Could virtual reality experiences come to baseball?

Ever wanted to hit against the pros?

A few weeks ago, I was channel surfing and came across a show that had professional golfers playing a simulated round of golf inside of a large building in front of a live audience. My first thought was, what in the Sam Hill is this mess? I wanted to change the channel but the longer I watched the harder it became. I wanted to see what happened next.

If you follow golf, you know I’m talking about Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s brainchild, TGL Golf. This was the debut show, and it reportedly drew about one million viewers, which is about the number of viewers that will watch a big-time college basketball matchup. Woods’ rationale for the league was that there are more “off-course” golf participants than there are “on-course” ones by a count of 33 million off to 26.6 million on. The off-course people would be playing on simulators at their local golf shops and at venues like Top Golf. Makes sense.

Back when I was still playing golf, my two sons and I spent an hour at Top Golf one Saturday, and it was a blast. While one was hitting balls, the other two were munching on wings and sipping swing oil. I didn’t have to look high and low for my lost balls. No worry about hitting any Lorena Bobbitt’s off the tee. If I missed my target, I might get a lucky bounce to another one. My score almost immediately popped up on a nearby TV screen. Instant feedback! I loved it and can see why people enjoy this type of golf. The costs are about the same but at Top Golf, we were done in an hour and the food and drink was markedly better. And I didn’t go home fretting about the nine balls I lost on the course.

For some reason, the TGL show has stuck in my brain and percolated an idea. Could this concept be applied to baseball? Sure, many of us have played simulated baseball games on our PCs. Back in the day, Old Time Baseball was one of my favorite escapes. What if some baseball entrepreneur decided to bring major league baseball to the hungry masses through simulation?

You want to know what it’d be like to face off against Nolan Ryan’s fastball or Doc Gooden’s curve? Maybe you think you can hit Satchel Paige’s bee-ball or Phil Niekro’s knuckleball. Perhaps the ladies would like to match up against Jennie Finch or Monica Abbott? You want to know what it feels like to play third base in the 1969 World Series? Or play centerfield in the Polo Grounds? For just $100 an hour, you can do this! The possibilities are endless. You could get a team together and play in a league against whichever major league teams you choose. You want to play nine innings against the 1954 Cleveland Indians? Can do! With today’s computing power and AI, I think this could be done.

The only problem I see is how to accurately authenticate the feeling. By that I mean, let’s say a 99-mph fastball gets away from Bob Feller and hits you in the ribs. Should we make the game so accurate that something blasts into your rib cage at 99 mph so you can appreciate that feeling? If Willie Mays rips a hard grounder at you and it takes a bad hop, there needs to be something that ricochets off your left shoulder to replicate the pain of taking a bad hop grounder.

You know as well as I do, that your next at-bat against Rapid Robert is going to be a whole lot different after you’ve taken one to the ribs. Now you’re feeling the pain and the fear. A lot of kitchen table managers (or as Ted Williams called us: Knights of the keyboard!), would suddenly discover just how hard it is to hit major league pitching. Or to stay down on a hard-hit ground ball. Bring a change of shorts!

I love the idea. Economically, it would probably never fly as any player who took a Randy Johnson fastball off the thigh would be a one-and-done customer. Not a sustainable business model.

Perhaps the operator could give us two choices: professional and amateur. Professional, as it implies, comes with all the bells and whistles. You get hit by a pitch? You’re going to feel it. Just sign the injury waiver when you enter the facility. Amateurs would be for us softies. I’ve already been hit by plenty of pitches in my younger days, some which hurt like the dickens, and I have no machismo left for that noise. I’ll stand in against Paul Skenes if there’s no pain involved. I might even get lucky and foul one off. Or not. Either way, it would give us regular Joe’s an idea of just how impossible it is to hit major league pitching.

The application goes far beyond golf and baseball. Want to run the football against the 1970’s Bears and Dick Butkus. Make sure your will is updated.

Do you want to try to tackle Barry Sanders? Step right up big boy. Play hockey against Wayne Gretzky or the 1973-74 Broad Street Bullies Philadelphia Flyers? Gotcha covered.

It’ll be interesting to see how much traction the TGL League gets and if it can become an economically viable alternative. If so, the future possibilities are endless. Could it ever replace or supplement our current experience of going to the ballpark? Possibly. That’s the great thing about the future. You rarely see what’s coming next.