Bases Loaded IV

Bases Loaded IV
Copyright Jaleco 1993
Written By Brian P. Sulpher
E-mail: [email protected]
Version 1.2
Dates Written: August 6th to August 12th, 2004

I dedicate this to the NES fans out there, as this one is part of the NES
FAQ completion Project of 2004, courtesy of the FAQ Contributor Board. We
honour the most truly awesome and great system... the Nintendo Entertainment
System! Never mind about Atari, Commodore 64, Colecovision, Sega Master
System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, or any of the
newer systems, we all know that the good old NES is where true gaming is at!

Also, for Cougar, Howler, and Koonce. I miss you, and I hope you are living
it up in the afterlife as you did in this world. You will always be in my
memories, and you will never be forgotten.

-----------
Version 1.0
-----------

-Submitted guide on August 12th, 2004
-This FAQ completes my journey into the four games of the Bases Loaded
series for NES, which I started over two months ago. It has been hard at
times, but it ultimately feels good to know I have helped to cover a great
baseball series to the best of my ability!

-----------
Version 1.1
-----------

-Submitted guide on March 23rd, 2005
-I added in Honestgamers as a site allowed to use my FAQs

-----------
Version 1.2
-----------

-Submitted guide on June 22nd, 2005
-I added in Retronintendo as a site allowed to use my FAQs
-Altered the format to make it easier on the eyes of the reader

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------Table Of Contents------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1) Introduction
2) Terminology
3) Offensive Controls
4) Defensive Controls
5) Teams
6) Player Stars
7) Offensive Strategies
8) Defensive Strategies
9) Final Word

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------Introduction---------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1) Here is the fourth installment in four Baseball games for the NES that
were rather popular. Along with the R.B.I. Baseball series and
Baseball Stars series, these were the dominant Baseball games for the
great Nintendo Entertainment System.

Ditching the perfect game idiom of the third installment of the series,
the gameplay remained the same with the mistakes costing you points in
your overall rating of the last game was swapped with a more applicable
star ratings system fro your players that affect them as the game goes
onward. However, this change does make it more superior to the third
game, so pick this one ahead of it as this one has the full 130 game
season waiting for you (win 70 games to make the play-offs).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------Terminology----------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2) This section will list all the words and phrases associated with the game
of Baseball, allowing for a deeper understanding of the game for the
reader.

Ball : This occurs when a pitch is thrown outside the strike zone.

Bean Ball : This occurs when a pitch ends up making contact with the batter,
resulting in First Base being awarded to the batter.

Bunt : When a batter holds the bat out and knocks the ball to the ground
near Home Plate.

Double : When a batter reaches Second Base off of their hit.

Error : When a fielder makes a mistake, costing his team in some way.

E.R.A. : Standing for Earned Run Average, it represents how many runs a
pitcher gives up (on average) per each nine innings pitched.

Fast Ball : Ball thrown with lot of velocity, usually 88 Miler per hour or
more.

Fly Out : A towering hit into the outfield which is caught by a player
for an out.

Force Out : When a runner has no choice but to go for the next base, the
defense can throw the ball to that base to get the out.

Foul : A ball that is hit outside the foul lines, resulting in a strike.

Hit : A ball is put into play, allowing the batter to reach base.

Homerun : When a batter gets to round the bases, which is usually done
by hitting the ball over the outfield wall.

Line Drive: A ball hit on a low angle through the air, moving at a very
fast speed.

Out : Whenever the defense gets a strikeout, force out, or tag out,
they will add to the out total for the inning. After 3 outs,
the two sides switch defense/offense.

Pop Out : A fly ball in the infield, usually caught for an out.

Single : When a batter reaches First Base off of their hit.

Slow Ball : A pitch thrown with very little velocity.

Strike : This occurs when a pitch is thrown inside the strike zone or
when a batter swings at a pitch and misses.

Strike Out: When a batter gets themselves 3 strikes, they will have done
this, adding one out to the total.

Tag Out : When a runner is touched by the fielder with the ball, resulting
in an out.

Tag Up : When a fly out occurs, a player can then leave their base and
try to advance.

Tic : A pitch is hit, but the contact is so minimal that the ball
falls straight into foul territory.

Triple : When a batter reaches Third Base off of their hit.

Walk : When a batter gets themselves 4 balls, they will gain a trip to
First Base.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------Offensive Controls------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

3) The following will cover Batting Controls and Base Running Controls.

o---------o
| Batting |
o---------o

D-Pad : Imagine the batting box has nine areas. The bat will swing
through the following area for each direction pressed (Neutral
means that only the A Button is needed):

UP-LEFT UP UP-RIGHT
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
|><| | | | |><| | | | |><|
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|

LEFT NEUTRAL RIGHT
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|
|><| | | | |><| | | | |><|
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|

DOWN-LEFT DOWN DOWN-RIGHT
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|
|><| | | | |><| | | | |><|
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|

SELECT : No apparent use.

START : Calls for time.

B Button: No apparent use.

