MLB The Show 23’s Negro Leagues Feature is the Start of a Powerful Multi-Year Journey

Being a huge baseball fan, it was exciting to hear the good news. MLB The Show 23 is bringing a new feature to the upcoming game known as “Storylines: The Negro Leagues.” For this first season, many of the league’s greatest stars will be profiled in a new interactive mode in partnership with the Negro League Baseball Museum and their President Bob Kendrick, a national institution dedicated to preserving the rich history of Black baseball and its impact on America.

Black Americans couldn’t play Major League Baseball or be alongside white players because of the racist segregation laws. To counter that, Rube Foster — an amazing player in his own right and founder of the Chicago American Giants — lead the formation with other Black club owners to create the Negro National League in 1920, giving an avenue for Black people to play organized baseball. We were rewarded with some of the most legendary players to ever play baseball, and we gamers can learn about many more of them in the Storylines section. MLB The Show 23.

Ramone Russell, Communications and Brand Strategist for San Diego Studio was available to talk about the topic. MLB The Show 23Plans to create an interactive platform to share this important piece of American History, how it fits into the game’s framework, and future iterations.

“The Negro Leagues are an important part of baseball and American history, whose iconic figures are not nearly as well-known as other baseball players of the era,” explains Russell. “We plan to use MLB The Show and the interactive medium which is gaming as a gateway; a gateway to expose new generations of baseball fans to these historic figures and their stories of triumph over adversity.”

“Storylines is a new game experience in MLB The Show 23,” continues Russell. “It will lead gamers through a sequential narrative focusing on a single player, watching short informational videos about the player. After which they will play as them in Moments to reflect on important events in that player’s career.”

These players’ incredible experiences are a result of the hardships and triumphs over which they have had to overcome in both their personal and professional lives. It was refreshing to hear that this ‘gateway’ to the past aims to be very honest in its telling of these players’ history.

“We don’t gloss over the adversity they faced or the ugliness of American segregation during that time,” says Russell. “But MLB The Show is an E-rated game and 100% of the storytelling is done by our narrator, Negro League Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick.”

Founded in 1990, the Negro League Baseball Museum, as described on its official site, is “the world’s only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich history of African-American baseball and its profound impact on the social advancement of America.” Bob Kendrick, who first began working with the NLBM as a volunteer in the early ‘90s and was later named President in 2011, has been responsible for many of the museum’s educational programs, events, and more.

As part of his role with the museum, Kendrick has been a tremendous advocate for telling the history of the Negro Leagues and sharing stories about many of its legendary players, many of which will be featured in the Season 1 Storylines roster that will include Leroy “Satchel” Paige, Jackie Robinson, Andrew “Rube” Foster, Hilton Smith, Hank Thompson, John Donaldson, Martín Dihigo, and John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil. Kendrick’s presence will add authenticity to this section that baseball fans are certain to love.

As part of their historic partnership with NLBM MLB The Show and San Diego Studio donated $1 to the museum every day MLB The Show 23 Digital Deluxe editionOder The Captain EditionDonated in the United States until December 31, 2023.

In talking more about how this partnership came to be, Russell indicated that this has been something the San Diego Studio, which has been developing MLB The Show for nearly two decades, has wanted to do for a very long time — it was just a matter of finding the right partner to tell the story the team envisioned and to do it the right way.

“The Negro Leagues are not only an important part of baseball history; more importantly they are crucial part of American history,” explains Russell. “The inspiration to introduce the Negro Leagues into MLB The Show has always been there, however we never had a good grasp on how to do it and that’s always been the conundrum. The stars aligned and we finally figured out a way to do it the right way.”

This is only the start of MLB The Show’s Storylines section. Next year’s release will feature a new group of Negro League Legends and will profile their unique stories of grit, grace, and triumph in the face of adversity.

“The Storylines feature is a vehicle we created to tell meaningful stories in the baseball universe with a controller in your hand,” says Russell. “The possibilities are endless; however, our focus right now is on the Negro Leagues. It’s going to take us years to properly tell their stories with the respect, dignity, admiration, and appreciation they deserve.

Russell succinctly summarized what he hopes players will get from the new gameplay feature when he was asked.

“We hope everyone who plays Storylines walks away feeling inspired, educated, and enlightened by these stories,” he says. “Anything past that is a bonus.”

MLB The Show 23S. They will also be available on day one of Xbox Game Pass, March 28, 2023.|S, and will be available day one with Xbox Game Pass on March 28, 2023. We’ll have more exciting news to share soon about MLB The Show 23Stay tuned to Xbox Wire!

MLB® The Show™ 23 Digital Deluxe Edition – Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S

MLB

☆☆☆☆☆
25

★★★★★

$99.99

Pre-order to get the Gold Choice pack and four days’ early access to start playing MLB® The Show™ 23 from March 24 2023

The following items are included in this edition:
• Four Days Early Access.
• Full game for Xbox Series X|S.
• Full game for Xbox One.
• One Captain’s Choice Pack.
• One TBA Choice Pack.
• One TBA Uniform Choice Pack.
• Five Gold Choice packs.
• 20 The Show packs.
• One Ballplayer pack.
• Double daily login rewards.
• 30K Stubs™.



MLB® The Show™ 23 gets you closer than ever to living your Baseball dreams on the diamond. Shock The Game, Own The Show, with all of your favorite MLB players and rivalries.

Get the next-generation MLB The Show 23 experience when you play on Xbox Series X|S, including the return of Stadium Creator mode, and face your friends with cross-platform play* or continue your progress on other platforms with cross progression**.

MLB® The Show™ 23 Xbox Series X|S

MLB

☆☆☆☆☆
25

★★★★★

$69.99

Get the Gold Choice Pack by pre-ordering

The following items are included in this edition:
• Full game for Xbox Series X|S
• Full game for Xbox One
• Five The Show Packs.
• 10K Stubs™.

MLB® The Show™ 23 gets you closer than ever to living your Baseball dreams on the diamond. Shock The Game, Own The Show, with all of your favorite MLB players and rivals, as well as your most memorable moments.

Get the next-generation MLB The Show 23 experience when you play on Xbox Series X|S, including the return of Stadium Creator mode, and face your friends with cross-platform play* or continue your progress on other platforms with cross progression**.

MLB® The Show™ 23 Xbox One

MLB

☆☆☆☆☆
25

★★★★★

$59.99

Get the Gold Choice Pack by pre-ordering

The following items are included in this edition:
• Full game.
• 5K Stubs™.

MLB® The Show™ 23 gets you closer than ever to living your Baseball dreams on the diamond. Shock The Game, Own The Show, with all of your favorite MLB players and rivals, as well as your most memorable moments.

Buy the MLB® The Show™ 23 digital version for Xbox One and when ready, upgrade to the MLB® The Show™ 23 digital version for Xbox Series X|S for an additional cost.