BASEBALL
FAQ
By Robert Johnson (Rej72380)
Created on June 25, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1) INTRODUCTION
2) CONTROLS
2.1) BATTING
2.2) BASE RUNNING
2.3) PITCHING
2.4) FIELDING
3) RULES OF THE GAME
4) GENERAL STRATEGIES
5.1) BATTING
5.2) BASE RUNNING
5.3) PITCHING
5.4) FIELDING
5) PLAYER LIST
5.1) USA MODE
5.2) JAPAN MODE
6) IN CLOSING
7) CONTACT INFORMATION
8) LEGAL INFORMATION
1) INTRODUCTION
Welcome, folks, to my FAQ on the Gameboy game Baseball. As you can quite
imagine, it is a baseball video game. In this guide, I'll give you the basic
controls of the various factors of the game, such as batting and pitching,
as well as general strategies to win at least a few games against the
very cheap A.I., a full player list for both USA and Japan mode and
detailed rules of the game.
Without further ado, let's play ball!
2) CONTROLS
As you can quite imagine, base is a sport that can't be conquered without
learning the basic flow of play, or in the case of video game baseball,
basic controls of gameplay.
2.1) BATTING
Control Pad--Moves the batter in the batter's box.
A Button--Swings the bat. Slightly tap A to make a check swing (not
recommended), press A to attempt to bunt and hold A to swing the bat
fully.
2.2) BASE RUNNING
A Button + Control Pad--Return runners to the previous base.
B Button + COntrol Pad--Advance the runner to the next base.
Base running key:
Right--First Base
Up--Second Base
Left--Third Base
Down--Home Plate
2.3) PITCHING
A Button + Control Pad--Select a pitch
A Button, after selecting a pitch--Pitch the ball
B Button + COntrol Pad--Pick off base stealer
Pitch key:
Down--Fastball
Up--Breaking ball
Left--Curveball left
Right--Curveball right
Use the diagonal buttons of the Control Pad to mix up pitches, such as
the slider or the screwball.
Pick off key:
Right--First Base
Up--Second Base
Left--Third Base
Down--Home Plate
2.4) FIELDING
Control Pad--Moves fielder. All fielders will move in unison.
A Button + Control Pad (while ball is in glove)--Throw to infielder/
catcher.
Throwing key:
Right--First Base
Up--Second Base
Left--Third Base
Down--Home Plate
3) RULES OF THE GAME
For the complete novice or n00b baseball fan/player, you're probably
wondering what the general rules of the game would be like. This section
covers the rules of the game, with a a rule usually not seen in
Major League Baseball.
OBJECT OF THE GAME:
The object of the game is for one team to score more runs than the other
team within a 9-inning timeframe.
REGARDING BATTING:
Each player, in a nine-player order, will have a turn at batting. A base
hit is made if the batter successfully hits the ball thrown by
the pitcher onto the field, without any mistakes made by the opposing
defense. An out is made when the batter either strikes out, is tagged
by a fielder with ball in glove, their batted ball gets caught in
midair or the fielder touches a base that hasn't been occupied by a
baserunner. If the batter gets four balls called in his at-bat, he'll
get to go to first base, with any baserunner on first moving up to
second and so on.
If the batter gets three strikes by either swinging and missing
the pitch or the pitch is in the strike zone, he called out. Hitting a
foul ball with two strikes will give the batter a free pitch to
hit, with the lone expection being that the ball is bunted out of
bounds. Any balls that are hitted foul with less than 2 strikes
will result in a strike, regardless of it being swung or
buntted.
REGARDING PITCHING:
If a pitcher throws a ball outside of the strike zone, it is called
a ball. If a pitch is thrown in the strike zone or the batter
swings or misses the pitch, regardless if it's inside
the strike zone, is called a strike.
FLOW OF THE GAME.
Each inning consists of two halfs--One for the away team, going first,
and one for the home team, going secon-- with three outs per half.
The game is over when the final out is recorded in the bottom of the
ninth, with the away team leading, in the top of the ninth, if the
home team is winning, or if the home team takes the lead in
the bottom of the ninth.
Special rule in Gameboy Baseball is the mercy rule, which ends
the game in any inning if the team leads by 10 or more runs
at the end of the home team's half of the inninng.
