Hi, I’m Cody, and I am a professional MLB The Show player. I play competitive baseball as well. I’m glad to announce that I will be participating in the World Championships this weekend with my Diamond Dynasty team. This is the biggest tournament of the year. I have been a participant in this tournament for seven of the last eight years. I didn’t qualify in 2018 because I was struggling with my school work at the time and could not play enough to beat XJB_King in my qualifier match. That man has haunted me in my gaming career. He has eliminated me from the tournament four times in the seven years that I have participated. The best I have finished in the tournament was 8th place in 2022. Guess who eliminated me? Of course, it was XJB_King. This year, I have practiced a ton to finally beat this man. I just received some of the best news of my life. I got drafted in the 2nd round of the MLB draft by the Chicago Cubs. This likely means I will no longer have the time to compete in The Show. However, I don’t need to go to spring training until February, so I still have some time left to play with my viewers on Twitch and hopefully win the $500,000 grand prize for finishing first in my final tournament. The team that I will be competing with is my best team yet. Leading off, I have Elly de la Cruz. He’s very fast and will hopefully give me a bit of contact as well. He plays some of the best shortstop defense that I have ever seen in my life. Batting second is everybody’s favorite player, Mike Trout. His card is super overpowered, and his swing is so glitchy, which is perfect for a guy like him. He’s on 92% of all teams competing in the tournament. Batting third is my personal favorite card in the game, Cody Bellinger. His swing is like butter, and I have a .658 batting average with him. It is by far the best card that I use. He was extremely difficult to obtain, so not many people have him. Cody has saved me in many important situations in qualifying, so hopefully that could continue throughout the tournament. 

“Cody hun,” a faint voice called from downstairs, “come down in 15. Grandma and Grandpa will be here shortly.” 

I muted my microphone on the stream and called back down to her, “Ok! Sorry that I got sidetracked by the team description. I talked for a good 3 minutes to the stream until I decided to check the comments, and they were all yelling at me for having my microphone still muted. 

“Sorry for being muted,” I told the stream.

Batting fourth for my team was Ronald Acuña Jr. He was an extremely good power bat that deserved his role on my team. The rest of the team was filled with Adley Rutchman, Cal Ripken, Yordan Alverez, Chipper Jones, and Ketel Marte. This was the team that I was bringing to the Orlando National Tournament taking place at ESPN World Wide of Sports in two days. 

The Chicago Cubs already put me on one of their single-A teams, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, and I have a meet and greet with the coach tonight at the training facility later in the day.

“Hey Cody,” a tall, charismatic man greeted me. “It is so great that you came out today.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I reply sarcastically. I don’t think he understands that I want to get home and start my stream. The whole meeting went by, and it was absolutely useless. He showed me where all the facilities were; however, I knew where they all were because I’ve been to the stadium before.

As soon as I get back home, I book the flight to Orlando. I decided to sit in first class because there was no way I could deal with the added pressure of having to sit next to another obese woman pushing her huge legs into mine. I thought that sitting in first class would give me a chance to relax for my game later that day.

“Cody!” a voice called from across the hall. “Why is there a $500 purchase on my credit card for United Airlines?” 

“I decided to sit in first class for the flight. I promise I’ll pay you back when I win the entire thing.

“Fine!” he reluctantly yelled.

Finally, the day was here. I wondered if there were any last-minute substitutions to make for my team. I knew my starting lineup was set, but the bench was still up in the air. The bench is strategically situated to cover most necessities that I may face. I have a backup catcher, a hitter who destroys righties, a hitter who destroys lefties, and a speedy runner to have for the later innings of the game. I ended up using Ryan Ludwick, Willie Stargell, Jimmy Rollins, and Cal Raleigh for these positions. Using the companion app, I decided to make an absolute last-minute change. I decided that I did not need Roy Halladay in my rotation and instead thought that Andy Petitte would suit the role. Kluber, Donaldson, Corbin, and Ohtani rounded out the rotation. I never planned to change my bullpen either, as they were the most well-rounded part of the entire team, in my opinion. 

Arriving at the venue was quite nerve-racking. I have been here for many years, but every single year I get the same pit in my stomach. This year was 100% the worst since my first season, though. I knew if I didn’t win, then there was no tomorrow. Either I win this weekend or it’s over for my career. 

The tournament was structured in such a way that the first day you play a round-robin style tournament to get seeding. On Day 2, you play against anyone based on record, and the top 32 teams move on to the final day. On Day 3, everyone gets seeded 1–32, and games are played until there is only one person left. 