A Button: Swings the bat.

o-----------------------o
| Base Running Controls |
o-----------------------o

RIGHT : Sends a runner to Third Base (B Button) or back to Third Base
(A Button).

LEFT : Sends a runner to First Base (B Button) or back to First Base
(A Button).

DOWN : Sends a runner to Second Base (B Button) or back to Second Base
(A Button).

UP : Sends a runner to Home Plate (B Button).

SELECT : No apparent use.

START : No apparent use.

B Button: Used to send runners forward in conjunction with the directions.

A Button: Used to send runners backwards in conjunction with the directions.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------Defensive Controls------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

4) This section will look at the Pitching Controls and the Fielding
Controls.

o-------------------o
| Pitching Controls |
o-------------------o

D-Pad : Imagine the batting box has nine areas. The pitch will fly to the
following area when the direction indicated is pressed (Neutral
means that only the A Button is needed):

UP-LEFT UP UP-RIGHT
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
|><| | | | |><| | | | |><|
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|

LEFT NEUTRAL RIGHT
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|
|><| | | | |><| | | | |><|
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|

DOWN-LEFT DOWN DOWN-RIGHT
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|
|><| | | | |><| | | | |><|
|__|__|__| |__|__|__| |__|__|__|

SELECT : No apparent use.

START : Calls for time.

B Button: If a base runner is on, changes to Fielding Controls, allowing for
a pick off attempt (see base throwing directions in Fielding
Controls for base throwing specifics).

A Button: Starts the pitch, strength determined by pressing DOWN during
wind-up (Slow), by pressing UP during wind-up (Fast), or by just
pressing A (medium).

o-------------------o
| Fielding Controls |
o-------------------o

D-Pad : One fielder will be in your control, that one being the one closest
to the ball. Move them in the direction corresponding to the
position of the ball to grab a hold of it.

RIGHT : Throws the ball to Third Base in conjunction with the Buttons.

LEFT : Throws the ball to First Base in conjunction with the Buttons.

DOWN : Throws the ball to Second Plate in conjunction with the Buttons.

UP : Throws the ball to Home Plate in conjunction with the Buttons.

SELECT : No apparent use.

START : No apparent use.

B Button: Throws the ball in conjunction with the Direction listed above.
Also throws to First Base as default if no direction pressed.
While the ball is in the air, this allows a fielder to jop up to
try and catch a ball going by.

A Button: Throws the ball in conjunction with the Direction listed above.
Also throws to First Base as default if no direction pressed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------Teams-----------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5) This section will analyze and rate each team for their overall
usefulness.

o---------o
| Atlanta |
o---------o
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Pitchers ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ ______ _______
| Name |E.R.A.|Stamina| A real mixed bag is your reward here, as the
|____________|______|_______| pen has both solid pitchers ranging all the
|Gross | 3.14 | 48 | way through average to outright awful. Pacos,
|____________|______|_______| Page, Gross, and Greene are your four best,
|Bird | 3.96 | 47 | with them being the only four that should ever
|____________|______|_______| leave the bullpen to take the mound. The rest
|Guido | 4.38 | 40 | should only be called upon in dire pitching
|____________|______|_______| situations (like those four are too tired or
|Pacos | 2.58 | 43 | used already, or the game has become a massive
|____________|______|_______| blowout anyway).
|Page | 2.70 | 48 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Greene | 3.16 | 46 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Rosa | 4.92 | 43 |
|____________|______|_______|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Players ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| A better overall collection in terms of
|____________|_______|_________| quality (as compared to the wishy-washy
|Alfons | .301 | 3 | bullpen), the line-up does not suffer from
|____________|_______|_________| any really sore spots. Only Cunnif and
|Cunnif | .259 | 1 | Kaufma register as truly awful batters,
|____________|_______|_________| though Fried is not very good with a .239
|Ireton | .287 | 16 | batting average (his 15 Homeruns does mean
|____________|_______|_________| he has some pop to his swing however).
|Pivnic | .310 | 13 | It is a very solid line-up, so you have the
|____________|_______|_________| pieces here to go get some runs up on the
|Fried | .239 | 15 | board.
|____________|_______|_________|
|Buchan | .283 | 17 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Nye | .300 | 20 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Kaufma | .265 | 3 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Caputo | .294 | 7 |
|____________|_______|_________|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~Pinch Hitters~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| If you look to the bench to shore up your
|____________|_______|_________| line-up, you will find a couple batsmen that
|Utter | .200 | 5 | can fit the bill nicely. Flynn is a
|____________|_______|_________| veritable all-star that should never stay on
|Tobino | .286 | 1 | the bench, and Cortez has a fair bit of
|____________|_______|_________| power with a reasonably good average. If
|York | .284 | 0 | are disatisfied with Fried's low batting
|____________|_______|_________| average, a third candidate for the starting
|Sachs | .273 | 0 | line-up could be Roscoe who has a bit of
|____________|_______|_________| power mingled with a very nice .300 batting
|Roscoe | .300 | 2 | average. Not much left after those three,
|____________|_______|_________| but you will have little need of your bench
|Flynn | .313 | 25 | after they go in.
|____________|_______|_________|
|Cortez | .268 | 11 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Umars | .250 | 0 |
|____________|_______|_________|

