Not once in my life have I ever truly felt wronged by this world.

And then the news broke this week.

Kyle Giersdorf, 16, wins the world fortnite championship, a video game/esports bonanza worth $3 million.

Now look, I don’t know Kyle, never met him or interacted on social media with the kid, and I say, all the power to him. He worked at it 8-10 hours a day, reportedly, and deserves the spoils for his countless victories.

I just have to wonder, why him and not me?

In truth, I never have once attempted fortnite. But that’s where this atrocity has been heaped on me by this planet.

You see, in the mid to late 1980s, I too was a bit of a video phenom. Nobody, and I mean nobody, could touch me in RBI Baseball on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

Dominant was the only word to describe my hand eye.

I could shut you down so efficiently with Bret Saberhagen and the American League All-Stars that it was almost unfair, mercilessly pecking away at the paint with his slider and never leaving anything over the plate.

Versatility?

Watching me run teams into the turf with the Vince Coleman, Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee-led Cardinals was baseball ballet in video spikes.

But I could take a power hitting bunch like the Red Sox with Tony Armas or the Tigers with Lance Parrish and absolutely bludgeon you,too.

RBI was the game of the century back then. It spread like wildfire before the Internet ever existed. Everyone played it. And everyone who played it wondered how Al Pedrique, a light-hitting infielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates with a career batting average of .247 in three big league seasons, could be the second baseman on the National League All-Star team when a man by the name of Ryne Sandberg was in his prime with the Cubs. But I digress.

Seriously, I can say with zero doubt that I was the greatest Nintendo RBI Baseball player on the planet.

I had “skills to make mills” as Shaq once so eloquently rapped in the old-school joint “(I know I got) Skillz.”

What did I get for my talent, desire and will to be the greatest? Certainly not millions.

I got nothing but victories and ringing background “Carnival music” type tune that will forever be ingrained in this brain.

Giersdorf is a multi-millionaire at 16. It’s just not right.

Now if any of you has a working NES and chooses to challenge this old man, I’m here waiting. I’ll even bring the cartridge.

ODDS AND ENDS

As you may or may not remember, I was neither an advocate for the Boston Red Sox buying nor selling at the recently passed trading deadline. I felt, and still feel, Boston required a shakeup, a big boy deal a la Nomar in 2004, to rattle cages and get these boys moving. Nothing happened.

And for the first time this year, I fear the $250 million Boys of Summer actually might not make the playoffs.

Rick Porcello, Chris Sale and David Price are a combined 21-22 and trending downward. Which begs the question. If they do make the wild card game, who should the Sox start, Eddie Rodriguez or Andrew Cashner? …

Every time I talk to Tim Lunn, the Nashua Post 124 American Legion skipper, or read his quotes, I say to myself, this guy gets it when it comes to building a dedicated baseball community.

If you’re a young baseball player in Nashua, his attitude makes you want to hang around and play for the city as you work to get the most out of your skills.

I look at teams like the Senior Legion state champs, the New England Babe Ruth 14U champs coached by Todd Holbrook and the Junior Legion team, which kicks off state tourney play in Salem on Friday morning and I think Nashua baseball is doing something right.

Hector Longo can be reached at 594-1253 or by email at hlongo@nashuatelegraph.com

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