Tag: Fun

Those Little Moments

“…call it fate, call it luck, call it karma…” says Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman in the 1984 classic, Ghostbusters.

On July 25th, 2015, myself and two fellow diehard Cubs fan friends made the drive from our suburban town of Joliet to Wrigley Field for the Cubs/Phillies game. We didn’t anticipate anything special that day, just a few friends attending a ballgame like we’d all done so many times before. Little did we know that we would witness history.

It was a steamy summer Saturday and we arrived, customarily, well ahead of the 3pm first pitch to visit a few local establishments and take in the electric gameday atmosphere of Wrigleyville. On the way into the ballpark, I casually said to my friend Bill “you know what? I’m gonna do something today I haven’t done since I was about 10 years old.”

“Keep score?” Bill asked, reading my mind.

“Keep score.” I replied.

“Me too, that’s a great idea actually” he says, and we both proceeded to buy scorecards before entering the friendly confines.

We then witnessed Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels hurl a no-hitter against our beloved Cubs, cruising to a 5-0 win. It was about the only time I remember being satisfied with a loss, what with seeing a rare piece of baseball history in person. Now of course, deciding to keep score at the last second had nothing to do with the gem Hamels would toss, but it sure makes for an interesting coincidence. Why we both decided to keep a scorecard on that particular day, not for countless games prior, and not since, is worthy of a head scratch or two.

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Just another slice of the magic of baseball.

Top 10 Nintendo Baseball Games

Figured I’d get the ball rolling on this blog with an updated version of an old post on my other site. Without furtuer adieu: The 10 greatest baseball games to ever grace the old NES:

10. Baseball 

One of the launch titles for the NES in 1985, this game couldn’t be simpler. A feature-less game with a handful of nondescript teams to choose from and no rosters or seasons, but a pretty fun title overall. It hasn’t quite stood the test of time like the others, but this is still a good nostalgic trip.

9. Tecmo Baseball

Everyone knows Tecmo is famous for Tecmo Bowl and Tecmo Super Bowl, (and to some extent,Tecmo World Wrestling), but they made a pretty decent baseball game too. Graphics were above average, aside from the clown shoes the players seemed to wear. The music was a bit annoying but the gameplay itself was decent. This is a fair entry.

8. Major League Baseball

The first NES game to be licensed by MLB and thus feature every team from 1987 was nice to have. Though only jersey numbers, not player names, were present, it could be a little confusing without having an actual roster handy determining who was who. Gameplay wasn’t the greatest, but it was more than serviceable and surely a worthy entry to this list.

7. Little League Baseball

SNK delivers a solid title here. As a little leaguer myself at the time of release, this was a neat game, especially with the featured team from Illinois, my home state. As a kid, it was a pleasant thought to pretend that I was “in” the game. Nothing too fancy here, just a basic, enjoyable game.

6. Baseball Simulator 1,000

Now this game is just a riot. Lots of features, such as season mode, the ability to create players/teams, and of course, the superpowers. Can you imagine a game where the pitcher throws 190mph fastballs? Where the ball explodes when the fielder catches it? What about if the hitter winds up Tazmanian Devil-style before swinging to generate a ton of extra power? Yep, you can do all that and more here. One of the stadiums is even in outer space. Sounds ridiculous, but that was the point of this gem. And it’s a lot of fun to play.

5. Bases Loaded

Good stuff here from Jaleco. Featuring 12 fictional teams & players (we used to pretend they were minor league clubs) this was the first game to have the TV-style viewpoint and the ability to elevate your swing. Another fun twist was that one player on each team could charge the mound and start a brawl when hit by a pitch. Plus, gracing our presence in this game is a character by the name of Paste, arguably the greatest 8-bit pixelated baseball player, ever. A solid game overall.

4. RBI Baseball 3

Tengen comes in at #4 with the first of 3 entries. Following where RBI 2 left off, this game features not only every team and player from the 1990 season, but also every division winner from 1983-1989 for a nice touch. Graphics & gameplay were as smooth as ever. If there was a way to make RBI 2 better, this was it.

3. Baseball Stars

Pure awesomeness here. One of the first NES baseball games with data backup, which allowed you to create entire teams, hire and fire players, and even customize leagues. Hours upon hours were spent winning games and earning money to power up your roster, as everyone wanted to beat the feared American Dreams, a team made up of real-life legends of baseball. (Names were non-definitive as there was no player license for the game.) Gameplay was smooth too, and your outfielders could even climb the fence (and fall over it) to rob home runs. This game kicks ass.

2. RBI Baseball 2

With their second entry in this list, Tengen delivers RBI 2, one of the best baseball sequels ever made. As if having every MLB team and player from ’89 wasn’t enough, the great improvement in graphics, gameplay (you can now jump and dive with your defenders), and even measuring home run distances sure round things off. Oh, and this was also the first game to feature instant replay, which at the time was an amazing thing to behold in a video game.

1. RBI Baseball

It should be no surprise this classic, again from Tengen, comes in at #1. A small & simple game featuring the playoff teams from 1986 plus the 1987 All-Star teams, this one delivers arcade-style fun (the arcade version of this game was tremendous), silly graphics and music, and an overall blast of a game to play. A true classic that is just as fun now as it was nearly 30 years ago.

Honorable Mentions: Legends of the Diamond, Baseball Stars 2, Bases Loaded 2, Bad News Baseball.