If you trust that MLB 09 The Show is the most realistic baseball simulation out there, feel free to bet on the National League in the All-Star Game. Unless you're a future hall-of-famer, of course.
Despite not taking a game off the American League since 1996, the Senior Circuit is expected to win 5-2, according to the simulation, announced yesterday by Sony Computer Entertainment.
San Francisco's Tim Lincecum, expected to be the N.L. starter IRL, threw two shutout innings in the simulation, collecting four strikeouts, earning the MVP. The game's key play came in the 7th inning, when the N.L.'s Ryan Braun threw out Aaron Hill at the plate, trying to score a bloop single by Ichiro. The excitement finished off the A.L.'s final rally and effectively sealed the victory, with San Diego's Heath Bell and New York's Francisco Rodriguez slamming the door in the two innings after that.
Of course I was jesting in the lede about betting on baseball - never do that, kids! But incidentally, has anyone ever bet on fake baseball? Or computer sports of any kind? I have a friend in Vegas, and one weekend we played our alma maters versus each other in NCAA football - computer vs. computer - and bet on the outcome. I'm not sure what's sadder, betting on NCAA 04 without playing it, or doing so in the only city where it is legal to bet on real college football.