Old-Heads Tournament Tonight
It is me against other geriatric gamers. I'm not going down without a fight.
Tonight, I’ll join 31 other MLB the Show senior citizens for the ShowZone’s Old Heads Tournament hosted by Robert Flores and yourboyCLE.
The event pits players over 30 years old in a one-and-done bracket of five-inning games on Hall of Fame difficulty. From what I know as of this writing, the setup is simple: God squad lineups. No custom stadiums. No Waldron. No Donaldson. No Johnson.
Listen closely as I say this: I’ve never wanted to win something more in my life.
I rarely talk about my own gameplay on this site because I’m not sure how much readers care.
I consider myself in that upper middle class of Show players who largely know what they’re doing but also lack the elite skills to reach the top of the pyramid. I’ve never made Top 50 (or really come close). I suck at Battle Royale. Legend scares me.
I’m good at online play but not great. I am 29-12 in Ranked Seasons, finishing last season in Championship Series. I used to make World Series regularly but last year was a rough one as I struggled to get much above 800. I’m delightfully above average.
However, since buying a monitor a couple of weeks ago, I’ve seen my play improve. I’m hitting better and scoring more runs. I’m seeing the ball well and
Now, there a good chance I will run into some 1200+ goon who puts me in my place. Last night I went into Ranked Seasons and proceeded to get my shit wrecked, so I’m not feeling great at the moment.
At the same time, I give myself a puncher’s chance to take home the crown. I have a solid lineup (I already got Babe Ruth) and about 400,000 stubs to improve my pitching staff for the tournament.
The only thing I know about my opponents is they are not a bunch of fast-twitch teenagers on their third Ghost Energy. I’m seeded 26 out of 32 and playing someone named DaKid in the first round.
My attempts to Google him turned up little as a handful of gamers use some form of that tag. I have no idea if the seeds were random or based on our online record. Either way, I’m going to play the underdog card.
What I do know about the others in the tournament is that they are most likely like me: middle-aged (I’m 42) family men who grew up on video games (I was born in 1981; RBI Baseball came out for the Nintendo in 1987). While we might now lack elite reaction time, we bring literally decades of video game baseball experience.
I mean, video game baseball looked like this when I first started playing.
So what’s my strategy? I’m going to be a pain in the ass.
I plan to work counts, foul pitches off, look for walks, and steal bases. I will not throw my opponent a strike until I have to. In other words, this shit is about to get sweaty.
The games start at 9 p.m. I’ll be coming straight from U10 travel softball practice (a hurdle my fellow parents can surely understand.) My one fear is fending off distractions at home. I usually play the Show alone late at night. It’s my time to zone out, listen to a podcast or audiobook, or ponder life. I see myself in the middle of a heated game and my wife deciding this is a great time to ask questions about our health care insurance.
Whatever happens, I’m thankful for the opportunity to compete. Watch RoFlo and yourboyCLE’s Twitch streams for game updates. Several other Twitch streams in the tournament will broadcast their games as well.
I don’t use Twitch. I have no idea how. It’s time for my Cinderella run to begin.
The Evolution of Video Game Baseball
Check out this first design that shows the evolution of video game baseball players from old-school RBI Baseball to today. If you are old like me, this shirt should resonate.