o--------o
| Boston |
o--------o
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Pitchers ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ ______ _______
| Name |E.R.A.|Stamina| A a little more balanced than most bullpens,
|____________|______|_______| it suffers from not having a defined ace to go
|Westin | 3.50 | 50 | into a game and dominate. However, the balance
|____________|______|_______| that makes it so tough to get a killer pitcher
|Vinson | 3.00 | 50 | on the mound also makes it the same balance
|____________|______|_______| that keeps them from having to put an arson on
|Scott | 3.30 | 45 | the mound who would burn down the scoreboard
|____________|______|_______| by giving up so many runs. If you can help it,
|Bondi | 3.26 | 56 | avoid using Westin and Kozar as much as
|____________|______|_______| humanly possible.
|Acker | 3.00 | 46 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Bailey | 2.24 | 48 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Kozar | 4.10 | 45 |
|____________|______|_______|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Players ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| A very good batting line-up greeta you when
|____________|_______|_________| you choose this team, as very good to great
|Rutkos | .303 | 11 | batting averages greet you across the board
|____________|_______|_________| (barring Price of course). The power
|Murphy | .280 | 4 | abilities of this line-up are also pretty
|____________|_______|_________| solid as five players can take the ball long
|Newkir | .300 | 25 | relatively consistently (especially Striet,
|____________|_______|_________| Vogler, Newkir, and Carson). All in all, a
|Striet | .290 | 34 | very solid line-up that only possesses one
|____________|_______|_________| complete wash out in Price, you will have
|Carson | .274 | 22 | little difficulty lighting up the scoreboard
|____________|_______|_________| against any pitcher.
|Juby | .280 | 2 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Vogler | .289 | 27 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Gregor | .299 | 0 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Price | .246 | 2 |
|____________|_______|_________|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~Pinch Hitters~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| Although no one on this bench is an amazing
|____________|_______|_________| hitter, Damrow will make a very satisfying
|Damrow | .279 | 13 | replacement for the reprehensible Price in
|____________|_______|_________| the starting line-up. Following that are
|Mathew | .271 | 2 | some solid batting average hitters as well
|____________|_______|_________| as a bit of power, so you can get that
|Gillis | .298 | 4 | instant offesne (in which ever form you
|____________|_______|_________| require it) whenever it is needed.
|Cooper | .200 | 0 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Groppo | .200 | 0 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|White | .277 | 7 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Lowrey | .286 | 6 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Slater | .249 | 12 |
|____________|_______|_________|

o---------o
| Chicago |
o---------o
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Pitchers ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ ______ _______
| Name |E.R.A.|Stamina| Morris is the definitive ace of this bullpen,
|____________|______|_______| offering up a paltry 2.08 E.R.A., but he is
|Lawson | 4.06 | 45 | not joined by a cavalcade of good pitching.
|____________|______|_______| Only Gantos and marx are reasonably good, as
|Gantos | 3.16 | 42 | the remaining hurlers suffer from terrible
|____________|______|_______| E.R.A. The sole bright spot for the poor
|Morris | 2.08 | 45 | pitchers is that they do have a higher than
|____________|______|_______| average stamina rating, meaning they can stay
|Car | 4.04 | 44 | in a little longer than your top pitchers, so
|____________|______|_______| you will get good mileage out of your gascans
|Marx | 3.00 | 48 | if the need arises.
|____________|______|_______|
|Stone | 4.08 | 50 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Rush | 4.98 | 45 |
|____________|______|_______|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Players ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| Perhaps the most consistent line-up in the
|____________|_______|_________| game, no one is truly awful in both batting
|Novits | .279 | 6 | average and power hitting. Only Rothma and
|____________|_______|_________| Mulvey are needing to be replaced, but even
|Rothma | .250 | 6 | they can hold their own at times in the
|____________|_______|_________| batting box. This is a line-up that can
|Able | .282 | 8 | even top Boston, meaning they are a true
|____________|_______|_________| top-notch set of hitters.
|Philip | .317 | 25 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Oriley | .303 | 31 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Erving | .292 | 11 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Mulvey | .250 | 3 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Morrow | .300 | 5 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Adair | .310 | 20 |
|____________|_______|_________|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~Pinch Hitters~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| This is a rather brutal bench in all,
|____________|_______|_________| offering up one reasonable entrant to the
|Sykes | .250 | 1 | starting line-up. Singer is qualified to
|____________|_______|_________| be a #2 hitter, getting on base for the
|Verona | .200 | 0 | power following him to get him across the
|____________|_______|_________| plate. The rest of this sad sack set of
|Singer | .301 | 6 | bench warmers should remain thusly, bench
|____________|_______|_________| warmers. Perhaps the worst bench to be
|Nyer | .244 | 8 | found on any team in the game!
|____________|_______|_________|
|Filson | .237 | 4 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Manter | .227 | 0 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Reaves | .200 | 7 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Easton | .200 | 5 |
|____________|_______|_________|

