============================================================================== MLB '07:THE SHOW Pitcher Career Mode FAQ(Version 1.5; March 3,'07) Written by: Aj_the_one ============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Table of Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A.Version History B.Introduction C.Legal Stuff D.Making a Pitcher E.Pitches E1.Fastballs E2.Breaking Balls E3.Off-Speed Pitches F.Ratings F1.Pitcher Types G.Delivery H.Starting your Career H1.Spring Training I.Regular Season and Playoffs I1.Schedule I2.Around the League II1.Standings II2.Statistics II3.Team Rankings II4.Who's Hot II5.League Roundup II6.League Leaders II7.Accolades I3.Player Management J.Career Home Menu J1.Locker Room J2.Contract J3.Interactions J4.Training K.Off-Season L.Retirement M.Closer Career Progress(Guideline) O.Pitching Tips P.Credits ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A.Version History ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Version 1.0- FAQ Started Version 1.1- Added 2 IMPORTANT! new tips and added Max levels and recommended levels for starting attributes, also reworked the entire FAQ to get rid of sections that were specific for '06:The Show Version 1.2- Added a new section charting the progress of my closer which will be updated as I progress through the months. Version 1.5- Added more progress on my closer career and also changed some of tips and put them in order of importance(that I think anyway). Also added info for gyroball and Running Fastball, and added number of points needed to max out speed, ctrl and break on pitches and also on the per 9 ratings and your stamina. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ B.Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ YEAH BOI!!!! It's back and it's better than ever. Though it's the same game you can see that some things have changed this year and I must say that they are for the best!!! They added new pitches and also added a new AI which lets the catcher suggest which pitch you should throw for each situation. Very Cool stuff should you choose to use it. Well I've rambled enough about the game but I should mention that the menu options for Career Mode haven't changed much so I just made alot of changes to my faq for 06' and posted it so Enjoy!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ C.Legal Stuff ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ My FAQ may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal or private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site except for www.gamefaqs.com and www.ign.com or as part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. Copyright 2007 Armand Sellers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ D.Making a Pitcher ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Welcome to the start of career!!! In MLB "07: The Show you have a new option for starting your career. You can either do the classic career mode which hasn't changed much from last year or you can do THE Road to the Show mode. This is different from the classic mode because whatever position you play that is the only person you will control(Think Superstar Mode in Madden 07). This adds a new depth to the game because as a pitcher you must rely on the CPU and your lineup for run support, and as a fielder you have to track balls off the bat from strictly that point of view. You CANNOT switch players at all. First you have ot give your player a name and choose his height and weight. The cosmetics aren't really important so you can do whatever you want to make your player look more like you(or if you have and Eyetoy you can use that). Once you are done with the cosmetics you get to focus on what's really important... Your ratings and pitches!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ E.Types of Pitches ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is one of the most important choices you can make for you pitcher. You have alot of pitches to choose from and I would recommend you go with your favorite pitches. I will outline each pitches movement with a clock system (1 to 9 etc.)description of the pitch and a speed range. One of the major changes this year to career mode was as a pitcher you only get to choose 3 pitches. IMPORTANT!!!TO MAX OUT YOUR PITCHES VELOCITY AND BREAK, YOU NEED TO SPEND 1700 POINTS ON EACH AND TO MAX OUT THE CONTROL YOU NEED TO SPEND 2700 POINTS! THIS GOES FOR ALL PITCHES. E1.FastBalls 4-Seam-This pitch is normally thrown by gripping the area where the seams are furthest apart. It is thrown with little movement and is the fastest pitch your pitcher can throw. Movement-Little or none Speed Range-80-102mph 2-Seam- This pitch is thrown by gripping the area where the seams are closest together then rotating the ball so the seams are perpendicular to his body. This pitch ranks second in terms of velocity. Movement-Will appear to have an inside-out movement and will move downward a little bit. For right-handed pitchers the pitch will move right then left and for Left-handed pitchers it will do the opposite and move left then right. Speed Range-75-97mph Cutter- This pitch is thrown basically the same way the 4-seam is thrown except it is thrown with slight pressure from the tip of the middle finger. It's difficult to hit if thrown hard because it breaks and still moves 90-95 mph making it harder to see. Movement-This pitch is a cross between a 4-seam and a slider and it's break is basically an 11-7. Speed Range-75-95mph Splitter-This pitch is thrown by splitting your index and middle finger an equal distance apart on the ball. This pitch is hard to hit when thrown hard because it moves fast and it tumbles downward making it hard to hit. Movement-This pitch will drop straight down with a 12-6 break and will also break harder the faster the pitch is. Speed Range-75-91mph Running Fastball- This is one of the new pitches in 07' The show and it's basically a two-seam fastball without the downward movement and it has a much more severe break. It also moves around the same speed as the 2-seam. After giving my pitcher this pitch I would make the argument that it is definitely the best new pitch in the game and quite possibly the best pitch period. When it's at good levels it will make hitter look like little leaguers. Movement- This pitch will move towards the pitchers throwing hand. If it thrown by a Right handed pitcher to a right handed batter the pitch will move in on the hitter with a severe 9-3 break. Speed Range- 75-95mph E2.Breaking Balls Curveball-This pitch is thrown by placing your index and middle finger on the top of the ball and curving your thumb on the bottom of the ball. This pitch is significantly slower than a fastball and has a sharp break which will throw off the hitter's timing. Movement-This pitch most often has a 12-6 break but there are a good amount of pitchers who throw this with a 10-4 break. Speed Range-63-86mph Slider-This pitch is thrown the same way