It’s hard to say really what’s best about this photo. First of all, let me set the scene. It’s a Marlins game, sometime between 1993 and now. Not many folks showed up.

With the scene sufficiently set, let’s turn our eyes to what exactly makes the picture great. The black cat no doubt is the focal point. No word yet on if he was tased or tazed or tasered, or however you spell it, but I’m guessing not. Chances are, the right fielder was late in coming out for the top of the inning, and the impressionable youngster was just trying to lend a hand to the homestanding Fish. What a trooper.

The face of the young boy is noteworthy, though I can’t take my eyes off his plunging neckline. Who lets their kid out of the house in such an outfit? (Columnist note: Probably the same ones who let him sit at a Marlins game unattended in the front row.)

The man in the middle acts unimpressed; he’s a Marlins season ticket holder. NOTHING impresses him anymore. Besides, if this cat is any good, he’ll be dealt to the American League in six years for a fishing license and a couple of lures.

That brings us to the woman on the right. Yep, she’s the one that makes the photo. It’s hard to tell if  possible she’s having a laugh, throwing a piece of popcorn down the old hatch, or having a coronary, but one thing about photography that is great is that it doesn’t matter. The look on her face is hilarious.

And for that, ma’am, we here at NotGraphs salute you.

(Props to MLB’s Facebook page for the photo)

One fine day I got a notion that reviewing baseball video games – in an effort to find the best ones of all time – might be a cool idea. After showing one to Mr. Cistulli, he agreed. Thus today I bring you the first in a series of baseball video game reviews, with notes to help dictate the future form.

Vitals:
Game: Triple Play 2002
Platform: Playstation 2
Developer: EA Sports
Modes: Single Game, Season, Playoffs, and Home Run Derby
Cool Feature: DVD Extras (Luis Gonzalez motion capture)

Columnist Note:
For games that have video footage online, a video would go here.

Categories
Realism: 3/10.
Graphics: 7/10.
Difficulty: 7/10.
Details: 6/10.
Playability: 5/10.
Intangibles: 35/50.          
Total Score: 63/100 (D)

For this first review, let me break down each of the categories a little bit. For realism, I like to think in terms of “could this be a way a game would reasonably play out?” For graphics, it’s definitely relative to the time the game was put out. Difficulty is pretty self-explanatory; is the game extraordinarily easy or hard, or somewhere in between? For playability, I like to think of it as the ‘play again’ factor; would you play it over and over again? For me, for intangibles it was really to get it on a scale of 100, and to help to try quantify some ‘feel’ to the game (and also to help get a Jeterian element into the mix).

To set a few ground rules:
Game will be played with teams of Mr. Warne’s choosing.
Game will be played on a medium skill level.
Game is played in exhibition or single game mode.
No player movement allowed (if applicable).
No part of the game will be simulated.
Game can not be restarted, except in instance of system freeze.
If my wife asks, I am working.

With all these rules considered, if any reader suggests one that should be added, it shall be considered.

Read the rest of this entry »