2012 MLB Cover Athlete Showdown

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Picking a cover athlete is important to the marketing of a video me. Marketing wise, Justin Verlander has stole the sow when it comes to baseball game marketing. While MLB 12 has the edge in the actual game. The question now is who is better on the field?

Verlander vs Gonzalez

2008 was Verlander’s worst season as a pro, having gone 11-17. Since then, he has dominated Adrian Gonzalez.

Verlander vs Bautista

Joey Bats hit 54 homers in 2010, so it was only a matter of time before he tee’d off on Verlander.

So Verlander gets the win on Gonzalez but loses to Baustista. Overall, you gotta give the win the Verlander not only for his stats but his marketability.

MLB Playoff Predictions

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Wild Card Play In Games

AL

Tampa Bay Rays vs Texas Rangers

Winner: Tampa Bay

NL

St. Louis Cardinals vs Atlanta Braves

Winner: Atlanta Braves

Division Series

AL

Tampa Bay Rays vs Detroit Tigers

Winner: Detroit Tigers

LA Angels vs New York Yankees

Winner: New York Yankees

NL

Atlanta Braves vs Arizona Diamondbacks

Winner: Arizona Diamondbacks

Milwaukee Brewers vs Philadelphia Phillies

Winner: Philadelphia Phillies

Championship Series

AL

Detroit Tigers vs New York Yankees

Winner: Detroit Tigers

NL

Arizona Diamondbacks vs Philadelphia Phillies

Winner: Philadelphia Phillies

World Series

Philadelphia Phillies vs Detroit Tigers

Winner: Detroit Tigers

Fantasy Baseball Trash League

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Tonight is the night of the draft for my Fantasy Baseball league. In that league we use pretty standard scoring procedures, but what I want to tell you about now is the Trash League that myself and Jeff Sherman created.

The point of the trash league is to pick good players that perform statistically awful. Scoring in the Trash League is pretty simple, you gain points by performing bad by striking out, hitting into double plays, making errors, losing your start or blowing a save etc. Continue reading →

UEFA Euro 2012 To Be Released As FIFA 12 DLC

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Unlike EA Sports’ UEFA Euro 2008 and 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa retail releases, they have now chosen to release the upcoming UEFA Euro 2012 as a downloadable add-on to FIFA 12.

Available starting April 24th, you will be able to purchase an add-on to FIFA 12 that will feature the 53 UEFA members. Along with that will be the 8 stadiums that will be used in Euro 2012. These will be decked out in full Euro 2012 regalia to bring you the authentic feeling of being at the game.

Aside from tournament mode, there is also an all new Expedition Mode, which seems similar to 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa‘s Captain Your Country.

The all-new Expedition Mode designed exclusively for UEFA EURO 2012 enables fans to build, manage and compete with a customized team against other European nations, crafting the perfect strategy for European domination. Fans will choose their favourite European player or FIFA Soccer 12 Virtual Pro to captain their customized team, win matches to earn better players from defeated nations, and then defeat the best nations to earn the best players in a campaign quest to defeat all 53 countries and complete the journey to conquer Europe.

I think this is pretty cool idea and it is deferentially something I will be picking up. I’m a little torn on the idea of making this an add-on to FIFA 12. One of the nice things about 2010 FIFA World Cup was that you could see the evolution of the game engine between FIFA 10 and FIFA 11. So it would be nice to see where the “impact engine” is heading for FIFA 13, but I can understand holding off until it is ready.

UEFA Euro 2012 add-on will be available in Europe and North America on April 24, and April 25th in the rest of the world for $19.99 on the PlayStation Network, 1800 MS Points and 2,500 FIFA Points on PC

Powerbag – Instant Messenger Review

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In Kanye West’s song Power, he said “No one man should have all that power”. After using Powerbag‘s Instant Messenger, it is obvious Kanye was singing about someone using a Powerbag.

If you have a smart phone or tablet you already know the fastest way to drain it’s battery is to play games on in it. Because of that, I’m sure you have a pocket (or pockets) dedicated to holding the multiple charging bricks and cables needed help you make it through the day. That all changed for me when I started using Powerbag’s Instant Messenger.  Continue reading →

MLB Predictions: American League

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West

  1. LA Angels – Take the #1 pitcher from the 2011 AL Champion and the #1 hitter from the 2011 NL Champion and put them on an already really good team. What do you get? The Angels. These guys are going to be pretty unstoppable this year. Weaver, Wilson, Haren are the best trio in baseball. With Morales coming back their offense is going to be even deeper, watch out for these guys.
  2. Texas Rangers – Darvish can cover what Wilson did last year, but what the Angels have is just going to be too much for them in the West. I’m really curious if they are going to move Hamilton at the break if they can’t get an extension together for him. *Wild Card Pick
  3. Seattle Mariners – They gave up what could potentially be a lot losing Pineda, but I think they got the good end of the deal. It looks like Montero is going to be  solid catcher for years to come. By years to come I mean until they move him to 1st.
  4. Oakland Athletics – The A’s continue their perpetual state of rebuilding after giving up Gio Gonzalez. At least with the Astros coming they won’t be the cellar dweller much longer.

