 - Andruw Jones (25th best in AL) should have gone here, although, as mentioned above, hard to argue with the Jered Weaver selection. Andruw went in round 17 to Islamabad Beard.

5 - Austin Jackson (27th best in AL) would have been the perfect selection for Hulk Hogan's Heroes who clearly wanted to go young, but clearly would benefit more from a young player who isn't currently on the Mud Hens. Jackson went in the next round anyway, to Kenny Powers All-Stars.

6 - Scott Podsednik (29th best in AL) would have given the Trumpet of Conscience the speed he so desperately craves as well as some other solid numbers (including a .301 average to Pierre's .253). Kenny Powers All-Stars snagged this character in the 19th round.

7 - J.D. Drew (30th best in AL) should have gone to Momaw Navaughn in this spot. Instead, Momaw Navaughn took him in the next spot.

8 - Alberto Callaspo (31st best in AL) should have been Momaw Navaughn's third first-round selection. It wouldn't have filled much of a need, but depth is nice too. Alberto ended up falling to Chin Music in the 15th round.

9 - Ricky Romero (37th best in AL) probably would have been a better pick for Islamabad Beard than Scherzer. Compton FistFullOfBees ended up taking Ricky in the 21st round.

10 - Shaun Marcum (38th best in AL), for some reason the Jays pitchers are high on the ol' Player Rater. If O'Boizez with Two Z's had taken Marcum here like he apparently should have, then the O'Boizez pitching staff would probably be the tops in the league. Compton FistFullOfBees took Marcum in round 16.

11 - John Buck (41st best in AL)? Really? Yep. Blue Jays battery members only for picks 9 through 11. Still, Shut Up And Love It's Soriano selection probably made more sense, since Joe Mauer would have been tough for Buck to unseat. Still, O'Boizez with Two Z's ended up getting John in the 19th. Good value.

12 - Doug Fister (44th best in AL) would have been the perfect player for Balti's Boomsticks to take here. Instead, Doug went undrafted and Hulk Hogan's Heroes was prescient enough to scoop him off the waiver wire five days after the draft.

Can you believe it that twelve of the Player Rater's top 44 players were available on draft day? Anybody who gets discouraged or takes over a crummy team should take note of this. A great draft can remedy even the lousiest of inherited rosters.

Listening To Shakira, Avoiding Doing Work

Sitting here at work, desiring to do anything but work-related activities, I've looked over a lot of baseball and Sox stats/articles. I heard grumblings that the Red Sox have signed a 23-year-old Cuban catcher. Unfortunately, the article is available only to ESPN Insiders. Insiders, in this case, is code for "doofs who actually pay money to ESPN to gain access to an extra fifteen articles a month that don't say much of anything." Either way, I wish I could read this particular Insider article. Instead, I read some blogs on ESPNBoston. There is a cool diary entry written by Daniel Bard on there. I'm not sure how much outside editing goes into these entries of his but, technically speaking, his writing ability overshadows every hack writer that pukes up a sports story for MSNBC. Anyway, here we go:

Josh Wreck-It: That's a terrible topic heading (but better than my second-best option of Buttercup Squash Beckett, which I'd have had a real hard time explaining), but Josh is wrecking his ERA at an alarming rate right now. In fact, if the Sox ace were to throw back-to-back-to-back-to-back complete game shutouts it would only lower his ERA to 3.20. But there's nothing to worry about because after five starts last season his ERA was exactly the same as it is right now (7.22, gross). So, a fantastic rebound is imminent.

