MLB '09 The Show

[DrugBust]

Yup. I think I've become pretty adept at batting. I guess fastball and low. Then I move the left stick into my zone and leave it alone. Once the ball is thrown it's just timing. If it's not in my zone I don't swing. If I'm down two strikes and I have to protect, I've become good enough to the point where I can pretty easily identify balls and strikes. I started as a CF. Their power is pretty low unfortunately but I've been racking up doubles and even triples now.

[B2k1121]

Yeah, my power is at like 35 at both sides of the plate, I have a switch hitter. I don't use guess pitch or location, and I have the strike zone and every visual aid turned off.

[thablingster]

I do guess pitch for fastball, and have found not swinging at anything unless it is a fastball where I want it until I get two strikes has helped a lot. It helps me not only spot balls and strikes, but to gauge release points and break on different pitches.

 

A couple cool things that have happened as far as gameplay details: I hit a grand slam with Scott Hariston (who I acquired to be my backup utility guy) in the 8th inning of a 4-1 game, and there was a cutscene of Prince Fielder pushing him back out of the dugout to do a curtain call after scoring. I also saw a guy randomly lose his bat into the crowd on a swing.

 

This game has really tried to incorporate some of the fun nuiances of baseball.

[southpaw121505]

For franchise purposes...at what point does a minor leaguer have to be protected on the 40 man to not be exposed in the rule 5???

[DrugBust]

I made the Brewers 40 man on RTTS at CF after my first year in AA. Lead the league in average, OB%, OPS%, doubles, walks and triples. I had a solid spring training in year two and made the big league club (19 years old) as a CF/IF utility player. Around one start a week and the first or second guy off the bench. For skill purposes it would have been better to play everyday in the minors.

 

RTTS is ridiculously awesome.

[patrickgpe]

there should be a roster update today, hopefully some of the bugs that i am seeing start to go away. Also I am hoping Chris Duffy finally gets put into the game.

[yfinn6]

This game is almost comical for how bad things are going for me. Mike Fontenot takes an outside slider and hit it over 400 feet to RF. It wasn't even a strike. I can't buy a run, or string hits together yet the other teams I play beat the living crap out of me.

 

If I get a lead, I'll serve up a HR within the next two batters the following inning. It's a fun game, but losing every stinking time is getting a little ridiculous.

[Invader3K]

Have you adjusted the sliders? I've found the game was way too hard on the default settings, but tweaking things helped create a situation where I at least have a chance to win...

 

I'm currently playing a lefty pitcher in Road to the Show. He's in his second season in the Orioles organization...seems like he kills everyone in AA, but AAA is a lot harder. I was actually happy when they switched me to a relief role in AAA, but since that was too easy for him (he had a couple three pitch, three out innings), they of course put him back in the rotation...where he promptly got shelled in two games before being sent back down to AA, where he was lights out in two games...now he's back up in AAA. Fun times.

[PlayerHader]

I only play online with this game, but it seems to happen in all sports games that you run into a game vs. the computer and are destined to be beaten. Can't hit a lick and everything you throw gets drilled.

[yfinn6]

I adjusted the sliders, and tweaked some of my player's attributes because some of them were a little... low. I still can't hit, and I'm getting beat by shoddy players. I score MAYBE 4 runs a game, and that's usually from homeruns.

 

Carlos Villanueva also can not pitch in this game, he gets rocked every time he touches the ball. TGJr can't hit the ball out of the infield - at least they stayed true to his game. Frustrating game it is.

[Invader3K]

You just need to practice more, I guess. Are you using guess pitch? Some people find it useful, but I've started to find I do better without it, and just try to focus on watching the ball. I'm swinging at less crap and getting more solid hits now.

 

Basically it just takes time and a lot of practice. The concensus seems to be that the learning curve on this game is pretty steep, compared to last year's version.

 

I agree that Villy is not very good in the game. Stetter and McClung both seem to be lights out, in my experience, though.

[yfinn6]

I've been using guess pitch, just so I know to be ready for the fastball if I can get it. That's the only pitch I guess, and I try to lay off everything else unless I get two strikes.

 

*Edit - I also can't run the bases. I could have scored a bunch more runs if I knew how to advance certain runners and keep others at a certain base.

[B2k1121]

I hit like .240 with 0 home runs in my first season as a SS in RTTS in the Angels organization. Then the second year I got called up to AAA because of an injury and I have been hitting about .350 with a .400 obp and 2 home runs (Hit my first off Carlos Villanueva who was on the Sounds for some reason) in about 150 ABs. I thought it would get more difficult going to AAA but i'm doing much better. No guess pitch, no strike zone, and I'm not even using the left stick to hit, just being patient and waiting for a pitch over the plate.