Central

  1. Detroit Tigers – They blew away the division last year, and now they’ve added Prince Fielder. This is the easiest pick of all. Also, Verlander is nasty.
  2. Cleveland Indians – Good staff, good players, but nothing stands out about these guys. Their best player, Grady Sizemore, will most likely gone by the trade deadline.
  3. Chicago White Sox – Lost their ace, and Dunn put up one of the worst offensive seasons in history. Putting them 3rd just shows how bad the AL Central is after the Tigers.
  4. Minnesota Twins – While they have a veteran staff and a couple stars, injuries always seem to kill the Twins.  It’s really a toss up between them and the Royals for last.
  5. Kansas City Royals – Its gonna be another long year for the Royals, and while they have some good players, its not enough to compete. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t finish last in the division.

East

  1. New York Yankees – I think trading away Montero was a bad idea, but that is corrected by trading away Burnett, which was the best idea. I wouldn’t be surprised if Pineda sucks this year, I also wouldn’t be surprised if he wins 15 to 18 games.
  2. Tampa Bay Rays – Joe Maddon keeps bringing these guys back from the dead. Longo has turned into one of the best players in the game and their pitching staff is strong enough for the AL East. *Wild Card Pick
  3. Boston Red Sox – The big names just keep getting older, this isn’t the team that won in ’04 or ’07. I think Bobby V can keep them competitive, but I don’t think they have enough to make the playoffs.
  4. Toronto Blue Jays – Solid all around team, in the Central they would finish 2nd or 3rd. This isn’t the Central.
  5. Baltimore Orioles – See Toronto Blue Jays.

*I have the Rangers and Rays playing each other in the one game play-off for the Wild Card spot.

MLB Playoff and Award Predictions to come.

MLB Predictions: National League

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NL West

  1. Arizona Diamondbacks – These guys are a classic case of the sum equaling more than the total of the parts. Gibson built a team that won 94 games last year built on a bunch of spare parts. Now they are out for blood.
  2. LA Dodgers – Kershaw is a Cy Young candidate, Kemp is an MVP candidate, Dee Gordon is a star in the making. These guys are right on the cusp.
  3. San Francisco Giants – As usual, they have the pitching, but the only bright spots in their lineup are Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval. Unless someone else comes up big, I see them regressing this year.
  4. Colorado Rockies – I know they have Carlos Gonzalez, so that is something. Also, they have Jason Giambi.
  5. San Diego Padres – The only player I know the Padres have is Nick Hundley, and that is only because I was looking up something about Todd Hundley.

NL Central

  1. Milwaukee Brewers – If Braun’s suspension was upheld, then I’d be worried. With it being lifted, they should still take the Central with no real problems, even without Fielder. I’m looking for big things from Norichika Aoki.
  2. St. Louis Cardinals – No more Pujols and Carpenter is injured, but the Cards have a lot of solid players. I don’t see them defending their title, but they will be respectable. *Wild Card Pick
  3. Cincinnati Reds – A good bunch of hitters with some questionable pitching. Most of the pitchers are still at the early part of the their career (Latos, Bailey, Chapman, Leake) so they could put something together. However, with Madson going down for the year, the back-end of the ‘pen is suspect at best.
  4. Chicago Cubs – Soriano is still their only good player, and I mean that in name only. They have some good pitchers, but they have no offense.
  5. Pittsburgh Pirates – Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones are the only players of any value on this team. Their lackluster rotation will only exceed the Astros miserable rotation.
  6. Houston Astros – Say hello to the team that will finish last in the AL West in 2013.

East

  1. Philadelphia Phillies – They were the only team with 100+ wins last year. As long as Utley and Howard are able to get and stay healthy, they should win the division again. If they aren’t healthy, they could easily finish 4th.
  2. Atlanta Braves – After one of the biggest meltdowns at the end of last season I think these guys are going to be able to hold on this year. It’s Chipper’s final season and they have some really impressive starting pitchers forming to go along with the amazing 1-2 punch of Venters and Kimbrel. *Wild Card Pick
  3. Miami Marlins – If everything click, these guys could easily win this thing. Bringing in a bunch of new guys could cause some issues, so I’m expecting them to get off to a slow start and they are going to be in it for the long hall.
  4. Washington Nationals – In the West, these guy could be contenders. They are only this low because of the strength of this division. Strasburg, Gonzalez, and Zimmerman could be one of the best starting trios in baseball. Gonzalez and Zimmerman could also be busts. When Harper gets brought up things could get interesting.
  5. New York Mets – The only team worse then the Mets this season is going to be the Astros, and that is sad. The worst part about is that the biggest problem is their lack of money, and that’s not the players fault. Bringing in the fences seems like it will be a simple case of too little too late. Hopefully they can start rebuilding and be ready to make a run in a few years.

*I think the Cardinals and Braves will play each other in the one game play-off for the Wild Card spot.

Look for AL Predictions and my playoff predictions coming soon.