Get ready to go head-to-head on Xbox. Get the scoop on the best sports games from Operation Sports Managing Editor Shawn Drotar. In addition to writing previews, reviews, and the site's blog, "Splinters From The Pine," Shawn is proud to provide exclusive coverage for Xbox.com. He can be contacted at shawn@operationsports.com.

Operation Sports:

MVP Baseball 2005: Down on the Farm

By Shawn Drotar, Managing Editor, OperationSports.com

When most people think of professional baseball, they think of Major League Baseball and the thirty cities it represents. But the bloodlines of the game run much deeper than that.

Every major-league team has roughly a half-dozen minor-league clubs in its organization. Spread throughout hundreds of cities and towns, these farm clubs have the unenviable task of teaching young players how to play, while simultaneously trying to win a few games. The vast majority of minor-leaguers will never see even a single day in the majors. But in town after town, fans still cheer their local heroes every warm summer night.

Electronic Arts' MVP Baseball™ 2005 lets you take the field with one of 90 minor-league squads—from the nearly ready-for-prime-time Triple-A Level to the miles-away Single-A level—and see how the other side of professional baseball lives.

Fast action in the farm league.

EA Sports has created a handful of pastoral green fields that reflect the more relaxed nature of the game. But that's only part of the minor league experience in MVP Baseball 2005.

The players aren't major-league caliber, but this limitation only makes the game more challenging. You have less depth on a team, the pitchers aren't as reliable, hitters don't have big-time home run power, and the fielding leaves much to be desired. Every out is precious, and a minor league team will test a whole new set of your skills as a gamer.

And there's even more happening down on the farm. In Dynasty mode, your franchise's farm system is critical to your long-term success. Each player has a different level of potential, and depending on age and experience, will reach it at a different pace.

As the manager, you must make some critical choices. Do you bench your steady player and take a chance on a 20-year-old phenom? Or do you stunt the kid's growth and play your old standby to ensure a win?

Swing, batter batter batter, saaa-wing!

With three levels of minor league teams at your command, you promote some players and demote others, all while grooming your best bets for the big leagues.

From the Memphis Redbirds to the Modesto Nuts, all the excitement and promise of minor league baseball is at your fingertips in MVP Baseball 2005. So grab your rosin bag and get out the pine tar, because it's time to play ball!

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