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| The Start Menu - Glorious |
Perhaps
the greatest baseball video game of all time was RBI Baseball, created by
Tengen and released in 1987 for the Nintendo Entertainment system. If you have a few hours to waste, why don't you go play a few games and party like it's 1989. The game features 10 teams – two All-Star teams
and 8 Major League Baseball teams. With the Hall of Fame vote coming out yesterday,
and the ongoing discussions about it that have been floating around the web, I
got to thinking that a lot of the “debate” about players from that era could be
resolved by looking at how useful they were in that game. So, let’s take them
case-by-case, alphabetically.
Roger
Clemens, Boston
Clemens
is a beast in this game, with one of the best fastballs and movement. When you
then recognize that he kept being this good for a couple decades, it is an
absolute travesty that he was shut out of the real-life Hall of Fame yesterday. Of course, they kept him out on the character clause, because he was such a colossal asshole (having affairs with 15-year-olds is not the fastest path to having a grammar school named after you). Either that or the voters thought that his use of greenies* helped him too much on the field.
(Oh wait, that's why they kept Hank Aaron out. Ooops, I'm all confused with which drugs are acceptable and which aren't. Ahem...moving on....)
Julio
Franco, American League All-Stars
Franco
is a nice little player off the bench for the AL All-Stars. He hits for average
with good speed, but you would only use him if you needed to pinch hit for a
pitcher and you had already used McGwire, Seitzer and Molitor. No wonder his
real-life Hall of Fame support is poor. I have a weak spot for him, though, as
the best player on some of those awful Indians teams I rooted for as a kid
growing up in Cleveland. His batting stance is unforgettable, and completely
ignored in the video game. Sigh.
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| Franco's rookie year with the Indians was mired by his insistence on having a snake wrapped around his left arm at all times. |
Mark
McGwire, American League All-Stars
McGwire
is a god in this game, hitting for average and with more power than anyone
else. His speed is pretty good too. Playing this game, you would think he was
one of the greatest players of all time. I think his real-life Hall of Fame
case is generally understated – he is portrayed as a one-trick pony who could
only hit homers. It’s not really true, as the guy had an amazing batting
eye…and he was better at that one trick than anyone else who has ever played.
Jack
Morris, Detroit
Perhaps
the most controversial of actual candidates, Morris’ advocates like to point
out that he started more Opening Day games than anyone else. While that sounds
good, it would be nice if his actual body of work could be used to support his
case. But the real question here is about how useful Morris was in RBI
Baseball. Already, things don’t look good for Morris when you go to select him,
as he is the #2 starter. His pitches are pedestrian –
not bad, but certainly not amazing. It’s clear to me that Morris is not a
superstar, and perhaps not even a top 10 pitcher in RBI Baseball. Many of the
pitchers I would rank higher than Morris in the video game are not in the Hall
of Fame, so I think this seals the deal of Morris’ real-life candidacy.
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| Morris is the #2 starter on a team known primarily for its offense. Ergo, he stinks. |
Dale
Murphy, National League All-Stars
Murphy
is a poor man’s McGwire in this game, hitting for slightly less average and
power, but still being a mega-talent. Murphy’s problem in real life was that
his career outside his amazing peak was weak by Hall of Fame standards, but RBI
Baseball does a nice job representing how awesome Murphy was in his awesome
years.
Tim
Raines, National League All-Stars
Raines
leads off for the NL All-Stars and is clearly one of their best players. He has
an amazing combination of good power and amazing speed. Raines is one of the
best players in the video game, so he clearly belongs in the Hall of Fame. His
low levels of support in the voting are mind-boggling.
Alan
Trammell, Detroit
Trammell
leads off for the Tigers and is the best shortstop in the game. That is saying
something when you consider that the game includes Hall of Famers Ozzie Smith
and Cal Ripken. Smith isn’t much of a player, with no power yet good speed.
Trammell has power that is similar to Ripken’s, but a huge advantage in speed
and batting average (.343 vs .289). Trammell is getting shafted in real life by
a short-sighted electorate – perhaps the voters should be made to play a few
games of RBI Baseball and reconsider how awesome Trammell was in his heyday.
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| Frank Viola could expect to see his sparkling 2.90 ERA rise if stats ever changed in this game. |
Some
other players I wanted to mention:
Wade
Boggs, Boston
Jack
Clark, St. Louis Cardinals
Doc
Gooden, NY Mets
Reggie
Jackson, California
Kirby
Puckett, Minnesota
Jim
Rice, Boston
Nolan
Ryan, Houston
Daryl
Strawberry, NY Mets
Boggs
and Rice are mediocre in the game for the Red Sox. Boggs’ high average isn’t
very useful with minimal power, and Rice’s power is meh. As this is one of
Rice’s good years, it’s still a head-scratcher that they let him into the Hall
of Fame…Jack Clark and Reggie Jackson are studs in this game – frightening
power….Doc Gooden and Daryl Strawberry are both amazing and the game does a
nice job of showing what awesome talents they were before they let their demons
overcome them. The Mets of the 90’s could have been so much different…Unlike
Rice, Puckett holds up nicely in this game. His power production is not great,
but he makes up for it with great speed….Ryan kinda sucks, with a great
fastball but no movement, making him pretty easy to hit. I think it nicely
mirrors how he was in real life - a bulldog of a pitcher, but not a superlative
one.
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