Community Forum

I'm 70 years old and I play franchise on legend I play differently than most. I play in concert with ongoing season. Believe me, it's tedious but it's fun to compare results. Here are my rules:

•I try to play all 162 games and playoffs. The only time I won't play is if I'm away from home for an extended period of time. In this case I will simulate those games. That way I can stay up with the schedule. Any transactions made when I'm forced to simulate I just have to live with. I will update all of them when I return to playing myself.

• whatever the MLB teams do with regard to injuries and transactions, I follow suit. I'm always playing with the same players and rotations as the major league club. My pitching matchups are identical. This takes some time so it helps that I'm retired. To do this all injuries must be put on manual. The computer has no latitude to alter rosters. The MLB clubs do that for them with help from myself.

• I'm 69 years old but have been playing the game since 2014. I have got to a point where I play on legend difficulty with custom sliders that I've researched for realism. It challenging as hell but you'd be surprised how well I do.

• I play with the San Fransisco Giants and use the players I feel give me the best chance to win. They are the only team that has a roster that doesn't match the same players as the big league clubs.

• if a player is not in the game I will research his attributes, looks, uniform nuances, glove/bat choice, batting stance/throwing motion and simply create a player with a single A player. To this point in the season I've had to create around 20 players. I would venture to say my franchise roster is more accurate and up to date than any you'll come across.

• I will alter attributes to upgrade or downgrade recent performance based on roster updates. I will only alter attributes that go up or down in intervals of + or - 4 and higher I don't do ever player outside this range. I will never do this to gain any advantage.

• I do not deal with salaries, training, or scouting. This just doesn't interest me. The computer must accept any trade I ask for so I can keep up with the MLB.

• I play franchise because I like gameplay. I have no desire to be a master general manager! I just want to play a completely realistic schedule (other than the fact that I manage the Giants as I see fit)

• I have 1 player on the Giants who I've created who's rated 79. He's a switch hitting catcher who I mostly use as a DH. That player is myself. I figure it's the closest I'll ever get to the big leagues. He's a good player but I didn't want to turn him into Superman!

Problems with this approach: 1- no way to trade a player for cash 2-no way to facilitate paternity leave 3-can limit your ability to injure players 4- when injury time is up, often times you have to put the player back on the list because extending the time of the injury is not offered. 5-created players who are not in the game or have no MLB service require a great deal of research to establish accurate attributes. Eventually they will show up in a roster update but if you want to keep up with the day to day you can't wait for the roster update. 6- you have to 0 out all Ohatni's pitching attributes to keep the computer from putting him in games to pitch as a reliever.

There's other minor issues but none that significant. I really enjoy playing this way and it really keeps me up on the day to day in MLB

• establish the most comfortable spot you want the PCI( middle, high and in, low and in etc) different strokes for different folks

• be aware of the pitcher's fastest and slowest pitch

• don't be afraid to take "pitchers strikes" until you get 2 strikes

• early in the count only swing at pitch that take a fat part of the plate

• keep your hands relaxed for short, quick movements within strike zone. The better the velocity , the more you relax.

• eyeball the pitchers face/hat and pick the pitch up as soon as possible out of the pitcher's hand so you can gage the speed, break and trajectory.

• don't try to stare the ball down as it approaches the plate. This usually results in a late swing. Assess the location as you see the speed and trajectory out of the pitchers hand.

• allow the pitch to get slightly deeper with two strikes. Think more opposite field approach. With this in mind , you still must be able to turn on an inside pitch.

• know the pitcher's "wipe out" two strike pitches. (Ie high and inside fastball, slider away, change up down, curveball in the dirt, cutter up and away, sinker low and in to name a few)

• go into practice mode and work on tracking various pitches so you can get a feel for the timing

• I prefer the pci to fade away late so I can get a clear picture of the pitchers delivery.

• do not use the ambush feature unless it's the first pitch or an advantage count

• this game punishes a lack of patience. Do all you can to get a good pitch to hit until you get two strikes

• understand, at the higher levels there will be times the pitcher will dominate certain at bats. There will be times he'll throw a pitch that never looks like a strike and you'll take it for strike three. Don't sweat it! Calmly got to the next hitter.

• with 2 quick strikes step out and regroup
Before the next pitch

• hitting the computer is different that face a human opponent. I find people are much more predictable and the CPu more random. Take a mental note of every pitch an opponent gets you out on because he's eventually coming back to it. Also, pitch speeds are faster on line.

• be willing to change the position of your PCI if your opponent thinks he has a bead on your weak spots. I find it easier to start high in the zone and work down then visa versa.

At the end of the day you're one hell of hitter if you can get 3 hits in 10 at bats. There's a lot of failure involved. The key is do maximum damage when the opportunity presents itself. Many times it's going to require a waiting out process to accomplish this.

I'm 69 and have been playing the show since 2014. Played on line for a long time and did very well but had my limits. For the last 4 years I've played with the Giants on franchise at legend level. I play in concert with the regular season. I keep my roster up to date and lead the league in hitting at .307. I'm 3rd in home runs and in the upper third of the league in most offensive and pitching categories. My record is 51-11 on June 4th. I play all 162 games and playoffs (it's nice to be retired) I also play with the A's although don't play every game. I play because I enjoy game play. I have no interest in being a masterful general manager. Whatever transactions take place in real life, I apply them to my franchise. I will create any player who's not in the game so there is no one with a more thorough roster. I have studied multiple videos on hitting , pitching and overall game play. Obviously, my reactions are not what they were, so I have to have total understanding of the game and complete focus when I pitch and hit. Because I deal with transactions everyday, I know every player in the league and many minor league players. I have a blast with this game but it can be very frustrating at times. I stopped playing on line because of the cesspool of people sending disparaging texts and the habitual quitting when I'd get ahead. It was no longer worth it. I love to talk about the game and different techniques that are used.

I'm 68 years old and have been playing since 2014. I never played a video game in my life because I was busy coaching college football. I had a young son who loved video games and I wanted to spend more time with him. I love baseball so we purchased MLB the show 14 and soon I was playing without him. I've bought the game every year since and now that I'm retired I have improved a great deal. For several years I played online DD and faired very well , winning about 70 percent of my games. I got very frustrated with the mentality of the online fan so I only play offline franchise. I play hall of fame hitting and legend pitching and beat the breaks off the CPU. I hit over 300 and pitch with an era around 3.00. I have learned how to overcome some of my reactionary and visual deficiencies that come with age by using my dual sence remote (200 bucks worth) and playing with a monitor. I play well over 350-400 games a year and generally win the World Series with the San Francisco Giants. This next year I'm giving legend hitting a whirl because my BA has been too high for the last 2 years.

There is something wrong with the jump the middle infielders are getting . They are very slow to react. I've never seen it so bad and I've been playing the game since 2014.

I'm 69 and retired- play franchise hitting .309 on legend after 65 games ( San Francisco Giants) . Been playing sense 2014

@Darrell8821_PSN I have the same problem . The audio does not match the name I choose. This was not a problem a year ago

I love it ! The combination of of the player eyeballing the flight of the ball coupled with watching the ball sail over the fence with the distance marker popping up is awesome ! I find it much better than past animations.