The first thing everyone does when they pop in a new sports video game is create a new player in their likeness and see themselves rise to the highest levels of competition. While immersed in the game, you can see your childhood dreams -- throwing down a monster dunk or hitting a game-winning home run -- come to life before your very eyes.
If you're already a professional athlete, however, you get to do these things in the real world. Surely, hitting a home run in a Major League ballpark is far more satisfying than doing it in your living room. Right?
Apparently that's not the case at all. Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. controlled his virtual self in MLB The Show 20 and hitting homers and legging out doubles in the gap somehow looks more fun from the comfort of home!
It's reassuring to see that Tatis' real-life persona translates to his video game playing. He's still aggressive on the basepaths. He's still unrestrained in celebrating when he does something impressive in the game. And, most important of all, he appears to be really darn good at both real and virtual baseball.