o--------o
| Hawaii |
o--------o
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Pitchers ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ ______ _______
| Name |E.R.A.|Stamina| A very solid pen, they have one very good
|____________|______|_______| pitcher in Malton, who is accompanied by a
|Bettis | 3.54 | 48 | strong cast that can stand up under their own
|____________|______|_______| ailities and record the outs you need.
|Hinner | 3.36 | 47 | However, with stamina being lower than average
|____________|______|_______| for the majority of the team, you will need to
|Craine | 3.38 | 52 | make use of many of your pitchers as opposed to
|____________|______|_______| just a few lik eother teams (which can lead to
|Vick | 3.38 | 47 | tired pitchers as the season progresses).
|____________|______|_______|
|Malton | 1.84 | 44 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Waxman | 3.00 | 42 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Tamino | 2.82 | 46 |
|____________|______|_______|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Players ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| Not the most solid line-up in terms of
|____________|_______|_________| batting average, they definitely can use
|Fenz | .266 | 3 | some help in this area. Power however
|____________|_______|_________| proves to be less of an issue, with a lot
|Pardi | .267 | 2 | of double digit Homerun hitters to be
|____________|_______|_________| found through out the order. However,
|Wolfor | .256 | 35 | despite this advantage, Pokors, Bahr, and
|____________|_______|_________| possibly Fenz and Pardi could all be easily
|Woods | .307 | 37 | replaced, provided the bench holds some
|____________|_______|_________| hitters of reasonable quality.
|Mogica | .263 | 42 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Miller | .298 | 8 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Bahr | .260 | 1 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Topjia | .281 | 11 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Pokors | .239 | 6 |
|____________|_______|_________|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~Pinch Hitters~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| Sadly, the bench does not offer anything to
|____________|_______|_________| assist your slumping batting average while
|Kelly | .200 | 0 | giving you a few more guys with too much
|____________|_______|_________| power and not enough ability to get on base.
|Farber | .200 | 2 | No one here is good at both, Grant and
|____________|_______|_________| Carol can do power, while Wells and Fletch
|Fletch | .271 | 0 | can hit for average. All in all the bench
|____________|_______|_________| is very disatisfactory, not helping you plug
|Carol | .259 | 10 | up the holes that exist within the starting
|____________|_______|_________| line-up.
|Moller | .250 | 0 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Yury | .239 | 0 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Wells | .282 | 2 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Grant | .250 | 15 |
|____________|_______|_________|

o--------o
| Kansas |
o--------o
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Pitchers ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ ______ _______
| Name |E.R.A.|Stamina| Not exactly the hall of fame, no one here has
|____________|______|_______| an E.R.A. that drops below that magical 3.00
|Tate | 4.62 | 50 | line. In fact, the lowest E.R.A. in your pen
|____________|______|_______| is a puffed up 3.38 from Gibbs! However, the
|Hunt | 4.10 | 46 | overall average abilities will be balanced out
|____________|______|_______| by the nice stamina, meaning this set of
|Watts | 4.00 | 44 | pitchers will never completely run out of steam
|____________|______|_______| over the long haul of a season. They will
|Gibbs | 3.38 | 48 | give up runs in each game more often than not,
|____________|______|_______| so youbetter hope your bats can boom out a big
|Miles | 3.94 | 45 | total every time you hit the field.
|____________|______|_______|
|Maters | 4.36 | 46 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Rennor | 4.06 | 45 |
|____________|______|_______|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Players ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| Luckily for you and your pitching staff,
|____________|_______|_________| your starting line-up has a wealth of
|Winton | .314 | 20 | batting average and power slugging to call
|____________|_______|_________| upon. Only Camber and Dulsey are low power
|Camber | .292 | 6 | hitters while Dulsey pulls double duty on
|____________|_______|_________| the crap list as he suffers from terrible
|Young | .300 | 20 | batting average as well. This means only
|____________|_______|_________| Dulsey truly needs a replacement as you have
|Lyons | .303 | 24 | an incredibly powerful line-up that rivals
|____________|_______|_________| the best found in the game!
|Beale | .300 | 22 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Ott | .274 | 17 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Carlin | .270 | 22 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Harms | .301 | 12 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Dulsey | .217 | 8 |
|____________|_______|_________|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~Pinch Hitters~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| A rather crappy bench is your reward for
|____________|_______|_________| selecting this team, but Cribbs is the sole
|Kraft | .250 | 4 | stand out at 10 Homeruns and a .304 batting
|____________|_______|_________| average. This means you should slide him
|Gerard | .250 | 2 | into the line-up for Dulsey immediately,
|____________|_______|_________| creating an amazing starting line-up that
|Spears | .231 | 0 | is unmatchable in quality. After Cribbs you
|____________|_______|_________| have an incredibly weak bench, but then
|Ephrom | .243 | 2 | again, you will no need to call upon it with
|____________|_______|_________| your killer starting line-up!
|Reiner | .250 | 1 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Vandor | .327 | 10 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Brady | .285 | 3 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Cribbs | .304 | 3 |
|____________|_______|_________|

