ESPN Baseball Tonight

For the unreleased Sega Dreamcast game, see ESPN Baseball Tonight (Dreamcast).

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Mega Drive Mega-CD
ESPN Baseball Tonight
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Mega-CD
Publisher: Sony Imagesoft
Developer: Park Place Productions Sony Imagesoft
Licensor: ESPN
Sound driver: GEMS
Genre: Sports (baseball)
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code US 1994-05 T-93056 US 1994-10 T-93115 EU 1994 T-93115-50 DE 1994 DM 119.00119.00 T-93115-50 UK 1994-09-22 £44.9944.99 T-93115-50
Non-Sega versions IBM PC Super NES

ESPN Baseball Tonight is a baseball game for the Sega Mega Drive and Sega Mega-CD. It is named after the long-running Baseball Tonight television show that airs on the American television channel ESPN. The game was licensed by MLB but not by the Players Association, so while actual team names and logos are used, no player names are in the game.

The Mega-CD version is the only baseball game released for the platform outside of Japan. It features video clips of Chris Berman and play-by-play commentary from Dan Patrick.

Gameplay

The game is a Major League Baseball game including the 28 teams and stadiums of the 1994 MLB season. The players are present with their statistics but are identified only by their defensive positions. The game uses a view from behind the umpire for pitching and hitting as well as for fielding and running, pivoting the view to follow the ball rather than shifting to an overhead view as is common with other baseball games. There is only one stadium.

Before each game, players choose a team and can set the batting line-up and choose starting and relief pitchers. In the options, players can choose if player one is the home or away team (for exhibition games), toggle assisted fielding (which moves fielders towards a hit ball automatically), and select the difficulty of computer opponents (Easy, Moderate, or Hard).

	Defense
	The player can position the pitcher on the mound with or . Regular speed pitches are thrown with ; fastballs are thrown with + and change-ups are thrown with +. After throwing the ball, its height can be controlled with or and it can be curved with or . The player can view lead-offs on first base with + or third base with + (second base is always visible behind the pitcher). The player can throw the ball to any base for a pick-off by holding while pressing a direction corresponding to the base ( for first, for second, or for third, or for home). The player can send the second baseman to cover second base by pressing without a direction (the second baseman normally stands in the infield between first and second). The player can cycle through on-screen information (the line score, the batter's statistics, and the strikes and balls) by pressing and holding . Pitchers lose stamina over the course of the game, which affects the speed of their pitches and their control of the ball. Substitutions can be made by pressing  START . The player can also make substitutions after each inning. When fielding, the D-Pad controls the player closest to the ball. If assisted fielding is enabled, the fielders automatically move toward any ball hit near them. The position of the ball in the air is shown on the ground by a shaded circle; the fielder currently being controlled is highlighted with a white circle. The fielder can jump to catch the ball with or dive after the ball with combined with a direction. After catching the ball, it can be thrown to any base by pressing while holding the D-Pad in a direction corresponding to the base or it can be thrown back to the pitcher by pressing with no direction. The ball must be manually thrown back to the pitcher by a fielder after each play.
	Offense
	The player can move the batter in the batter's box with or . The batter swings at a ball with ; the batter can swing high with + or low with +. The batter can bunt the ball with . The player can have baserunners lead off with + or return to base with +. When running, the player can slide to base with . The player can steal a base by holding with a direction on the D-Pad corresponding to the next base ( for first, for second, for third) or return to base by holding with a direction on the D-Pad corresponding to the previous base. Substitutions can be made by pressing  START . The player can also make substitutions after each inning.

Modes

The game has the following modes, any of which can be played by one or two players:

• Season: A season of 162 games. Games are scheduled on a calendar, and the player can skip games to play a shorter season (with the game simulating the outcomes of skipped games based on the player's performance in the unskipped matches). The Mega Drive version uses passwords for continuing, while the Mega-CD version saves the player's progress to the console's internal memory.
• Playoffs: Skips most of the season and only plays the playoff games for the American League or National League pennant and then the World Series.
• Exhibition: A single game between any two teams (which can be the same team).
• Practice: A practice mode for pitching or hitting, without any baserunning, fielding, or score-keeping.
• Home Run Derby: Players get 15 pitches and try to hit as many home runs as possible. If the player gets a home run on the last pitch, the player gets another pitch (and so on until the player fails to hit a home run).

Teams

Teams are selected by their league and division, using the then-new 3-division alignment or optionally the old 2-division structure.

