A WHOLE NEW SEASON

Luis was full of hope when he wrote the first draft of this piece

There is nothing like the crack of the bat, or the pop of a glove to get you excited for the sports journey you are about to embark on. With fans being allowed back into stadiums nationwide, the typical murmur of crowd activity has returned and I think the MLB season will be one of the most exciting in years.

The dawn of a new Major League Baseball season is always ripe with hope and potential. Everyone starts with a 0-0 record, and for a day everyone is tied for fi rst place. It also gives you the fi rst real look (c’mon Spring Training doesn’t count) at the new faces in new places (Lindor with the Mets, Bauer in LA, Arenado in St. Louis) and if they will live up to their hype.

While the season hasn’t started very well for my beloved Yankees (their 5-9 record has them tied for last place in the American League), it’s hard to imagine them being this putrid offensively for the whole season. While the early returns on Kluber and Taillon have not been great, Gerrit Cole continues to dominate like a true ace. I still fully expect the Yankees to win the AL East and make a solid run in the playoffs. The return of Zach Britton and Luis Severino will be sure to bolster the staff. And, while I don’t think they are better than the Dodgers (an MLB best 13-2), I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Yanks face them in the World Series.

With the launch of a new baseball season comes the launch of the new edition of MLB The Show. The game in its early access launch weekend has not disappointed. The first edition to truly utilize the power and capacity of the PS5. Its runs on higher frame rate allowing more clarity and definition. The gameplay path has been streamlined to provide an easier jumping on point for the brand new XBox users (up to 18 million potential new users). The biggest new feature if stadium creator which will excite fans of sandbox-type games like Minecraft and Disney Infinity.

I’m roughly 72 hours into the new game and absolutely loving it. The plethora of legends available at launch have me using players like Roberto Clemente, Kirby Puckett, Hank Aaron, and Pedro Martinez for the first time ever. This game is an absolute homerun.

If you’re a fan of MLB The Show, you must do yourself a favor and listen to the Inside the Show podcast. Leading content creators Koogs and Scuffy McGee go through the ins and outs of the game as well as what to expect from upcoming content drops. They talk to other content creators as well as chatting up MLB players. They even name dropped some of my concept cards a few months back. During the Show21 season, ITS will be go to place for tips and predictions.

Update: The first day XBox users joined the game, the servers crashed, but that’s not really a surprise. Meanwhile, Mets radio was kind of funny to listen to when they were lamenting the Mets blowing another win Jacob deGrom set up, but now Mets radio can’t stop saying it’s the worst Yankees start in 24 years.

Kal works on his stadium

Madeline Vega

MONTREAL STADIUM

Kal explains his creation

Our team in The Show is Montreal because there’s no Metropolis. Think of us as the Metropolis Meteors. I started building the stadium a few days ago. The UFOs go with space and meteors. The only thing I have left to do is lower the stands and fill in gaps visible in the buildings you can see from home plate.

I like building the stadium. It’s like Disney Infinity in that you scroll through different aspects—stands, concessions, lighting rigs, scoreboard options, landscaping (mountains, desert, beach, cityscape), parking, buildings for the background—and there’s limited memory. There are tons of different UFO variations. I have one that’s a giant rotating mothership, hovering over the parking lot. Another is one that is abducting the letters in Meteors. Two more of a third kind are just landed UFOs.

There are requirements to be playable online. We used the stadium this morning. Right now the players run into a blank wall instead of the dugout, but I added the scoreboard and Stand Up to Cancer signs. It’s almost done.

Another angle on Kal's stadium

Madeline Vega