o------o
| L.A. |
o------o
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Pitchers ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ ______ _______
| Name |E.R.A.|Stamina| With no definable ace in the bullpen, L.A. will
|____________|______|_______| suffer with high run totals against them. Only
|Mills | 3.74 | 45 | Patson qualifies as the sole decent arm to call
|____________|______|_______| upon for use, with his sub 3.00 E.R.A. and good
|Black | 4.10 | 46 | stamina rating. The remaining guys will be a
|____________|______|_______| pitch-by-comittee set, meaning that their
|Sako | 4.00 | 45 | performance will dictate how often or little
|____________|______|_______| they get into games to substitute for the tired
|Willis | 4.70 | 45 | pitchers.
|____________|______|_______|
|Patson | 2.94 | 48 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Carter | 4.80 | 45 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Baer | 4.12 | 46 |
|____________|______|_______|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Players ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| A solid line-up, they do not hit as well for
|____________|_______|_________| batting average as most other clubs.
|Lynn | .211 | 1 | However, they do possess higher than average
|____________|_______|_________| power ability, gaving only three hitters who
|Leigh | .260 | 5 | are not double digits for power (five of
|____________|_______|_________| their players have at least 20 Homeruns or
|Patton | .284 | 21 | more). Only Lynn is truly terrible, making
|____________|_______|_________| him the lone starter slated to sit on the
|Baker | .273 | 37 | bench for the whole season.
|____________|_______|_________|
|Simon | .307 | 20 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Quorb | .285 | 37 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Bonner | .250 | 20 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Elkin | .283 | 12 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Schick | .289 | 3 |
|____________|_______|_________|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~Pinch Hitters~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| Although the bench is somewhat lacking in
|____________|_______|_________| quality, especially in the power department,
|Ramis | .248 | 6 | but it has just what you need with Jaber
|____________|_______|_________| being able enough to replace Lynn. Only
|Conway | .200 | 0 | Donnis is left as a plyer of any quality,
|____________|_______|_________| so keep him in mind for the future if you
|Dagget | .231 | 3 | need a base hit.
|____________|_______|_________|
|Harrek | .238 | 1 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Baum | .302 | 0 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Felder | .246 | 6 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Haber | .326 | 3 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Donnis | .331 | 2 |
|____________|_______|_________|

o----------o
| New York |
o----------o
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Pitchers ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ ______ _______
| Name |E.R.A.|Stamina| A much more useful and strong pitching staff,
|____________|______|_______| stamina rates relatively high for half the
|Lewis | 3.96 | 50 | pitchers while all have pretty strong E.R.A.'s
|____________|______|_______| (Lewis being the sole exception with his near
|Perry | 2.16 | 48 | 4.00). Henter, Perry, Joel, and Jarvis should
|____________|______|_______| carry the majority of the innings over the
|West | 3.68 | 46 | entire season, only dipping into the remaining
|____________|______|_______| pitchers when it is absolute necessary or you
|Shard | 3.68 | 44 | are getting blown and wish to conserve your
|____________|______|_______| better pitchers.
|Henter | 1.96 | 45 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Joel | 2.70 | 55 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Jarvis | 2.90 | 40 |
|____________|______|_______|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Players ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| A very average line-up, it contains a few
|____________|_______|_________| prolific sluggers, a few middle of the road
|Henrie | .259 | 3 | hitters, and a few guys who should really
|____________|_______|_________| be on the bench. This line-up will not
|Favell | .288 | 9 | over-power anyone, but it should be
|____________|_______|_________| sufficient for supporting the great pitching
|Gage | .287 | 22 | staff that it backs up. Henrie is the only
|____________|_______|_________| player that absolutely needs to be dropped
|Kilbor | .303 | 25 | to the bench, though Glazer can go if better
|____________|_______|_________| exists on the bench to replace him as well.
|Tambur | .327 | 14 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Beck | .300 | 25 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Glazer | .289 | 6 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Payne | .273 | 13 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Theoly | .300 | 20 |
|____________|_______|_________|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~Pinch Hitters~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| Smerko sits on the bench just screaming out
|____________|_______|_________| to get a starting spot, which he will do
|Tosca | .254 | 7 | nicely replacing henrie as the lead-off
|____________|_______|_________| hitter. After him you will have a bench
|Wooley | .250 | 1 | with a bit of pop to their bats, so if you
|____________|_______|_________| need a Homerun, you can gamble that these
|Russ | .284 | 9 | guys can fill in to replace your struggling
|____________|_______|_________| starters (specifically someone with a lot
|Dias | .209 | 2 | of black star negating their normally great
|____________|_______|_________| stats).
|Smerko | .290 | 10 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Janson | .200 | 1 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Ohara | .249 | 4 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Burns | .271 | 3 |
|____________|_______|_________|