League	Division	Team	Players
American	West	Oakland Athletics
		Seattle Mariners
		California Angels
		Texas Rangers
	East	New York Yankees
		Baltimore Orioles
		Boston Red Sox
		Toronto Blue Jays
		Detroit Tigers
	Central	Kansas City Royals
		Chicago White Sox
		Cleveland Indians
		Minnesota Twins
		Milwaukee Brewers
National	West	San Diego Padres
		Los Angeles Dodgers
		San Francisco Giants
		Colorado Rockies
	East	Atlanta Braves
		New York Mets
		Philadelphia Phillies
		Florida Marlins
		Montreal Expos
	Central	St. Louis Cardinals
		Houston Astros
		Cincinnati Reds
		Pittsburgh Pirates
		Chicago Cubs

History

Development

Development likely began at Park Place Productions, but finished at Sony Imagesoft, as the latter hired a number of former Park Place employees during production.

Production credits

Mega Drive version

Park Place Productions

• Executive Producer: Richard Knox Sr.
• Producer: Russell Shanks
• Graphics and Animations: Dave Estus, Steve Mitchell
• Sprite Teams: Brian O'Hara, Karen Dole, Joe Brisbois, Dave Fenderson, Charlie Navarro, Emmanuel Valdez, Mike Lewis
• Software Tools: Bill Hicks
• Additional Programming: Tim Hays, Altair Lane
• Assistant Producer: Joe Hight
• Sound and Music: Tristant T Des Pres, Jeffrey Glenn Tveraas, James Dobson
• Testers: Dennis Quinn, Isaiah Mitchell aka Kid Dyno
• Special Thanks to: Mike Knox, Troy Lyndon

Sony Imagesoft

• Executive Producer: Richard Robinson
• Producer: Allan Becker
• Assistant Producers: Brian Wiklem, Mike Giam
• Tester: Jose Cruz
• Sony Electronic Publishing: Olaf Olafsson, Lester Greenman, Len Israel, Peter Dille, Jeff Benjamin

ESPN

• Executive Producers: Steve Bornstein, Ed Durso, Dick Glover, Tom Hagopian, Jim Noel
• Producers: John Wildhack, Steve Anderson, Noubar Stone, Jed Drake
• Special Thanks to: Dan Patrick, Chris "I'll never be your beast of" Berman

Source:

In-game credits

Mega-CD version

Sony Imagesoft

• Executive Producer: Richard Robinson
• Producers: John Smedley, Allan Becker
• Sega CD Programming: Russell Shanks, Bill Hicks
• Associate Producer: Greg Oberle
• Assistant Producers: Hunter Luisi, Dennis Quinn
• Lead Artists: Katherine Roe, Dave Estus
• Graphics and Animations: Dave Estus, Steve Mitchell, Andy Jaros, Bert Huntsinger, David Fenderson, Katherine Roe, John Scharmen, Ted Robertson, Scott Rogers
• Sprite Teams: Steve Mitchell, Katherine Roe, David Fenderson, Chris Meland, Charlie Navarro, Joe Brisbois, Emmanuel Valdez, Dave Estus
• Additional Programming: Paul Willman
• Sound and Music: Josepth Hight, Rex Baca
• Video Design: Greg Oberle
• Video Production: Dave Oberle
• Technical Design: Bill Hicks, Russell Shanks
• Quality Assurance: Robert Baumsteiger, Justin Busche, Bruce Cochrane, Jose Cruz, Greg Kaine, Jody Kelsey, Andre Leighton, Seth Luisi, Tobin Russell, Patricia Shanks, Andrew Stein, Martha Williams, Fred Wigand
• Special Effects Art: Janice Squire, Holliday Horton, Leonard McVicker
• Sony Electronic Publishing: Olaf Olafsson, Lester Greenman
• Special Thanks To: Tina Kowalewski, Tom Taylor, Karen Dole, Brian O'Hara, Tim Hays, Altair Lane, Mike Giam, Brad Schlacter, Brian Wiklem, Andy Zaffron

ESPN

• Executive Producers: Steve Bornstein, Ed Durso, Dick Glover, Tom Hagopian, Jim Noel
• Producers: John Wildhack, Steve Anderson, Noubar Stone, Jed Drake
• Special Thanks To: Dan Patrick, Chris "I'll never be your beast of" Berman

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: ESPN Baseball Tonight/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Game Players (US) #0705: "Vol. 7 No. 5 May 1994" (1994-0x-xx)
also published in:

• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #58: "May 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Mega Drive print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #59: "June 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:

• GamePro (US) #60: "July 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
• EGM² (US) #1: "July 1994" (1994-07-19)

Mega-CD print advert in Sega Visions (US) #21: "October/November 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Mega-CD print advert in Game Players (US) #0710: "Vol. 7 No. 10 October 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 60 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 75 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U 46

	60
Based on 3 reviews

ESPN Baseball Tonight

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual Poster

Mega-CD version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Computer & Video Games (UK) 88 Games World: The Magazine (UK) 51 Mega (UK) PAL 65 Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 89 Sega Power (UK) 65

	72
Based on 5 reviews

ESPN Baseball Tonight

Mega-CD, US
Cover
Disc Manual

Mega-CD, EU
Cover
Disc Manual

Technical information

Main article: ESPN Baseball Tonight/Technical information.