50 Fun Facts About MLB the Show

Which free agent wore a plain white hoodie on the first MLB The Show 19 cover while still without a team?

Bryce Harper was unsigned when the cover was revealed in November 2018. The final artwork arrived only after he joined the Philadelphia Phillies the following February.

Which Los Angeles Angels star was drawn in manga style by Takashi Okazaki for special editions of MLB The Show 22?

Shohei Ohtani had just been named the 2021 American League MVP. Okazaki, the creator of Afro Samurai, drew him for the MVP and Digital Deluxe editions.

Which Seattle Mariners legend, known for wearing his cap backwards, was the cover athlete of MLB The Show 17?

Ken Griffey Jr. had entered the Hall of Fame a year earlier. The game's Hall of Fame Edition came with a New Era hat whose logo figure wears a backwards cap in tribute.

Which New York Yankees slugger became a two-time cover athlete by fronting MLB The Show 18 and MLB The Show 26?

Aaron Judge earned his first cover after hitting 52 home runs as a rookie in 2017. By the time he returned eight years later, he had been named the Yankees' captain.

MLB The Show 21 ended the series' long PlayStation exclusivity by also launching on which rival console?

Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S owners even got the game through Game Pass at launch. That call was made by Major League Baseball's media arm, not by Sony.

A commercial for MLB 12: The Show imagined which team winning the World Series four years before it really happened?

The Chicago Cubs were shown clinching at Wrigley Field to end a title drought of more than a century. The real 2016 win was sealed on the road in Cleveland.

Storylines, a documentary-style mode new in MLB The Show 23, devoted its first season to which part of baseball history?

The Negro Leagues season follows eight players, including Satchel Paige and Buck O'Neil. It was built with the museum that preserves the history of those leagues.

Fictional slugger Reggie Stocker replaced which real star, absent from the players' union license, in MLB 06: The Show?

Barry Bonds was not covered by the players' union deal, so the game needed a stand-in. Stocker's name is a money pun on bonds and stocks.

What is the name of the virtual currency that players earn and spend on cards in MLB The Show's Diamond Dynasty?

Stubs can be earned in any game mode and spent on card packs. Players also use them to buy and sell cards with each other in the Community Market.

Which Toronto Blue Jays slugger fronted MLB The Show 24, years after his father fronted Sony's MLB 2006?

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and his Hall of Fame father are the first father-son pair to front Sony's baseball games. The elder Guerrero appeared as a Los Angeles Angels star.

Which Boston Red Sox slugger was the cover athlete of MLB 06: The Show, the first game in the series?

David Ortiz also starred in the game's humorous TV spots alongside veteran coach Don Zimmer. He had helped Boston win the 2004 World Series.

Which Minnesota Twins star was the cover athlete of both MLB 10: The Show and MLB 11: The Show?

Joe Mauer landed the first of his covers as the reigning American League MVP. MLB 10 even added a catcher mode, matching his position behind the plate.

The Captain Edition of MLB The Show 23 featured which retired New York Yankees great on its cover?

Derek Jeter returned a year later, when MLB The Show 24 gave his early Yankees career its own Storylines chapter.

Which baseball pioneer appeared on special editions of MLB The Show 21 that sent $1 per copy to his foundation?

Jackie Robinson fronted the collector's editions in his Brooklyn Dodgers uniform. The donation applied to every copy of those editions sold in the United States.

Which Sony-owned developer has made every game in the MLB: The Show series since MLB 06: The Show?

San Diego Studio works from the city's Sorrento Valley. Its other credits include High Velocity Bowling and the motion-controlled Sports Champions.

Which broadcaster was the play-by-play voice of every MLB: The Show game from MLB 06 through MLB The Show 21?

Matt Vasgersian called the action in sixteen straight editions. He shared the booth with seven different analysts before a new pairing took over in 2022.

MLB The Show 22 brought the series to which machine for the first time?

Nintendo Switch joined the lineup in April 2022, on the same day as the other versions. The handheld edition went without the Stadium Creator, though.

Which mode, introduced in MLB The Show 19, condenses a team's whole season into only its pivotal games?

March to October drops players into key situations instead of all 162 games. MLB The Show 22 later stretched the mode across multiple seasons.

Which young star was the cover athlete of MLB The Show 21, the first edition released beyond PlayStation consoles?

Fernando Tatís Jr. was 22 when he got the cover, two years after his big-league debut. His father, Fernando Sr., also played in the majors.

MLB The Show 20 was the first in the series to feature the real names and likenesses of players from where?

The minor leagues had always been filled with generic stand-ins. The real prospects arrived through a partnership with Scott Spindler and his Ridin Rosters group.

Which outfielder beat CC Sabathia in a week-long fan vote to become the cover athlete of MLB 13: The Show?

Andrew McCutchen collected more than 108,000 votes on Twitter and Facebook. The Pittsburgh Pirates star then went out and won the National League MVP award that season.

Which Detroit Tigers slugger was the cover athlete of MLB 14: The Show, the first edition on PlayStation 4?

Miguel Cabrera arrived on the cover as a back-to-back American League MVP. In 2012 he had won the first batting Triple Crown since 1967.

Which Toronto star on MLB The Show 16 was the first player to front both the American and Canadian covers?

Josh Donaldson had just been voted the 2015 American League MVP in his first season with the Blue Jays. Earlier Canadian editions had always used a different player.

Which infielder nicknamed El Mago fronted MLB The Show 20, the last edition exclusive to PlayStation consoles?

Javier Báez, who was born in Puerto Rico, chose the nickname, Spanish for the magician, for his Players Weekend jerseys in 2017 and 2018.

Which Miami Marlins infielder, born in the Bahamas, was the cover athlete of MLB The Show 23?

