Too many bloody double plays

[Tyking7]

It's silly in this game... the turn is ridiculously easy to make.. unless you have a speed demon batting he will never beat out the back end. Takeout slides don't do anything, except have your player go through the pivot man... I don't know why they even exist. The only time a groundball with a man on first won't result in a DP is when the pivot man decides to spontaneously drop the ball. Influencing a fly ball swing doesn't do anything either.

And, as usual, so often these tailor-made double play balls will be fed back to you as being "wheelhouse/perfect" just to rub it in.

When you basically have to bunt or hit and run ad nauseum to avoid the endless double plays, it's not realistic. I know the rest of the game is great but this is a factor that PS1 games did better than the Show does.

[Phoenixmgs]

Agreed, I have my baserunning/throw speed sliders just about right for normal plays; however, double plays still occur too often. The animations are just too quick, momentum is not really a factor. I also hate when it's a slow chopper which will make for a tough turn but the initial fielder will toss the ball behind his back rather quickly and the person turning will barehand it and make the turn super quick. The animations in this game make hard double plays happen in the time it takes to complete a tailor made double play.

It's especially ridiculous online as hit and running is near impossible due to a glitch (since hit and running was able to do last year online). All you have to do is pound pitches low in the zone and you'll get a double play.

[chefdad]

You know I can't remember where I read it but somewhere in here there was some good advice that helped me alot.

The thing is the pitcher/cpu is pitching to induce a DP. Most of the balls hit into DP's are always low pitches, if you learn to hold off on those and wait for a better pitch then the # of DP's you see will drop drastically.

I didn't belive this until I started watching and it actually worked. I still grounded in to one or two a game but the 4 DP's a game/ game/ rally killers had been cut in half.

[countryboy]

Two questions

1) When hitting into double plays where the feedback says "perfect/wheelhouse", where exactly is the ball hitting the bat? In other words, where is the ball hitting the PCI indicator?

Just because the ball is in the wheelhouse and you time it perfect doesn't equate to a solid hit. Everytime I've hit into a DP with perfect/wheelhouse feedback, I've always hit the ball off the end of the bat, off the hands, or hit on top of the baseball.


2) Where are the pitches at that you're swinging at? Are you swinging at pitches down in the zone?

Remember, the pitcher is going to throw roughly 90% of his pitches down in the zone and probably 60% of those are going to be breaking pitches that get the batter off-balance. Try to refrain from swinging at pitches down in the zone when in a DP situation, unless you have 2 strikes.


Also, if you're hitting into DP's a lot with your club, try the hit and run to shake things up. There will be times where my team is in a funk and they just can't hit the ball and hit into key double plays. During these times/games, I'll typically hit and run to try and get the defense moving.

Also, try using the r-stick to influence a fly ball to ensure that your batter is hitting underneath the ball. May only result in flyouts/popouts, but its something different.

I think far too often, people get into a "hurry" to hit the baseball with runners on base and fail to be patient and look for good pitches to hit. Not trying to sound like a dick, but remember you can only stirke out on the third strike.

Hope this helps.

[chefdad]

I'm pretty sure that Countryboy was the poster that gave the advice before that I was referring to. I just couldn't remember. Use this advice, it worked greatly.

[SDwinder]

Not a problem here. In real life, if you hit a solid groundball with a runner on 1B, it will probably be a DP. In The Show, to counter that, just like in real life, you send your runner or lay down a bunt. It depends on the makeup and speed of your team, of course. I use the Angels and the Dodgers most of the time offline, so I have quite a bit of speed.

Be pro-active, steal 2B or bunt. With a runner on 1B, be more patient at the Plate. Give your baserunner a chance to steal 2B. If the baserunner gets a bad jump, then adjust during the pitch and make it a run and hit.

[Ruffy]

None of my DP's contained blood of anykind.

[seveb]

I agree, mostly.

I don't think anything is "scripted". I just think the defense is a bit too good at turning them. All the feeds are perfect, even if the defender is moving away from second base while throwing (someone else mentioned the behind the back tosses and the fact the the runner doesn't break anything up).

Once I had the infield in(!) and still managed to turn two. The second baseman caught a perfect feed while sprinting full-out toward left field and still turned and threw a perfect running one-hopper to first. Unreal.

I recommend moving baserunner speed two clicks to the right (this makes baserunning better generally-guys get out of the box slowly). And like countryboy said, don't roll over on off-speed stuff low and away.

I don't think this is the biggest deal, but I would like to see defense tweaked a bit next year. The game is so close to perfect.

[seveb]

I should have emphasized increasing the baserunner speed slider a bit more. It really helps on the slow choppers and the like. Give it a try-if you haven't.

[Phoenixmgs]

Quote: Originally Posted by countryboy

2) Where are the pitches at that you're swinging at? Are you swinging at pitches down in the zone? Remember, the pitcher is going to throw roughly 90% of his pitches down in the zone and probably 60% of those are going to be breaking pitches that get the batter off-balance. Try to refrain from swinging at pitches down in the zone when in a DP situation, unless you have 2 strikes. Also, if you're hitting into DP's a lot with your club, try the hit and run to shake things up. There will be times where my team is in a funk and they just can't hit the ball and hit into key double plays. During these times/games, I'll typically hit and run to try and get the defense moving. Also, try using the r-stick to influence a fly ball to ensure that your batter is hitting underneath the ball. May only result in flyouts/popouts, but its something different. I think far too often, people get into a "hurry" to hit the baseball with runners on base and fail to be patient and look for good pitches to hit. Not trying to sound like a dick, but remember you can only stirke out on the third strike. Hope this helps.

Offline DPs aren't a huge problem for me as I use the right stick, hit & run, and bunt. I also don't swing at anything low unless I have 2 strikes. However, due to the infielders' animations, ground balls that aren't double plays in real life are double plays in the game. Online is the big problem because hit and running is completely broken, and a good/smart player will not throw anything up in the zone like the CPU will. Unless you have a good low ball hitter up, you will ground into a DP so often it's ridiculous unless you bunt.