Podcast: Eric Hosmer on MLB The Show 16, video games and big rings

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Opening Day isn’t the only day on which some baseball fans call in sick. If they’re dedicated to virtual baseball, fans consider Tuesday a holiday too. It’s the day “MLB The Show 16” drops. 

“The Show” is the premiere baseball video-game title on the market, a game that prides itself on realism so much that a number of MLB stars are part of the game’s development. Among them: Eric Hosmer of the Kansas City Royals. 

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We linked up with Hosmer for an interview recently in Arizona, where he was playing “The Show” on an off-day from Royals camp. In our chat, Hosmer talked about his involvement in the game, his own experience with baseball video games and some of his preseason impressions about his team.

One non-video game thing he admitted — he hasn’t yet looked at the mock-ups of the Royals World Series rings. He wants to see his for the time when he slips it on his finger next week.

Here’s a full rundown of the interview:
• Hosmer’s involvement in “MLB The Show 16”
• Whether he campaigns for better attributes
• Who’s the best Royals player in the game?
• Why he plays games with fans
• His favorite baseball video games from the past
• Early impressions of this year’s Royals team
• Whether they pay attention to the projections/predictions that have the Royals under .500 this year

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz