An MLB 10: The Show story to warm your heart

I really have to give it to Sony’s San Diego studio. Not only do they create an amazing baseball game year after year, but they open their hearts to the feelings of others.

Hans Smith is a twenty-three year old college student who’s cerebral palsy has prevented him from ever swinging a bat or catching a ball on the baseball field. So instead, he plays out his dreams virtually. After playing and being amazed by MLB 09: The Show, Smith wrote a letter to Sony where he thanked them for allowing him to experience the reality of baseball in the virtual world since he’s not able to in the real world.

“I said that I know this might sound strange, but I’m a 22-year-old college student who is also a baseball fanatic, and I absolutely love your game,” Smith said, quoting the letter he sent to PlayStation in 2008. “I have cerebral palsy, and I’m unable to step foot on a baseball diamond, but you guys have really given me the experience of playing baseball.

“[The game] is so real I am able to experience the same adrenaline rush, the same nervousness, the same frustration and the same excitement as [the real thing],” Smith wrote to Sony Computer Entertainment America.

The letter moved the PlayStation development team to tears. So much that they invited Smith down to their San Diego studio for involvement in the development of the next game. There he was modeled as a playable character for his favorite team, and they even had him commentate during some portions of the game.

Smith’s character is playable in the recently released MLB 10: The Show. There are no words to express the feeling he gets playing as himself in the game – doing something he’ll unfortunately never be able to in real life.

“If someone had asked me if I’d be a ballplayer, I’d say no way, but this game has been a miracle worker,” said Smith. “This game has allowed me to experience a part of my life that otherwise I would not be able to experience.”

Right on, Sony. There are probably some thousands of players playing catcher in their living rooms right now as Mr. Hans Smith.

PlayStation Develops Character Modeled After Hans Smith, an Avid Player With Cerebral Palsy [ABC News]