Former Louisville football legend Teddy Bridgewater showed in a recent Instagram that he knows [base] ball.

We were treated to an Instagram post of some of former Louisville football star & legend Teddy Bridgewater’s trophies, framed jerseys, and career accolades. Among the memorabilia was something that caught my eye, something that could be marked as “IYKYK.” A shelf, with some classic video game titles from the Super Nintendo, Playstation, and Playstation 2 eras.

Upon close inspection – one of the best sports video games EVER graces that very shelf.

That’s right, I’m talking about EA Sports MVP NCAA Baseball 2006.

Because of licensing issues with the MLB name and trademark (hahahahah, business!), EA Sports needed to continue to turn a profit, and thus ported the game mechanics and engine to a collegiate IP, albeit before the days of Name, Image, and Likeness. This led to the ability to create your own roster and of course, player.

For your author, that clearly meant creating himself (still a junior at UofL) and inserting himself onto the roster of the Cardinals, with stats that may or may not have been maxed out. Given that the game came out the year prior to Louisville’s incredible first College World Series run, I can’t help but think that the create-a-player Hammel starting a stretch of FOUR consecutive College World Series Most Outstanding Player Awards sent that energy in real life to 3rd and Central.

You can’t prove me wrong.

The game also had what I would argue is one of the best video game soundtracks ever.

As a geriatric millennial, elder emo, former scene/metal kid, this soundtrack sent me to orbit the first time the game’s title screen popped up and Hawthorne Heights started playing.

Check this soundtrack out and even save it as your own playlist.

You’re welcome.

Back to Teddy, though.

Is this post more than just one of this city’s favorite sons posting his Ws? Could this be a cryptic omen that Teddy, like yours truly, loves and appreciates THE video game which may or may not have tilted the scales of the universe and kickstarted Louisville’s ascendance to NCAA Baseball blue-blood, thus signaling with his post that Louisville is again College World Series-bound?

Once more, you can’t prove me wrong. I believe in President Bridgewater (nice ring to it), and with that, I’ll go book my plane tickets for June.