the curve is except the thumb is closer to the third finger. Also the pitch is released off the middle finger most commonly. Movement- This pitch will have a lateral movement, similiar to a 9-3 break. Also the faster the pitch thrown the harder the break, making the pitch alot harder to spot. Speed Range-68-91mph Sinker-This pitch is thrown basically the same way the 2-Seam is except you can add sideways movement to the pitch by putting more pressure on the index or middle finger. This pitch is essential for producing ground-outs when hit. Movement-The pitch will break downward sharply as it approaches the plate. It will also move in on left-handed batters and away from right-handed batters. Speed Range-76-92mph Slurve-This pitch can be thrown with 2-seam or 4-seam grip. With the 2-seam grip the pitch will have a stronger break but less speed and the 4-seam grip will have more speed and less break. Movement-As it's name implies the break will normally be 11-5 with a late break. Speed Range-73-87mph Forkball-This pitch is thrown the same way the splitter is except the ball is wedged more tightly between the fingers and the ball breaks a little later than the splitter. Movement-This pitch has the same break as the splitter with a 12-6. In addition to this it also breaks later than the splitter. Speed Range-70-87mph Knuckle Curve-This pitch is thrown just like the curveball except the index finger is bent while the rest of grip is like the curve. This pitch moves slower than the curveball and has a more deceptive break to it. It's also very hard to control(Both in the game and in real-life). Movement- This pitch is thrown with a 12-6 break and breaks sharply as it approaches the plate. Speed Range-62-80mph Screwball-This pitch has an appropriate name because the movement and the finger placement is crazy. This pitch is thrown by holding the ball with a 4-seam grip and upon release turning your wrist clockwise(sounds confusing? I know). Movement-This pitch will start to move towards the batter then move away. With right-handed pitchers the pitch will break right then left, and with left handed pitchers it will break left then right. Speed Range-63-75mph Knuckleball-This pitch is most commonly thrown by holding the ball with your knuckles. This pitch has an extremely erractic motion and is hard to both hit and control. Movement-I couldn't chart the movement of this pitch because it was so crazy but the most common pattern I have noticed(by the game showing where the pitch was intended and where it landed) that it breaks in the same direction of the throwing arm of the pitcher. Speed Range- 55-69mph 12-6 Curveball- This also a new pitch in 07' The Show but it really isn't all that new because you could get a 12-6 curveball by choosing the specific break of the curveball. Will move downward with a hard break. Movement- As it's name implies it has a VERY STRONG 12-6 break from the moment it leaves the pitcher's hand. Sweeping Curveball- Also a new Pitch in this year's game. Same as the 12-6 curveball in the fact that it's not that new but it is a nice pitch though. Movement- This will have a hard 10-4 movement and looks very much like a slider. Gyroball- This pitch is also new to this year's game and to the league in general. The motion for throwing this pitch is weird and it gives a similiar break also. Movement- This pitch moves like a really hard slider and it's flat movement. It will be a straight 3-9 if thrown by a right handed pitcher and will have a really strong lateral break. Speed Range- The fastest I got this pitch to go was 93mph. E3.Off-Speed Pitches Changeup-This pitch is thrown by placing three fingers on the top of the ball while keeping the other finger off the ball and the thumb placed on the bottom of the ball. Movement-This pitch will break downward slightly as it approaches the plate with a 12-6 motion. Speed Range-59-82mph Circle-Change-This is thrown by placing your index finger and thumb together around the ball while gripping the ball with the other three fingers. Movement-This pitch will have a downward break and will move in the opposite direction of the pitcher's throwing arm(Left-handed pitch will break away from a right-handed batter). Speed Range-69-83mph Palmball-This pitch is thrown exactly as it sounds, by placing the ball in your palm. Movement-Similiar to a changeup with a 12-6 late break. Speed Range-60-73mph Eephus Pitch- Listed as a pitch in the manual for the game but you can't actually get the pitch(If anyone has a suggestion, please i'm all ears) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ F.Ratings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In this section I will outline all of the pitching ratings in the game and explain each one and how they should be developed for a successful career. IMPORTANT- If you want to have a relatively easy start to your career then make sure that you give yourself one really good pitch(I would recommend the 4-seam Fastball) and make your per 9 ratings really high. I have a career as a starter and I found it to be easy going through the year with high per 9 ratings. Make sure that you start you maxing out your stamina and Hits/9. Unlike 06' it's much easier to develop your pitches than your per 9 ratings. As a result of this DON'T TOUCH YOUR PITCHES!!! Spend all of your points on your per 9 ratings. As you progress your pitches will increase with fewer points. As your per 9 ratings get better, you will have more control over your pitches making it easier for you to pinpoint the strike zone. IMPORTANT- TO MAX OUT YOUR PER 9 RATINGS AND YOUR STAMINA YOU WILL NEED TO USE A LITTLE MORE THAN 10,000 POINTS. THIS TOTAL IS AN ESTIMATE THAT I CAME TO BY USING THE 4590 POINTS THAT I ACCUMULATED IN A MONTH AND A HALF AND WATCHING HOW MUCH THE BAR MOVED. THESE ARE NOT ABSOLUTE VALUES, JUST ROUGH ESTIMATES TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA NOF HOW MANY POINTS YOU WOULD HAVE TO SPEND TO MAKE YOUR PITCHER PERFECT. STAMINA- This determines how many pitches you throw in an outing. The higher the bar the more pitches you can throw and the more innings you can go. If you are creating a Starting Pitcher then this will be an important rating starting out because it will allow you to keep a good level of energy throughout a game which in turn makes it easier to throw your pitches with control. MAX- 25 points RECOMMENDED- 25 Points(Starters) Starting Point(Closers) If you are creating a Starter then you should put the bar at the max. This ensures that you won't have to touch your stamina throughout the season and will allow you to focus on your Hits per 9, Balls/9 and your Strikeouts/9. PITCHING CLUTCH- This rating allows your pitcher to dig deep and get out of tough situations(Bases loaded, no outs). This is important for starters but really important for relievers because they will most likely come in the game in pressure situations. MAX- 30 Points RECOMMENEDED- Starting Point(Starters) 