Tag: Baseball »

Chicks dig the long ball, and Homerun Battle 2 is full of them. It's also about to get rather hellish, as there's a new stadium called Hell Ground is now available. Hit some high heat, literally! Swing a hot bat! Other fire-related baseball puns! The stadium is available for 2500 goldballs in the game, half off its usual price for launch.

Of course, would it be baseball in the underworld without having Ol' Scratch himself to play as? No, it would not. Thankfully, the Devil costume is unlockable, bringing with him a massive power boost. Mash taters as Mephistopheles! While getting the power of the Devil won't come at the cost of one's immortal soul, it will cost 6800 stars. I'm curious: is it against the rules to use performance-enhancing drugs as the Devil in Hell Ground? As well, four new Guardian costumes are available: White Tiger, HyanMu, Phoenix, and Blue Dragon.

Want to get in on this hot baseball action? Well, the game's on sale for $0.99 in celebration of baseball's Opening Day.

After a long winter, especially for Texas Rangers fans (though Texas weather can rarely be described as wintry), the new baseball season is finally here! Well, technically it started a week or so ago in Japan, and then there were still spring training and exhibition games, but finally, real baseball is here, and all 30 teams are going at it, trying to win the World Series. As a fan, there are several must-have apps to keep up with all the action, even if sometimes baseball can hardly be described as "action-packed."

MLB At Bat 2012: While this official MLB app does provide live scores, news, and video highlights, same as past years, the fun of it is still in its subscription content. $14.99 unlocks live audio, box scores, and video highlights. However, the app just got sweeter for MLB.TV Premium subscribers. By logging in to the service that offers live game broadcasts from anywhere (and supports AirPlay, though the Apple TV also has the MLB.TV app built in), now the mobile At Bat service comes free, thanks to the app moving to a freemium model. As a bonus, it's now universal, instead of the iPhone/iPad split in past years.

Baseball Trade Rumors: This app for the website coveirng all the latest transactions in Major League Baseball takes the old New York Times slogan "all the news that's fit to print" and reshapes it into "print all the news!" The site reports on news regarding relatively unknown minor league players and free agents. The site is also picking up on their original reporting, as they broke a story on Joey Votto of the Cincinatti Reds negotiating a huge value long-term extension. The app itself provides news filters and push notifications to get the latest news on favorite teams and players as they happen.

Fangraphs: This app provides live scores in a different way. It offers play-by-play win expectancy calculations, showing that based on past game results, which team is most likely to win given the current situation. It also provides the information in an easy-to-view graph, which provides an interesting visual way ot follow the story of a game, and its ups and downs, to see where victory was clinched, or an amazing comeback happened. As well, each player's WPA (win probability added, which can go negative) is displayed, showing that based on expected outcomes, how much their performance in the game actually impacted the final result. As well, the database of players and advanced stats is easily serachable from within the app.

ESPN Fantasy Baseball 2012: Of course, a big part of the fun of baseball season starting up is that it's also fantasy baseball season. While the game requires more commitment then the ever-popular fantasy football due to the about ten times the amount of games in a baseball season, it's easier to check up on a team thanks to smartphones. This app in particular makes it easy to update ESPN fantasy league teams' rosters, check matchups, and catch up on the latest ESPN headlines and tweets from their army of analysts.

As baseball season begins to ramp up it's critical for coaches to keep a close eye on their pitchers. Practice sessions need to be tightly controlled in order to prevent overuse injuries and make the most of the allotted time, and it can be hard to keep things straight with so many guys in the rotation. Thankfully, Baseball Bullpen has received a new update that will make life a bit easier on coaches.

The newest version of the app supports stats for up to five pitchers, making it as simple as a swipe to jump from one to the next. It also now includes support for various types of pitches, letting coaches keep tabs on fastballs, curveballs, sliders and more. This is all in addition to the app's original features, which included a pitch count, location tracking, and the ability to estimate pitch speeds based on the pitcher's height and his distance from the plate. It's truly a coach's dream come true.

The app is also handy for enthusiasts or even scouts, as they can easily keep tabs on a pitcher's tendencies and location with the app. There's likely to be no more convenient way to keep careful track of one of the game's most important positions.

