MLB 08: The show

I've only play the RttS mode so far bu it's awesome.

 

I played the Road to the Show mode on one of my friends PS2 at UNI (he has the game) and I would say it's a super cool game. I really liked it and I'm not a huge baseball fan.

 

I love road to the show mode. In 08 it seems a little harder to get called up though. But otherwise I like the changes they made from 07.

 

Very good game. However, once GTA came out i stopped playing it

 

I've had 08 the Show for a month and a half or so. Its a great baseball simulation.

I'm open to some online play. Even though I will lose. Just like in real life, I cannot hit.

 

I was hitting about .370 with my RTS player. Here's a couple of things I do:

1) Unless the first pitch looks like a slider or fastball to the middle of the plate I don't swing at it. I'm not good at drawing walks to be honest but getting antsy has never been a good strategy. This also often gives you a look at the pitcher's fastball.

2) I always look (4 seam) fastball. This might be a given but just in case. Unless you happen to have a knuckleballer up or something just guess fastball. The AI seems to throw a lot of them. This is shown as most pitchers' best pitch.

3) 08 is tougher because it will never give you the exact pitch location. Some trends I noticed with pitch locations. My batter is right handed by the way. If I'm facing a RHP I like to guess inside b/c when he throws there it's usually something that you can hit. If he is throwing way inside it's pretty easy to tell. From what I've seen the odds are in your favor that the inside pitch from the RHP is going to be a strike. More so then the outside where they like to try to get you to chase. The same can be said for LHP and the outside. They'll try to come in on your hands and whatnot but when they pitch outside it's usually something you can hit, hard. Also, as before it's easier to identify a ball.

4) Just like in real life, avoiding frustration is key. Concentrate and pay attention to what he's throwing you. A good guess can pay off big time. Also, sometimes it does seem like the AI just somehow knows when you really want to swing. Look for a lot of garbage when you fall behind in the count. If the pitch looks close remember that foul tips are your friends.

Hope that helps a little. I'm not an expert but I can usually hit for a pretty high average in the game.

 

i SUCK at batting. I'm loving RTTS. I'm AA 1B trying to get on the marlins. My fielding is awesome. But my got do I bat bad. Tips?

 

Look for fast balls, and try not to bat with square.

Also, when training work on speed and contact first. I am in my 5th year (2nd full major league year), and hitting .400 (I'm above 90% in most categories that matter).

 

MLB 07 still for me..

As far as RTTS, yeah, I got tired of being a hitter, so I switched to pitcher.....love it. Signed early with Braves, then became FA so I signed with Yankees...spent 1 season in minors, and now a 2nd contract has been offered and I am #3 arm in Bigs for last 2 years.

Woohoo....Joba like ability. May try hitting again!

 

I had this same problem early on, too. But as you get more ABs in, you'll start to recognize balls and strikes muchh better and will be able to pick a pitch you can drive.

The only really tough pitch to recognize is a curve ball in the dirt. The first .3 seconds of the flight path look exactly like a thigh-high fastball.

 

See my earlier post. Always look fastball. Try to beat them at their own game. If they are continually going outside there's a good chance they'll come in on you, stuff like that. It will help you guess the pitch location and makes life a lot easier. Look for mistake pitches like fastballs that are up but stay in the zone or sliders that look like they'll drop in around the middle of the plate or higher. Those are good pitches to hit into the stands. Most pitchers tend to work the lower part of the zone first. They love to go down there and it seems like they're always hitting their spots. If you're patient though they usually give you something somewhere else. Beware of curveballs that dive down below the knees on 2 strike counts. Those get me a lot. Also the umps seem to love to ring you up any chance they get, meaning they expand the strike zone a lot.

The biggest key is not to lose patience. I've had the most success probably letting them throw me 3 or 4 pitches before I hit something. It's hard to watch a first pitch fastball come right in the strike zone but unless you guessed the location I would just let it go. One last thing, I never use the power swing, it doesn't seem to help with anything. I can hit about 15-20 Hrs and keep my average above .350 usually on medium difficulty just using the regular swing.

 

I'm batting .257 right now on medium (a helluva lot better than the .180 I was working with forever), but at this rate I don't feel like I'll ever get called up to the pros.

 

I'm telling you, work on speed. This helps get more extra base hits, and help steals (all of which lead to more development points), and that helps you build up elsewhere. .257 is fine if you are putting up a lot of HRs and RBIs, but you should be like .30 higher I think.

 

It's tough. I didn't get called out of AA the first season with a .350 average, about 70 RBIs, 18 HRs, and 148 hits. I was starting to think it would never happen. They finally did it in June of the 2nd season. April of the 3rd season is when I got called up to Atlanta. Might have been sooner but I ended up on the DL for 60 days at the beginning of the second season.

Just like in real life, pitchers get called up faster in RTTS. Just worth mentioning. If you get fed up with hitting I recommend giving pitching a try. It's a lot of fun too.

 

I noticed that your default speed is a lot better in this year's game than it was in 07. You started off so slow in 07 it was ridiculous. You can start stealing bases in this game right away.

 

Pitching is starting to annoy me.

I can't go a game without giving up a run or three. I always seem to give up runs with two outs. I will get two outs and then there will be a man on first and third. Its happen every game.

 

I got called up from AA to triple AAA after the first season. I got called up to the bigs from AAA partway into my 2nd season in AAA (3rd season overall). I was getting frustrated because I was rocking AAA since I had been there and thought I might never get the call.

 

Do you always throw what the catcher calls for? I've found that sometimes it's better to ignore him. He calls for way too many fastballs.

 

I'm a little miffed that there is no home run derby

RTTS is pretty good though...I am playing a SS and batting about .210....just started last night

 

Yea it stinks, because I'd def. be in the HR derby this year (have 26 or so at All star break of 2012).

 

I was doing really bad at hitting in the beginning, and was looking to practice somewhere....well at first i didn't understand how the training works, because i assumed you would actually go to batting practice, or weight room (kinda like madden's thing) to build up your stuff.

i eventually started hitting the ball a bit though....i have like 10 hits in 55 AB's or so....pretty ****ty lol

the graphics are great...i haven't tried any other mode than RTTS so far.

i wonder what would be the best position to play in rtts....i like SS but it might be fun snaggin fly balls as an outfielder...or even catching...

 

Never thought about catcher, I am 3rd base.

 

question....is there anywhere u can go to practice batting? or only in game?

I was surprised at the lack of a tutorial really, as they are so common nowadays. the booklet really doesn't explain very much of anything.

I'm just looking to practice the "guessing of the pitch and location" and what that can do to help you...

perhaps i should play through a regular game so i can get alot more swings in...