Baseball game to start with Xbox for 2 innings, then game for final 7 innings...
Could this be for real?
Comments?
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Posted on Tue, Jun. 21, 2005
Old ballgame has newfangled twist
Here’s one for the record books.
The first two innings of the July 16th game between the Kansas City T-Bones and the Schaumburg Flyers will be played virtually.
Equipped with Microsoft Xbox game controllers instead of baseball gloves and bats, two video gamers will climb into recliner chairs around home plate at CommunityAmerica Ballpark and slug it out on the park’s 16- by 24-foot video screen.
Their scores from playing two innings of MVP Baseball 2005 on an Xbox will stand when the T-Bones and Flyers take the field to finish the last seven innings of the game.
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xbox
It is real, and it's terrible. I can't believe the league would let them do this, and I can't believe that the fans or players would, either.
What I hope happens
From the article: "'There's never been anything like it in baseball,' said Bryan Stoffel, sales manager at CompUSA's Overland Park store."
Didn't anyone stop themselves and ask why there's never been anything like it in baseball?
Here's what I hope happens: One of the players is so much better than the other that the bad player can't get the good player out. So the good player scores about 57 runs (preferably mostly on walks, errors, and wild pitches) in those two innings, which lasts 3 hours, by which time all the fans have gone home.
I hope
I hope the league has the authority to say, "No. Not going to happen." And then they use that authority.
Or barring that, the players say, "We're not playing if we're forced to be part of this farce." And then they boycott the game.
Or, barring that, the other teams in the league realize that their image suffers from their association with these fools, and say, "We're not playing either of these teams anymore." And then they refuse to play KC or Schaumberg.
And if none of those happen, the Northern League needs to be dissolved. What's the point of having a pro league if you can't even take minimal steps to guarantee the fundamental integrity of on-field competition?
Northen League cracks down
Good news, the Northern League has nixed this promo. Good to see the League commissioner draw a firm line:
So, good for the Northern League. They did the right thing.
No laminated or experimental bats shall be used in a pro game...
It seems to me that it would be breaking this rule since the bat would be digital instead of wood.
1.10
(a) The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2 3/4 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood. NOTE: No laminated or experimental bats shall be used in a professional game (either championship season or exhibition games) until the manufacturer has secured approval from the Rules Committee of his design and methods of manufacture.
Source:
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/offici...
Photos from a Cubs game at Wrigley
http://pages.prodigy.net/chicagocubs
rules
Those are MLB rules, though. In theory, the Northern League could set whatever rules they want.