Josh Check-It: But there is something to worry about. My continued non-work-related-web-surfing led me to an interesting graph illustrating what one of Beckett's problems might be:

(credit to ESPNBoston or whomever for this image)

Not only is Josh leaving his changeup up in the zone, as you can see from my stolen/plagiarized chart, but he's also throwing this crummy changeup 14 percent of the time (only 8.6% last season). So, maybe if Josh stops throwing the change his numbers will improve? I hope so, but there's another troubling piece of information that I found as well. Beckett's career average for swinging strikes coming into this season was 9.9%. So, essentially, opposing hitters swing and miss at one out of every ten pitches that he throws. And what about this year, so far? Well, now only 7.4% of Josh's offerings are swung on and missed. That is bad news. I mentioned the striking similarities between this season's and last season's awful beginnings: 28 2/3 innings, 23 earned runs, similar hit totals (36 and 37). The 2009 strikeout total, though, was still an impressive 31. Right now Beckett has K'd only twenty batters. Gulp.

Even Scarier: Adrian Beltre leads the team with his .309 batting average?!

The "D" Is For Durability: Don't look now, but J.D. Drew has played in 19 of the Sox' twenty games this season. Okay, some of you out there are thinking, "But I hate that effing loser; he's hitting .182!" I'll counter by saying that his .308/.353/.846 line with runners in scoring position gives him the second-highest OPS on the team in those clutch situations. I'd also like to point out that his 10 runs batted in are third on the team overall.

Roll of the Dice-K: As an owner (once a proud owner) of Daisuke Matsuzaka in two separate fantasy leagues, I'm excited for the return of the nibbling starter. Imagine if he comes back and looks good! How awesome would it be for the Sox (not to mention Momaw Navaughn) if Dice-K looked like WBC Dice-K or even 2008 Dice-K? The answer is very awesome.

Best Team Ever: In the spirit of doling out some V-tek love, I'm going to spit out a fun stat for you all. A team of nine Jason Variteks would score 12.26 runs per game. That's right.

Premature Statistical Analysis

I've combed over some stats this afternoon and found a few that I thought were interesting:

The Brewers Got Zauned - Gregg Zaun has grounded into a double-play, on-average, once every nine pitches this season.

Keep The Meter Running, I Won't Be Here Long - Orlando Cabrera is seeing 1.77 pitches per at-bat, which falls in line with the 1.86 seasons he spends with each ball club over his career.

I'll Take The One That Comes With The Pinstriped Pillbox Hat - Assume that both Vernon Wells and Garrett Jones stay on their pace to hit 162 home runs this season. The Blue Jays would be paying $77,160.49 for each dinger while the Pirates buy theirs for the bargain basement price of $2,623.46.

Workin' Harden? - Rich Harden's K/9 is 19.64. The next closest starting pitcher? Ian Kennedy, more than five full strikeouts behind Rich.

Or Hardenly Workin'? - Rich Harden's BB/9 is 12.27.

And Your Punishment? $68,000,000.00 - Josh Beckett's WHIP of 2.36 is the worst (tied) of any starter whose team plays in one of the United States. Players that pitch in the District of Columbia are a different story.

On The Schnide - Nick Johnson has an OBP of .400 and a batting average of .000 after 15 plate appearances. Josh Hamilton has struck out in six of his eight plate appearances so far, notching a grand total of zero base hits. Hamilton's average draft position in ESPN Fantasy Leagues is 79.1 versus 233.8 for Johnson. I'm not sure what I'm trying to prove with this info, just found it curious.

Bold Prediction - Adrian Gonzalez of the offensively-explosive Padres, will finish the season with 42 home runs and 42 runs batted in.

Opening Day 2010

I had a brutal headache and had to take a nap "before" this game. Sadly, my nap extended into the top of the third inning. Accordingly, anything that happened before then I missed (This includes an appearance by Pedro?! Heartbreaking.).

