Community Forum

I just wanted to say how thankful I am again this year that SDS put out yet another JR Richard Astros Retro Card. I really enjoy seeing this card in the game each year which reminds me of a cool little true story of Mr. Richard.

The year is 1980, April and the start of Baseball season along with Little League. If you played little league in the 70s up until now you may remember having to sell chocolate bars for the team and league. I was a member of Sharpstown LL located here in Houston, Tx. That particular year the 3 boys that sold the most candy bars would get to a meet and greet and a big TY from none other than the Astros star Pitcher J R Richard.

I was a lucky little 9 yr who had both his mother and grandmother that worked at local large banks and they would push the candy bars to every person that walked into their branches. As you can guess I sold the most bars and was the first in line to meet Mr. Richard.

At the time I was also a Pitcher on my LL team and would say that I idolized JR on the Astros being that they were my favorite team and one that I had been following since going to my first game in diapers.

After the shock of meeting such a giant of a man especially to a little short and stocky 9 yr old I motioned for him to come down close to me so I could tell him something. The giant of a man leaned down and I said in his ear, "I want to grow up and be big and pitch like you do." Mr Richard then said out loud in front of the entire LL and parents what I had just said and then said I was too fat to ever be a pitcher.

As I slowly walked away crying uncontrollable I saw out of the corner of my eye my Grandfather (Papa) jump on that big man and ride him to the ground like an animal. It then took 6-7 fathers to get him off that big buck and still remember JR having to dust himself off from being on the ground.

The really good thing that came of all this besides an emotional scar I still carry was Mr Richards had a stroke on the field before the Astros game just a few short months later. If that is not Karma I have never seen it.

So once again Thanks SDS and I wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all the Players and Families of this great game.

A little off topic, but I lost a Cousin in a Ford Tempo and have not liked them since.

Speaking for myself I am using them to help me complete some TA programs, I think that is all they are good for if you already have the card(s).

Fun series, just get over/past new positions and enjoy these beefy stats on some of these cards. So many IMO play well above their numbers. Janson, Skenes and Harper have been a blast (pun intended).

First off great question, I will preface this by saying I am 100% off line player, in fact have never had a PS+ acct, reason being I am blind (one eye left w/ glaucoma) I have been playing MLB since 2008 on PS2 and now have '23 on the PS4. The game allows me to use the little eye sight I have left to enjoy my favorite sport playing, watching and reliving all the baseball cards I used to buy/sell/trade in the sports card industry over 35+ yrs span. So with all that being said for context, I have really enjoyed the Lighting Fernando Tatis Jr. card. I believe I paid 282,000 stubs for him but he has brought hours of enjoyment in my life and I believe I am nearing 200 hrs runs with him, I have him at P5 #42/###

I will also add here since this site will be going away at some point, I take care of my disabled mother alone full time who is in her 80's. She can only move her arms from the elbow. This game has become my care-givers stress relief, I have been living and helping Mom full time 9 years this May and without the show to take my mind of things I am not sure how sane I would be now or even alive. Let's Go '24 !!

I have not had the pleasure of playing with ANY of the chase cards like Elly or Trout but this Acuna plays amazingly and I am glad I kept him, I had him very early when he was worth much more and was afraid with so few still playing selling him may be yet another mistake made in game especially concerning stubs. This is my first year playing the game the same year it came out, just started in Oct. still but from playing the last 2 years and only seeing the Forever Program or the 11th inning program after the fact I am not sure what the end game looks like this year with a final XP program next month.

I think the report was awesome as I stated above but I think it is a bit misleading regarding Moments and even showdowns. Moments involve most of the time one at bat, think how many ABs you get playing CPU or even all the 3 inning games in Mini Seasons and Conquest. Total those ABs and then compare to the ABs in all the moments. just my take. EX. (674 CPU games vs. 1024 moments) Should also state I started '23 in Sept, the first of the year I was completing 21 & 22.

Yes, the Scouting Report have got better the last few months since the season ended. I went with Johnny Bench, already had Ripken so I wanted to play with 70's-80's players which Bench boosts. Those were some of the best years I enjoyed watching baseball and playing as well as a younger man.

@SaveFarris just my two cents, I have seen numbers here and there including from YT content creators that the PS4 sales are anywhere from 2.5-1 to 3-1 compared to a PS5. So not here to do math this morning, but that is is somewhere around 60-75% of the game sold and played on a PS4. If these numbers are correct and I think they are in the range I would think than it is obvious to me why we are still getting a PS4 version. (note I am only on the PS4).

@Blind_Bleeder thanks, well done.

@X-FREEZE-OFF-X First off so sorry to hear about your stroke, I know all to well about playing the game with not full abilities in my hands or my vision but love the game and challenge too much to quit now. IMO outside of the Finest Harper all the other Finest cards of players that already had a great 99 ( ex JRod, you said Trout and Elly) I think are a lesser version even just a bit below the other card available. Oh, I almost forget the Belli Finest is better than the monthly but again it is just IMO, I think a players swing is a swing is a swing, if you can hit with a player the card's attributes only add to the better outcomes in the long run.

@TheGoaler hey no worries, sorry if it came off like that, I am just happy to be able to play the game and have found this site to share my game experience some because I know no one IRL , just taking care of my mother who is disabled as most of ya'll know by now. I know that on different modes like online that those are some very nice numbers, I was just excited that the card still played true to form to the last few years and well worth my hard earned stubs

Same with Forrest Whitley for the Astros, he has pitched 2/3 on one inning in the bigs since 2016, why would I care about his card? At least we can not get another JR Richard again until next year in TA.

@jrbronx88_PSN this happens when you sell a card during the game your playing and afterwards they show the sale, cut and dry. Go back and look at your transaction history. Always a paper trail.

Bregman was born in NM

Looks wonderful, nice work.

ok, thanks

Speaking for myself 2k and Madden are so far beneath The Show, wanting to emulate either of those 2 games would be a huge mistake, I would hope or believe a lot of the Show Nation would agree, this game gets nicked picked apart here but I understand this is where we come to vent, but for the entertainment value and the price points we play at currently this is the best bang for my buck. I want to add some context, I have been playing the show since 08 on PS2 and can not count the hours of having a blast and being a kid once again. We all seem to want this or that change or fixed or call it personal preferences but I think we all sometimes miss the forest looking at all the trees. Ok, soapbox put away. Let's Go '24 :+)

Pack was awesome thanks Collin and SDS.