February 27, 2007 - Rafael Furcal batted backward for a pitch.

Michael Barrett forgot to tag a runner crossing home plate right in front of his face.

Randy Johnson is still on the Yankees.

Announcer Jon Miller is calling the wrong game.

And worst of all, JD Drew is rated 100.

It's a mystery why so little effort went into polishing MLB 2K7, a game that features a solid gameplay engine but is ridden with strange and inexplicable bugs. When you get past those bugs, if you ever do, you can have fun with the solid pitching and batting mechanics and the improved fielding. Unfortunately, the mistakes in 2K7 are glaring and numerous. One has to wonder why the game hits the streets in February when fans would trade in their baseball card collections for MLB 2K7 to be properly bug-tested with accurate rosters and ratings even if it came out in April. And seriously, JD Drew is rated 100?

Posada (rated 94) loves the hit stick.

In fact, why are there 62 players rated at 100? You don't see this on the next-generation versions of this game, but on the Xbox and PS2 guys like Troy Glaus, Garret Atkins, Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui, Jermaine Dye and Ken Griffey Jr. are all maxed out. Sure they are solid players but Griffey is far from the most dangerous hitter in the game. He's lucky to get an 85 at this point in his career. There's a serious problem overrating batters here: Cliff Floyd is a 99! Shawn Green is a 98! I repeat: Shawn Green is a 98. Floyd had an abysmal season at .244 and 14 jacks, and Green often came off the bench. It's as if the guys in charged of rating players on the Xbox and PS2 overdosed on ecstasy pills before they came into work. "Man, that Carl Crawford -- he's so dreamy. And Ryan Zimmerman looks so good in red. The colors are so pretty. Let's make 'em both 100."

Before I lose my mind on the player ratings, let me say that MLB 2K7 can be a lot of fun. The Hit Stick batting system still works well, as does the innovative pitching mechanic. Inside Edge scouting reports are make hot and cold zones look like kindergarten research. But every now and then, a bonehead mistake kills your game. Click on the video link below to see an Xbox flick of Cubs catcher Barrett (rated 96!) stand on the plate with the ball in his hand, staring at fans in the right field bleachers as a runner slides in without so much as an attempt at a tag. The guy was out by not one but two miles.

Barrett must see a hot girl in the stands. Or he's blind.

Anyway, let's talk about what this game does right. The Inside Edge scouting reports can be purchased in franchise mode (you can get a report on two or three players in exhibition as well). The real-life statistics tell you how likely a pitcher is to, say, throw a curve on a 3-1 count and what his most likely locations will be. When pitching, a catcher will call for pitches the hitter is least likely to hit. On defense, your fielders will shift into proper position based on the batter's tendencies. The information is fantastic.

The hitting, controlled with the right analog stick, is simply a blast. With a new batting view moved closer toward the strike zone, ala old school World Series Baseball, it's fun to work the count, guess the pitch location with the Batter's Eye, and swing away. The system works as well as any game out there, although it does take some time to get used to it if you're a button-presser, which is so 2005. And if you are a button presser, you can switch to classic hitting.

On the mound, the Payoff Pitching system returns and continues to shine. To throw a curve, you have to aim up and away, allotting for the break. The amount of break is decided by how long you hold the pitch button. So if you're a curve-ball master like Barry Zito, you actually aim at a lefty's head and snap one off. It'll scare the bejeebus out of the batter and land right in the middle of the zone. You can also move your catcher's target around. If he's lining up outside and you throw in, you're likely to be charged with a wild pitch as your catcher hustles to the backstop to collect your mistake.