Ken Griffey, Jr. Presents Major League Baseball

In my top five baseball video games of all time, Ken Griffey, Jr. Presents Major League Baseball ranks second.

1. RBI Baseball
2. Ken Griffey, Jr. Presents Major League Baseball
3. Major League Baseball 2K8
4. Mario Superstar Baseball
5. Triple Play Baseball 2001

Gametrailers.com recently did a Video Game Vault segment on my favorite baseball video game on the Super Nintendo.

My favorite parts of the game were the animation sequences of the batters when striking out. Your batter would hang his head in shame in the batter's box, break his bat over his leg, or turn toward the TV screen (where the umpire would be) and shout "OH, COME ON!"

The game had a unique manager mode in which you let the computer control all of your moves on offense or defense, but you as manager would give instructions to bunt, pitch out, steal, etc. After playing one game that way, I switched it back to the regular mode after three innings.

With no Major League Baseball Players Association license, Griffey was the only real player in the game. All of the remaining names, of course, were made up. What I did not realize, though, was that each team had a theme.

The Phillies names paid homage to Philadelphia celebrities and historical figures. Darren Daulton was replaced with R. Balboa. Dave Hollins was named A. Creed. Another player was named L. Bell.

The Red Sox were given names from the classic TV show Cheers.

The Mariners, except for Griffey, consisted of names from the Nintendo of America. Nintendo is based in Redmond, Washington, and has a majority ownership in the Mariners.

Ken Griffey, Jr. was unfairly awesome in the game. You could not beat him in a home run derby to save your life.

There was a sequel later released under the title Ken Griffey, Jr.'s Winning Run for the SNES, but that version failed to live up to the greatness of the first game. All it offered were some updated graphics and some new music. Still no players' license, so Griffey was the only real player.

Somewhere out there in blogger-land, a dedicated gamer shares his Ken Griffey, Jr. Presents MLB experience for the love of the game. If you are interested, check out Ken Griffey, Jr. Presents MLB Fan Blog.