Follow this link for info about the review system. 1 = Terrible, 5 = Awesome!

Ahh, Major League Baseball. Probably the game that most identify as the quintessential Intellivision sports title. Recall George Plimpton's smirk in the (in)famous commercial that ridiculed the Atari VCS' pathetic little "baseball" game? Truly, though, Major League Baseball was a quantum leap forward in console sports games, along with the other initial Sports Network offerings. Even though it didn't have fly balls, and hits to the wall in the outfield were ground outs once you became a decent fielder (you could even bunt home runs!), it was an amazing game at the time. One of my favorite tricks is when you run the pitcher out to the outfield to retrieve a ball - the farther out, the better. Get the ball, and then "throw" the ball to yourself (the pitcher). Love that hyper speed running! The later World Championship Baseball is even better!

Graphics: 3 Sound: 4 Replay Value: 3 Notes: 2-player game; sound rates 4 simply because of YER OUT! Screen Shots

Mattel Electronics must have loved baseball a lot. They made at least two hand-held baseball games. I still have my World Championship Baseball tabletop game, and should still have my original Baseball handheld somewhere. Additionally, they wrote three Intellivision baseball games! Initially we had the original Major League Baseball. Also developed, but not released by Mattel, was All Star Major League Baseball, which added 0- 1- or 2-player modes, fly balls, sliding into base, a slightly larger field of play, and tweaked sprites for the player animations. INTV Corporation released this game as World Championship baseball–one of the few games with which they included overlays. Finally, Mattel released World Series Major League Baseball for the Entertainment Computer System. I don't think any modern baseball game does not use elements that first existed in this game - panning across the field (even 3D!), players based on actual statistics from baseball history, "live" commentators via IntelliVoice, picture-in-picture showing men on base... Quite an impressive game for its day!

A total of twelve Major League Baseball box variants have been documented.

Image	Vendor	Part Number	Year	Origin	Description
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0910	1979	U.S.A.	Plastic tray; part number on top; © Mattel, Inc. Hawthorne, CA on bottom; refers to Keyboard Component on cover; FOR COLOR T.V. VIEWING ONLY text in lower right within artwork
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0910	1979	U.S.A.	Plastic tray; part number on top; © Mattel, Inc. Hawthorne, CA on bottom; refers to Keyboard Component on cover; FOR COLOR T.V. ONLY text relocated
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0910	1979	Hong Kong	Plastic tray; part number on top; © Mattel, Inc. Hawthorne, CA on bottom; refers to Keyboard Component on cover
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0910-G1	1979	U.S.A.	Plastic tray; no part number on top; © Mattel, Inc. Hawthorne, CA on bottom
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0710 G1	1979	U.S.A.	Trayless pocket; no part number on top; © Mattel, Inc. Hawthorne, CA on bottom
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0910-G1	1979	Hong Kong	Plastic tray; no part number on top; © Mattel, Inc. Hawthorne, CA on bottom; could use a cosmetic upgrade
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0510	1979	Hong Kong	French-Canadian; plastic tray; no part number on top; © Mattel Canada Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada on back
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0410	1979	Hong Kong	International version; no Major League logo; plastic tray; no part number on top; © Mattel, Inc. Hawthorne, CA on bottom
Image not available.	Mattel Electronics	2614-0410	1979	Hong Kong	International version; no Major League logo; plastic tray; no part number on top; © Mattel, Inc. Hawthorne, CA on bottom; NO SLOTS in back; slots inside for overlays; reported by Intellivotion
Image not available.	Mattel Electronics	2614-0410	1979	Hong Kong	International version; no Major League logo; plastic tray; no part number on top, but Australian market added Lifestyle Electronics sticker on top flap, part number 0151-0260; © Mattel, Inc. Hawthorne, CA on bottom
	Intellivision Inc.	2614	1979	U.S.A.	Big League rather than Major League Baseball; overall standard Intellivision, Inc. box, but has large Intellivision logo on back along the bottom
	Sears	3859-0910	1978	Hong Kong	Plastic tray; blue game title on top and back

A total of seventeen Major League Baseball manual variants have been documented.

