By IAN WILSON

For baseball fans and gamers of a certain vintage, Nintendo changed what it meant to enjoy the sport in a groundbreaking way.

With the 1987 release of R.B.I. Baseball, arcade goers and home video game players were able to interact with America’s pastime on a different level.

Other baseball video games had hit the market before, offering up not so varying levels of pixelated graphics and awkward gameplay. Baseball and Bases Loaded delivered clunky eight-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) games to “A” and “B” button mashers.

What set R.B.I. Baseball apart, however, was the incorporation of actual Major League Baseball (MLB) players. No longer was it Troy or Eli or (insert programmer’s first name here) at the plate. Thanks to a licensing agreement with the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), you could now swing away with Saskatchewan’s Terry Puhl and throw strikes with Dwight Gooden.

In this 10-team universe, you had National League (NL) and American League (AL) All-Star teams to choose from, along with recent pennant-winning clubs out of Boston, New York, Detroit, Houston, St. Louis, San Francisco, Minnesota and California. MLB didn’t actually sign off on allowing the use of its likeness for the game, so there was no mention of the Red Sox or Mets, but the uniform colours made it obvious what team you were operating. In addition, the players possessed real-life attributes. Vince Coleman was lightning fast and a menace on the base paths, while Nolan Ryan could bring the heat.

R.B.I Baseball 2 expanded this universe in 1990 to include all 26 MLB teams, and the players themselves got a makeover that saw them go from pudgy blobs to athletic figures.

The original game also had some fun imitators, including Tecmo Baseball, Baseball Stars, Bad News Baseball and Baseball Simulator 1.000. These gave gamers a similar setup and – in some cases – the ability to input any player you wanted into a lineup, but such an endeavor was a time-consuming effort for people who were eager to just blow off the back of a game cartridge, insert it into their home console and start playing.

For this reason, the access to real MLB hitters and pitchers in an easy-to-play format, R.B.I. Baseball remained a popular part of the video game landscape for decades.

With that in mind, we’re offering an ode to the NES classic with our own uniquely Albertan spin.

We’ve combed through the rosters of R.B.I. Baseball and selected a talented team of fearsome sluggers and hard-throwing hurlers who have minor-league ties to our province.

Our All-Alberta lineup mirrors what Nintendo players became accustomed to, that being a four-man pitching staff, a bench with four hitters and a nine-person batting order that included a pitcher in the nine hole.

Without further ado, here is our R.B.I. Baseball All-Alberta Team:

PITCHING STAFF

Screen grab showing pitching options for Boston and New York in *R.B.I. Baseball*.

FERNANDO VALENZUELA

It’s Fer-Nintendomania!

A member of the NL All-Star squad in the video game, the southpaw from Mexico made a memorable trip to Alberta’s capital when he suited up for the Edmonton Trappers of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) in 1991.

Valenzuela made seven starts for the Triple-A team that year, going 3-3 with a 7.12 earned run average (ERA) and 36 strikeouts in 36.2 innings. One of his outings was a mid-August stop at Calgary’s Foothills Stadium, where more than 8,000 fans showed up to watch Fernando face the Cannons.

BERT BLYLEVEN

The Hall-of-Fame hill topper, who pitched for Minnesota in R.B.I. Baseball, also ventured north and played for the Trappers.

While Valenzuela used the opportunity to turn his post-Dodgers career around and take the mound for another five MLB seasons, Blyleven was in his final pro campaign when he came to Edmonton in 1992.

The right-handed pitcher – who spent part of his childhood growing up in Saskatchewan – logged 11-plus innings over two PCL starts, registering a 2-0 record and a 6.17 ERA. Blyleven also made a start against the Calgary Cannons at Foothills Stadium. The Dutch-born pitcher went six innings in that contest and helped the Trappers claim a 5-2 victory.

Blyleven made the most of his time in Alberta and even attended an Edmonton Oilers-Vancouver Canucks playoff game at Northlands Coliseum

JIMMY KEY

Plucked from the AL All-Star team, Key adds another lefty to the mix.

The Alabama native, a third-round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1982, began his professional playing career at the organization’s rookie-level affiliate in Medicine Hat on a team with catcher Pat Borders and starting pitcher David Wells.

Key made five starts for the Baby Jays and made a great first impression. In his 31-plus innings with the Pioneer League club, he went 2-1 with 25 Ks and a 2.30 ERA. That earned him a promotion to the Single-A Florence Blue Jays and by 1984 he was putting in mound work in Toronto.

Key has since been selected for induction in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

DOUG CORBETT

The lone reliever in our pitching quartet collected 66 MLB saves over a career that included stops in Minnesota, California and Baltimore.

Corbett appears as one of California’s bullpen options in R.B.I. Baseball and the righty made numerous stops in Edmonton, where he played parts of four Triple-A seasons with the Trappers between 1983 and 1987.

The Sarasota, Florida product suited up in 45 games for the Trappers, going 8-8 with 76 strikeouts as both a starter and a reliever.

IN THE FIELD

That’s going to be a tough hit to make a play on for these *R.B.I. Baseball* fielders.

CATCHER

OK, we are cheating a bit here. But let’s be honest, pitch framing and passed balls are of little concern to the backstops of R.B.I. Baseball. What we really want is someone who can clobber a baseball.

That’s why we’re giving this assignment to Andres Galarraga. While the “Big Cat” spent the bulk of his playing time at first base, he also worked behind the plate for 29 games with the Jamestown Expos of the New York-Penn League (NYPL) in 1981. By that point, the Venezuelan had logged 101 games over two season for the Calgary Expos in the Pioneer League.