o--------------o
| Philadelphia |
o--------------o
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Pitchers ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ ______ _______
| Name |E.R.A.|Stamina| A tale of two ends of the pitching spectrum,
|____________|______|_______| you get one of thebest in the game while you
|Shyder | 3.92 | 50 | also get one of the worst as well. Philip
|____________|______|_______| will see a lot of work from the bullpen while
|Carter | 4.06 | 40 | King (at a gargantuan 5.60 E.R.A.) should see
|____________|______|_______| a lot of work as a maintenance man, yet somehow
|Philip | 2.66 | 45 | he is qualified instead to warm the pines for
|____________|______|_______| an entire season instead. The rest of your
|King | 5.60 | 46 | pitching staff in between Philip and King is
|____________|______|_______| an average bunch, but they can hold their own
|Darcy | 2.16 | 48 | for the most part, so do not fear using them.
|____________|______|_______|
|Shotz | 3.78 | 40 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Cory | 3.70 | 45 |
|____________|______|_______|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Players ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| After seeing a lot of decent to great
|____________|_______|_________| line-ups, you will find yourself with a set
|Sulvan | .323 | 10 | of players that are neither overpowering
|____________|_______|_________| nor are they good at hitting for average.
|Gelman | .250 | 0 | Although Vasta, Sulvan, and Abner are all
|____________|_______|_________| well rounded (having both good power and
|Vasta | .310 | 25 | batting average to call upon), the remaining
|____________|_______|_________| players tend to have poor stats in one or
|Donahu | .326 | 17 | even both stat categories, making this one
|____________|_______|_________| awful line-up to try and score a ton of runs
|Becker | .309 | 1 | with (meaning your top tier pitchers will
|____________|_______|_________| need to be near flawless). Gelman and
|Kitzie | .264 | 4 | Kitzie are the two most likely candidates
|____________|_______|_________| to be bounced from the line-up in favour of
|Wasser | .310 | 0 | bench players.
|____________|_______|_________|
|Muller | .283 | 2 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Abner | .310 | 5 |
|____________|_______|_________|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~Pinch Hitters~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| Gelman (from the starting line-up) is so
|____________|_______|_________| horrible that even he can be upgraded from
|Vinson | .250 | 3 | this sad sack of a bench, but the rest of
|____________|_______|_________| these guys (ie which ever stiffs did not
|Walker | .200 | 3 | get the pity replacement on Gelman) should
|____________|_______|_________| never see the light outside the dugout
|Tucker | .226 | 2 | except from their warm seats beside the
|____________|_______|_________| manager. Easily the worst bench in the
|Fink | .279 | 0 | entire game, try to never look at it as the
|____________|_______|_________| shame of having such lumps of uselessness
|Elias | .200 | 2 | on your bench may shame you into never
|____________|_______|_________| playaing again!
|Flood | .259 | 4 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Panka | .276 | 1 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Mussio | .286 | 1 |
|____________|_______|_________|

o---------o
| Seattle |
o---------o
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Pitchers ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ ______ _______
| Name |E.R.A.|Stamina| A very solid pitching staff is found in the
|____________|______|_______| northwest, but stamina is a stat that was not
|Bardo | 3.46 | 46 | "rained" down on the bullpen. Despite the
|____________|______|_______| lack of longevity in these pitchers, all of
|Myers | 3.46 | 46 | these guys are high enough quality to pitch
|____________|______|_______| by committee while keeping the run total low
|Jenson | 3.10 | 43 | (Walsh is an exception to thism so keep him off
|____________|______|_______| the mound for the most part). Well rounded
|Rosen | 2.98 | 45 | means you have lots of choice and the pen will
|____________|______|_______| not likely tire, but no solid star gives you
|Manley | 3.26 | 46 | no go to guy.
|____________|______|_______|
|Tucker | 3.62 | 40 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Walsh | 4.70 | 48 |
|____________|______|_______|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Players ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| A line-up that looks pretty decent for the
|____________|_______|_________| most part, it sort of bottoms out at Sanzo
|Berman | .283 | 0 | and Strick before Wright adds some punch.
|____________|_______|_________| Only Sanzo and Strick need to be replaced
|Jones | .281 | 0 | as the rest all hit well enough for
|____________|_______|_________| batting average or Homeruns (or both) to
|Gentz | .267 | 11 | deserve their starting spot. A reaonsably
|____________|_______|_________| good line-up, far better ones exist and you
|Baca | .278 | 35 | really do need to replace those two dead
|____________|_______|_________| weights Sanzo and Strick, as they drag the
|Shab | .300 | 20 | quality of this line-up down quite badly.
|____________|_______|_________|
|Davids | .290 | 4 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Sanzo | .244 | 2 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Strick | .244 | 9 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Wright | .287 | 18 |
|____________|_______|_________|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~Pinch Hitters~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| Gilson has a bit of power and Halpers is
|____________|_______|_________| also a reasonable hitter, making those two
|Newton | .200 | 0 | your replacements for Sanzo and Strick in
|____________|_______|_________| the starting line-up. The remaining bench
|Small | .239 | 1 | players are of poor quality, so you will
|____________|_______|_________| not need to (or have the luxury of) looking
|Dunn | .236 | 1 | to your bench though out the games of the
|____________|_______|_________| season.
|Justin | .235 | 1 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Brent | .250 | 0 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Gilson | .253 | 11 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Eckers | .250 | 0 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Halpers | .262 | 6 |
|____________|_______|_________|

