The 2004 Boston Red Sox, or, as Johnny Damon called them, “just guys acting like idiots,” can tell you all about the struggles of trying to reach the pinnacle of one's profession when one is continually overshadowed by a giant with seemingly endless resources. Like that plucky cast, 989 Sports released a solid baseball game last year that went all but ignored against the marketing muscle of EA Sports' MVP Baseball franchise.

Not that doing battle with EA Sports is ever easy. They have the brand recognition, the reputation for the top visuals in the industry, and, in case you'd forgotten, a marketing budget that dwarfs the annual take of some countries. If you can't compete in flash and dazzle, then, you've got to take your fight to the trenches. To the mattresses, Vito Corleone might have said.

To that end, the folks at 989 Sports have taken the depth found in last year's effort and, well, gone deeper. Some of that depth is found in the Franchise and Career modes, naturally, but there have also been some tweaks to the core gameplay, both familiar and unique.

I say "familiar" because some of these features, while new to the MLB 200x franchise, have previously been seen in similar form in the competition's offerings. 989's "Branch Point Technology," for example, allows users to "pre-load" throws after fielding the ball, presumably getting the ball to its intended destination more quickly. MVP’s throwing meter had a type of pre-load as well, but it had more to do with how hard you fired the ball to a given base, as opposed to preparing to throw to the base in question.

Different in execution, but the concept itself is still familiar. However, I did say that the tweaks made to the game are both familiar and unique. Pre-loading your throws? Most of the recent baseball games have made an effort to integrate something along those lines. On the other hand, how about preloading your baserunning actions? This is new, and should better enable players to beat throws and tags, since they can get ready in advance of a tag attempt, rather than twitching at the last possible second.

"Pitcher Confidence" is in the game this year, too. We saw an example of this in Sega's ESPN MLB offering last year, and that example also showed us how difficult such a thing is to implement properly. MLB 2006 takes this idea and - there's that word again - tweaks it slightly to make player attributes play a role, as well. Players who are more highly rated are going to be less likely to make mistakes, which in turn will reduce the impact any mistakes might have on that pitcher's confidence. This means, presumably, that surrendering two or three hits in an inning isn't going to decimate the pitcher's confidence meter the way such occurrences routinely did in ESPN.

Perhaps the most intriguing new element to MLB's gameplay, however, is the revised fielding model. Again, we're seeing player ratings come into play here. Most baseball games, when a fly ball is hit, you see a general area where the ball is expected to land, and that area tightens up as the ball approaches the ground. Whether you're Carlos Beltran, or Juan Gonzalez, you're going to have the same idea of where you need to be to make the play; the only debilitating factors, usually, are the player's speed, and the size of the ballpark.

Not so with MLB 2006. Speed and ballpark size still play a factor, of course. A tub o' lard isn't going to be able to chase down a ball hit deep into the gap and snare it effortlessly the way Garret Anderson might. More to the point, though, your player's overall defensive rating is going to impact his read of the ball. You'll see the "landing zone" appear, and yes, it will still be in the general location of the actual landing zone. The thing is, though, excellent defenders will have a much smaller landing zone, reflecting their jump on the ball and read of its path, and that zone will appear sooner. Poor defenders will see a delay before the zone appears, reflecting a poor jump on the ball, and that zone will be larger, making it more difficult to make the play.

For people who just want to play an exhibition game, this could certainly prove frustrating, but for those of us who derive enjoyment out of building championship teams in the Career and Franchise modes, this is actually an impetus to look for players who can flash leather as well as swing the bat. It's kind of a geek thing, I know, but this might be my most anticipated feature of MLB 2006.

It isn't the only thing the 989 Sports development team has done that I'm excited about, however. The Career Mode from MLB 2005 is back, and like a year ago, EyeToy owners can use their camera to digitally insert their own faces onto their created player.

Once you actually get rolling, you'll notice that the Career mode is more streamlined, as well. As before, you start in the minor leagues, and your playing time is determined by your on-field performance. As you work your way from Podunk, Mississippi to the bright lights of Broadway, you'll have various interactions along the way that bring the MLB experience closer to the sort of thing found in, say, SIGames' illustrious soccer efforts (Championship Manager, née Football Manager 05).

You'll be able to request more playing time, demand a trade, negotiate your salary when contract time rolls around, or even accept interview requests with the media. No word yet on whether spreading anonymous rumblings of a player as a "clubhouse cancer" will get him traded, thus clearing a starting job for you, but...

At any rate, I digress. One of the things common to all sports games is a progressive development model for players. Some games do this by age, having a guy get better as he approaches 27, regardless of his actual performance. In recent years, more games have taken the dynamic approach, tying ratings increases to on-field performance. MLB 2006 is taking that a step further with a training model. The idea is similar to Madden 2005's minigames during training camp, but the execution is different. You can put in practice time on the field, of course, but you can also hit the gym or watch film to target other deficiencies in your game. It will be interesting to see if you can have a player change from a high average/basestealing threat to a 50 HR/year guy by dedicating yourself to the weight room.

Finally, Franchise Mode is getting a little bit of an overhaul, as well. Last year saw the introduction of various financial elements, making MLB 2005 the first console baseball game to really dive into the behind-the-scenes aspect of running a baseball team. That's back this year, of course, but in addition, you're going to have to contend with a new "Player Morale" system.

You've seen the commercial, "happy cheese comes from happy cows?" Well, magical seasons come from happy baseball teams. You're going to have to manage your players properly: if you have a guy who hits .310/40/120 every year, putting him 7th in the lineup is going to be a recipe for disaster. One thing I would like to see here (and time will tell if this happens) would be the ability to rouse the sleeping giant, as it were. The Los Angeles Dodgers started Adrian Beltre in the 7th spot in the batting order during the early weeks of the 2004 season, following a few seasons in which he hinted at his potential, but never fully awakened it.

Now, other things may have happened that culminated in his MVP-like year, but one could make the argument that getting dropped from his expected 4th down to 7th had a psychological impact that jogged him into gear. It would be nice to see something like this for slumping hitters, since streaks and slumps also impact player morale.

Of course, morale is affected by more than just where you slot players in the lineup. If a guy feels underpaid, he's not gonna be happy. If a guy feels like he can start, and you've got him buried three deep on the bench behind the starter, he's not gonna be happy. If the team is 50 games out of first place by the All-Star Break, he's not...well, you get the picture. You'll want to make sure you have good coaches, incidentally, since poor coaches will inspire poor performance from your players, and poor performance will inhibit morale.

On top of all of that, there have been a couple news stories in the last week or so worth paying attention to. Perhaps the most important announcement is the "third-party exclusive" license agreement between Visual Concepts and the Major League Baseball Players' Association. This doesn't affect MLB 2006 directly, since the agreement still permits first-party baseball titles to use player names and such, but it could have a profound impact on the MVP franchise's primary competition, the MVP Baseball series.

It's a lot to take in all at once, and it's certainly one of the deepest efforts we've seen at merging an arcade baseball experience with the rich, deep tradition of the management simulations seen on the PC. There's still that looming giant named "EA Sports" to contend with, of course, but as the Boston Red Sox showed us in October, sometimes all you need is an opening. Ironically, the VC/MLBPA deal may have given 989 that opening.