Boston Red Sox 8

New York Yankees 7

This was an immensely exciting game in about every way. The stars shone bright as they tend to do on important Sox games. We had the obligatory Steven Tyler appearance, although no James Taylor sighting, which I would have bet the farm on. The 5-1 score with an invincible-looking CC on the mound had me bumming but, ultimately, the portly pitcher ran out of gas and the game began anew in the top of the sixth. Most of you probably watched this game live, so I won't report to you what you already know. But here are some thoughts that occurred to me as I watched the game:

WWJDD? - He wouldn't have thrown the ball eight miles from home plate on Marco Scutaro's RBI single, that's for sure. Damon would have daintily hit the cutoff man with his little girly arm, which definitely would have been a better result than what actually happened. It was a total Manny Ramirez throw from Brett Gardner on that play (Does anybody else remember the exact throw I'm referring to? Manny heaved it right along the wall down the third base line for no reason at all. It was 2003-2004ish; I'll never forget how shocked I was on that play.). Meanwhile, the angle that Nick Swisher took on Youkilis's triple? Did anybody else think that was ridic? If I were the Yankees, I'd be real concerned about the corner outfield slots after watching this game. Okay, I just had to double-check, Swisher is definitely a negative defensive outfielder. Damon was seven times worse than him, though, so factoring in the Granderson upgrade in center, their outfield might be okay. But Brett Gardner could be the NYC version of Jacoby Ellsbury manning left field. It's not a compliment being compared to Jacoby 0-for-5sbury, defensively.

"You Can't Hide Bad Pitching Behind A Beard" - Chan Ho Park was apparently forced to shave. He still sucks, but I'd like to thank him for helping out both the Red Sox and my fantasy team by thinking Pedroia can't turn on a major league fastball.

NKOTB - I thought Beltre, Scutaro, Cameron and even Schoeneweis looked great tonight. Beltre had the two RBI, Scutaro and Cameron were each on base three times. I thought Cameron actually looked pretty good at the plate. Will he displace 0-for-5sbury at the top of the order like he displaced him in center? Time will tell. Overall, though, I feel a lot more confident in the new recruits than I was six hours ago.

Caballito Strikes Again - I can't quit Dustin Pedroia. He's so awesome. The crushed home run was amazing. But, I think my favorite Little Pony moment was the head first dive into first, his immediate reaction to being called out (where I thought he was going to punch the ump in the face) and his longterm reaction of infuriation for the ensuing three minutes in the dugout afterwards.

I'm planning to make these kinds of observations on 50+ games this season. Sorry.

BASEBALL IS HERE!

MLB 2k10

It has been just over four weeks since MLB 2k10 came out for Xbox 360. I reported some of my first impressions back then, but now I am here to weigh in with my official review. I wrote this article off-and-on (like Ross and Rachel - Friends references are cool, right?) over the last several days. It may be a little uneven, and it's definitely a little long-winded, but whenever I read reviews of video games I always find myself wishing they were longer, so... Anyway, here's the official review:

GAMEPLAY - BATTING
I consider this to be one of the two most important elements of any baseball video game. The hitting statistics in baseball video games are very important to me. The most outstanding thing about 2k10 that I can see so far is the battle between pitcher and hitter during every plate appearance.

Probably the most irritating and enduring tradition in previous baseball games is the complete absence of the base on balls. Drawing a free pass has traditionally walked a fine line between impossible and possible only if the computer decides it wants to issue you ball four. In 2k10, as the batter, the "batting eye" feature helps you read whether a pitch will be up, down, inside or outside by lighting up a portion of the strike zone with a blue line. The entire zone will be outlined in blue for pitches down the middle. At the same time, the type of pitch will be indicated on the screen: fastball (sinker, cutter, splitter are all read off the hand the same way, though), breaking ball or changeup. Wouldn't knowing whether a changeup or fastball is coming make the changeup a completely useless pitch? Well, yes, but the pitch location and type don't appear on the screen on every pitch. Instead, the frequency of these hints is based on a player's batting eye rating. Jason Giambi, for example, has a much better eye than Felix Pie. Pie might only read one or two pitches a game, whereas Giambi will likely know what's coming on three pitches per plate appearance. All of this information aids you in making the all important decision whether or not to swing at the pitch. Unlike some games, even without the batting eye's hints, watching the pitch carefully you can usually tell about where a pitch is going to be in the zone. I very rarely swing and miss at pitches low and away. I don't strike out on pitches in the dirt and have to endure the five-times-a-game "It's in the dirt, strike three but he's running to first! Oh my! You don't see this every day!" hoopla. So, for the most part, I feel like I'm controlling the strike zone fairly well during a typical plate appearance. The defensive swing feature is also very helpful for fouling off pitches that are close enough that you're not comfortable watching them go by. Fouling off pitches and ratcheting up pitch counts is a welcome, fresh feature for a baseball game. It's not uncommon to fight off several pitches to ultimately draw ball four. I've had eight and ten-pitch at-bats on several occasions. Evidence of the plate discipline that is achievable: In 44 games of My Player mode, I was able to draw 26 walks (which would be about 96 per 162 games), a solid number for that stat category. *Update* I continue to love the battles between pitcher and hitter in this game. I drew three walks in one game in My Player mode last night. And whenever you draw walks in this mode you are commended by your agent/helper for your discipline. (You also get bonus points towards improving attributes just by being patient. 15 skill points for working a full count, 25 skill points for a nine-pitch plate appearance.)

