Before EA Sports' MVP Baseball series adopted its current name, it was known as Triple Play Baseball. The first version of the game to carry this new title was MVP Baseball 2003. Aside from its name, what sets this series apart from other baseball games is the ability to play as Minor League affiliates of Major League teams and EA Sports' unique pitching meter.

Many other baseball games feature a rather pedestrian pitching system. This usually requires players to push a button to choose a type of pitch, select the power of the pitch from a meter, and then aim the ball with the directional pad. But EA Sports' MVP Baseball series has gamers choose a pitch and its power level and then tap the same button repeatedly within a target area. The closer the gamer is to this target area, the more accurate the pitch.

In 2005, Take Two Interactive signed an exclusive third-party licensing deal with the MLB, MLBPA, and the MLBAM to produce Major League baseball video games. What this does is prevent any other third-party developers from producing a game using Major League teams and players. As a result, EA Sports was forced to design a new series of baseball games without official MLB licensing.

The 2006 versions of MVP Baseball PS2 and MVP Baseball Xbox games will focus on college baseball rather than Major League. This means that if anyone is looking to play a Major League baseball game, it will be a title developed by Take Two Interactive. Fans of EA Sports' distinctive style of video game baseball will want to hold onto their older copies of MVP Baseball until Take Two's contract with the MLB expires in 2012.