When catcher Doug Mirabelli rejoined the Red Sox last year in a trade with the San Diego Padres, he got the rock star treatment as he was whisked to Fenway with a police escort, but Mirabelli enjoys playing the rock star role on his own, along with pitchers Tim Wakefield and Javier Lopez.
The three jam vicariously as virtual rock stars in the video games "Guitar Hero" and "Guitar Hero II," interactive titles that allow players to play popular songs using a guitar-like controller that has color-coded buttons, which correspond to images on the screen.
Mirabelli said he was introduced to the "Guitar Hero" games, which were developed by a Cambridge-based company called Harmonix, last season in Baltimore. The game was in the clubhouse. Now, thanks to Lopez, who brought in both PlayStation 2 versions of the games, the Sox can rock out in their players' lounge at Fenway.
That's not enough for Mirabelli and Wakefield, who bring it on road trips. Mirabelli said that on the road, he'll spend as much as 2 1/2 hours a night playing songs from Nirvana, Guns N' Roses, and '80s rockers Warrant.
"I wouldn't call myself a video game junkie," said the 36-year-old Mirabelli. "I just got stuck on this game. It has songs that I know and now I can go back and play them, which makes me feel like a rock star."
Wakefield is the only one of the three who actually plays the guitar, although Lopez is the reigning virtual rock star. The knuckleballer said such games serve a purpose for the players.
"It fills a void," said Wakefield. "We have a lot of time on our hands on the road. It's kind of an escape. You don't have to think about the pressures of our sport and our business. It's nice to be able to relax and just play a video game and not have to think about anything. [It's] kind of like turning on the TV and watching a rerun that you've seen a thousand times."
While such video games seem like harmless fun, they can become addictive and problematic. Detroit Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya missed three games in the American League Championship Series last season with inflammation in his right wrist and forearm. The Tigers, after examining Zumaya, determined his injuries were more consistent with those of a guitar player than a pitcher. The culprit, according to the team, was "Guitar Hero," which Zumaya was playing excessively.
That should have been game over for the flamethrower, but in an interview with the Detroit News prior to this season, Zumaya denied the game was the source of his injury and told the paper he still plays it. Zumaya is hurt again this season. He has been on the disabled list since May with a ruptured tendon in his right middle finger. That injury is unrelated to "Guitar Hero."
Lopez said video games are more helpful as a stress reliever than harmful as a potential source of injury.
"Some people might think it's a bit childish, which when you step back it probably is a little bit, but it keeps your mind fresh," said Lopez. "It just helps you get through the monotony of the day, playing some video games with some guys."
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