In addition to being able to draw walks, the aforementioned aspects of batting (the eye, defensive swings, etc.) can also help you to hit better pitches. I get legitimately angry when I swing and miss at a pitch out of the strike zone. If you were in the next room, you would hear me cursing every time it happens. But because they have made determining the difference between balls and strikes more realistic, you can do things like sit on the fastball, get yourself into a hitter's count, and "wait for yours". I'd say 66% or better of the balls I put in play are in or close to the strike zone. And if you're hacking at pitches that aren't in the zone, your success rate is going to seriously be affected.

Quickly, the bad. Extra-base hits are tough to get. A double is a major rarity in my experiences thus far in My Player mode. They have been a bit more prevalent in games I've played against LA Keyes, but hitting line drives into the gaps for extra bases is something I have not yet mastered. I can't think of another batting drawback. I think this element is absolutely great.
Score: A


GAMEPLAY - PITCHING
Important element number two, pitching seems to be very similar to what 2k Sports instituted in MLB 2k8, right analog motions to determine pitches and their effectiveness. Unlike the last two seasons of this method, now you can actually select your pitch beforehand, so the game is judging your motion against the pitch you are trying to throw. Previously, if you did your swirling motion on the analog intending to hurl a slider, but your motion was off you'd throw a totally different pitch. Let's face it, realism goes out the window if a pitcher can "accidentally" throw a curveball instead of a fastball. So, that has been corrected, and now if you are completely off on your motions you're just going to throw a real crappy version of the pitch you chose. Altogether, a definite improvement, and I enjoy the analog swirling method of pitching more than a simple button hold-and-press.

The bad. Pitching against the computer hasn't shown much improvement over prior entries into the series. The AI won't be very effective at driving up your pitch counts, and it's fairly routine for my starter to have thrown 55 pitches through seven innings. I'll admit, I haven't pitched many games against the computer, though, so maybe once I begin my franchise mode (which I plan to do soon, once my fantasy baseball draft is complete and I can begin the nerdy process of changing all the rosters to mirror our fantasy teams) I'll have a better idea about things. I will note that, on the other end of the spectrum, opposing computer-controlled pitchers throw WAY too many pitches. In My Player mode recently I stepped into the batter's box to face a pitcher who was about to throw his 150th (!) pitch. Now, that is ridiculous. There's a slider that is supposedly used to regulate pitcher fatigue (unlabeled, though, of course; so, I don't know if increasing the gauge to 85 makes him tire easier or gives him more stamina...), but I haven't noticed much of a difference. It is quite aggravating when I'm up there for the fourth time and I've really been working on driving up a pitch count but the guy is closer to 200 pitches than 100.
Score: B-


GAMEPLAY - FIELDING
The videos and reviews I have read about MLB 2k9 all mention the outlandish/horrible fielding. My brother sold his Xbox 360 because first basemen wouldn't stand on the bag when taking throws from the other infielders. Try to imagine if real life ballplayers refused to tag first until after they'd caught the ball. Ridiculous. Meanwhile, I've watched videos online of outfielders having fly balls bounce off their heads, an entire defense ignoring a bunt and letting the batter who laid it down notch a homer on it, etc. Thankfully, these problems appear to have been remedied. I'm very concerned that there was some over-compensation going on, though. I can't remember seeing a fielding error. Not one. A couple of throwing errors on my part, possibly, but definitely no flubbed grounders or miscues in the outfield or anything like that.

