Good Day Uncut: MLB ALL START VILLAGE

Philadelphia, we are uncut. Billy, what's going on? You brought that? I'm not at the bank at all. I'm not close to the bank, guys. I'm in Center City. I'm at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in the middle of a ton of awesomeness, guys. I am at the Major League Baseball All-Star Weekend. Fan extravaganza. It's been awesome so far. We are indoors. You're looking at one of three different playing fields. Youngster's getting a chance to run the bases. There's even a John Crook here studying the pitcher so that when he gets a chance out there, he'll blast one over the far wall. My man, Rob Fields from Major League Baseball. Thank you so much for making an opportunity. Dude, this is your brainchild. I know you got a team and you'll pass the buck and everything, but nice job. There's a ton of people out here. It's huge. Guys, the Convention Center right now, it's the whole Convention Center. It's bigger than the auto show. You all have taken up the whole Convention Center. Yeah, we're using 500,000 square feet. We didn't use all the halls, but we needed a good amount of space and it's pretty spectacular what we put together. It is. Now, Rob, you got a thousand things that you could do here. You told me earlier, you all have been working on this for a couple of years and the research and the work that you all have done is playing. You've got people from cities all over the place. Tons of Philadelphia Phillies fans, of course, all over everywhere. But a lot of folks from New York have made the trip. A lot of people are here from Baltimore as well and even further away. On a thing like this, you could do almost anything you want. How do you decide what to and what not to do? Yeah, so we really went to showcase the Philadelphia town city. So we took their city, made it our village and our village is their village now. So we identified five neighborhoods. We have Center City, South Philly, Fairmont, Old City, and Fishtown. Okay. And each neighborhood has a different vibe. So people who are from Philadelphia area can see a little flavor of the beach. At a time, you get a little flair of the village as well. Yeah, you do and it's fun. It's clearly fun to a lot of people. There's a family here down from the Lehigh Valley and there's actually the vibe. You got a lot of fans rooting for their children. There's a lot of people just standing around just enjoying the whole experience of it. Have you all put a ball field in a Civic Center before? Did you do it maybe last year? I've never been to one of these before. We always have at least one, but now we have three. That's crazy. Yes. So those are the key stepping stones for each of the events that we do. Right. We place the diamonds first and then we work around it because we want the kids to play. As you can see here, we got kids of all sizes. We just wanted to play baseball softball on the field. Well, it's fun too because when you see something like this, sorry about that. You're going to see the kid who's clearly the guy that played a ton of t-ball. It's got a dad that's really invested. You got other kids as well that never played a lick of baseball in their lives. And what's fun about it too is you don't even have to necessarily have a kid in there. You can see people all around the outfield wall, just getting a kick out of watching youngsters play baseball because after all it really is the king of the spectator sports, isn't it? Absolutely. We really have something for everyone. Again, if you are a baseball person, you want to play the game, you can play the game. If you like watching the game, you start to do that as well. You have to be a student of the game. Were you a player? I did. I played in college. There you go. I go to bed sometimes listening to the Phillies broadcast for a number of different reasons. I know that the information is going to get into my head. I'll know who won and lost, but between you and me, it's really more for the ambience, like the way it feels. It's kind of mellow. The broadcasters all have these sort of bourbon and cigar voices, you know, it's actually, I'm not going to say it puts me to sleep, but it helps and I really enjoy it. Baseball is so old and it's got these subtleties in it and I feel like you all are the masters of it. You've really done a good job here of capturing that vibe. Is it hit and miss? I mean, you all have so many different things going on here, but you know, each year we see which actions are very popular and what works and what doesn't. We certainly have to adjust each year, each city, but we try to bring the flavor each year. Again, it's really about the kids playing. We want them to play. We want to make sure they're having a good experience. So we certainly make adjustments when we need to, but we like to carry over a lot of the elements each year. Well, I like it and there's guys, of course, you've