Virtual reality baseball catching on at MLB FanFest

MIAMI — Nicholas Montes put on goggles and a catcher’s mitt and crouched.

The 13-year-old will never catch a 104 m.p.h. pitch from Aroldis Chapman. But at the All-Star FanFest, he felt what it’s like to be Buster Posey snagging virtual strikes.

“It was like I was actually in the game. When I was catching, I felt the ball move and everything,” the Miami teen said on Sunday. “And then when I saw it go in my glove, I tried touching the ball, but I felt the remote control thing. So it was pretty cool.”

Developed by GMR Marketing, the Esurance Behind The Plate With Buster Posey VR Experience allows fans to “catch” fastballs, curveballs and sliders from a generic pitcher at velocities ranging from 86-93 m.p.h.

“I’ve always said that I thought it would be cool for the average fan to either step in the box or get behind the plate and get the same sense of what it’s like to see a 90-plus, 95-mile an hour fastball coming your way,” Posey said last week.

Esurance Insurance Services Inc., a subsidiary of Allstate Corp., became a sponsor of Major League Baseball in 2015 and signed Posey as a brand ambassador.

In a dual setup at FanFest, which opened Friday and runs through Tuesday, people get to signal for three pitches over about 90 seconds as Posey’s recorded voice offers tips. They can choose the pitch type by pointing their glove toward an icon on the screen, triggering a sensor. When a pitch is caught, the person hears and feels the mitt snap.

“It is as real as it can be,” Danny Devarona, a 48-year-old who coaches youth baseball in Miami Lakes, said after taking his turn.

Several thousand fans were expected to put on the catcher’s mitt over the five days.