Sports: My Love/Hate Relationship With MLB The Show

If you're an avid CGI Fridays reader, you might know that I write about more than just movies here. So thank you mom for being that one person. You're the best.

One of my other features (or set pieces as I like to call them on this movie themed blog) is my all-time Video Game Rankings, which you can access through this super convenient hyperlink.

As a young gamer, I pretty much exclusively played sports games. Depending on the time of year, it was NBA Live, Madden, or MVP Baseball which is not only my top sports game, but the number one video game on my list.

MVP Baseball truly was a complete package. The gameplay was authentic, the graphics were advanced for the early 2000s, and the customization was deeper than the 27 Yankees. Speaking of, say you wanted to play with the legendary Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig, you absolutely could by unlocking them with MVP points.

The modern gamer has been conditioned to unlocking bonus items in all games. Usually this comes with some sort of monetization which exists ON TOP of the game's base price. These could be pre-order bonuses, in-app purchases, pay-to-win methods or any other type of... ugh... microtransactions.

That one word, that sketchy business practice has really hurt the gaming industry, particularly sports games which have all gone off the deep end to appease impatient gamers who only have to input a credit card number and they can unlock anything and everything they want.

Having trouble progressing? Spend your way forward. Need a 99 overall player? Buy him. Want those shiny brand new cleats? Give me your three digit security code. Need a starting point guard? Type in your mother's maiden name. Want to skip a level? Tell me the name of your first pet.

MLB The Show fell victim to these manipulative schemes sometime around 2016, on the heels of NBA 2K and Madden who committed the same sins: sacrificing the love, care, and authenticity that made their games so popular for cheap commercialism that leaves the sports loving gamer behind and paves the way for the pay-to-win gamer to buy their way to the top.

This is where I will start with what I LOVE and what I HATE about MLB The Show, the only sports game I'm currently playing.

My MLB The Show 2020 World Series Champion Cleveland ~~Indians~~

I LOVE MLB The Show's Gameplay

Ultimately, a game should be judged by how fun it is to play. There are exceptions (looking at you The Last of Us Part II) but sports games sink or swim on their playability. In the case of MLB The Show, it's a blast to play. Where I may take issue with other parts of the game inexplicably regressing over time, this franchise is still an enjoyable experience nearly 20 years after its debut in 2006.

I HATE MLB The Show's Diamond Dynasty Game Mode

This is where those aforementioned (*gag*) microtransactions infected The Show, just as it did with Madden and NBA 2K. Each title has a mode like Diamond Dynasty, which is essentially a card-collecting game that moves anywhere from slow to sluggish unless you pony up some real money to quickly build a team of superstars. Kids and just impatient people in general (so mostly everyone) don't want to take the time to build a roster, they want 95+ overall studs all over the field AND THEY WANT IT NOW! (And by spending loads of cash to do so, they are pulling a reverse JG Wentworth.) Madden's version of this mode, Madden Ultimate Team, made EA Sports $1.62 BILLION DOLLARS in 2021. Meanwhile, their franchise and career modes are an embarrassing shell of themselves.

I LOVE MLB The Show's Graphics

I've always been impressed with MLB The Show's graphics. The game is one of PlayStation's flagship titles and is heavily featured in Sony's prized collection of best sellers. It's a beautiful game and the jump to PS5 has made it look even better.

I HATE MLB The Show's Computer AI

Any avid MLB The Show player, especially my fellow internet peoples on the Operation Sports forums, will tell you that no matter how fun The Show is, the artificial intelligence of the computer is terrible and hasn't gotten better in a long time. I try to manage the rosters and lineups of all 30 teams because ~~I have no life~~ I get a big thrill out of being a general manager and building rosters. It takes a lot of time but that's what music and Family Guy reruns are for. If left to the computer, you will see the most bogus lineups, inept bullpen usage and overall chaos will ensue on each and every organizational depth chart. 18-year olds fresh out of high school will make the big leagues outright, the Philadelphia Phillies will bat Rhys Hoskins at the bottom of the order and Jaime Barria will close for the Los Angeles Angeles, just to name a few recent examples I've seen.

My MLB The Show 2018 National League Champion Miami Marlins

I LOVED MLB The Show's Year to Year Saves/Sounds of the Show

That's right. Loved. With a D. Two features that no longer exist, like many creative additions to my choice mode of franchise that have become relics lost in the past. (More on that at the end.) In sports games, you put hours and hours into a game each year. Carrying your progress over to the next year allowed you to buy the new one for the technological advancements but keep your rosters, players, seasons and all other data from the prior year. You can't do this anymore and ironically this is the main reason I still play MLB The Show 22 and haven't purchased 23.

Sounds of the Show is also gone, which allowed you to upload your own music for menus and also create playlists of walk-ups, stadium music, in-game chants and made the gameplay experience as immersive as it had ever been. Both of these features are gone, reduced to atoms, and the cynical part of me ~~thinks~~ knows it was costing the developer money so they axed them.

