CartridgeJock

Sports Video Game Enthusiast & Collector | Retro Classics to Current Releases | Attaching Stories and Providing Memories to the games I love.

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

Growing up I was all about sports. I played Baseball, Wiffleball, Stickball, Basketball, Football, & Hockey.

When I was not playing sports I was watching sports. 24/7 for the first 16 years of my life it was all I really cared about. Once video games became a part of life starting with Nintendo, then Sega and now on current systems like the PS5 it was just another avenue for more sports.

In some ways sports video games saved me. Growing up all I really wanted to do was be a professional baseball player. It was my dream. For a time I thought it had a good chance to be a reality. I put up good numbers had schools talking to me and then in an instant it was gone. I had an injury and my back could no longer hold up to the training needed and daily practices. Back then we did not have the medical advances we do today. As you can imagine it devasted me. Really dark times. I thought I would be dead by 30.

But then I was able to turn to video games and they allowed me to breath again, To continue to play the things I love with a controller. To escape reality. I played EVERYTHING. If the game was released and it was sports related I was on it. And let me tell you there were some crappy games. I have been a sports gamer for almost 40 years now. And I can safely say the passion never fades. I get just as much love picking up a game from 1989 as I do a new release in 2026.

One thing I have never done before is shared that love. I never been much into social media either. But a couple of good friends said maybe someone would like to see the games I play, hear the stories. So I am going to step out and share my life through sports video games and try and meet some cool people along the way.

So if you are interested, follow along. Let's be friends.

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

@cskiles @BeastGamerKuma @ScorpioLYTE Thank you for sharing that is amazing

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

@IamNevG I am not experienced enough to chase any trends. I never did this before. So I will just post what makes me happy.

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

Just posted my first YouTube video. Little bit of back story. I grew up a huge St Louis Cardinals fan. Back in the 80's with Vince Coleman, Ozzie Smith, Jack Clark. Loved that team. I use to have to listen to it on the AM dial to find the games. Was not always easy but then I would check the box scores which to this day I still enjoy.

So here is my first YouTube video. It is nothing flashy. Just the 1st game in my RBI Baseball season with the Cards. No voice just the game.

John Tudor pitched a strong 5 innings. Bullpen was lights out and Jack Clark played hero in a close victory.

https://t.co/94vCogvWDw

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

@IamNevG Thank you, I have no idea what I am doing but we will see what happens

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

@reidood Pretty much

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

Game 2 of the Cardinals season saw them go up against the AL All Stars. This one was a tough game early on as they were bringing players off the bench like Mark McGwire who had 49 HR's.

We managed to rally off their closer late to tie the game in the 9th only to blow it in the bottom of the inning and fall to 1-1 on the season.

https://t.co/hUcoHVdBdf

McGwire hit an absolute bomb off our pitcher.

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

@reidood If you look close it looks like it will land off screen and at the last minute the game lowered the ball

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

@reidood @cskiles Yes that is right. Drabek was such a good pitcher.

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

@cskiles @reidood A memorable seen for sure.

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

@NBA2K Just to be clear I can play a franchise WNBA league?

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

Tomorrow is a great day for sports gaming fans. I get to pick up NBA2k 27. I have not played a NBA game in a few years as it is my least favorite of the 4 major sports. However I am excited to play a WNBA franchise mode with Caitlan Clark and the Fever.

Also we have early access for NHL 27. Due to some of the critics I am going to choose the EA pass trial for $6 and play it for 10 hours before deciding on the purchase. Worth it for me $6 before spending $70

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

@cskiles @reidood When I think of Sid Bream I always think of that slide at home and he is hugging someone. I think it was against the Braves

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

@NostalgiaPro In this case he was the Cards hero and led to the Giants demise.

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

@dosgameAT I did not, Was it good?

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

Growing up I was all about sports. I played Baseball, Wiffleball, Stickball, Basketball, Football, & Hockey.

When I was not playing sports I was watching sports. 24/7 for the first 16 years of my life it was all I really cared about. Once video games became a part of life starting with Nintendo, then Sega and now on current systems like the PS5 it was just another avenue for more sports.

