Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

Put on your catcher's mask and get ready for the Buster Posey VR experience

Though we may all have the desire, the truth is that not all of us can play big-league baseball. I, for example, washed out of tee-ball around 7 years old. But luckily, people like me will have the chance to live that MLB life for a little while during the All-Star Game FanFest in Miami.
From July 7 - 11, fans can play the Esurance Behind The Plate With Buster Posey VR Experience … and as you may have guessed from the name, it means you get to catch a few pitches in Buster Posey's cleats.
Not his literal cleats, of course, but you do get to put on a catcher's mask. It contains the VR headset, and once you put it on, you're living Buster's life.

Well, except for the fact that Buster himself is coaching you from the Jumbotron:

"I wanted to make [the experience] as authentic as possible," said Posey. "It's stuff I would say if I was working with a college baseball player, or a kid, or anybody that you were trying to teach to catch."
When you play, you also put on a catcher's mitt that allows you to point at the type of pitch you want to catch. You can choose between a fastball, a curveball and a slider. The pitches themselves aren't specific to a particular player -- when I played, I wasn't catching Johnny Cueto or Madison Bumgarner. The pitches are virtual, and were developed based on MLB pitching data.

The average pitch speed is between 86 and 93mph, and if you catch one, you'll feel it hit the glove. I successfully caught the fastball, and then got extremely cocky. So, I tried to catch the slider next. Pitches simulate a break between 38-52 inches and I was … not ready. Let's just say that if I had been an actual Major League catcher, I would have ended up as a GIF on this very site.
Posey himself knows about pitches that can take you by surprise.
"For me, the most challenging type of pitcher is one who has a pitch where the pitch will do one thing one pitch and then something [else] another pitch," he said. "For example, when Lincecum was with us, he would sometimes throw a fastball that would cut, but then two pitches later, it would actually go the opposite way. Not knowing exactly which way the pitch is going to go has to be the most challenging."
I finally tried to catch the curveball, and it may or may not have made it into my glove (it 100% hit the backstop). Then I got my final score: 1/3. If I had been at FanFest, I would have been able to share it on social media … plus an actual video of me playing the game. Fans will be able to share a clip that cuts between in-game, first-person footage and real-life footage of the player wearing the headset.  
Even though I wasn't about to win a Gold Glove, I loved my VR experience as a Major League catcher. But who would Buster Posey like to be for a day?
"I'd like to know what it would be like to be 6-foot-8 and 270 [lbs], like Aaron Judge," he said.
So would we all, Buster. So would we all. 

BarberJordan
beephero
AP_702417634020
NYC