If you play in season mode, Real Baseball tracks your team's statistics, though it doesn't calculate the more interesting numbers like batting average, on-base percentage, or slugging percentage. Every time a batter comes to the plate, the game will flash his statistics. Unfortunately, these stats have nothing to do with the season you're playing; rather, they're numbers Real Baseball concocts to give you an idea of what kind of player you're facing. Even more confusing, apart from the home run and stolen base totals, the stats have no bearing on the player's actual ability. I've seen pitchers with a .000 batting average record solid base hits.

In addition to the season and playoff modes, Real Baseball also features a home-run derby mode that pales in comparison to a game like . In Real Baseball's version, you're merely timing your swings and hoping that you connect enough to send the baseball over the fences. As contests last three rounds, the action can get pretty monotonous. If, like New York Yankee fans, you prefer contests where the outcome is determined well in advance, you can always opt to be Derek Jeter in home run contest mode. While the Yankees shortstop has never hit more than 24 home runs in a season--not even in the new bandbox George Steinbrenner built--in this game, he's the sort of home run-hitting monster who makes Hank Aaron look like a pop-fly hitting benchwarmer.

Interestingly, in this game, Jeter also bats from the left side of the plate; as every schoolboy knows, Jeter's a righty, not a southpaw in real life. And perhaps that seemingly insignificant detail helps explain why Derek Jeter Real Baseball fails to live up to the standard the Yankee shortstop has set throughout his storied career. Maybe this is Bizarro Derek Jeter, where everything is the opposite of how it is in our world. Just as the real Derek Jeter may be one of baseball's top stars, his virtual counterpart--and his mobile game--fail to make the grade.

[]