What's the deal with Bonds?

In MVP 2004 they make him both white AND right-handed?
I'd be interested to hear why this is

I remember in NBA Live 96 didn't have Michael Jordan

Did Mike and Barry feel that the computer generated images didn't flatter their figures?

Bonds has a licensing agreement separate from the MLBPA.

That doesn't really explain his lighter tone, but it's all I have.

They don't have Midre Cummings either

does he have a separate agreement as well?

Greg,

I can't speak to Midre Cummings, but there are players who are not covered by the agreement, as they are not members of the union. For instance, Kerry Ligtenberg isn't in the game either, because as a former replacement player, he has been denied entry into the union. Not surprisingly, EA has not gone out of its way to negotiate a separate licensing agreement with Kerry directly.

Does this mean no more free Yahoo fantasy baseball? If so, that would stink.

From what I gather from the story, MLB.com would simply sub-license out the information to other organisations. Whether Yahoo elects to charge is a mystery.

Its hard to believe that fantasy baseball has been around so long. Interesting and completely unrelated anecdote that no one will care about:

My father has been in a fantasy football league with a bunch of friends since 81 (they really jumped the bandwagon on that one) and i joined his ownership team a couple of year ago. Well, the famous story he likes to tell (well, the only one where he doesnt curse a lot) dates back to the time when there was no *Gasp* internet. One of his friends called the Denver Post, and asked them who was going to be the kicker for the Broncos. Well, he drafed Jason Elam in the last round, won the league, and now i have this story.

My sort of question: What's your craziest fantasy experience (trade, fluke etc. Im just kindof interested.)

What's the deal with Bonds?

He opted out of the agreement, so his likeness cannot be in the video game. Lidle and Ligtenberg aren't in there because they were replacement players and are not allowed in the MLBPA, as Four Seamer said. As for Midre Cummings, he's not in because he's Midre Cummings. :)

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/replacement_players.shtml
Speaking of replacement players, here's a list of them from Baseball Reference I just came across. It's surprising to see how many of them - Lidle, Ligtenberg, Jeff Tam, Chris Latham, Pedro Swann - have Blue Jay connections. But the one that really stood out to me was Frank Menechino! A blue collar, hard working guy like him got his start as a strike breaker?

Are some of our left-leaning Bauxites going to turn on him?

A replacement player not listed on that site was Craig McMurtry, who the Blue Jays acquired for Damaso Garcia and Luis Leal back in 1987. McMurtry appeared in 11 games for the Astros in 1995 after the strike/lockout.

But the one that really stood out to me was Frank Menechino!

OH Eh, Eh OH.....Frank does what's best for Frank A'right? Forget about it....

My primary concern here is that Advanced Media, who have had a very mixed record on their initiatives (some have been fantastic for fans, some terrible), are going to create problems for companies like Diamond Mind, and start asking exorbitant licensing fees. That would be unfortunate, as DMB is expensive enough already...

I don't see a RIAA-style Gestapo crackdown on individually-run leagues, but I guess youneverknow...

I hope this doesn't effect sportsline.com as I've got 4 years of history stored on their stupid fantasy site.

On one hand, why shouldn't MLB make some money off of fantasy baseball, when some websites use their sport to profit. On the other hand, if it ends free fantasy baseball online that would suck.

Surely even the marketing geniuses in Who'sYourBud's office -- home of the canceled World Series and the tied All-Star Game -- would see that killing free fantasy baseball would alienate an already shaky younger fan base?

No? No?

I played fantasy baseball before I even watched baseball. Do not take my yahoo away from me.

Im not a lawyer or anything but I agree with the general sentiment expressed so far. If people are making money off it then mlb probably deserves a cut, but if it's free to begin with then I dont think they need to be sticking their noses in and would probably alienate alot of people. The NFL is the most successful sports league in North America and they thrive on free fantasy leagues, I would think that MLB would want to follow their example.

MLB AM should do the right think and charge a percentage for useage. That way, free stays free.

What's the deal with Bonds?

In MVP 2004 they make him both white AND right-handed?

The reason that Bonds is white in MVP (as far as I know) is that if a black, left handed, LF slugger was created on the Giants, then Bonds could sue EA because they used his image and likeness, if not his name. So EA created Jon Dowd, the white right handed slugger who certainly isn't Barry Bonds, nor can he be edited to look like Barry Bonds, whoever that is.

What bugs me about this news was I learned a lot from playing fantasy baseball. It's a fun thing that promotes interest in the game. If free fantasy games vanish, then that'll be undermined.

My sort of question: What's your craziest fantasy experience (trade, fluke etc. Im just kindof interested.)

Came this season. Someone in my Yahoo league, (probably fearing BALCO fallout) accidentally drafted Jason Giambi, then released him outright. I picked him up as a free agent, then traded him for Bobby Abreu. Of course, I still lost, probably because I turned down a Carlos Delgado for Randy Johnson trade. D'oh.