This is a good section to talk about the fielding in My Player mode, too. Do NOT ever start My Player mode as a catcher. I thought that being a catcher would be great. I get to pick a color scheme for my shin guards and helmet! Will I get to call the game? Will I catch every pitch? Will I take throws for plays at the plate? No, no and no. Near as I can tell, fielding situations that arise when you're the catcher are limited to bunts (which the pitcher almost always reacts to more quickly and handles himself) and foul pop-ups (which are always hit behind you and by the time you've figured out where it is and the camera has spun to the point where you can see where you're going, the ball has landed and the opportunity is gone). Long story short, this position was the pits. I had to change positions (which totally blew because I'd spent ALL of my fielding attribute points on Call Game, a useless talent for a newly-converted first baseman). First base was almost as dull, as you didn't get to take throws from anyone and the fielding situations were primarily grounders where you had to decide between flipping to the pitcher or taking it yourself. I finally settled on making my character a third baseman. Third and short are way more fun than any other spots on the diamond. I'm definitely going to stick to one of those spots in My Player. *Update* Turning a double play in My Player mode is impossible, and I'm reducing the grade accordingly.
Score: B


GAMEPLAY - BASERUNNING
When I played The Show at my brother's house, I was comparing the game to my experiences with 2k10, obv. My brother doesn't even run the bases in The Show because it is too annoying or difficult. So, I guess I should feel grateful that I can at least leave manual baserunning on. And for the most part, the baserunners are with it enough that they don't need to be told to try and score from second on a single. This is helpful.

The bad news. Rundowns seem to be plentiful. I think this is primarily due to 2k Sports being too ambitious/stupid with the baserunning mechanics. To send the selected runner to the next base, hit the left trigger. To send all the runners an extra base, hit the left bumper. Simple. But apparently, we need another method to do exactly the same thing! The right analog stick pushed in the direction of a base will send your selected player to that base. This is not helpful at any point in any game. In fact, here is what has happened to me an infuriating number of times so far. The left analog stick is in charge of sliding (up for head first, down for feet first, left/right to the respective side of the bag). So, there is a close play coming up at third. I'm trying to slide into the base to the right side of the bag to avoid a sweep tag from the third baseman. In this intense situation I hit the right analog stick, for just a hair of a second because I forgot which damn analog makes me slide. Now my guy is going back to first! What? Come on! Then I'm mashing on the triggers screaming out loud at the guy to get to third! Of course, by now, my chances of being safe are nil, so I try sending him back to second. Then comes the rundown, which I can typically stay alive in until I get bored, give up entirely and pound my fist into the seat of the couch.

This bad news section isn't over yet. Stealing bases. Beyond difficult. A number of factors have to go incredibly right for you to have even a breath of a chance to steal a base. Maybe this makes sense and is realistic, but having to time your jump absolutely perfectly (especially while controlling the hitter at the plate) while simultaneously hoping that the pitcher isn't throwing a fastball is pretty tough. And if you let go of the button a nanosecond before the pitcher has kicked to throw the pitch? That's right, rundown!

