MLB Showdown Obsession

 Darryl Kile has a dubious distinction. He is the first player depicted in the MLB Showdown series to have died. I remember when I heard about his passing, I immediately retired his card from use out of respect. He had a pretty solid 2001 Showdown card, too, so it wasn't like I was looking for an excuse to ignore him. Kile is far from the only Showdown player to have passed on, and as we pass a quarter century since the game debuted that list will only get longer (not to mention all the Cooperstown Collection throwback players depicted along with the other active players at the time). But there was something crazy about turning on SportsCenter and learning that an active MLB player was gone. It's one thing to find out that a former player died, it's another thing entirely to see how much more disruptive it is to their current teammates losing a brother. So as today is All Souls Day, let us take the time to reflect on the career of Darryl Kile (1968-2002) Rookie Darryl. Not

 Another of the relatively young franchises in baseball, the Rockies have recently been realizing the greatness of their earliest stars. Todd Helton and Larry Walker, stars of their first decade, have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame. And while we wait for the first great forever-Rockies pitcher to emerge, the franchise isn't shying away from a couple of greats who took advantage of playing in the thin mountain air. #17 - Todd Helton The tragedy for me when it come to Todd Helton is all of his elite years happened in the OG Showdown era, and thus there are official cards for most of his seasons of 5 all stars, 3 Gold Gloves and 4 Silver Sluggers. Most of those years he garnered MVP consideration as well, but 2009 was one more year of top tier numbers. He is the greatest offensive player in Rockies history, with his 369 Home Runs, 1,401 RBI, 2,519 Hits and 1,401 Runs among other stats all being the top all time for Colorado. In 2007, he lead the Rockies to their only World Series.

 As baseballs postseason screams to it's finale, and we await to find out who is gonna raise the trophy in victory, let us look back at one of the greatest collection of players to be a winner. Of course I'm talking about the ringers for the Nuclear Power Plant team during the 1992 Springfield Softball season. Springfield bullied their way through the regular season, mostly on the power of Homer Simpson and his Wonder Bat. But when it came to the championship game, Mr Burns entered into a wager with the rival Shelbyville Power Plant. With $1,000,000 on the line, Burns decided to "cheat" and hire 9 ringers to help ensure victory. He gave Smithers 24 hours to recruit the best the baseball world had to offer... The ace of the staff was Roger Clemens, one of the most prolific strikeout pitchers of all time (questionable tactics notwithstanding). His fastball at the time was so potent, that he destroyed Wonder Bat with one pitch. Behind the plate was Mike Scioscia. People

 Going into this project, I figured some teams would be a pain (like the Yankees and their 347 retired numbers) while teams like the Devil Rays would be done quick and easy. I assumed the Blue Jays were gonna be the former, because I recall some time ago that while they didn't retire numbers, they did honor their best ever in the "Level of Excellence" which is their version of Monument Park or a team hall of fame, and I would do that to highlight the best Blue Jays ever.... Since I'm not a Blue Jays fan, I missed it when they began to retire numbers to honor Roberto Alomar when he became the first player going into the Hall of Fame with a Blue Jays hat. Then...well...things happened in the world of Roberto, and now he's banned from baseball and the Jays unretired his number. ...But there's still one Blue Jay who wasn't a creep! #32 - Roy Halladay The problem with playing in the American League East is you often get overshadowed by the two big dogs in New Y

For those of you who are not from the United States, we here pick our president with a vote every four years. The candidates have been chosen (mainly through primary votes, though one side hand picked theirs by party leadership) and on November 5th, America will cast their votes (and perhaps this time there won't be any...irregularities in the counting process) But that's boring. Let's see what baseballs version of these candidates look like... ...Think of it as picking who is team captain. -President Donald Trump, Republican for President Meet Chadwick Tromp, the inspiration for this idea. Tromp isn't political, and changed his number a few times in his short tenure, as is normal for guys who bounce back and forth from the minors early in their career. Tromp ruffled a few feathers when he chose #45 for this season, which as a coincidence coincided with the 45th president of the United States, Mr. Donald Trump. -JD Vance, Republican for Vice President Every front runner

Some of baseball's best (and not so best) teams over the 100+ year history of the game. Some won titles, others became infamous, and a very few became legends. (Teams that existed from 1999-2004 are not included. Those teams are already immortalized by the official Showdown cards) Cleveland Indians 1995 New York Mets 1962 New York Yankees 1923 1927 1998 Seattle Pilots 1969 St. Louis Cardinals 1934