got your corporate sponsors here. Rawlings is over across the way, but they make a ton of the ball gloves. Certainly Capital One is here. They actually put out this hat that I got one of, a lady just gave me one. It's really, really cool. All you got to do is stand in line and register and I think it's yours for free. Big leaguers here and not just big leaguers, legends, people like Jim Cott, Ferguson Jenkins, a lot of people here today signing autographs. I'm hearing even the Pittsburgh Pirates superstar Paul Skeens is in the building today, but there's an autograph bank over there. People can get autographs and it doesn't cost you a dime and this is a world where people happily line up for $100, $200 autographs. Yeah, we're not a card show. We're not a trade show. We want fans to have access to the players, players that they see watch grow up and the fact that we do the admission ticket and when they get inside, they don't have to pay for additional for a batting cage, a photo with the player. We want everything to be accessible for the fans when they come in here. We got to go to a break real quick. Rob Field from Major League Baseball. Rob, make the final point. They got the rest of today and tomorrow to be here and it's free. You got two days to come in. You got to use your Capital One card to get a free ticket. If not, go to allstargame.com. Boom. Nice job, Rob. Thank you so much for making the time. Busiest man in the building, guys. Rob Field right now. We'll be back right here to the Pennsylvania Convention Center with more baseball. As Bob Kelly says, baseball for everybody. We'll be right back. All right, everybody. There it is. Even just be the field of dreams, but it is underneath the roof of the Pennsylvania Convention Center with the way they got the lights up, guys, and the way they get fuzzy on the video. It really does feel like a night out at the old bank. Ladies and gentlemen, we are here with a bunch of good people who I just ran into. Stephanie Fisher of the Lehigh Valley Miracle League. Stephanie, thank you so much for having us. What made you bring your old clan here? You got a ton of folks. You know what? The MLB gifted us these tickets so our kids could experience the joy of this experience. We are a nonprofit that gives children and adults with special needs the opportunity to play baseball. Hey, you excited to play baseball? Yes. What's your name, pal? Hi, Andrew. Hunter. It's good to meet you, Hunter. Listen, what's the plan when you step up to the bat? This pitcher apparently has got steam. You hit the ball. You hit the ball? My man, Hunter. It's great to meet you. Stephanie, you all are giving a lot of young people, a lot of big, beautiful-hearted young people the opportunity to come down here and take in this fan experience. Why do you do it? And put out the information out there. If you all have a URL for the Miracle League of Lehigh Valley. I mean, look at these kids. Look at these smiles. It's a once-in-a-lifetime. Right, TJ? Yeah. No, this is what they live for. All right, who's going to be up to bat first? Who's going first? Okay. All right. Here we go. All right, so there's Hunter headed out. Just thigh. There's just thigh. Go ahead, TJ. Let's get lined up. Go get lined up. I'm sorry. I feel like I'm absolutely in the way here. All right, here comes Violet. All right. Here comes Brooke. And Brooke. Here goes Brooke. Ready, Brooke? All right. Come on, Chase. All right, Chase. Here we go. Everybody's here. A little bit of good baseball action. We're all here to get it. TJ's here. Go ahead, TJ. Go get in line. Hey, Stephanie. In your experience, you guys have probably only been here for a little bit. What do they like best? You know, they really like to get in the hats. Yes. This is our first hands-on experience. But they're really trying to meet some flyers. They really, that's what they're looking forward to. We all brought our autograph sheets. Yeah, I was going to say keep your eyes peeled. These are autograph sheets that we made up and they're real excited to get those signatures. Well, I mean, they're free out here at Philadelphia All-Star Week. This is fantastic. Thank you so much. Stephanie. It's a great pleasure to meet you. Thank you. We'll see you guys. Support the Miracle League of the Lehigh Valley if you have it in. How you doing, sir? I'm Hank. I'm with Fox 29. You talk to me for a sec. What's your name? Jason. So you're out here. You and I both missed the draft. I'm guessing. I can't speak for you, but I didn't get drafted at 57. Yeah, I'm starting to, chances are getting thin. I'm really feeling like they're not going to come and get me at this point. It really is like being out at the ballpark. What do you like best about this fan experience so far? It's just best seeing the smiles on the kids' faces, being able to interact with just other fans. The baseball, the mini baseball field is actually really