Finally, the last major bad news. Pitches in the dirt. Okay, you have a runner on base, the pitcher throws the ball low and it bounces in front of the plate. The ball is only about two feet in front of the catcher. No-brainer, right? Get your ass back to the damn bag. Nope. It couldn't be that easy. Whenever this happens, and it's often enough to be a major issue, it's as though your baserunner has no idea what's happening. Oh no, Joe Mauer briefly forgot how to play baseball and he's frozen in fear three steps away from the base! Go back, Joe, go back. But no, he won't do a thing unless you, the player, hit the right trigger to remind him that you can't be tagged out if you're standing on second. And the chances are very high that by the time you've realized what's happening, it's too late and you're about to be out (or, as likely, it's rundown time). So, the first couple of times this happened, I'd figure out what was going on and hit the right trigger immediately. One time when I did this, the runner was already heading back to the base and when I told him, "Hey, get back to that base," he paused for an entire second and then proceeded to go back. By then, it was too late. Another time, I said, "Okay, the guy was going back on his own before, so this time I won't hit a single button and I won't run into this silly hesitation thing again." So, I set the paddle down and watched, in horror, as my runner stood motionless two steps from the base without even an attempt to return to it safely. Basically, a pitch in the dirt is a major disaster if you have any runners on base, no matter what you do.
Score: D+


GRAPHICS
The ranting and raving about good graphics that I did a few weeks ago may have been a little premature. Don't get me wrong, the graphics are exceptional, but I've reneged on the great facial models. Joakim Soria, Nomar Garciaparra, J.D. Drew, these guys all still look awesome. But there are as many or more guys whose faces are pretty suspect. Other than that, the graphics remain pretty solid, though not up to The Show's level. Also, graphics seems like a good place to address the Chris Davis situation. He is the absolute homeliest character I've seen in The Show and he's almost as hideous in 2k10. What's the deal?
Score: B-


GAME MODES - MY PLAYER
I just wanted to try it at first, but now I'm really into it. I scrapped the JMR from the previous review (the second baseman with the .290 slugging percentage). I toyed with the idea of making a new character who was a pitcher, but ultimately decided that I'd be a catcher instead. I explained above in the fielding section how Jesse's career behind the plate went. One thing that I was trying to accomplish in the newly-begun version of my career was drawing more walks and hitting more dingers. I gave My Player mode a good once-over already in my previous post, and as much as I would love to lambaste everyone with stats and stories from the 80 games or so that I've played. But I will resist the temptation to bore you to tears. As opposed to the original character's career, 3B Jesse managed to draw plenty of walks, hit a handful of home runs and generally succeed on a daily basis enough that his attributes steadily increased. In just 44 games, I had achieved what I wanted to and been called up to the big club, the San Francisco Giants. Unfortunately, I was blocked at third by Pablo Sandoval and they moved me to shortstop as a replacement for Edgar Renteria. I tore up the league for about 12 games, hitting .390ish with an OBP north of .500. And the games felt like they were a lot more meaningful (in my last post I mentioned the lack of teamy feeling) now that I was a major leaguer. Playing alongside actual guys, facing real pitchers, seeing all the classic ballparks all make My Player mode shine even brighter than I originally thought it would. Of course, I was worried after a dozen games as a big leaguer that I'd mastered hitting and my success would be unrealistic. Ha. I wish I still had THOSE worries. The precipitous fall of my batting average squelched that idea. My ability to draw walks and my ability to not strike out have both declined since I started facing more capable pitchers (just like a real rookie, I suspect). So, all in all, I'm finding the My Player experience to be quite rewarding so far, and I'm excited to finish up my abbreviated rookie season and move on to the next one. *Update* During the writing of this review, I've since embarked on my first full season on the Giants. I hit a walk-off home run in extra innings yesterday and it was one of the most awesome baseball video game moments ever. Also, I was on pace to draw 100 walks in the 2011 season the last time I checked (to go with the 170 whiffs I'm trending towards). Nice.
Score: A


GAME MODES - FRANCHISE
Stay tuned for this one. Like I mentioned earlier, I plan to do a season with Momaw Navaughn, my fantasy baseball team. I imagine that the mode is satisfactory, but there is always the possibility that the game freezes when you try to advance from the regular season to the playoffs and you can never actually get past the first year.
Score: Incomplete