10(Closers, which is also the max) Since you have to worry about your other ratings first you can leave the clutch where it is. While this doesn't seem like a smart idea your other per 9 ratings are more important right now. HITS PER 9- This rating determines how easy it is for batters to get hits off you. Needless to say this is important for both starters and relievers. If you make the mistake of not touching this stat and focusing on your pitches you will be sorry because your pitches will get hit frequently by all batters good or not. MAX- 30 Points RECOMMENDED- 25 Points(Starters) 20(Closers) This should be put up by 20 points. This is so your pitches will be harder to hit while facing minor league batters. This will allow you to rack up points by not giving up any runs and getting alot of strikeouts, saves or wins. HOMERUNS PER 9- This rating determines how hard it is for your pitcher to give up a homerun or a deep fly ball which could turn into a double or triple. This is important for both Starters and Relievers because nobody wants to give a walk-off home run or a bases loaded jack which will severely damage your ERA. MAX- 30 Points RECOMMENDED- 20 Points(All) I put this up by 15 points when I started. My first 2 seasons were good. I only gave up 11 HR's in those 2 years. This is a pretty good starting point to keep those bad pitches in the yard. STRIKEOUTS PER 9- It took me a while before I realized how important this stat was. This stat determines how easy it is for your pitcher to get a strikeout. Since I am a closer I found this to be important because if I can strike out the side I don't have to worry about the runners on base. This is less important for starters because if you get alot of strikeouts, your stamina will suffer because you will throw more pitches. MAX- 30 Points RECOMMENDED- 10 Points(Starters) 20(Closers) Since I love overpowering pitchers I raised this stat 20 points. I did this because I like strikeouts, that's my preference. If your not a strikeout pitcher then raise this by 10. Groundball pitchers should put it up by 5. BALLS PER 9- This stat basically determines your pitchers overall level of control on his pitches.This is very important because if he has no control then your pitches won't go where you want them to and that will make it easier to give up walks or even worse hits. MAX- 30 Points RECOMMENDED- 30 Points(All) I cannot stress how important this stat is to any type of pitcher. To reflect this I recommend putting this stat up by 25. The reason for this as stated above is control. With little or no BB/9 your pitches will rarely go where you want them to and the result will either be a HR or a hit. DURABILITY- This determines how frequently your player will be injured throughout his career. It is important but you really won't get hurt that much to waste starting points on it. I've only been injured once for 6 days. MAX- 35 Points RECOMMENDED- Starting Point(All) My reason for leaving this stat blank is because you can do the Long Distance Running training and raise both your stamina and durability. Also the easiest reason could be if you get injured don't save the game. FIELDING ABILITY- This determines how many fielding error your pitcher will make. Since your pitcher really won't have that much interaction on the field don't worry about this stat until you have points to spare(meaning all your pitches are maxed out). Like I said above don't worry about this because your points earlier on in your career can be spent on you pitches and Per 9 ratings which are alot more important than fielding ability. ARM STRENGTH- This determines how strong your pitchers are is in the field. Like fielding ability this also isn't important until you have points to spare ARM ACCURACY- Like Arm strength this isn't important for you pitcher because most of his throws innthe field will be short anyway so he won't need to have accuract because he is so close to his target. F1.Pitcher Types -Thanks to LawoftheFajita for sending the most of the information in this section of the FAQ good looking man!! IMPORTANT!!!Just about every pitch can be thrown for both types of pitchers effectively. Whether you are a strikeout pitcher or Groundball/Control pithcher determines more on your H/9 and K/9 and your pitching style than your pitches. Also the pitches listed are suggestions by LawoftheFajita. Strikeout Pitcher A strikeout pitcher is my favorite, he dose exactly as his name says, strikes people out. The only down side to a strikeout pitcher is he throws a lot of pitches, so to go deep in a game you need a lot of stamina. Here are the stats that you need to MAX OUT before you start you career. Stamina, K/9, and BB/9. When into your career be sure to focus on these three, but don’t forget about HR/9 and H/9. Now for the pitches you need as a strikeout pitcher and their stats 4 Seam Fastball Speed: Max Control: Max Break: 0 Slider Speed: Max Control:Max Break:Max Curveball Speed:Max Control:Max Break: Max Change-Up Speed: 25 Control:Max Break:25 You can add whatever fifth pitch you want. Just remember that control and speed for the fastball are a must, and control and break for the breaking balls, speed for breaking balls should just be last but they are needed also. As for tactics with a strikeout pitcher these should do. - Throw fastballs low and inside - Breaking balls should always break away or across your body - Don’t throw sliders to left-handed batters (for a right handed pitcher) and vice versa - Mix up inside outside, try to stay low - On counts 0-0 0-1 1-0 2-2 3-2 throw what ever you feel like - On counts 2-0 3-0 3-1 throw a strike, not down the middle but a strike - On 0-2 1-2 throw a breaking ball that breaks out of the zone or a fastball high inside - Try to paint the black with breaking balls and don’t put the fastball in the zone to much Groundball/Control Pitcher Groundball/Control pitchers are the easiest, you will get a lot of first pitch outs and wont throw too much. The main problem with a groundball pitcher is you will give up homeruns late in the game unless your stamina is high up. You will lose control of your pitches and they will stay up in the zone because you will loose some of your break. Here are the stats you need to MAX OUT before your career. Stamina (for starters, for closers not so much), HR/9, H/9 You need to put some in BB/9 and K/9 but don’t max it out. Max out those top three once into your career. Now the pitches needed to be a groundball pitcher. Fastball Speed: 25 Control:Max Break: 0 Sinker Speed: Max Control: Max Break: Max Slider Speed: 25 Control: Max Break: Max Change-Up Speed: 20 Control: Max Break: Max Splitter/Forkball Speed: 25 Control: Max Break: Max The sinker is going to be your pitch, max that out first then work on what pitch you want. The sinker has a tendency to break away form the pitcher and then sometimes it breaks strait down. About 98% of the time it will break away from the pitcher, that’s