Video game manufacturers, like DMB and others, do already pay licensing fees. I don't think fantasy ball operations do.

What bugs me about this news was I learned a lot from playing fantasy baseball. It's a fun thing that promotes interest in the game. If free fantasy games vanish, then that'll be undermined.

6-4-3, and Mick and Ryan before him, all make good points about fantasy as a terrific promotional vehicle for MLB.

http://theonion.com/nib/index.php?issue=4103&nib=2
COMN for The Onion's terrific take on the Mets' offseason moves.

COMN for The Onion's terrific take on the Mets' offseason moves.

Terrific? I thought it was insensitive. Personally, I think that any type of flood/tidal wave/disaster jokes probably should be shelved for a while, simply out of respect.

I thought it was a hilarious snipe about greed (& hyperbole) in professional sports; don't see where it disrespects the tsunami victims.

Speaking of fantasy and baseball, it's got to be about time for the the BBFL trading season to begin, no?

Yes, BBFL, let's get trading! I also wouldn't mind getting a team assigned to me, seeing as I have taken a step back to the second division:( I had a look at the top three teams from the Barfield division and like my last place team in the Alomar division better(keepers that is!:)

Hey Jick's Rays, I believe the allocation for those teams switching leagues are as follows:

18th Alomar switches with 1st Barfield
19th Alomar switches with 2nd Barfield
20th Alomar swithces with 3rd Barfield

Again, these are all based on regular season order of finish.

The best source for all the BBFL stuff is Scott Lucas's site: http://bbfl.scottlucas.com/

That being said, you will take over HOMER JAYS Simpsons. Vlad, Kent and Berkman are all no-brainer keepers; after that, it gets kind of muddy for you. If you're interested in turning one of those three into 2 or 3 marginally worse keepers, I'm happy to talk trade with you (or any other Barfield managers). COMN if you'd like to email me regarding trades, my team is W-A-M-C-O.

Thanks W-A-M-C-O! I like to trade and would look at trading Kent or Berkman, but haven't even looked at 3rd place team in Barfields for about a month. I'm going to go there pronto!! Oh my, how did that team finish 3rd?? and how did Jick's finish last?? What a mixed up world we live in:(

Hey what that???? I'm the manager of the HOMER JAYS Simpsons. Why am I being replaced in the BBFL? I finished 3rd in the standings. The way I understand it, the top 3 teams of the REGULAR Season advances. Why am I being replaced?

Hey HOMER,

I'm a bit confused as to what you're confused about! Promotion/relegation in the BBFL is based on regular season order of finish, not playoffs. You finished 3rd in the regular season (see http://bbfl.scottlucas.com/2004/barfield/b-standings.htm), so you are the 3rd and final team to advance to the Alomar division in 2005. You will inherit Jick's Rays squad, from which you can trade during the offseason trading window and then designate 5 keepers from. His roster can be found here (http://bbfl.scottlucas.com/2004/alomar/a-final.htm).

If you're still confused, let me know, and good luck in Alomar this year!

Oh my sorry mistake. I thought when you said "That being said, you will take over HOMER JAYS Simpsons", you meant replace me in the Alomar division.

How come on the 2004 Results page of BBFL, I'm not listed as one of the teams that advances to the Alomar division?

Hey Jick's Rays.
Thanks for leaving me with a decent team. If you look at it our top players are pretty simular. Can't believe in the differece in the results. Looks like the injury bug was your caused.

Jick's Rays -- Ordonez, M. (CWS - RF)
Jick's Rays -- Sanchez, A. (Det - CF)
Jick's Rays -- Tejada, M. (Bal - SS)
Jick's Rays -- Huff, A. (TB - 1B,3B,RF,DH)
Jick's Rays -- Garciaparra, N. (ChC - SS)
Jick's Rays -- Mussina, M. (NYY - SP)
Jick's Rays -- Brown, K. (NYY - SP)
Jick's Rays -- Nen, R. (SF - RP)

HOMER JAYS Simpsons -- Berkman, L. (Hou - LF,RF)
HOMER JAYS Simpsons -- Kent, J. (Hou - 2B)
HOMER JAYS Simpsons -- Guerrero, V. (Ana - RF)
HOMER JAYS Simpsons -- Patterson, C. (ChC - CF)
HOMER JAYS Simpsons -- Percival, T. (Ana - RP)
HOMER JAYS Simpsons -- Takatsu, S. (CWS - RP)
HOMER JAYS Simpsons -- Colón, B. (Ana - SP)
HOMER JAYS Simpsons -- Pérez, Od. (LA - SP)

Re advancement, I have the correct teams listed on the Barfield standings page but made a mistake on the main BBFL page. Sorry about that.

And yes, Yahoo's tiebreaker system is awful. We might be able to write a tiebreaker into the BBFL rules for purposes of advancement/relegation, but we can't change the way Yahoo determines places and seeds. There are no means for the commissioner to alter them online.