In some ways sports video games saved me. Growing up all I really wanted to do was be a professional baseball player. It was my dream. For a time I thought it had a good chance to be a reality. I put up good numbers had schools talking to me and then in an instant it was gone. I had an injury and my back could no longer hold up to the training needed and daily practices. Back then we did not have the medical advances we do today. As you can imagine it devasted me. Really dark times. I thought I would be dead by 30.

But then I was able to turn to video games and they allowed me to breath again, To continue to play the things I love with a controller. To escape reality. I played EVERYTHING. If the game was released and it was sports related I was on it. And let me tell you there were some crappy games. I have been a sports gamer for almost 40 years now. And I can safely say the passion never fades. I get just as much love picking up a game from 1989 as I do a new release in 2026.

One thing I have never done before is shared that love. I never been much into social media either. But a couple of good friends said maybe someone would like to see the games I play, hear the stories. So I am going to step out and share my life through sports video games and try and meet some cool people along the way.

So if you are interested, follow along. Let's be friends.

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

Thank you to everyone who followed. This truly is an amazing community.

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

@retrodaddo I feel like I had that as a child, another thing I use to have was those football fields you put the players on it and vibrates them around. I have to fun a picture

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

@retrodaddo @ZendigoPlayz You are spot on with this. I have a firm rule that I do not pay for anything extra when I buy a game. Now for me that is easy as I do not play online for sports. I prefer single player and franchise mode.

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

The other day @ZendigoPlayz asked me what are some of my favorite sports games and I needed to go through them by system as I have so many. But here is what I have

NES- RBI Baseball
Genesis- NHL 94
SNES- Tecmo Super Bowl II
Saturn- Daytona USA
PS1- Ready 2 Rumble
N64- Wrestlemania 2000
Dreamcast - NFL 2K
PC- High Heat Baseball

Systems after that is usually a mix of MLB The Show, Madden, College Football , NHL and NBA 2K

I will say that the old days were better for sports games with us getting many releases from different companies each year. Now with the licensing it has in some ways killed sports games.

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

@ZendigoPlayz One of my favorites. Honestly I have 35 games for each system I could have listed

[CartridgeJock @CartridgeJock]

I am overwhelmed by all the people who are helping put my name out there so I can meet people. Thank you, @jimjustretro, for giving me the courage to get started and telling me that these are great people. Thank you to @cskiles for being so kind as to push my name to the masses. I can see why so many people speak so kindly about you. Everyone else, I hope I can return the favor over time. I have followed back anyone who followed me. So let me share a story before I lay down. I warn you all now. I am a storyteller. Most of the time you will see a long post with details behind why I like something.

So this is a small story about @jimjustretro and I. We met early on when we were around 10 years old. We both grew up in New Jersey in a city that was not far off from Midtown Manhattan. I was new to the school, and as fate would have it, Jim and I would get into a squabble 3 days later and meet after school in the yard to fight. Now we were 10 years old, and back in those days we did not use weapons or guns. We rolled around in the dirt; each threw a few punches until someone pulled us off each other and it was over. Then we both were walking home, realizing we lived in the same direction, started talking more, and became friends, and the rest is history.

From that point on we were inseparable. We would be on the same little league teams and played in the same YMCA basketball leagues. We had our own card and dice baseball league from the board game Strat-o-Matic. Likewise, we did everything together. Weekends involved sleepovers, spending all night playing games on the Nintendo, Sega, Super Nintendo. Mainly sports games back then.

But the one thing we would do each and every day was meet at the local school yard after school and on weekends to play stickball. The concrete school yard had a diamond painted on it. In the back of the school yard was a fence and beyond the fence was the church. So we had HR distance and a wall. This was pretty much each and every day for years. It is crazy to look back on this now, but those are some of the greatest times. After stickball we would walk down to the 1st Street softball fields and visit the hot dog guy. A hot dog was $1 back in the 80s, and everyone called him Dirty Dog Bill. Mainly because he used the same water for days but had the best hot dogs you could find. We would then sit each night and watch the guys play softball. They had a popular men's bar league. It was serious business. Guys threw fast pitches, they had uniforms, and the field was like a cathedral. They played for keeps on that field. Anyway, that was one of my fondest memories of a time when life was just so easy. I better stop now before I put everyone to sleep.