Steve Phillips, formerly of ESPN's Baseball Tonight, lost that gig in a sex scandal that you might have read about. He was also the color analyst in MLB 2K9. That title doesn't feature in-game boinkable PAs, but will he stay?
Pasta Padre, on the ball as ever, speculates "no." Even though we're about four months away from the game's typical release date, "from a public relations standpoint 2K cannot feature Phillips in the game," he says, and I agree. Phillips is a recidivist philanderer, and the latest ESPN scandal is top-of-mind for baseball fans. If his only television appearance in 2010 is on a gaming console, it makes his dismissal more conspicuous by half, and it's 2K's problem to manage, not ESPN's.
Problem is, what can 2K do about it? It's one thing to not give Phillips any extra work. But his dialogue library is already in the game. To remove him entirely at this stage? Wow. Especially - as Padre correctly notes - Phillips' contribution was one of the few positives in last year's poorly received title.
Right now it is 11:30 U.S. Mountain time, so I don't expect this to be answered, but I have emailed 2K Sports to see if they want to swing at this. If they answer, it'll likely be updated in a new post tomorrow.
It's almost impossible to imagine that hanky panky in Bristol, Conn.. could actually send a game in Novato, Calif., down the toilet. But this is not a welcome development for them, either.
Steve Phillips News Affects MLB 2K10 [Pasta Padre]