o-------o
| Texas |
o-------o
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Pitchers ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ ______ _______
| Name |E.R.A.|Stamina| A very useless set of pitchers, you would be
|____________|______|_______| hard pressed to find a set that could surpass
|Staver | 3.94 | 43 | the suck represented by these "hoover"
|____________|______|_______| wannabes. When your best pitcher is throwing
|Tillis | 4.98 | 42 | at a 3.30 E.R.A, you know you have some
|____________|______|_______| serious bullpenn issues. You better pray you
|Belton | 3.30 | 46 | find one guy here who can consistently out
|____________|______|_______| perform his statly nature or you will suffer
|Kling | 4.00 | 44 | a ton of multiple run innings under these
|____________|______|_______| arsons.
|Corbin | 4.56 | 45 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Murray | 4.70 | 47 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Lundt | 4.48 | 40 |
|____________|______|_______|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Players ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| An average line-up, you will get a good mix
|____________|_______|_________| of batting average and power hitting, having
|Croix | .274 | 14 | two guys who are pretty good at both (Mertz
|____________|_______|_________| and Anson). At the same time, you will
|Zwick | .247 | 4 | also have to put up with a couple stinkers
|____________|_______|_________| like Zwick and Belamy who drag down the
|Moran | .258 | 20 | quality of your line-up, so look to the
|____________|_______|_________| bench to try and plug these holes (Shakly
|Anson | .280 | 31 | is somewhat weak as well, but he is the
|____________|_______|_________| third guy to be worried about). An average
|Mertz | .300 | 30 | line-up that will be helped from the bench
|____________|_______|_________| to make it a top to bottom threat.
|Callif | .221 | 12 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Lemon | .317 | 7 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Shakly | .265 | 5 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Belamy | .251 | 3 |
|____________|_______|_________|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~Pinch Hitters~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| Garret and Marsh sit at the bottom of your
|____________|_______|_________| bench list, but they are the top two mashers
|Strick | .250 | 2 | in your reserve. These two should replace
|____________|_______|_________| lesser players in the starting line-up, but
|Faust | .200 | 1 | the rest of this collection is best used for
|____________|_______|_________| holding the bench in place so the manager
|Payton | .250 | 3 | never wants for a seat.
|____________|_______|_________|
|Samson | .222 | 1 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Harlan | .244 | 5 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Plumb | .200 | 2 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Marsh | .304 | 6 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Garret | .313 | 8 |
|____________|_______|_________|

o------o
| Utah |
o------o
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Pitchers ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ ______ _______
| Name |E.R.A.|Stamina| Another very useless set of pitchers, these
|____________|______|_______| guys are only slightly better than the Texas
|Perez | 4.22 | 45 | bullpen. Walls and Robert should see the
|____________|______|_______| majoirty of your mound time (especially Walls
|Unsel | 3.98 | 44 | who is a workhouse) as they are the only
|____________|______|_______| consistent hurlers in this group. The rest
|Walls | 3.78 | 56 | are your last resort, so pitch with them till
|____________|______|_______| you find one that has his good stuff for that
|Major | 4.44 | 45 | game (hoping your offense is on at the same
|____________|______|_______| time).
|Tunney | 4.82 | 48 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Robert | 3.32 | 45 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Newton | 4.62 | 43 |
|____________|______|_______|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Players ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| Wow! A crappier line-up in the game you
|____________|_______|_________| would be hard pressed to locate! Truly
|Malvoe | .338 | 3 | these guys suck badly, as Marcus is your
|____________|_______|_________| only bonifide all-star, followed by McFee
|Laino | .240 | 3 | and Forge with good power and Malvoe for
|____________|_______|_________| batting average. That leaves a lot of
|McFee | .243 | 21 | stiffs to try and eek by on, which is not
|____________|_______|_________| going to be helped by the bench substitution
|Marcus | .311 | 33 | ploy (as you will soon see).
|____________|_______|_________|
|Fallon | .270 | 6 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Grogan | .254 | 0 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Forge | .265 | 18 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Munoz | .250 | 2 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Potter | .271 | 9 |
|____________|_______|_________|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~Pinch Hitters~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| Banks is a good choice to enter the game,
|____________|_______|_________| as are Madden and Baron for their ability
|Balzak | .250 | 6 | to get on base (their drop in power for
|____________|_______|_________| the line-up is negligible). After them is
|Banks | .292 | 6 | a lot of crap that will not help, though it
|____________|_______|_________| can be argued that the three mentioned
|Emilio | .250 | 3 | above will do little for your starting
|____________|_______|_________| line-up's quality as well. This is easily
|Carlos | .270 | 2 | the worst all round team in the league.
|____________|_______|_________|
|Webb | .221 | 2 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Oliver | .200 | 3 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Madden | .326 | 0 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Baron | .320 | 1 |
|____________|_______|_________|