cool. It gets some good action. Are your children here? I have my middle child here. You want to be on TV with me, buddy? Is that okay with you? Yeah. What's your name? Jonah. Judah. I'm Hank. It's nice to meet you. Hey Judah, home run derby tonight, bud, down at the bank. Got Schwarber and Harper in it. What are you feeling? How's it going to go down? I think it's going to be good too. Who do you think is going to win? Do you think either Schwarber or Harper is going to win? I think, I honestly think Kyle Schwarber is going to win it. That's what I think though. What do you think, bud? Do you think Schwarber is going to win? He's really good at it. He'll be hitting at his home stadium. He'll be comfy, right? Yeah. All right. Well Judah, it's a good pleasure to meet you. You said Judah, right? Yeah. All right. Pleasure to meet both of you guys. Have a good time. Out here, you want to be on TV too? Yeah. What's your name? Connor. Is your mom out here somewhere? Or your dad? My dad. Where is he? Huh? I don't know where my dad is. All right. Are you guys allowed to be on TV? Are they allowed to be on TV? All right. So Connor, home run derby tonight. Schwarber, Harper and the rest of the major leagues. Who wins? Schwarber. I'm with you. I think so too. Guys, go ahead and run. They're hitting all over the place. What do you think, young man? What's your name? Brayden. Who's going to win the home run derby tonight? You got Schwarber. You got Harper. You got a bunch of other punks from the rest of the league. Schwarber. You can pick whoever you want. What do you think, boss? Schwarber. That's what I'm talking about. You put... Now, is that a Las Vegas Knights hockey team baseball hat? Okay, that's you. Is that your team? Yeah, my dad's travel team. It's your dad. All right. Because it looks like a Knights logo with baseballs on it, which is kind of cool. What about you, my man? I got Kyle Schwarber winning. You got Kyle Schwarber winning it? How many dingers is he going to hit? And is he going to win by two or three, do you think? He really is good at it when he gets in a groove. I think he's maybe going to get five. Five? All right. Might take more than that. I'm not sure. What's the game in here? It's wiffle ball, right? I mean, but you guys have played a little wiffle ball, right? Yeah. Didn't you? Heck yeah. We all play baseball. You all play baseball? You guys play on the same team? Yeah. All right. Well, when you guys get in there, I expect to see, like, Major League Baseball staffers running around in the crowd on the other side of the fence, trying to hunt down all the wiffle balls you guys rifled into the seats, all right? We play wiffle ball. Oh, yeah? It just doesn't go as far. You know, you're probably not going to put it out any car windows with the wiffle ball, right? Do you guys, are either one of you guys pitchers? How much fun is it to pitch with a wiffle ball? I mean, you can throw gas and you can make the thing turn a hard left. You really can. It's ridiculous. Yeah. What's your best pitcher with a wiffle ball? Submarine. What do you guys like about this fan festival so far? Is it better, worse, or about what you thought? I think it's better. You think it's better? Better. Better? Okay. It's your first time. I think it's all of our first times here, though, because it's the first time. Oh, you went yesterday? Is it better today than it was yesterday? Maybe with your teammates. Yeah. What about you? I think it's fun. Good stuff, Connor. What do you like best about it? Yeah, no question. Did you guys go to the video wall yet? The video wall? All right. Well, listen, guys, they're going to be playing baseball. Thank you, fellas. I appreciate it. They're going to be playing baseball over here at the MLB Diamond. I am going to take you over to the video wall. And not only that, we're going to be talking to one of the guys from Major League Baseball who works with MLB, the show Video Games, all things video, all things digital with Major League Baseball. We'll be talking to him when we get back. We're more in touch. All right, everybody, Major League Baseball Madness at the Pennsylvania Convention. So the mascot for the show is here taking pictures with young fans from New York City all around the place. And he's not the only mascot that we've seen so far here today, guys. So our mascot from the Thrashers, who I'm guessing are a minor league club. So, how are you? What's going on, Hank? How are you? I'm great. Thank you. Introduce yourself. Yeah, I'm Peter Banks. I'm the director of marketing for MLB games and VR. And VR, I'm sorry. I thought you were saying, and we are, and I was waiting for you to say that we are. But Peter, thank you so much. It's funny. First quick question. Who is the mascot for the show? We love that guy. It's like Bob Lemon. That's coach. Okay, coach, of course. This is, and he's basically, he's like a grouchy old baseball