[stoutdude04]

loveofweeks....whats your show account name? I like to play straight up legit ballgames.

 

Yfinn....when the ball is in the outfield and you can see your runners running the bases, look up at the runners on the small diamond in the corner. Flick the left joystick towards the runner you want to advance/send back. It should start blinking. Once it starts blinking you use the buttons(shapes) according to the bases. For example, if you have a guys on 1st and 2nd and the ball is a single to center, and you want to send the guy from 2nd all the way to home without sending the guy from 1st all the way to 3rd you would flick the left joystick towards the guy thats running to 3rd/home then when its blinking hit X. (square for 3rd, triangle, for 2nd, and O for 1st.) Hope that helps.

[thablingster]

yfinn, definitely play with the sliders a little bit. As well, just kind of work on using the left analog stick to square up the pitch you're hitting. Timing is really everything with hitting. Use the classic baserunning techniques, it will help a lot. To control the runners you coordinate a D-pad button with x, circle, triangle, or square. If I hit the ball and want the guy to go to second tap X and up on the D pad. You might have to do it a couple times 'cause the computer AI is sometimes dumb and doesn't do what you tell it. If you have guys on base when you hit that double, you can do triangle plus down to send the guy on second home, circle plus left to send the guy on first to third, etc. You can also go base-to-base if you prefer.

 

As for pitching, I've noticed you kind of need to overthrow stuff like changeups, circle changes, sometimes sliders, etc. in order for them to have the intended effect. If you overthrow something like a curveball it will just hang in the zone. I mix my pitches with Villa pretty well. The guy I never could pitch with was Riske. I gave him a good month of appearances and he got absolutely hammered every time he pitched and I ended up trading him, lol.

[jwill535]

How do you switch it back to classic baserunning, for some reason on the PS3 version I cant find it.

[southpaw121505]

I have to vent about an online game. I was playing someone really good, I can't remember the record but he had a lot of wins, like 60-20 or something? I was the Crew vs SF and was down 3 going into the 9th. I hit a 2 run homer with Bill Hall and with 2 outs hit an opposite field homer with Brad Nelson to tie it. I lost in extra innings on a walk off fly ball that I had a beat on and would have caught, but the game froze or hiccuped and Braun did some weird studder step. The ball was deep but routine, I made the right jump, and the game got all glitchy on me and he had a guy on 2nd that walked in. booooooo

[jwill535]

Just started the RTTS as a CF. I am going to call shenanigans on this being the most realistic baseball game. There are something that happen when you are hitting that dont happen in the real life. Makes you want to throw the controller through the wall. I have no idea why they felt the need to change up the base running.

[stoutdude04]

I have to vent about an online game. I was playing someone really good, I can't remember the record but he had a lot of wins, like 60-20 or something? I was the Crew vs SF and was down 3 going into the 9th. I hit a 2 run homer with Bill Hall and with 2 outs hit an opposite field homer with Brad Nelson to tie it. I lost in extra innings on a walk off fly ball that I had a beat on and would have caught, but the game froze or hiccuped and Braun did some weird studder step. The ball was deep but routine, I made the right jump, and the game got all glitchy on me and he had a guy on 2nd that walked in. booooooo

Soutpaw...I wouldnt be surprised if the guy cheated. Lag switch or something. Some people cannot handle losing.

[bthurley19]

So I started my CF campaign last night. Very impressed with the customization. Got a guy that looks fairly close to myself with about a half hour of tweaking. Took me a while to get the hang of hitting but I'm hitting about .300 now. My first homer was a grand slam, so that was pretty awesome. I thought playing CF would be difficult on D but aside from my guy being a tad slow it's pretty fun to play in the outfield. All in all I think I'm going to enjoy play RTTS.

[PlayerHader]

Stoutude...I'm always up for a good sim game. Check your pm.

[istanbultaye]

This thread makes me wish I had a PS3 and a decent TV to play this on. Guess I'll stick with MLB '07 on the PS2 for now, as I can't imagine the PS2 version is so much better for '09 to be worth getting. You can only do so much with a PS2 I'd think.

[SquirrelMaster]

I want to play this game so bad, yet, I don't have a PS3.

 

Tell me, would it be worth it to buy a PS3 just for this game and the blu-ray player?

[yfinn6]

Bluray is sweet but you need a full HD tv with a high dynamic contrast ratio. My friend has a 46" Samsung, and the Bluray is unbelievable. We watched Band of Brothers on there and it was so awesome.

[WisconsinSportsRule]

Do you guys use power swing or regular swing most of the time? You can hit HR's on regular swings, but I'd think getting hits would be a lot with regular swing.