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

I'm 68 years old. I've been playing the show since 2014. I played several years on line and faired pretty well winning about 70 percent of my games. I quit playing DD a few years ago because i tired of the nonsense that went on with several of my opponents( rage quitting when they were behind by one or two runs, sending disparaging texts, etc) today I play franchise on legend difficulty. I was playing on HOF but was not getting realistic results regardless of how much I adjusted the sliders. Playing with the Giants, I hit .311 at the all star break and Jorge Soler had over 50 home runs. Pitching numbers weren't working either. I've played 10 games thus far with the giants and I'm 9-1. That said, it is much more difficult. I can hit a fair share of homers and score runs (although not as many as HOF). My batting average is .259. One thing is for sure, you're going to strike out a lot more, which drives me nuts ! Because of some of the things that go with aging , I've purchased a Dual sense controller (200 bucks worth) and a monitor ( which I'm betting doesn't help off line). Control freaks on my left joy stick I find to be moderately helpful. I spend a lot of time in custom practice mode to improve my hitting.

Here's a few hitting tips I find to be helpful:

• PCI placement can vary based on the pitchers repertoire - set it lower vs sinker ballers. Set it higher vs flame throwers. Set it inside vs left handed cross grain throwers like Chris Sale .

• Keep your hands relaxed when the ball is released and don't jump the pitch by by tightening your hands . This gives you a chance vs an off speed pitch.

• watch the pitch out of the pitchers hand starting by eyeballing the logo on the pitchers hat

• constantly remind yourself what the pitchers fastest and slowest pitch are. Timing is even more important than PCI movement. You should realize the PCI IS going to lift a bit every time you swing early and drop when you're swing is late , so good timing is crucial.

• be willing to take pitcher strikes until you get 2 strikes (pitches on the corners) . At that point you must govern the entire strike zone. Early in the count look for pitches that take a fat part of the plate and are within range of your PCI.

• don't overreact if you strike out looking on a ball buried in the corner of the strike zone. These pitches often never look like strikes and will have you flailing at bad pitches if you're constantly swinging at them.

• the only time I bunt is with 0 outs and runners on first and second or safety squeeze with runners on first and third with less than 2 outs(I've had a great deal of luck with the safety squeeze) . Be mindful of who the hitter is before you deploy this strategy.

• guessing which pitch is coming is fine early in the count. If you guess wrong don't swing.

• your PCI movement should be short and smooth - I like to practice the various spots I might have to move the PCI before the pitch comes.

• Rather than push buttons , I use the paddles underneath my dual sense controler. For me, this triggers my swing faster than pushing buttons. The controler also can be set to "quick" which moves the PCI faster.

• it is much tougher to get foul balls on legend difficulty but I've had no luck with a contact swing. I have been constantly experimenting with my thumb placement in the left stick. ( vertical thumb, under surface of the thumb, pinch grip. Etc) I have found this is totally geared to the comfort of the gamer.

• when I played on line I took a lot of pride in never quitting! As discouraging as it may be I always looked at it as another opportunity to get in a few more swings (not to mention it is a weak , non-competitive way out)

• with 2 strikes I think in terms of being a fraction later with my swing so I can handle off speed pitches. I'm more willing to hit the ball to the opposite field. This has become more difficult on legend difficulty because of the increased pitch speed.

I'm certainly no expert but I have played the game for 10 years and have studied dozens of YouTube videos as well as reading countless information on the net. Hope you get something out of it

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.

One things for certain , they need to find a way to make a trade for cash. This comes up constantly in MLB

I play every game start to finish with the Giants and the A's. I keep my roster up to date by turning injuries off and sending injured players to dbl A and optioned players to triple A. If I don't have a player in the game I simply steal a nobody free agent and create the player. I control any transactions so when an injured player runs out of options I allow him to be waived and go to free agency where I'll pick him back up when he comes off the IR. This all takes a lot of time and effort but being retired, I'm able to get it done. This method gives me the most realistic results when the other teams simulate against each other but even though I've adjusted sliders to help the CPU , I still beat the hell out of the CPU with the Giants and A's. I play with hall of fame Hitting and Legend pitching. At the all star break I'm hitting .308 with the Giants and .299 with the A's. Both teams are in first place by 10 games or more. I'm thinking it's probably time to go to legend hitting.

Anyone having fly balls ricocheting off the net that protects the fans being caught for outs? This might be only happening at Oracle park but I'm not sure. It's happened several times in the past 2 years.

I have the same problem with Corbin Burnes. I can't get rid of him! I zeroed out his attributes and sent him to single A and created another Corbin Burnes with a Random free agent. So there was no confusion I spelled his last name Burns(without the e)