Xbox baseball match off

As you may recall, last week we published a story about a forthcoming baseball match between the Kansas City T-Bones and the Schaumburg Flyers.

The teams were planning to play the first two innings of their next match not on the field, but on Xbox - with points scored virtually counting towards the real-world tally.

Well, not any more. Turns out Northern League Baseball commissioner Mike Stone has changed his mind about allowing the Xbox innings to count, stating: "After further review and discussion, I have decided that this concept as originally presented is not in the best interest of the league.

"Any promotion that could affect the outcome of a regular season game is not permissible. Ultimately, such an event could have an influence on the final standings, and this certainly challenges the integrity of the league."

So, the teams will play a "regular" game of baseball instead. But at the end of the match, the first two innings will be removed from the scoreboard, the Xbox innings will take place and then they'll work out what the result would have been if Mike hadn't changed his mind. Just for fun, like.

"We’re not happy about the ruling, but we’ll abide by the commissioner’s wishes," says T-Bones general manager Rick Muntean.

"The idea of having two people, regardless of any physical characteristics, decide a baseball game is ahead of its time. Baseball is a game rooted in the past and this idea came a little too soon."

And just because American baseball bigwigs aren't ready for The Future just yet, doesn't mean the team won't try again next year: "In 2006, the Kansas City T-Bones will be the first in sports team in history to play a portion of a league game virtually," reckons T-Bones owner John Ehlert. We'll just have to wait and see.