Image	Vendor	Part Number	Year	Origin	Description
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0920	1979	U.S.A.	The original release of the full color manual; note the different placement of the Intellivision™ and Mattel Electronics® logos; reported in April, 2020 by BSRSteve!
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0920(A)	1979	U.S.A.	Full color manual
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0920(B)	1979	U.S.A.	Light blue monochrome artwork
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0920(C)	1979	Hong Kong	Blue monochrome
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0920-G1	1979	U.S.A.	Blue
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0920-G1	1979	Hong Kong	Blue
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0720	1979	Hong Kong	French-Canadian; light blue artwork; some (I'm looking at you, Hankster:) may maintain that this is another variation—not sure how finely we want to grade color / manufacturing variations as true variants
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0720	1979	Hong Kong	French-Canadian; purple (dark blue?) artwork; submitted by Hankster; would like independent confirmation
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0820 G2	1979	Hong Kong	International English edition; no Major League Baseball references; mentions cricket as analogous game
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0121	1979	Hong Kong	German; light blue monochrome artwork; title remains 'MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL' but the logo is removed; part number upper right
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0161	1979	Hong Kong	Dutch; one of the most awesome title translations ever!: HONKBAL; noted by, and image courtesy of Intellivisioner; need to confirm coloration of the manual
Image not available.	Mattel Electronics	2614-0131	1979	Hong Kong	Italian; light blue monochrome artwork; title localized as 'Baseball Professionistico'
	Mattel Electronics	2614-0131	1979	Hong Kong	Italian version (black and white); noted, and image contributed by Spadafermo51; title localized as 'Baseball Professionistico'
	Mattel Electronics	PC-2614-0920	1979	U.S.A.	PlayCable version; blue monochrome artwork; Major League Baseball logo removed from front cover; part number on back
	Bandai	2614-	None		Japanese release by Bandai; shows stylized game graphics; part number on front cover is incomplete
	Intellivision Inc.	2614-0920-G1	None	U.S.A.	Stapled along top edge
	Sears	3859-0920	1979	Hong Kong

In April 2020, Blue Sky Ranger Stephen Roney discovered what may be a test-market version of the Major League Baseball manual! This is purely speculative, with the speculation based on the apparent revision naming conventions followed early on (A, B, C, et. al.). This version appears to be extremely rare. The placement of the Intellivision^™ logo on the front cover is less prominent, and there are other subtle layout differences, such as the for two players text being in lower case.

The back cover was more colorful, and also used a layout similar to the front cover as regards the Mattel Electronics and Intellivision logos.

In addition to the decidedly different back cover, the warranty page was slightly edited between the two versions.

There were also some variations of the 'Running Man' and Mattel logo on the back cover.

A total of six Major League Baseball overlay variants have been documented.

Image	Vendor	Part Number	Year	Origin	Description
	Mattel Electronics	2614-4289	1979	U.S.A.	Has Major League Baseball logo; part number located in upper right and copyright info along bottom edge—an oddity among Mattel's overlays; made of tougher stuff than later versions
	Mattel Electronics	2614-4289 (A)	1979	U.S.A.	Major League Baseball logo removed; part number (in white font) relocated to lower left corner, while copyright info moves up to the top
	Mattel Electronics	2614-4289 (A)	1979	U.S.A.	MLB logo removed, black part number text
	Intellivision Inc.	2614-4289 (A)	None		MLB logo removed, as well as all Mattel copyright information
	Phil Boland	49 75206	1979	U.S.A.	Part of the Sears Super Video Arcade Overlay Set (2013)
	Intellivision Productions	N/A	2014	U.S.A.	Part of the Supplemental Overlay Pack for Intellivision Flashback; MLB logo removed; issued so the Dollar General version, which includes (Major League) Baseball, has a proper overlay, though ironically, the World Championship Baseball overlay included with it should do the job

A total of six Major League Baseball label variants have been documented.

Image	Vendor	Part Number	Year	Origin	Description
	Mattel Electronics	N/A	None		Has logo and text TRADEMARK OF MLB PROMOTION CORP
	Mattel Electronics	N/A	None	Hong Kong	Origin lower right; MLB logo
	Mattel Electronics	N/A	None		No origin; no logo - plain BASEBALL label
	Intellivision Inc.	N/A	1979	U.S.A.	Origin lower right; © I.I. 1979 to left of origin; ™ small, centered vertically on right edge; smaller label, rounded corners
	Intellivision Inc.	N/A	1982	Korea	Origin lower right; © I.I. 1982 to left of origin; ™ small, centered vertically on right edge; smaller label, rounded corners
	Phil Boland	N/A	None		Part of the Sears Super Video Arcade Overlay Set (2013)

	Title screen for Major League Baseball.
	What a quantum leap forward in console baseball games! The only other console baseball game at the time that mattered was Atari's Home Run, which honestly was a joke by comparison. Set a new standard at the time.

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