With Spring Training starting up it's time for baseball fans to not only oil up their mitts but also grab their favorite companion apps as the prepare to root on their chosen teams. It's been confirmed to EverythingCafe that MLB At Bat 12 will not only make it's return this season, but the iOS apps will be free and included as part of the subscription package. Previously, MLB.TV subscribers had to pay an extra fee in order to access the service on their iPad and iPhone. MLB At Bat 12 is scheduled to be available starting February 29th.

The At Bat will offer users access to 150 Spring Training games, as well as all 2430 regular season contests. Just remember, local blackout rules apply, so if your home team is playing on television that day you won't be able to access the game on iOS. Furthermore, the app also features highlight videos, expert analysis, and unique team-by-team content. No matter which teams you follow you'll have everything in the palm of your hand with At Bat, and this year it won't cost an extra cent.

Mobile app developer GAMEVIL has released the 2012 edition of its annualized Baseball Superstars series, and this edition includes some significant updates. For one, the franchise has made a move to high-resolution graphics, taking full advantage of Retina display capabilities. For the first time, Baseball Superstars will also be a universal app, allowing players to play at full screen resolutions on their iPhone, iPod, or iPad.

Aside from its visual updates, Baseball Superstars 2012 also includes a few gameplay updates. New customization features let players design their team's uniforms and logo just to their liking. The My Pitcher and My Batter modes have been enhanced to allow players to build their team's stats and earn skill points. New tilt and gesture controls have been added, but the classic controls are still available. Rosters have also been updated with new Super Players and there are new missions and Game Center achievements.

Baseball Superstars 2012 is available now and free to play with additional content available via in-app purchase.

As the advert loves to state, Red Bull gives you wings. It also now gives you a global sports, cultural and lifestyle magazine by the name of The Red Bulletin.

This new app for the iPad promises high end magazine content with up to an hour of video and animation throughout. It features numerous interviews with artists and athletes such as baseball star Tim Lincecum as well as features on the likes of art work from Banksy. Other subjects such as base jumping and formula 1 motor racing also feature.

It's a new venture for the drinks company and it certainly makes for a pretty impressive looking magazine with the issue designed specially for iPad owners, taking advantage of the technology behind the device.

The Red Bulletin app also gives access to the international issue which contains a feast of the best stories from all the print editions as well as the exclusive content.

Best of all, it's a free app for iPad owners enabling them to gain a free issue for the month of June.

It's out now in English, German and Polish.

If you're an obsessed baseball fan like me, who can watch any teams play anywhere at any time in any stadium or on any TV channel, you can't wait until Spring Training finally ends and the real games finally begin. To help tide you over before the boys of summer take the field, Smashed Fly has a different take on the baseball game genre with Hit the Deck Baseball. Combining baseball with pinball, a la the mechanical baseball games of the 80's, you have to hit a pinball that drops toward your flipper, which is appropriately enough a bat, and hit it back up toward targets that represent a variety of baseball outcomes, your goal being to score as many runs as possible, of course. The game features 3D graphics, a built-in physics engine, five different game modes, and hotseat multiplayer. So, while the baseball season has yet to start with any meaningful games, pinball is always in season! Play ball!

There's nothing overtly new about this seasons variety of the amazing MLB At Bat apps, but with baseball season just around the corner, it's now prime time to pick up the app. As an extra treat for those who download early, the MLB will be streaming around 150 spring training games this season as part of the free MLB.tv mobile preview. In addition, each game will receive the same on-air radio treatment and batter-by-batter action that each game gives you during the regular season. Check out the full list of Spring Training goodies:

Customize At Bat's home screen to feature your designated favorite team

Watch Live streaming of about 150 Spring Training games with a special mobile free preview of MLB.TV

Listen to available radio broadcasts of Spring Training games

Follow batter-by-batter action for every Spring Training game

Enhanced video library archive, searchable by player or team

Breaking news, schedules and interactive rosters and players stats for every team

For the first time ever I'll get to see my Astros play spring training ball in the Grapefruit League. I'm more than just a little excited.

For those who had never used MLB At Bat in the past, it is the most amazing baseball game day app that you will ever touch. With the app you can follow any game in the country for free (well, after the app cost), and even listen to the games (you can choose between the home and away broadcast team) over internet radio. Best of all, if you purchase MLB.tv, you can watch each game via live streaming to any iOS device. The additional price ($99+) may seem a bit steep at first, but with well over 100 games going on this regular season, it's a hard deal to pass up for real baseball fans.

[Source: MLB.com]