 Officially licensed by Major League Baseball , the game features all twenty @-@ six teams that existed in 1987 . Additionally , the lineups and the player numbers are accurate to the team rosters that year . Since the game did not have the endorsement of the Major League Baseball Players Association at the time , the team members are only listed by number , not name . In addition to their numbers the players are represented by their statistics , abilities , throwing arm , and even placement in the batting order . 1988 's Major League Baseball was therefore the first NES game to be officially endorsed by Major League Baseball and to feature accurate contemporary lineups , albeit without the actual player names attached to their numbers . 