PRESENTATION/DETAILS/INTANGIBLES
I must admit, The Show really seems to kill in this department. Not that 2k10 falls flat, but you can tell that 2k Sports didn't spend a ton of time programming the little intricate details that Sony did for The Show. Believe me, I'm happy that they focused on improving the gameplay over last season's game, very happy. Still, hearing the announcing team say the same thing over and over and over continues to be rough. But, looking at the bright side again, at least Joe Morgan and Jon Miller are gloriously absent. Here are some things that I'd like to point out that I found either interesting/hilarious:

End of the inning, where am I going? - If an infielder catches a pop fly or a line drive to end an inning, he'll start trotting off in some random direction like he's a stud for having just made a play. Inevitably, some kind of internal compass will tell him after a few seconds that he's running in the opposite direction of his own dugout and he will suddenly veer off towards the right direction. It's pretty comical.

Extra-perfect game? - I was in My Player mode, checking out statistics and team records and such (all evidence of Bonds has been pulled from the record books, too, which I love). That's when I noticed that at some point in 2010, during the simulated season that was occurring while I was still playing for the AA-affiliate Flying Squirrels, Jered Weaver set a new MLB record by striking out 27 players in one game! Jered Weaver!

Socks? - Whenever a sports game comes up with its own fictional players and makes up names for them, you're bound to get some good laughs. My favorite so far? I recently squared off against made-up pitcher Socks Campanella. Awesome.

Prospects? Don't talk about prospects! You kiddin' me?! Prospects?! - 2k10 scores a major goose egg in this department. They can't even make reasonable facsimiles of the biggest name prospects in baseball? No Devon Jaeger (in the place of Desmond Jennings)? No Christian Steinbach (for Carlos Santana)? More infuriating is that I was able to find a few cheap knock-offs. There's a clear Lars Anderson prospect (and when you edit the player to change his name, the birth date is Anderson's actual birth date). Lars Anderson! There's a fictitious version of Kila Ka'aihue and one of Jesus Montero (identical DOBs, heights, weights, jersey numbers). Maybe this seems like a minor problem, but if you were playing a season with your team and you knew that you were supposed to have these great prospects in the minors and instead you've got vaguely Asian-looking slap hitters, well, it sucks. That makes it a major problem (or perhaps a minors problem?).
Score: C-


OVERALL
Pending an analysis of the Franchise Mode, I'm enjoying this game immensely. And it doesn't feel like I'm forcing myself to play it just because I like baseball, either. That was certainly the case in 2k8. So, I feel hopeful for 2k Sports' future in baseball games. They need to add some flavor/spice, without a doubt. There are dozens of things that have occurred to me while playing that they should have included. Check swings. A reaction besides literally puffing out the chest when a batter almost gets beaned. A second style of running to the dugout after an inning so that it doesn't look like Pablo Sandoval and I are as well-rehearsed at each step or flick of the arm as a synchronized swimming team might be. You get the idea.

All things considered, would I recommend this year's MLB 2k10 game to a gamer who only owns a 360? Yes, I absolutely would.

FINAL GRADE: B+

Two Bad Traders

I haven't written anything in a while, and I have lots of baseball-related thoughts on this particular evening. So, expect some kind of miscellaneous, rambling article soon. But quite briefly, I'd like to touch on something that is really irritating to me: insulting fantasy baseball trade offers.

Now, I'm not talking about your standard JoeReardon (for those unfamiliar, a JoeReardon is a trade offer that is so outrageous that it implies the sender thinks you've never watched a baseball game). Those I can laugh off. I'm talking about when a manager offers you a trade, then within a very short amount of time offers you a second trade, with very similar pieces, that is clearly worse. For example, I got this offer today in a 12-team, AL-only keeper league:

My team would trade:

• David Price
• 7th Round Draft Pick

My team would receive:

• Erick Aybar
• Trevor Cahill
• 8th Round Draft Pick

I wasn't particularly interested in this trade, not being altogether high on Erick Aybar, but it's certainly not an insulting offer. Fifteen minutes later, I was offered this:

My team would trade:

• David Price

My team would receive:

• Erick Aybar
• 2nd Round Draft Pick

About three hours later, I received this offer:

My team would trade:

• David Price
• 3rd Round Draft Pick

My team would receive:

• Trevor Cahill
• 2nd Round Draft Pick
• 9th Round Draft Pick

Let's ignore the fact that Cahill is owned in 10.6% of leagues while Price and Aybar are both owned in 98% of them, which includes mixed leagues. Let's suppose we suspend our disbelief and say that Trevor Cahill is AS valuable as Erick Aybar. The third trade offer says to me that at some point since the second offer was sent (three hours ago), David's stock has dropped so far that if I still want to pull the trigger on this deal I'm going to have to sweeten the pot.

The convoluted point I am trying to make is that if you're going to offer me a trade for someone, start with your worst offer and work your way up. I'm not desperately trying to unload David Price and worrying that his value is dropping. I'm not going to panic and jump on your latest offer just because your offers keep getting worse.

Here is a mathematical representation of the three trade offers using Average Draft Position and draft pick selection numbers. I'll assign a value represented by 1000/ADP or 1000/Pick #.

Erick Aybar = EA

ADP: 77.4

Calculated Value: 12.92

Trevor Cahill = TC

ADP: 119.85

Calculated Value: 8.34

David Price = DP

Trade offer number one supposes that David Price's worth is equivalent to this equation:

DP+7th Rounder (4.95)=EA+TC+8th Rounder (4.78)

DP=12.92+8.34+4.78-4.95

David Price's perceived value: 21.09 (roughly equivalent to an ADP of 47.4)

Trade offer number two, fifteen minutes later:

DP=EA+2nd Rounder (7.30)

DP=12.92+7.30

David Price's perceived value: 20.22 (roughly equivalent to an ADP of 49.5)

Uh-oh. David's price seems to be dropping. Maybe it will rally at the end of the day, like the stock market. Let's see offer number three:

DP+3rd Rounder (6.80)=TC+2nd Rounder (7.30)+9th Rounder (4.57)

DP=8.34+7.30+4.57-6.80

David Price's perceived value: 13.41 (roughly equivalent to an ADP of 74.6)

So, in three short hours, David Price dropped 28 slots in value. That's a pretty scary trend. Maybe I should unload him to the next manager who offers me an untested pitcher on a mediocre ball club whose K/9 rate is only 4.53 higher than mine is. Maybe not.

David Price's real ADP? About 82.95, which isn't the point and still doesn't make any of these offers particularly good deals.

Ask Not For Whom The George Bell Tolls

Wow. I have been invited to be a contributor to my favorite Major League Baseball blog! This is a major moment in my week-old blogging career. Unfortunately, my addition to the staff means that this blog's number of non-contributing followers has just been reduced by 100%. But that's okay, baseball season hasn't even started yet...

I read L A Keyes's post yesterday and saw our illustrious founder's proclamation that this blog was going to expand in all sorts of new directions. We will be focusing on MLB, Sox and Fantasy activities. It's very exciting news.

So, you can call me JMR. I'm not usually able to catch the 75% of Sox games that L A does, but my percentage should improve dramatically this season due to changes in my day job hours. But since I want to be able to bring some kind of unique voice to this blog, I was thinking that I would carve out my own niche here. So, because I know that I have an advantage over L A in this area, I will be including information about this year's baseball video games. Primarily, I will be focusing on the Xbox 360's version of MLB 2k10, but I imagine that I'll be able to get a hands-on look at other games as well. Additionally, you can expect to see many articles/blurbs talking about classic Red Sox players from the eighties, like Jody Reed. Trust me, I'll find a way to work Randy Kutcher into at least ten posts this season.

Pitchers and catchers report to camp on February 18th, which will be a wondrous gift to this baseball fan on the last birthday that he plans to celebrate. We'll see you then.