MLB 2K10 - a love letter...Part III - Effectively_wild's Blog

Effectively_wild's Blog

MLB 2K10 - a love letter...Part III

Posted on September 10, 2022 at 08:51 AM.

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I'll begin Part III with a digression...and that is a brief story of how I became an Os fan.
It's a conundrum that fans of a sport that is not native to their country have...and that conundrum is who to support in whatever given sport it is, if you have no pre-existing loyalty to a particular city, state or even part of the country.
This is the exact situation that I faced.
Who do I support?
Well the answer was quite straight forward in my case.
Before I was into baseball, one of my favourite bands lead guitarist was wearing an Orioles tee. I loved the design and colours. I knew the Orioles weren't a hockey team, nor a basketball team and they also weren't a football team, so at the time I figured they were a baseball team.
I was right.
So one of the first things I did on that day in May 2010 was jump on MLB.com and choose a team to support and dedicated my life to.
I had the Orioles in mind already, based on the tee I saw years prior, so the first team I clicked on were the Orioles.
...
I was sold.
The teams recent record didn't look great.
...
I didn't care. This was MY team and I would be with them through sickness and in health.

Back to MLB 2K10.
After I press start and sign in to the 2K servers, I can get to the familiar menu.
Now I know people will disagree but I maintain that the menu system from 2K games in 2K10 are the best of any game. Ever. Each to their own.
The first thing I do is go through the rosters. The Os are better than expected but "the pitching needs some work". That's a phrase I'll be saying for a decade.

After browsing the rosters and going through all the settings, it's time to get into a game.

The date was 13/05/10 and my first ever game of was at Camden Yards against the Mariners. (You always remember your first).
Kevin Millwood on the mound.
At that particular time I wasn't greatly nuanced in pitching strategy, in how to set up batters or even what certain pitches were but I was learning quickly by studying the real games I was watching/what I was reading and I was soaking it all up like a sponge. I love studying sport. Baseball is by far my favourite subject.
When I started with Millie on that day however, I had Matty W behind the plate, coaching me along with his suggestions. He 'knew' things that I didn't.
So I start to use his suggestions. I pick my pitch and follow his advice as to where to locate it.
What happens next is still THE BEST pitching mechanic to this very day. The Show still doesn't compare.
The whole pitching motion feature of 2K feels so natural. It feels right. It feels tangible...I can see the effect my motions are having on the pitch.
Like I say, these mechanics are still in my humble opinion better than anything The Show has put out (just saying).

I don't remember how the game went but what I do remember feeling is pure happiness and excitement about having this game to play alongside watching this amazing sport.
Over a decade later, I'm still playing, watching, reading about, listening to and loving. I suppose I'm also now writing about it as well.

In Part IV I'll detail some basic early impressions I had on the hitting and I'll tell you about the first home run I remember hitting. See if you can guess who it was with.