why you should wait before getting a splitter / forkball because the splitter 100% will break strait down and the forkball has only once broken away form me. These are some tips for groundball pitchers - The sinker will always be your main pitch - Throw the sinker inside on a hitter - The splitter / forkball can be thrown anywhere - Keep all pitches low - Throw fastball every once and a while to mix them up - Don’t put the pitches to far in the strike zone, they will get crushed - Try to get them to chase so they just hit enough to go down. - On counts 0-0 0-1 1-0 2-2 3-2 throw what ever you feel like - On counts 2-0 3-0 3-1 throw a strike, not down the middle but a strike - On 0-2 1-2 throw a breaking ball that breaks out of the zone or a fastball high inside - Try to paint the black with breaking balls and don’t put the fastball in the zone to much ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ G.Delivery ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is important for a couple of reasons. First and foremost it determines how your pitcher throws the ball. I have broken down the different types of deliveries and I will explain what pitches have the most break with each delivery and also what the arm angle is on the delivery. I will also list a pitcher or two who is known for that style. OVER-HAND DELIVERY(Mike Mussina,Trevor Hoffman) Since Mike Mussina is my favorite pitcher I had to do the over-hand delivery first. As the name implies your pitchers release point is over his head and more often than not his wrist his facing straight down after he releases the ball. I have found that pitches that have a downward break are more effective when throw from an over-hand delivery. Depending on the pitcher the ball will also be hidden until it leaves your pitchers hand which makes it harder for the batter to recognize what's coming. On the other hand I don't like throwing pitches that a sideways movement from this delivery because it doesn't break as much(Primarily Sliders). Best Pitches to throw- Anything with a downward or 12 to 6 break meaning curveballs, splitters, changeups, Knucklecurves and Sinkers. Recommended Delivery- Mike Mussina SIDE-ARM DELIVERY(Randy Johnson,Dennis Eckersley) Also like it's name implies your pitcher's release point is at his waist level. Pitches from this delivery will most likely move a little more than you want them to(i.e. my curveball thrown to inside of a left-handed batter will move a little more towards him than a over-hand). This isn't a bad thing, I find it to be quite useful because it not only do my curveball and splitter have a 12-6 break, they also appear to move up then down as opposed to an over hand delivery in which the pitch would just tumble downward from the release point. I love throwing sliders with this delivery because they have more of a side to side or 9-3 break to them. Fastballs are also effective because it feels like you get extra speed on the fastball(It feels that way, I haven't notices a speed difference). Best Pitches to throw- Sliders and Fastballs. Breaking pitches work well also just not as effective as with a over-hand delivery. Recommended Delivery- Randy Johnson THREE QUARTERS DELIVERY(Pedro Martinez,Johan Santana) This is the most common delivery style in the MLB. Your pitchers realease point is slightly above his shoulder(Not quite a side-arm but not an overhand either, stuck right in the middle). There is good reason why most pitchers use a three quaters delivery and that reason is all pitches have a good amount of break to them. Fastballs come out fast, breaking pitches tumble downward with a bit or sideways movement, and off-speed pitches appear slower. You really can't go wrong with any of these deliveries. Best Pitches to throw- All pitches work wonderfully with this delivery. Recommended Delivery- I don't like long deliveries so I go with Jason Jennings For those who don't care I would have to go with Pedro Martinez. SUBMARINE DELIVERY(Byung-Yung Kim, Mike Myers) Like the name implies(I know it's getting old) your pitcher's release point is at his thigh to the point where his hand is almost scraping the dirt. I really have no complaints about this delivery and it actually is my favorite for a couple of reasons. First it's easy to confuse batters with this delivery. Next when I throw my fastball(which tops out at 102mph) it looks like it's going alot faster than 102mph and batters are always late swinging at it. Also my slider has a ridiculous amount of break when thrown from this delivery(I can leave the ball in the middle of the zone and it will slide outside of the box) My splitter and curveball also have a small amount of 9-3 motion when thrown which is great when thrown into or away from the batter. Best Pitches to throw- Fastballs, Sliders and Splitters. All other pitches work well also. Recommended Delivery- Mike Myers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ H.Starting your Career ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Once you have finished making you pitcher you will be prompted to select what team you want to go. Depending on what you chose to do(Starter or Closer)your team will differ. If you chose to be a starter then I would recommend that you go to the YANKEES. The reason for this is that during spring training you will be playing with the MLB squad and it will be easier to get wins because they will back you up. Their staff is still pretty old and they still have a great batting order. In my career I am a starter and I chose to go to the Yankees. Unfortunately 2 of their starters got injured and my player was called up in the end of August. I had progressed pretty far with my per 9 ratings and this coupled with the injuries got me called up. You should hope to stay in the minors for at least a year so you can get relatively easy wins and improve your pitcher faster. H1.Spring Training You will only have the opportunity to do spring training in your first year. There are ways to get around this limit though. Whenever your contract is up decline the offer from the teams and choose to go into the season without a team. You will get the chance to pick what team you want to play for then you will be able to do spring training all over again. Your goal in spring training is to do good enough to make the team(You will never make the MLB team from spring training. You will always start in the minors). This is good because you get to play with the Big Boys and get alot of training hours to improve your pitcher. Just focus on getting Wins if your a starter or Saves if your a closer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I.Regular Season and Playoffs ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Once spring training is done you will enter the regular season and a number of menu options available for you to cycle through. I will give a synopsis of the options and also go into depth a little bit. I'm going to assume that everyone