coach. He's a lifer, right? Yeah, but he's the one, he's the coach that you love. He'll teach you all the tips. He'll get you in the lineup. So, he's kind of our lovable grouchy old coach. He's the guy, you don't want to do it, but he's absolutely the one to tell you to choke up on the bat, that you'll get a base hit. Elbow up, tell you to get your elbow up, you know, to get in on the base a little bit. That's him. Yeah. No, he's amazing. I saw the mascot for the Thrashers here. I don't know who, the minor league team, I'm guessing. Do you know? There's not a few of them here. There's so many mascots. Coach has been in the mascot green room and he's been, he other mascots last night. They had a great time here in Philly. Yeah, hard not to run around with them. Everybody always wants pictures. Tell me about this video world that you've set up and the world that you live in here because it's increasingly a video world. I work in it. So do you. It's no better way to watch baseball than, I guess, watching it on, besides live, than watching it on TV, I suppose. Yeah, you know, everything we do at ML, in the Games and XR group at MLB, we're looking at all kinds of different technology, how we can kind of bring that to baseball fans, whether that's mobile games, console games, VR, XR, MR, whatever the next thing is going to be. We're looking at all kinds of different technologies. How do we explore gameplay and explore the storytelling of our sport and get out there and just kind of give the fans the best experience they can get, you know, on whatever platform they're on. You guys have a billion people here and look at, look at the gameplay here. Is this the newest version of the show? This is MLB The Show 26. We actually have some of the developers of the game here, but the guys and the gals at that San Diego Studio and Sony, they work so hard just to give the most authentic, lifelike, realistic and deep baseball experience that you possibly can have. But that's what it's become too with these games is you can dig as deep as you want to. You can even get to a place where you're playing in ballparks that are maybe gone at this point. You can play in uniforms from 25 years ago. But what really knocks me out as this young man plays seems to be the lighting somehow. The lighting of it makes it all seem so realistic. With every new addition, it just feels more and more real. It feels more and more present. I guess that's part of the game. Absolutely. You know, it's not just resolution and processor power. It's, you know, it's the experience of building these ballparks of understanding how the time of day and the camera angle and all these things affect the feeling and the look that you get when you're playing. You know, these guys are students of baseball broadcasting as well as technology. So, you know, the way that our broadcasters, whether at the networks or an MLB network, do the storytelling around the sport, you know, we try to kind of take inspiration from that and do the same thing in the video game. I'm going to ask you the same question that I asked Rob Fields before. Baseball is such an individual organic value. You know, what it means to me may have something to do with the game in Kinston that my grandpa took me to, or for you it may have something to do with a time that you were out at wherever it was. The Oakland Coliseum. And I was telling him that I love to go to sleep listening to the Phillies, not that they put me to sleep, but just the ballpark ambience I love. How do you take everybody's individual feel like that? And I don't know if you can, and feed them into something like a ball game like this. Baseball, it is the national pastime because everybody's got a place for it to fit in their imagination. So, it makes your meditation like an eternal one, right? Absolutely. I mean, that's a great point. You know, for us, we've come to realize that, you know, I mean, we think the show is just an extraordinary experience. Like I said, you know, you get into a level of depth that you don't see with other kind of games. But for some people, they want to be doing something else. Maybe they want to be able to be more on the go. Maybe they're really into VR. Maybe like you said, they want something that's a little slower paced and more meditative. So, you know, working with all of our partners around the league, whether that's Sony, Konami, come to us, Ares, you know, Topps. We're doing great things with different gameplay experiences depending on kind of where you want to be. So, we're really trying to give those different experiences to our fans depending on their technology and their appetite. All right, Peter. I really appreciate the opportunity. Thanks again so much. One more quick question. What are you excited about? Like, well, you've been in this job for a minute and there's a new version every single year. I'm not, maybe there is some unicorn piece of