I HATE MLB The Show's Ratings System

When MLB The Show unveiled their player ratings for 2023, Washington Nationals 2022 first round draft pick Elijah Green received a healthy 72 rating. That's good for fourth overall in the entire Nationals organization. Yes, the Nationals are bad, but Elijah Green had played as many professional games above ROOKIE BALL as you and me. As of writing this, he's in Low-A and hitting .218. I'm not trying to pick on him, but come on that's ridiculous. This clip also notes that Boston Red Sox superstar Rafael Devers got the same score as Nationals journeyman Joey Meneses. There are 18-year olds with better overalls than some MLB All-Stars. This is unacceptable and whomever creates ratings for The Show should be tried for war crimes and also owe me a lot of hours of my life back for editing these inaccurate rosters.

I LOVE MLB The Show's Ambience

Part of a video game or any media is creating a lifelike environment that the consumer can relate to. It's why Batman and Spider-Man are so popular; one is just a guy and one is a teenager (that always gets played by guys in their 20s). They are fictional characters but the allure of their possibility drives their success. It's no coincidence the Batman: Arkham's form my favorite series ever. MLB The Show captures the spirit and setting of a baseball game, from its picturesque and exquisitely detailed ballparks to the beautiful lighting and shadows to the romantic (and sometimes "perfect perfect") crack of the bat.

I HATE MLB The Show's Presentation

I saved this one for almost last because I have a lot to say...

While The Show looks and feels great, an area that this game has struggled with for almost its entire existence is game presentation. This is a common flaw in modern sports video games, who see putting money into their broadcast packages as needless investments. The 2K games have always had a leg up on the competition here, dating back to their iconic NFL 2K Chris Berman halftime shows. Even the MLB 2K games, while not as popular as MVP Baseball and The Show, boasted the Hall of Fame broadcast booth of Jon Miller and the late great Joe Morgan until 2009.

Commentary has been a huge disservice to The Show for a long time now. Matt Vasgersian is by all means an awesome play-by-play guy... in real life. In the game, he was uncharacteristically lifeless and relentlessly repetitive. I was in the minority of the Harold Reynolds fan club, but he's just one name in a long line of underwhelming efforts from industry names such as Rex Hudler, Dan Campbell, Eric Karros, Steve Lyons, Dan Plesac and Mark DeRosa. The last three iterations of The Show went with a brand new duo of John "Boog" Sciambi and Chris Singleton. It's... fine. But nothing special at all.

Presentation overall is still largely the same basic animations, cuts and info overlays. Every now and then you'll get a nice new stat or info bit about a player, but I've found many times they are wrong. (Max Fried was not drafted by the Atlanta Braves and the San Francisco Giants never traded for Brandon Belt, for example.) The Show 19 added Heidi Watney as a field reporter, a good thought with thoughtless execution and all anyone remembers is you had to hold X for what felt like forever to skip her boring reports.

I LOVE/HATE MLB The Show's Franchise Mode

Last and least, I love that MLB The Show still has a franchise mode. It's the boomer mode that is holding on for dear life, with almost nothing in the way of innovation over the last several years. If not for the absolutely disastrous state of Madden's franchise mode, I think more attention would shine on how little The Show cares about the mode that defined sports games in the 2000s. Only because I painstakingly control all 30 teams (minus useless scouting which I let the useless CPU handle) is the mode enjoyable for me. Otherwise, it's a train wreck. Ratings are off. Salaries are broken. Player morale should exist but was so terribly implemented that the only good thing about it is they got rid of it. Budgets are messed up, sponsors are useless and trade logic is a nightmare.

Remember in MVP Baseball how you truly felt like a team owner? Managing the club's finances, running promotions to boost ticket sales, partnering with local TV and radio stations, adding new merchandise to the team store to drive up attendance, putting up billboards for your team across the city, creating a stadium, having playable Single A rosters... the features were endless. I lost sleep on many a nights wondering if I should price hot dogs at $3 or $4. (A laughable number in 2023.) That's what makes a franchise mode a franchise mode. It's gone. All of it. And don't get me started on March to October AKA "Diet Franchise Mode."

My favorite player Hunter Pence suiting up for the Texas Rangers in MLB The Show 16

Conclusion/Final Verdict/Decree/My Findings/Closing Time/Last Thoughts/Ending

MLB The Show is no longer the bonafide home run it once was, but it's still one of my favorite games and my favorite sports game on the market. While many features have been benched for lesser talent and the game feels like its spinnings its wheels when it comes to evolution, franchise mode, presentation, true simulation baseball and the epic soundtracks of the late 2000s and early 2010s, it's still a blast to play and an authentic experience for a baseball lifer.

It's not a home run, but it's definitely not a strikeout or an error. It's not a rollover groundout or flyout to left. It's not perfect and perhaps not what it used to be, but it's still one of my favorite video game experiences out there.

It's a double in the gap and a two-handed pointing salute to your boys in the dugout.