The hard-hitting Galarraga batted seventh for the NL All-Stars in R.B.I. Baseball.

FIRST BASE

It’s Wally’s world over at first base.

Wally Joyner – a lefty hitter setting the table for California cleanup slugger Reggie Jackson in the video game – was excellent during his lone campaign with the Edmonton Trappers in 1985.

The Georgian played 126 games for the Trap that year and led the Triple-A team in RBI (73) and total bases (210). Joyner had a .283 batting average, a .363 on-base percentage, as well as 12 homers and 29 doubles with Edmonton.

SECOND BASE

Versatile infielder Al Pedrique – who we nabbed from the bottom of the NL All-Star batting lineup – played over 1,000 games at shortstop, nearly 300 at third base and over 270 at the keystone during his pro career.

The Venezuelan, who slots in at second base for us, finished his playing days as a member of the Trappers, suiting up in 195 games for the club in 1993 and 1994. In that time, Pedrique collected 75 runs, 59 RBI and 176 hits.

THIRD BASE

Kevin Mitchell adds to his impressive list of accomplishments – which include a World Series ring, a Silver Slugger Award and the 1989 NL Most Valuable Player Award – with a spot on our R.B.I. Baseball All-Alberta Team.

The San Diego, California product mans the hot corner on this team. It’s a position he began his career at before shifting to the outfield and making highlight-reel barehanded grabs.

Mitchell, the second hitter in the San Francisco lineup in the NES game, appeared in six games for the Trappers in 1998, his final pro season. Although it was a short stay in Edmonton, Mitchell was an effective hitter. He posted a .348 batting average, four runs scored and a pair of doubles in his 23 at bats for the Trappers.

SHORTSTOP

Another former Edmonton infielder joins the team in the form of Dick Schofield, who batted seventh for California in R.B.I. Baseball between Bob Grich and Bob Boone.

The pride of Springfield, Illinois played a full season for the Trappers in 1983 (registering 30 doubles, 91 runs, 16 homers, 94 RBI and a .284 batting average in 139 PCL games), before returning for a five-game rehab stint with Edmonton in 1990.

Schofield also played two seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993 and 1994.

OUTFIELD

This team boasts an impressive array of outfield talent that offers up a healthy mix of speed and power.

Hall-of-Fame outfielder Andre Dawson headlines the grass-stomping trio.

The cleanup hitter with the NL All-Star squad began his professional career in the Pioneer League with the Lethbridge Expos. In 72 games in Alberta’s windy city, Dawson launched 13 long balls, swiped 11 bases, produced 50 RBI, scored 52 runs and registered a .330 batting average. From there, he was well on his way to an outstanding MLB career, which was punctuated by his time with the Montreal Expos and Chicago Cubs.

Another slugger who called Lethbridge home was Candy Maldonado. The Puerto Rican batted fourth for San Fran in R.B.I. Baseball and won a real-life World Series championship with the Blue Jays in 1992. “Candyman” suited up in 116 games for the rookie-level Lethbridge Dodgers in 1978 and 1979. As a member of the Pioneer League franchise, Maldonado registered 87 runs, 35 doubles, 17 home runs and 81 RBI.

Handling centre field duties is the speedy Gary Pettis, another regular from the 1983 Edmonton Trappers roster that Schofield played on. The California leadoff man led the PCL in runs (138) that year and he was tops on the Trappers in stolen bases (52), walks (88) and triples (8).

Pettis returned to Edmonton for eight more games with the Trappers in 1987 before he resumed his MLB duties with the California Angels.

Gary Pettis steps in for an at bat against Roger Clemens in *R.B.I. Baseball*.

BENCH

There are four bench spots up for grabs and we’ve added a good mix of outfield and infield depth to our team.

Chris Speier, a right-handed batter from San Francisco, can play shortstop, third base and second base. He also started his coaching career as the manager of the Lethbridge Black Diamonds in 1996. That year he guided the Arizona Diamondbacks rookie-level affiliate to a 50-22 record, so we’re also anointing him as this team’s player/manager.

Boston bench-bat Tony Armas also finds a home in our dugout. The Venezuelan outfielder appeared in 29 games for the Trappers in 1987 and collected 27 hits during his only tour of duty in the PCL.

Middle infielder Rick Burleson gets transplanted from California’s bench to ours, as well. The man with the nickname of “Rooster” suited up in 14 contests for the Trappers in 1983.

Finally, outfielder John Morris – a lefty hitter found on the St. Louis R.B.I. Baseball team – completes our roster. The Seton Hall University graduate had a cup of coffee with the Trappers in 1992, when he got 17 at bats over four games with the Edmonton club.

A controller from the Nintendo Entertainment Sysem (NES) home video game console.

BATTING LINEUP

Gary Pettis, OF
Kevin Mitchell, 3B
Wally Joyner, 1B
Andre Dawson, OF
Andres Galarraga, C
Candy Maldonado, OF
Dick Schofield, SS
Al Pedrique, 2B
Fernando Valenzuela, SP

Bench … Tony Armas (OF); Chris Speier (infielder/manager); John Morris (OF); Rick Burleson (middle infielder)

PITCHING STAFF

Fernando Valenzuela (LHP)
Bert Blyleven (RHP)
Jimmy Key (LHP)
Doug Corbett (RHP)