technology on the horizon. Maybe not, but there's something, there's a question in here with you that doesn't have an answer yet. Yeah, I gotta say, whenever I come to this event or events like this, the All-Star Village, you know, seeing the way the fans physically and in person interact with the sport, you know, I think about things like our Home Run Derby VR product and kind of how do we evolve the physical and digital interaction. So, whether that's with batting, with pitching, with base running, how do we create those new interactive experiences that leverage both the physical experience of an event and the fun and excitement of a digital interaction? So, that's kind of what gets me excited when I come to something like this and hopefully we'll have something new next year to excite our fans in Chicago. All right. Well, Peter, I can't thank you enough. I really appreciate it. Thanks for the lessons. Congratulations on a wonderful display. I look forward to seeing you next year. I appreciate it. Thanks so much. Let's do it again. Guys, we'll be back with more. I'm just, until I figure out something better to do, I'm just going to roll around with Coach and try to get a little bit of wisdom off of him. I'll be over here with Coach. Just take one more quick break. We'll be back here in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Convention Center with more good stuff. We'll be right back. Street guys. They took over the entire Convention Center. There are three baseball fields here. Guys, how are you? Great to meet you out at the Old Dog. What are your names? Where are you from? I'm from Tampa. We live up in Grant and the Boulevard. There you go. Pleasure to see you. Mary, how are you? Good to know you, Mary. What brought you all out? Are you guys doing a home run derby tonight? No, we're going to the All-Star Game. Are you now? Yes. Are you excited about that? You ever been to one before? No. There's going to be a ton of stuff. I know. You know, it's a lot like what I hear. And there goes Coach again. We were down at yesterday. The Futures All-Star Game. How was that? Had the young fella from the Phil's did pretty well, right? Yes, he did. Good. I'm looking forward to him moving his way on up. I went to the Super Bowl. I went to the one in New Orleans, but also went to the one in Houston. And I'm here to tell you, for that All-Star Game tomorrow, All-Star Game is kind of like the Super Bowl in a way. Every major leaguer that you ever loved is going to be there, Mary. You understand that, right? All your favorite Phillies are going to be there. No, Zach Wheeler's not. Well, but that we know about that. He's 10-1 and he should be. You know, he ought to be starting, you know, but what do you do? Can't teach him. How are you going to teach Major League Baseball about baseball? That's all right. I hope he's having fun at the beach. That's all right. Thank you. Yeah, we are. What are you hoping to get out of tomorrow night? Will it be your first All-Star Game? Yes. Yeah. I'm hoping to get the Sanchez strikes out the first three batters. That's what we want, right? That'll be good. Then walk off after three innings, smiling with the W in your pocket, right? That's right. Let the rest of the chips fall. Guys, have a great time. Thank you. Great time today. It's good to see you. Enjoy yourselves. Be well. Hey guys, how are you all? I'm Hank. I'm with Fox 29. Be on with me for a second, will you? You want to be on TV with me for a second? I'm live right now. Don't leave me hanging. Sure, if you look at the link. And I'll tell you where the link is. What's your name? Where are you from, sir? Anthony from King of Prussia. Pleasure to see you. Thanks for making it down here from King of Prussia. Erin from King of Prussia. Right down the old school kill. How was the school kill this morning coming down? We took the train in. It was a train wrap? No, we took the train. Oh, you took the train. Okay, good to know. What are you guys most looking at? Are you here for this today? Are you all going to the Home Run Derby tonight or the game tomorrow? No, we just came in for this today. There's plenty though, right? I mean, it's a full convention center. It's been a lot of fun. Now, did you get out there and crack the wiffle balls and run the bases and everything? No, not yet. No. We did get our picture with the big baseball, though. Good stuff. That's what you got to do. Take in the whole thing, right? Yeah. All right. Make sure you eat, guys, before you go. And it's a pleasure to meet both of you. Thanks again, guys. Listen, there's a whole other day of it, guys. It continues to go on today. Here's a young fella getting his picture taken in front of the big show mural. I think that's Aaron Judge. The Major League Baseball All-Star. Favorite people to stick around for more of it today. We'll give you another live uncut tomorrow. Behave yourselves. We'll see you then.