who is playing this game knows how the regular season progresses so I'm not going to explain that in this section. I1.Schedule As it's name implies this is where you see your teams schedule and where you have to go to play your games. The greatest feature of THE SHOW is the ability to simulate innings and games. What I mean is if you only want to play the games in which you are pitching you would simply hit X and then hit the option that says sim to next appearance. The game will simulate all other games until you start pitching then you will control your pitcher(and the batters if you want also). If you are a starter then the game will simulate every four days until you pitch then you will play that game. If you are closer it is the same thing except you will play the game when you appear in it. This allows you to progress through your season really fast because if you are a starter you will only play 35-40 games because that's how many you would normally start. If you are a closer your season will go even faster because you will only do about a inning of work and only appear in about 60 games. You will spend quite some time here in your season mainly because you have no choice. I2.Around the League This is basically your stats central. If it's a stat it can be found in this menu. I will break this down section by section to make it easier to read and more comprehensive. II1.Standings This is where you come to check the standings in the league. You can see what your overall record is, How many runs your team has scored, Runs given up, Winning Streak,record of last 10 games played,Record against division, Home record,Away record, Day record and Night Record. Yeah I know it's a lot of stats and you probably won't look at them through most of the season. II2.Statistics In this screen you can see the individual statistics for the entire league, broken down team by team. There is a very comprehensive list of stats and if I listed them all this section would be alot longer so I am going to name the primary ones which are:Games Played,At-Bats,Batting Avg,Hits,Runs scored, doubles,triples,homeruns,Runs Batted In,Stolen Bases,Times Caught Stealing, stolen base percentage,Base on Balls, Strikeouts,Slugging Percentage, and On-Base Percentage.For the pitchers it is:Games Played,Wins,Losses,Earned Run Average,Games Started,Complete Games,Shutouts,Saves,Blown Saves,Innings pitched,Hits allowed,Runs,Earned Runs,HomeRuns,Bases on balls and Strikeouts. III3.Team Rankings In this screen you can see what your team is ranked in every offensive and defensive category an also see the top the three players on your team in that category. III4.Who's Hot Here is where you can see who's hot in the league or who's been on a tear in the past month. This is useful for seeing who you should avoid when you play a particular team. III5.League Roundup This is where you can monitor all the transactions in the league. Signings, trades, releases everything involving the movement of players either from the DL or to another team or even moving up and down from the minors. III6.League Leaders Here is where you can see who is leading the league in a good portion of the statistics that were listed above. If you are a stat nut(as most of us are) then you will spend alot of time in this menu option looking at and glossing over your stats. III7.Accolades It is in this menu screen that you see who the front runners are for the yearly awards and also look at the MLB single-season and career records in addition to being anle to look at the list of all the players inducted into the Hall Of Fame. You can also see where everybody is in terms of the All-Star voting. Depending on how good your numbers are you will spend some time in the awards and the All-Star voting sections. I3.Player Management In this screen you see your team's batting order and pitching rotation but since your a player not a manager you can't mess with any of the lineups or rotations. This means you have to rely on the manager putting you in the game which can be very frustrating. By pressing O you can see your player card which has your information on it such as your stats for the current season and the one before it,all of your ratings, your contract info and your scouting report which can be interesting to read. This is where you can see where you measure up with the rest of the league. The scouting report for the most part is accurate to your player(It says my slider will get anybody out). It's also interesting to see what they are saying about you as a player. Since you can't edit the rosters the only reason for you coming here is to see how much better or worse you are than your teammates which can affect your playing time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ J.Career Home Menu ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I decided to dedicate a whole section to this area of the game because it has some really important options that need to be discussed in depth so everybody can have a good understanding of how they work. As I will break this up into sections for ease of reading. J1.Locker Room In this section you will see all of your mail from your teammates and manager. This stuff really isn't important enough to read but if you want to read you can feel free to do so. When you hit R1 it brings up your list of PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENTS throughout your career. Just about everything major that you do in your career will show up here from the awards you've won to records you've broken and even when you got called up or sent down from the minors. In place of the status bar that showed how far along you were, they simply use markers (Rookie, Veteran, All-Star and Hall of Fame). Also they have a bar that shows your HOF potential. The more achievements you get and better you do in the season the fast the meter will rise. Once it reaches a certain level you DON'T have to change the difficulty level but the game feels your good enough to step it up to the next level. If you hit R1 from the achievements screen it will bring up your career stats. These are your complete stats from the majors and minors. If you want to see how you did in a season, look no further than this screen. It will show you everything you did from the start of your career. J2.Contract This screen shows you your contract, your yearly salary, how many years you have remaining with that contract, whatever contract options you have, and a year by year breakdown of how much money you are slated to make for the length of your contract. Hitting R1 from this screen brings you to a screen with your yearly goals that you should try to accomplish. The goals differ year after year and you get training hours for every goal you complete. This screen is useful only if you like seeing how much money you are making or what goals you haven't accomplished. Also I should poitn out that they added career graphs also to track your numbers