Jazz Chisholm Jr. grew up in Nassau and debuted in the majors in 2020. No Marlins player had fronted the main edition before him.

Which Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher shared the MLB The Show 25 cover with Elly De La Cruz and Gunnar Henderson?

Paul Skenes had just been named National League Rookie of the Year, a season after the Pirates drafted him first overall.

Which Diamond Dynasty mode, added in MLB The Show 16, sends a squad against all 30 MLB teams and their strongholds?

Conquest plays out on a map of North America, where every captured territory is filled with fans. Rival clubs fight back, so strongholds have to be defended too.

Which Diamond Dynasty mode, new in MLB The Show 16, starts with a 25-round draft before a double-elimination run?

Battle Royale hands everyone a freshly drafted squad, so a player's own card collection counts for nothing. Two losses end the run.

Which MLB The Show 16 feature puts clutch at-bats and key defensive plays into slow motion?

ShowTime arrived alongside a wider default batting camera called Fish Eye, which shows where every infielder is standing.

MLB 06: The Show took the subtitle that still names the series from which feature of that first game?

Career mode was simply called The Show in 2006, and players guided one created prospect toward the big leagues. It became Road to the Show a year later.

Which New York Mets star was the cover athlete of MLB 07: The Show, the first edition released on PlayStation 3?

David Wright also filmed a TV commercial for the PlayStation 3 version. The third baseman went on to spend his entire 14-year big-league career with the Mets.

Which Philadelphia Phillies slugger was the cover athlete of MLB 08: The Show, two years after an MVP season?

Ryan Howard had won the 2006 National League MVP award after hitting 58 home runs. The Phillies went on to win the World Series in the season the game covered.

Which Boston Red Sox infielder fronted MLB 09: The Show as the reigning American League MVP?

Dustin Pedroia had followed his 2007 Rookie of the Year award with the MVP trophy a season later. He also appeared in several commercials for the game.

Which Boston Red Sox star on the MLB 12: The Show cover was traded to the Dodgers midway through that season?

Adrián González left in an August blockbuster, so the cover was out of date before the season ended. He had earned the spot by batting .338 the year before.

Which Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder, a rookie sensation two seasons earlier, was the cover athlete of MLB 15: The Show?

Yasiel Puig had defected from Cuba in 2012 and reached the majors the following June. MLB 15 was also the last edition made for a handheld console.

Which Toronto Blue Jays slugger appeared on the Canadian covers of both MLB 12: The Show and MLB 13: The Show?

José Bautista had hit 43 home runs in the season before his first cover. Canada kept getting its own Blue Jays cover star through MLB The Show 18.

Which announcer nicknamed Boog took over play-by-play duties for MLB: The Show starting with MLB The Show 22?

Jon Sciambi arrived with former outfielder Chris Singleton as his analyst. The two were already partners on ESPN Radio's baseball broadcasts.

MLB The Show 20 was the first edition to show uniforms made by which brand, which had just replaced Majestic?

Nike uniforms were not the only real-world touch that year. The same edition swapped invented billboard brands for genuine stadium advertisers such as Coca-Cola.

After more than a dozen nominations, MLB The Show 23 finally won its genre's Game of the Year prize at which ceremony?

D.I.C.E. Awards voters had shortlisted the series again and again since MLB 06 without a win. MLB The Show 24 then took the same prize a year later.

MLB The Show 25 reworked Road to the Show so that a created player's journey now begins at which level?

High school games now come first, followed by a choice of eight real college programs, such as LSU and Vanderbilt, before the MLB draft.

MLB 15: The Show was the last game in the series released for which Sony handheld console?

PlayStation Vita versions had appeared every year since MLB 12. MLB The Show 16 then became the first edition with no portable release at all.

Which former Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman joined the commentary booth in MLB 11: The Show, replacing Rex Hudler?

Eric Karros stayed in the booth through MLB The Show 16. The oldest console version of MLB 11 kept Hudler's commentary instead.

Which former Boston Red Sox field reporter joined the broadcast team of MLB The Show 19 as its sideline reporter?

Heidi Watney stayed for three editions. She left when the whole commentary team was replaced for MLB The Show 22.

Which former infielder joined the MLB The Show 17 commentary booth but was replaced after only one edition?

Harold Reynolds, a two-time All-Star second baseman for the Seattle Mariners, gave way to Mark DeRosa in MLB The Show 18.

In MLB The Show 19, which hitter archetype describes power hitters who also have great speed?

The Anomaly was one of five batting archetypes in the 2019 edition. Pitchers were sorted into three, including Plain Filthy and Flamethrower.

Which Taiwanese pitcher holds a Guinness World Record for appearing on five straight MLB: The Show covers in Taiwan?

Wei-Yin Chen fronted the Taiwan releases from MLB 13 through MLB The Show 17, first as a Baltimore Oriole and later as a Miami Marlin.

Which Toronto Blue Jays pitcher, MVP of the 2017 World Baseball Classic, fronted the Canadian cover of MLB The Show 18?

Marcus Stroman was the last player to get a separate Canadian cover, closing a run of regional editions that began with MLB 12.

Which Indianapolis Clowns infielder became the first woman player added to MLB: The Show, in the 2024 edition?

Toni Stone was signed in 1953 to play second base for the Clowns, the club Hank Aaron had left for the Braves a year earlier.

Which Kansas City museum president narrates the Storylines mode that debuted in MLB The Show 23?

Bob Kendrick has led the museum since 2011. The mode pairs his narration with playable moments from each featured player's career.

Which former All-Star pitcher stayed in the MLB: The Show commentary booth from MLB The Show 17 through MLB The Show 21?

Dan Plesac pitched in 1,064 big-league games before moving into television. He called five straight editions with two different partners in the third chair.