Everything was set for a great tournament. My team was ready, I was ready, and I couldn’t have been more excited for anything. Well, maybe that was a lie; getting drafted was pretty cool too. Anyway, my first game was against a dude with the username Jake234. We got to see the team preview, and his team was nothing crazy. He was pitching Randy Johnson, which was a little terrifying for my first game, but he’s nowhere near as good as John Donaldson, whom I decided to start for the first game of the tournament. The only thing that I had to be careful about was the pitch count rule. Pitchers only get 100 pitches per day, so I had to be careful about how much I used him in game 1. There were 3 games on day 1, so I felt comfortable using Donaldson for the first game and keeping Corbin and Kluber available for the other 2.

“Let the games begin!” a voice shouted through the speakers that went all across the complex. 

Jake234 was not as good as I expected. In the first inning, I scored six runs and struck out the side on 13 pitches. There was a rule in the tournament that if a team was up by 10 runs or more at the end of an inning, then the game would end immediately as a mercy rule. That is what happened with the first game. After 5 innings, I held a 13-run lead with huge help from my favorite player, Cody Bellinger. He had homered three times in the game, which propelled me to an easy win. The best part about the win is that I got to meet him at the end of the game. 

“Hey Cody,” a voice said.

“Hi,” I replied suspiciously.

“I’m Jake234. I just played you. I’m a huge fan of your streams. I heard this is your last tournament. Good luck!” He exclaimed excitedly.

“Thank you; good luck in the rest of the tournament as well.”

I knew that he wasn’t going to go far in the tournament; however, it was a nice thing to say. You just have to say those things to people sometimes, whether you mean it or not. Jake was a nice dude, though I knew he was not going to go far in the tournament whatsoever. He was a pretty mediocre player. 

The rest of the day was a breeze. The players that I had faced were not up to par with the level of competition that I face on a day-to-day basis. I went out to dinner with my friends, who also went undefeated that day. I wanted to practice more, but I also didn’t want to get burned out. I just decided to take the rest of the night to relax. My nose was tingly from the blue-light glasses that I wear while I’m playing. 

A new message from Coach Johnson: Mandatory Practice Sunday afternoon at 6 p.m. Please be there.

I started to sweat because I couldn’t get to practice in time if I wanted to win this tournament. I decided to not respond to coach tonight and deal with it when I was fresh in the morning.

The next day, I arrived at the venue without thinking about Coach Johnson’s text at all. This allowed me to completely focus on my first game, where I mercied my opponent in five innings. I was absolutely rolling and thought that I was just going to win every game. Then the text hit. I didn’t know what to do. I panicked frantically and decided to respond to my coach by saying that I would be there. I was losing my mind over having to leave the tournament, which caused me to start playing horribly. I lost two games in a row, which threatened elimination if I didn’t win the next game. Luckily for me, I faced Jake234 again. I couldn’t have gotten an easier game. I thought to myself. Once again, the stress of leaving the tournament had gotten in my head. It was the bottom of the 8th inning, and Jake was winning 7-4. If I didn’t score four runs in the next inning, I would go home without making the knockouts. The same went for Jake. He walked Elly, and I got a hit with Trout. This gave Cody Bellinger a chance to tie the game with a homer.

“Bellinger with a drive, right center field, it's gone!” the announcer screamed into the venue microphone. “This game is tied!”

Jake put in Felix Bautista, trying to send the game to extra innings; however, the first pitch that he threw to Ronald Acuña was sent 479 feet over the wall in left field. I had put myself in the 23rd seed in the tournament tomorrow. Now the predicament has become even more difficult. I didn’t know what to do. I could either go home and leave the tournament or play in the tournament and face the consequences that may come from missing practice. It was quite a problem.

I decided that I was going to send my coach a text saying that I was on vacation in Florida and that I would be unavailable to attend practice. I clicked send and prayed his response would be positive. I was so wiped from the day, so I decided to head to sleep really early. 

The next day was the biggest of them all. I had my chance to finally take down XJB_King. I was so excited until my phone started to ring. 

"Hello, is this Cody?” A voice spoke through the phone.

“Yes, it is,” I replied nervously.

“I have to inform you of some news. Are you in town?”

"No, I am not. Why?”

“I’m sorry to inform you that your father and mother were in a terrible car crash. They are alive; however, they suffered many injuries. They would like for you to come visit them.”

“What injuries?” 

“Your mom broke her collarbone and her left leg, and your dad broke three ribs. They really would like to see you.”

“I will be there shortly.”

This absolutely devastated me. Not only would I have to leave the tournament, but my parents are in pain. It killed me to have to deal with the trauma. I was getting hate from my fans on Twitch, but I didn’t care. I had to make sure that my parents were okay at all costs. Even if it meant I had to miss the end of my favorite tournament, I decided to announce on my social media that I would be returning to this tournament next year. I wrote: 

Dear fans,

I’m very sorry about how this tournament ended. It was not how I would have liked it to end. The only thing that matters is that my family is okay. Thankfully, they were fine. I do have some good news. I will be returning to Orlando for the 2025 tournament. Thank you for all of the support.

Love, 

Cody