Sony San Diego made a major announcement regarding the MLB The Show 23 game set to launch next month. On the heels of the absolutely huge news that Derek Jeter will grace the cover of the Digital Deluxe Edition, more massive news followed Monday. The Negro Leagues will be included in the game as part of a brand-new mode.
The MLB The Show account tweeted, “It’s our honor to bring the Netro Leagues to MLB The Show 23! In partnership with the @NLBMuseumKC and president @nlbmprez we invite you on a journey to celebrate the Negro Leagues and their stories of triumph over adversit in a new game experience!”
It’s our honor to bring the Negro Leagues to MLB The Show 23! In partnership with the @NLBMuseumKC and president @nlbmprez we invite you on a journey to celebrate the Negro Leagues and their stories of triumph over adversity in a new game experience! pic.twitter.com/8D50kKBWt8
— MLB The Show (@MLBTheShow) February 6, 2023
The video included entails a massive new mode featuring some of the greatest Negro Leagues players. Those included in the video were Buck O’Neil, Hank Thompson, Hilton Smith, Jackie Robinson, John Donaldson, Satchel Paige, Rube Foster, and Martín Dihigo.
The release from the MLB The Show 23 website detailed further:
We could not be happier to finally introduce the Negro Leagues into MLB ® The Show ™! It’s a special project for San Diego Studio and we are so grateful and appreciative to be partnering with the families of the players, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum ™ and NLBM President Bob Kendrick to bring these stories to life in a video game.
MLB ® The Show 23 (Storylines Season 1 *) introduces eight Negro League Players and their stories, narrated by Bob Kendrick. With this multiyear partnership with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum ™ our goals align with the museums to Educate, Enlighten, and Inspire by celebrating the rich history of the Negro Leagues. Every new launch of MLB ® The Show ™ represents a new Season, with it we’ll introduce a new group of Negro League Legends and their stories to pay rightful tribute to these mostly unknown baseball superstars. MLB ® The Show ™ 23 represents the inaugural season and next year’s game would be season 2.
The Season 1 roster for MLB ® The Show ™ 23 includes: Leroy “Satchel” Paige, Jackie Robinson, Andrew “Rube” Foster, Hilton Smith, Hank Thompson, John Donaldson, Martin Dihigo, and John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil.
So players of the game will be able to play through each of these players’ stories for Season 1, and next year’s game will bring about Season 2, and so on until they decide to end this tremendous series.
They also announced they will donate $1 to the Negro Leagues Museum for each Digital Deluxe Edition copy sold. The company ran similar promotions with the special Jackie Robinson edition recently.
The MLB world is buzzing after the major announcement, to say the least.
This one’s a GAME CHANGER! Please join me, the @NLBMuseumKC & our friends at @MLBTheShow in welcoming the Negro Leagues to MLB The Show 23! I hope fans love these legends of the game & their stories as much as loved lending my voice to this historic project! @MLB @MLBPA @Royals https://t.co/lml79qRDrs
— Bob Kendrick (@nlbmprez) February 6, 2023
Here are two sneak peek photos featuring John Donaldson and Hank Thompson, two of the 8 Negro League Legends in @MLBTheShow 23! pic.twitter.com/fVuWgt4pyW
— MLB (@MLB) February 6, 2023
We’ve put our heart and soul into this project. I’m so excited for everyone to learn about the Negro Leagues from one of the special humans I now have the pleasure of calling a friend @nlbmprez. https://t.co/YWWoy1jn8x
— Ramone Russell (@Ramone_Russell) February 6, 2023
SATCHEL PAIGE IS COMING TO MLB THE SHOW 23 LETS GOOOOOO 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/kdeG4uAhDb
— Shelfy (@RealShelfy) February 6, 2023
This is so cool. A great addition to #mlbtheshow
A fun way to honor the Negro Leagues.@NLBMuseumKC pic.twitter.com/bfhEj6YQ39— Robert Flores (@RoFlo) February 6, 2023
🙌🙌🙌🙌👑 https://t.co/tU5pWbFkla
— Eric Monacelli (@ermonacelli) February 6, 2023
Man, that is so good with the Negro League addition to MLB: The Show. Hope people also donate to the Negro League museum, as well
— 💯 (@TheMSeries1) February 6, 2023
