One of the greatest, most underrated video games of all time has to be Little League Baseball: Championship Series for the original Nintendo. Incredibly simple in it’s design, the game can be played right off the rip with stock rosters. But the beauty of the game is the depth at which it can suck you in to. Tinkering and tinkering with the rosters is the only way to maximize your talent, as there our hidden gems amongst the many first-named-only players.

Without further adieu, your top 5 list…

1. Saul (New York)
Many of Saul’s detractors will say his mind-boggling stats are a product of the defense behind him, but you can’t overlook his absolutely ridiculous k/bb ratio of 37/3 in 18 innings pitched. He finished the tournament with a final line that looks fake: 18 ip, 1 er, 2 hits, 37 k, 3 bb. His fastball comes in at a major league equivalent of 97 mph, and his curve ball makes other 12 year olds shit their pants (Just ask Floyd). Saul received a full ride scholarship for baseball at LSU, only to shred his shoulder and never pitch again.

2. Sid (California)
Sid Vicious earned his nickname by pitching an entire game after getting hit in the mouth with a line drive that knocked out 3 of his teeth. This caused many in the stands to wonder why his parents would let him continue to pitch, which in turn caused many in the stands to wonder where his parents were. Sid never allowed a base runner to get passed second-base the entire tournament, but his penchant to give up the long ball was always his weakness, allowing 3 home-runs in California’s thrilling loss to Texas in the semi-finals. Sid now runs a pitching academy…and is still searching for his parents.

3. Joseph (Texas)
Experts used to say that Joseph had so much ‘late action’ on his fastball that he could have opened up a night club. Born into the bloodline of Sam Houston, Joseph is a direct descendant of the first president in the history of  The Republic of Texas. Struck out 9 of 12 batters against the feared Mexican line-up and arch rival Paco (The Mexican Babe Ruth). Scouted by colleges to play shortstop, Joseph would pitch again in the minor meague system for the San Francisco Giants and has tallied 246 career saves for the Minnesota Twins.

4. Hirano (Japan)
With more movement than the Japanese navy on December 7th in 1941, Hirano once struck out 23 of a possible 24 batters in a 2 game stretch. Easily the silliest control of any pitcher in the entire tournament, some managers questioned if he was doctoring the baseball. It’s no surprise  commercials promoting the World Series remarked that “in this world Hirano second chances”.  The only pitcher to strike out Peter The Pump, and he did it three times. Hirano might be higher on this list, but Japan’s inability to field anything properly hurt him immensely.

5. Gao (Chinese Taipai)
The Taiwanese Technician, Gao was engineered from birth to be a pitching machine and deliver a title for Chinese Taipai. It was learned after demolishing hitters that Gao was an acronym for Get Americans Out. So fearful that any contact on a pitch would fall for a hit, Gao learned to keep the ball down in the zone which resulted in nothing but weak ground balls. This combination would prove effective, as Gao never gave up a single home run in the entire tournament, and Taipai turned a record setting 12 double plays with Gao on the mound. It was long rumored, but never proven, that Gao was actually a cyborg.

Honorable Mentions:

• Jack (Canada)  Killed a bear with a fastball during practice.
• Han (Korea)  Communist.
• Colt (Texas)  The only reliever on the list, and Colt throws fire.