MLBPA Baseball

MLBPA Baseball

Release Date	North America: March 1994
Platforms	Super Nintendo, Genesis, Game Gear
Developer	High Score Productions, Visual Concepts (SNES), Beam Software (Game Gear)
Publisher	EA Sports
Team Names	City names only
Player Names	Real MLB players

MLBPA Baseball is a 16-bit baseball game released in 1994 for the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, with a handheld version for the Sega Game Gear coming out in 1995. The Genesis version was developed by High Score Productions, the company responsible for most of the EA Sports catalog from 1993 to 1997, including the Madden NFL series. The SNES version was developed by High Score Productions alongside Visual Concepts, the studio that would later develop the various 2K sports titles.

Coconuts Japan adapted the game for release in Japan a year later as Fighting Baseball, releasing in August 1995. This version no longer held the license to use real MLB player names, so a fascinating and hilarious roster of fake names was used instead.

Description

The game’s U.S. title refers to the Major League Baseball Players Association, the players’ union in MLB. It might seem a little funny to name your video game after a union, but licensing is hugely important in sports games. And this title makes it clear to the educated buyer that MLBPA Baseball has the real MLB players in the game.

Compare this to another popular baseball game released the same year on SNES, Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball. In Ken Griffey, the only real player name on the rosters is Ken Griffey Jr., with every other player named after random celebrities or fictional characters with suspiciously similar stats and (usually) skin color to the real MLB players at their position on their team.

However, MLBPA Baseball does not have an MLB license. So, while you can hit with Frank Thomas, you’d be playing as “Chicago A,” (A as in American League) not the Chicago White Sox. Ken Griffey had the MLB license, so you’ll see the real MLB team names and logos in that game, but not in MLBPA Baseball. It was rare for any baseball game to have both the MLB and MLBPA licenses until years after 1994.

Roster

The U.S. versions of the game uses real rosters, so unfortunately no Bobson Dugnutt. This game’s rosters reflect the end of the 1993 season. For instance, Rickey Henderson plays for Toronto like he did in the second half of ’93, not Oakland like he did in the first half of ’93 or again in ’94.

Little Details

• The game won’t recognize a hit where a runner was thrown out trying to stretch out a double, or similar situations. It will be scored as if it were a normal out.
• The Tomahawk Chop music will play occasionally as Atlanta batters come to the plate.
• The Sega Genesis version includes very compressed video cinematics that play on the scoreboard after big moments like home runs.