through the years. J3.Interactions For this year, the people at SCEA decided to do away with the old system of interaction options and replaced it with situational interactions. At any given time the interaction options will change. If you are a starting pitcher and you get removed from the game there will be a option to talk to the manager about it under the category of Manager Meetings. This is the only option I have seen since I am in my first year as a starter. The only thing that stays there consistently is the Retire option, unchanged from last year's game. RETIRE-"Retire from major league baseball and ride off into the sunset like a true professional." Reaction- Retiring will allow you to look at your plaque with a statement of how you did in the league. You will be able to look at your numbers one last time but you won't be able to play with your player anymore and you will also have to start another career mode. J4.Training Okay!! This is where you will spend most of your time in your career because it is here where you will make your pitcher better by using the training hours that you accumlate through completing the in-game tasks. This system has been also been changed for this year's game. Instead of each stat being trained on by itself, there are workouts that you can do to train mulitple stats. Since I have 4 pitches I will use the options that appear on my screen. Batting Cages vs. RHP- "Fine tune your hitting skills in the cage". Primary Attributes- Contact R, Plate Vision Secondary Attributes- Plate Discipline, Power R Batting Cages vs. LHP- "Hit off southpaws in the batting cage" Primary Attributes- Contact L, Plate Vision Secondary Attributes- Plate Discipline, Power L Batting Coach- "Work with your coach to improve your swing" Primary Attributes- Plate Discipline, Clutch Seconday Attributes- Contact R/L, Plate Vision Bunting Drills- "Learn to bunt with presice accuracy" Primary Attributes- Bunting Ability Seconday Attributes- Plate Vision Drag Bunting- "Learn how to bunt for hits consistently" Primary Attributes- Drag Bunting Seconday Attributes- Speed Long Distance Running- "Distance running improves stamina and durablity" Primary Attributes- Durablity, Stamina Seconday Attributes- None Sprints- "Sprints will help you improve your speed" Primary Attributes- Base Running Ability, Speed Seconday Attributes- Base Running Aggressiveness Basse Running Drills- "Improve your skills on the base paths" Primary Attributes- Base Running Aggressiveness Seconday Attributes- Base Running Ability Stretching- "Keep yourself limber and loose to avoid injuries" Primary Attirbutes- Durablity Secondary Attributes- Reaction Time, Fielding Ablity, Blocking Ability Weight Room- "Beef up your power by hitting the weight room" Primary Attributes- Power L/R Seconday Attributes- Speed, Reaction Time Infield Drills- "Improve your fielding skills" Primary Attributes- Fielding Ablility, Throwing Accuracy Seconday Attributes- Reaction Time Shagging Fly Balls- "Learn to take better routes to the ball" Primary Attributes- Fielding Ability, Reaction Time Seconday Attributes- Arm Strength, Arm Accuracy Long Toss- "Long toss will improve your arm strength" Primary Attributes- Arm Strength Seconday Attributes- Arm Accuracy Pitching Coach- "Work on your pitching mechanics" Primary Attributes- BB/9, K/9, H/9 Seconday Attributes- HR/9, Pitching Clutch Simulated Game- "Pitch a simulated game" Primary Attributes- Pitching Clutch, HR/9 Seconday Attributes- BB/9, K/9 4SFB Velocity Session Primary Attributes- Velocity Seconday Attributes- K/9, H/9 4SFB Control Session Primary Attributes- Control, Pitching Clutch Seconday Attributes- BB/9, HR/9 4SFB Movement Session Primary Attributes- Break Seconday Attributes- K/9, H/9 New Pitch- "Learn a new pitch"(Requires 200 points minimum) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ K.Off-Season ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For all the stuff you have to do during the season you would the off-season would be worse right? Well you'd be wrong you have 4 options to look at in the off-season menu which are Retirements,Hall of Fame inductees,Career progression and end off-season. There really isn't anything to do except look at a numerical representation of how much better you got. Outside of that just continue on to end off-season and start the next year. If you are in a contract year then you will have the option of resigning with your old team or accepting a contract from a new team. Regardless of what you do, you can get alot more then what they are offering(depending on how good your player is). Make sure that you save your game before you go into the off season so when you negotiate your contract you can see how much money you can get out of them. This area has remained unchanged from last year. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ L.Retirement ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you choose the retirement option in the Career Home menu your manager will give you a message basically supporting your decision to retire. After that message you will see your plaque which will have a paragraph basically outlining how great or poor you were in your career. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ M.Closer Career Progress ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Since I started a closer career I decided to chart my development and how I spend my training points to give everyone a better template for developing their pitcher. Next to every stat I will give a reason in parenthesis to help you better understand why I did what I did. Pitching Delivery- Generic 15(Pitches Slider and 12-6 curve break hard) Batting Stance- Albert Pujols(Just like the batting stance) Pitch Type 1-4SFB(Because it's the best pitch in the game if used right) Pitch Type 2-12-6 Curve(Because of the downward break against Right handers) Pitch Type 3-Slider(For right handed and Left handed batters) Stamina- None(He's a closer) Pitch Clutch-+10(It's Maxed out) H/9-+20 HR/9-+10 K/9-None BB/9-+20(It's your control over your pitches) 4SFB- Speed=+25, Control=None, Break=None 12-6 Curve- None Slider- Speed=None, Control=None, Break=+15 Everything Else- None Spring Training with the Yankees I dominated in spring training having 16 saves and racking up 1960 points. Since I was so dominant I didn't use any of the points, basically taking an "if it ain't broke dont fix it" attitude. Regular Season Although I did excellent in spring training I started out in AAA which was fine for me because I didn't think my pitches were good enough to beat major leaguers. I got a 2 Year contract worth $68,000 with a player option. For the seaon I used my points at the end of every month. April- Once again I dominated in AAA and got another 10 saves along with 1700 points. Since it's the end of the month I figured I would use my points and increase my ratings. May- Continued my strong showing from april and dominated AAA with