If the game is tied after nine innings, the game will go into extra
innings, playing until one team has the lead at the end of the inning.
4) GENERAL STRATEGIES
This section is for those who want to some tips to help beat either
the computer opponent or a very tough human opponent, via the
Gameboy Link Cable.
4.1) BATTING
- As you can quite imagine, the opposing A.I. rarely pithces ball when
it is on the mound. Your best bet is to swing at every pitch.
- It helps to know that the timing of your swing will affect where
the ball goes. Swing too early and you'll hit a foul ball. Swing too
late and it will fly in the air, allowing the A.I. to get under the
pop fly and easily catch it for the out.
- Beware of the A.I. when it comes up to bat, as it'll
get quite a few hits and homeruns, sometimes running up the score
board in just one inning, regardless of what type of pitch
you threw to or where it was thrown.
4.2) BASE RUNNING
- Don't get too greedy running the basepaths, as the A.I.
will quickly gun you down if you try to get a double. Make sure
the ball is hit long enough out of the reach of the fielders
to improve your odds of getting at least a double.
- If you have a runner on first base, you can go from there to
third if you get a base hit, as the A.I. will forget to throw
to third to gun you down. This is something to exploit to
the fullest extent.
- The A.I. is really intelligent when it comes to base running.
Any errors made by your team in regards to fielding will ensure
extra bases for the computer.
4.3) PITCHING
- Keep an eye on your pitcher's stamina, as he'll get tired as the
game progresses. His velocity will drop as his stamina drops.
- Try using your fast ball as much as possible, especially against hitters
who use the same hand as the pitcher.
- Your pitching game should consist of the third pitcher in the bullpen
to start the game, the fourth pitcher to be the set-up man and
the first pitcher to be the closer.
4.4) FIELDING
- There will be instances where the fielder will automatically
catch a fly ball. Don't move the field in this regard.
- If the catch is not automatically made, you can still
manually catch the ball by moving the fielder under
the shadow of the ball.
- Try to eliminate fielding errors as much as possible. If a
batter gets a base hit, throw to second base to cut him off
and limit him to just a single.
5) PLAYER LIST
This is the player list for both teams in the game, the W-Bears and
the R-Eagles. Remember that the player batting ninth
in the batting order is always the pitcher.
5.1) USA MODE
W-BEARS BATTING ORDER
1) Mike
2) Tom
3) Jim
4) John
5) Bob
6) Rick
7) David
8) Eddie
W-BEARS PITCHING STAFF
1) Mario
2) Paul
3) Eric
4) Jimmy
W-BEARS BENCH
-Jack
-Alan
-Fred
R-EAGLES BATTING ORDER
1) Joe
2) Louis
3) Teddy
4) Steve
5) Peter
6) Scott
7) Brian
8) Jeff
R-EAGLES PITCHING STAFF
1) Luigi
2) Phil
3) Randy
4) Sam
R-EAGLES BENCH
-Duke
-Jason
-Mac
5.2) JAPAN MODE
W-BEARS BATTING ORDER
1) Waka
2) Michi
3) Wan
4) Cho
5) Khoji
6) Buchi
7) Isao
8) Yoshi
W-BEARS PITCHING STAFF
1) Igawa
2) Mura
3) Kane
4) Natsu
W-BEARS BENCH
-Kake
-Morio
-Dai
R-EAGLES BATTING ORDER
1) Fuku
2) Jiroh
3) Hario
4) Futo
5) Kado
6) Ochi
7) Nomu
8) Toyo
R-EAGLES PITCHING STAFF
1) Tonbi
2) Yama
3) Keshi
4) Inaho
R-EAGLES BENCH
-Hide
-Erito
-Irose
6) IN CLOSING
I hoped you enjoyed this guide. With the knowledge in hand, even you can
be a recurring winner and the opposing A.I. at it's own game.
7) CONTACT INFORMATION
If you got any questions about this guide, or any of my other guides,
contact at the following E-mail address:
[email protected]
8) LEGAL INFORMATION
This document is the copyright (c) 2008 of Robert Johnson.
You are free to post this document on your website, on the
condition that you retain the original author's name
in the copy.
Baseball and Gameboy are trademarks of Nintendo of America. This document
was not created, endorsed nor approved by Nintendo of America.
