You mean the same Kenshin Kawakami who has zero wins and a 5.47 ERA for the Atlanta Braves this year? Yes -- in name only.
The computerized Kawakami did, in fact, toss a perfect game under the shrewd guidance of a 24-year-old retirement account specialist from Semmes, Ala. The feat earned Wade McGilberry $1 million for throwing the first verified perfect game in 2K Sports' "Major League Baseball 2K10."
"I was playing as the Braves against the Mets, pitching as Kawakami," McGilberry told ESPN.com. "The way [the contest] worked, you could only choose the real-life games and lineups from that day. I mainly chose the Braves because they were the local team. I'm a White Sox fan, so I'm not crazy about the Braves. But I'm even less crazy about the Mets."
McGilberry said his wife, Katie, convinced him to enter the contest.
"A few weeks before the competition, I saw an ad on Xbox Live for it," he told ESPN. "I went to her and said, ‘Honey, can I go out and buy this game? I might win a million dollars.' We don't normally buy new games. She said, ‘Yeah, that sounds like a good opportunity.' "
McGilberry said he had played the game only five times before. "The sixth game it just happened," he said. "Almost magically."
Any tips for fellow gamers?
"I didn't try to overpower hitters," he said. "I looked at the hot and cold zones, and I would actually never throw it over the middle. Just stay around the corners, keep it low, throw it weaker so they would be more likely to swing at it. I got a lot of ground outs."
Sounds like good advice for Kawakami, who's 7-19 in his Braves career. For the record, the real Kawakami lost that April 23rd start against the Mets, allowing six hits and three runs in six innings pitched.
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