a ERA of .96 and another 6 saves and 14 Strikeouts. To my surprise I got called up in the end of the month to be the closer for the Yankees!!! June- Although my pitcher wasn't that good he must've been good enough because he dominated with 1 win, 11 saves and 8 strikeouts with an ERA of 1.69 in 10.2 innings. Since I was dominating and had alot of points I decided to spend alot of points on my per 9 ratings and pitches. Total Points- 2200 Long Distance Running- 100 points Pitching Coach- 500 points Simulated Game- 200 points 4-Seam FB- Vel=100, Ctrl=200 12CV- Ctrl=100, Brk=200 SLD- Vel=150, Ctrl=100, Brk= 150 July- Started out this month as a closer but when Mariano came back I got put in the bullpen which isn't fun because you don't get many points and you come in the game when your team is losing most of the time. Total Points- 1675 Long Distance Running- 100 points Pitching Coach- 175 points Simulated Game- 150 points 4-Seam FB- Vel=100 12CV- Brk=100 SLD- Vel=100, Brk= 150 August- This was the month that I stepped into the closer role fulltime and stopped alternating with Rivera. As a result I had 11 saves in the month with an ERA of 1.73 and 16 Strikeouts. Total Points- 3100 points Long Distance Running- 100 points Pitching Coach- 250 points Simulated Game- 250 points 4-Seam FB- Vel=150, Ctrl=150 12CV- Ctrl=150, Brk=150 SLD- Vel=150, Ctrl=150, Brk= 200 September- Although I was becoming comfortable as the fulltime closer, I didn't get that many innings this month and we lost alot of games. I only had 5 saves with 4 strikeouts and an 1.74 ERA. Total Points- 2450 Long Distance Running- 150 points Pitching Coach- 200 points Simulated Game- 200 points 4-Seam FB- Vel=100, Ctrl=100 12CV- Vel=100, Brk=100 SLD- Vel=150, Ctrl=100, Brk= 150 October- Playoff Time!!! We finished the season 93-69 and took the division by 2 games over the Orioles. I helped the team by finishing with a 2-1 record and an ERA of 1.74 with 27 saves and 39 Strikeouts in 41.1 innings. Divisional Series- Vs. Chicago White Sox Game 1- Wang vs. Vazquez(Loss) This game was a rout with my team losing 10-1 and Wang getting shelled for 6 Earned runs. I didn't pitch this game. Line- None Game 2- Mussina vs. Floyd(Win) Off a grand slam by Alex Rodriguez we took the lead 5-2 in the 8th. I came in to close it out against the top of the order. Line- IP=1, W/L= 0 S=1 K=1 BB=1 ERA=0.00 Game 3- Karstens vs. Hermanson(Win) The whole contributed to this win with evey starter getting at least one hit. Melky Cabrera had a 2 run Home Run in the sixth to put us on route to a 7-5 victory in which I closed. Line- IP=1, W/L=0 S=1 K=1 BB=0 ERA=0.00 Game 4- Pettite vs. Contreras(Loss) Pettite was out pitched from the start as Contreras went 7 2/3 with 1 Earned run. Jim Thome had a monster game with 2HR's and 5 RBI. I didn't pitch in this game either. Line- None Game 5- Pavano vs. Garland(Win) Pavano had a good outing giving up 2 runs in 5 2/3 innings. A-rod and Derek Jeter contributed HR's to give us the lead in the 7th. I came in to close out the 9th. Line- IP=1 W/L=0 S=1 K=1 BB=0 ERA=0.00 AL Championship series- Vs. LA Angels Game 1- Wang vs. Oliver(Win) Behind a strong outing this time by Wang and some excellent batting we routed the Angels 13-3. Line- DNP Game 2- Karstens vs. Carrasco(Win) Another strong outing by our starting pitching and some timely hitting made the comeback victory possible. Line- DNP Game 3- Igawa vs Santana Igawa pitched a masterpiece and Santana got blasted for 7 runs in the second inning including a pair of back to back HR's by A-Rod and Jason Giambi. Line- DNP Game 4- Pettite vs. Colon The starting pitching has been hot lately with everyone putting in quality outings when they are needed. Pettite was no exception as he went 7 innings and gave up only 3 hits. Line- DNP World Series- vs. Chicago Cubs(Yeah I know) Game 1- Pavano vs. Lilly(Win) Strong pitching by both teams but a timely Walk off HR by Giambi brought this game home. Line- DNP Game 2- Wang vs. Marquis(Win) Horrible pitching by both teams but working bats brought home this 10-9 for my team. Line- DNP Game 3- Mussin vs Wood(Loss) Mussina pitched a decent game giving up 3 runs in 6 innings but Barrets 4 RBI were too much for the team to handle. Line- IP=1, H=1 Strikeouts=2 Game 4- Igawa vs Marshall Igawa pitched well from the start and the bats came alive with 11 runs en route to a win. Line- DNP Game 5- Pettite vs Zambrano Zambrano was no match for the Yankee bats and Pettite shut down their offense to slam the door on the World Series!! Line- DNP Playoff Stats- IP=4, W/L=0 SV=3 H=2 BB=1 K=5 Career Progression 1st Season Stamina +15 Pitch Clutch +23 H/9 +22 HR/9 +22 K/9 +28 BB/9 +19 DUR +9 Overall +24 I exercised my option to become a free agent this season and chose to play with the Padres because they have good starters and an excellent batting order. Spring Training(Padres 2nd Year) My Pitcher continues to dominate the league so far. And from what i'm seeing my team might actually compete this year for the title. I finished spring training 1-0 with 10 saves, 14 strikeouts an ERA of 0. Signed an $80,000 2 year contract with a player option Total Points- 4255(2395 points earned during spring training) Long Distance Running- 100 points Pitching Coach- 500 points Simulated Game- 500 points 4-Seam FB- Vel=125, Ctrl=230 12CV- Vel= 100,Ctrl=200, Brk=200 SLD- Vel=200, Ctrl=150, Brk=150 Running FB- Vel=200, Ctrl=200, Brk=200 I had to add the running FB after I saw what it looked like maxed out. I literally had my jaw drop when I saw this pitch go from hitting a batter to sitting in the zone for a strike. Very nice pitch to use especially against Right handed batters. April- Had great success in the first 3/4 of the month. In two games I gave 3 HR's and 6 ER's. 1 loss, a 3.86 ERA, 11 saves and 15 Strikeouts in 14 innings. Total Points- 3220 Long Distance Running- 120 points Pitching Coach- 200 points Simulated Game- 200 points 4-Seam FB- Vel=100, Ctrl=100(Speed is max/Break is irrelevant IMOP) 12CV- Vel= 150,Ctrl=100, Brk=150(Working on speed to have a harder pitch break SLD- Vel=200, Ctrl=150, Brk=150(Speed almost max/break is max =hard slider) Running FB- Vel=150, Ctrl=100, Brk=150(Trying to get the pitch to break and move at 93mph) May- After a good April May was alot better with me notching another 11 saves and an ERA 0f 2.67 and 13 Strikeouts in 13 innings. Total Points- 3350 Long Distance Running- 150 points Pitching Coach- 200 points Simulated Game- 200 points 4-Seam FB- Ctrl=100(Speed is maxed out) 12CV- Vel= 150,Ctrl=150, Brk=100(Working on speed to have a harder pitch break SLD- Vel=150, Ctrl=100, Brk=100(Speed almost max/break is max =hard slider) Running FB- Vel=250, Ctrl=200, Brk=200(Still trying to get the pitch to break and move at 93mph) June- Didn't really get that much action this month for some reason. I mean I had 8 saves and an 2.12 ERA with 8 strikeouts in 7 innings. Not really what I wanted but it was good enough for me to have enough points to upgrade my stats the way I want. Total Points- 2920 Long Distance Running- 120 points Pitching Coach- 200 points Simulated Game- 200 points 4-Seam FB- Ctrl=100(Speed is maxed out) 12CV- Vel= 125,Ctrl=100(Working on speed to have a harder pitch break) SLD- Vel=200, Ctrl=100(Speed/Break is max =hard slider) Running FB- Vel=125,Ctrl=125, Brk=225(Still trying to get the pitch to break and move at 93mph) July- This was quite possibly the best month that I had. Not only did I get All-Star status(Which in turn I turned the difficulty up to All-Star)I went to the All-Star game and struck out the side in the 8th and we won. 10 saves with a 1.54 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 12.2 innings Total Points- 4090 Long Distance Running- 190 points Pitching Coach- 250 points Simulated Game- 250 points 4-Seam FB- Ctrl=100(Speed is maxed out) 12CV- Vel= 101,Ctrl=149(Working on speed to have a harder pitch break) SLD- Ctrl=100(Speed/Break is max =hard slider) Running FB- Vel=150,Ctrl=100, Brk=200(Almost there. Pitch moves at 87mph and has ridiculous amount of break) August- I had another great month dominating hitters getting 10 saves and having an ERA of 1.22 with 18 strikeouts and a loss in 12.1 innings. So far I have 50 saves and are on pace to break the saves record in the middle of September. Total Points- 4590 Long Distance Running- 200 points Pitching Coach- 300 points Simulated Game- 300 points 4-Seam FB- Ctrl=100(Speed is maxed out) 12CV- Vel= 100,Ctrl=100(Working on speed to have a harder pitch break) SLD- Ctrl=100(Speed/Break is max =hard slider) Running FB- Vel=200,Ctrl=100, Brk=190(Almost there. Pitch moves at 87mph and has ridiculous amount of break) September- Broke the saves record by notching 10 saves with an ERA of 1.00 and a win with 16 strikeouts in 13 innings. Total Points- 5205 Long Distance Running- 205 points Pitching Coach- 300 points Simulated Game- 300 points 4-Seam FB- Ctrl=200(Speed is maxed out) 12CV- Vel= 100,Ctrl=200(Working on speed to have a harder pitch break) SLD- Ctrl=200(Speed/Break is max =hard slider) Running FB- Vel=250,Ctrl=200, Brk=250(Almost there. Pitch moves at 87mph and has ridiculous amount of break) October- I got 3 saves to close out the regular season with a 1-2 record and 63 saves and an ERA of .98. I gave up 59 hits and 18 runs, 8 of which were earned, 7 HR's, 5 Base on Balls and 88 Strikeouts in 73.2 innings. Divisional Series vs. Houston Astros Game 1- Peavy vs. Oswalt(Win 4-1) Line- IP=.1 W/L=0 S=1 K=1 H=0 Game 2- Young vs. Claussen(Win 7-2) Line- Did Not Play Game 3- Hensley vs. Williams(Win 6-4) Line- IP=1 W/L=0 S=1 K=1 H=0 Championship Series vs. St. Louis Cardinals Game 1- Thompson vs. Reyes(Win 11-10) Line- IP=1 W/L=0 S=0 R=3 ER=0 H=3 BB=1 K=1 HR=1 Game 2-Bell vs. Stringer(Loss 10-7) Line- DNP Game 3- Peavy vs. Thompson(Win 1-0) Line- IP=1 W/L=0 S=1 K=1 Game 4- Young vs. Wainwright(Loss 4-1) Line- DNP Game 5- Hensley vs. Mulder(Win 5-2) Line- IP=1 W/L=0 S=1 K=0 Game 6- Thompson vs. Reyes(Win 4-2) Line- IP=1 W/L=0 H=1 K=2 S=1 World Series vs. NY Yankees Game 1- Linebrink vs. Clemens(Win 11-6) Line- DNP Game 2- Jake Peavy vs. Chien-Ming Wang(Win 7-3) Line- IP=.2 W/L=0 S=1 BB=1 Game 3- Cassidy vs. Igawa(Win 11-6) Line- DNP Game 4- Hensley vs. Pettitte(Loss 9-6) Line- DNP Game 5- Thompson vs Small(Win 2-1) Line- IP=1 W/L=0 S=1 H=1 K=1 Playoff Stats- IP=7 ERA=0.00 W/L=0 S=7 H=5 R=3 ER=0 HR=1 BB=2 K=7 Career Progression(2nd Season) Stamina +11 Pitch Clutch +26 H/9 +18 HR/9 +23 K/9 +21 BB/9 +20 DUR +9 Overall +23 Once again when I signed my contract I gave myself a player option and I chose to exercise it and come back to the Padres since we won the World Series( against the Yankees whom I left last year because the manager didn't play me enough). The team basically looks the same so we are in good shape to repeat. San Diego Padres(3rd Season) March- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ O.Pitching Tips ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This section I decided to make after I came across a couple of useful tips that will help you destroy your competiton both CPU and Human. IMPORTANT!!! Tip#1- Don't use full energy on any of your pitches!! Almost everytime I do this my pitch gets hit. The only you should do this is if you change speeds to throw the hitter off!! This is the EASIEST WAY TO GET STRIKEOUTS!!! Much props to my brother for showing me this. IMPORTANT!!! Tip#2- Memorize your arm slots and the way each pitch moves from a certain arm slot. This is important because you can further manipulate where your pitch will go after you start the meter. For example I have the submarine delivery. When I throw pitches high in the zone I try to get the marker after the perfect point because it makes the pitch go lower and stay in zone. This will take some time mastering but once you do it, the value can't be measured, especially against human opponents because they can see where you mean to throw the pitch but not where it will end up. Tip#3- Manipulate the pitching cursor. What I mean by this is intentionally miss the middle of the cursor to give your pitch more movement. For example lets say you place a slider on the bottom of the strike zone. When you see the pitch meter instead of getting the marker right in the middle, you get it before it reaches the middle. This will make the pitch go higher than it was supposed to. If you put the cursor after the middle point the pitch will go lower than you wanted it to. Manipulating the pitch cursor can help you fool human batter and will even fool the computer on occasion. Tip#4- Keep all of your pitches low in the zone. This makes it harder to knock out of the park. Also look at the spread chart for the batter you are facing. Tailor your pitches around where they don't like to hit(For batter who have a high percentage pulling the ball keep your pitches away, For batters who like to opposite side, jam them in on the hands. Tip#5- As dumb as this may sound, Throw a fastball down the middle on a 2 strike count. When throwing the fastball power it all the way but don't get cursor in the middle. Get it slightly after the middle point. I have struck out so many batters doing this it's not funny. Needless to say, you need a very developed Fastball to do this. I would recommend that your fastball is maxed out in speed and control to minimize the chance that it gets sent out of the park. IMPORTANT- This doesn't work all the time, only when the CPU isnt expecting it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ P.Credits ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -Sony for making this wonderful sequel -Gamefaqs for posting my guide -Wikipedia for providing me with some of the pitch grips -My brother for encouraging me to write this FAQ -My fellow gamers for reading and using this FAQ -LawoftheFajita for contributing his pitcher types section Any questions or comments please E-mail me at: Koolkid11434@yahoo.com