o-----------------o
| Washington D.C. |
o-----------------o
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Pitchers ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ ______ _______
| Name |E.R.A.|Stamina| It almost seems that the programmers used
|____________|______|_______| near mirror images of the rosters as they
|Allan | 3.26 | 47 | moved down the alphabet while making the game,
|____________|______|_______| because another rather brutal bullpen is your
|Knapp | 3.00 | 44 | reward. Knapp and Allan are pretty solid, but
|____________|______|_______| following them are some rather unreliable
|Sether | 4.00 | 45 | characters who are prone to spreading massive
|____________|______|_______| amounts of gasoline all over the infield while
|Knight | 4.60 | 46 | simultaniously flicking matches in every
|____________|______|_______| direction. Not a very strong group, you will
|Morgan | 4.06 | 48 | likely depend upon solid run support in every
|____________|______|_______| game to get by.
|Fenner | 4.06 | 43 |
|____________|______|_______|
|Finn | 4.68 | 46 |
|____________|______|_______|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ Players ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| Thankfully, D.C. has the luxury of a line-up
|____________|_______|_________| containing some solid hitters in both power
|Niler | .304 | 17 | (Niler, Hart, Silbur, Foster, Steven, Shea)
|____________|_______|_________| and hitting for average (Niler, Amadio,
|Amadio | .304 | 8 | Silbur, Foster). In fact, this line-up is
|____________|_______|_________| so solid that only Anders and Leff at the
|Hart | .265 | 20 | bottom of the order are the only guys who
|____________|_______|_________| should be considered for bench time in
|Silbur | .300 | 25 | favour of some replacements. Among the best
|____________|_______|_________| starting line-ups, you can not go wrong
|Foster | .300 | 20 | in selecting this team for offensive
|____________|_______|_________| purposes.
|Steven | .250 | 28 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Shea | .280 | 11 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Anders | .235 | 5 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Leff | .261 | 3 |
|____________|_______|_________|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~Pinch Hitters~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
____________ _______ _________
| Name |Average|Home Runs| radson is a reasonably good ball player with
|____________|_______|_________| a .270 average and 2 Homeruns, but after
|Sanner | .206 | 1 | that you are hard pressed to find a second
|____________|_______|_________| replacement for the two starting line-up
|Woods | .200 | 1 | bums. The best choice, despite his complete
|____________|_______|_________| lack of power is Draber, as he will add some
|Sherm | .282 | 1 | extra hits to your line-up, allowing the
|____________|_______|_________| power hitters to try and knock him across
|Hesher | .221 | 4 | the plate. The remaining fare here is just
|____________|_______|_________| terrible, so keep them locked to the pine,
|Draber | .300 | 0 | as they do not deserve to even set foot on
|____________|_______|_________| the field.
|Glass | .207 | 9 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Ennis | .263 | 0 |
|____________|_______|_________|
|Radson | .270 | 2 |
|____________|_______|_________|

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------Player Stars--------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

6) This section will look at the Player Star System and how it affects your
players performances.

o-------------------o
| What Do They Do? |
o-------------------o

Up to eight stars can be collected at one time, affecting how well your
player will perform. There are two types of Stars: White and Black.

o------------o
| Star Types |
o------------o

White: Whenever a player makes a good play, they gain this bonus that will
enhance their abilities. To gain one, do the following:

Batters -> Hit a Homerun.
Pitchers-> Strike Out a batter.
Fielders-> Make a great catch or throw.
Catchers-> Prevent a Stolen Base.

Black: Whenever a player makes a bad play, they gain this penalty that will
lessen their abilities. To gain one, do the following:

Batters -> Strike out.
Pitchers-> Allow a run.
Fielders-> Miss a catch or throw to the wrong base.
Catchers-> Make an error (throw to wrong base, etc.).

o-------------------o
| Are There Limits? |
o-------------------o

You can only get up to 8 of one type at one time, meaning that you can make
more mistakes or great plays without hurting/helping your player (but they
are already operating at lowest/highest efficiency, meaning they can not
worsen/improve by any manner).

Also note that if you are into one colour of Stars and earn one of the
opposite colour, one of your current stars will be removed. This means that
you can stockpile good pays to offset a couple bad ones that may occur later
in the game.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------Offensive Strategies----------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

7) This section will look at some strategies to help score some runs.

i) Try to let pitches that appear to be sliding away from the Plate go,
as getting a couple Balls counting against the opposition will force
them to give you better pitches to swing at, increasing the likelihood
of getting a hit.

ii) Try to swing at balls that are on the far side of the plate or down
the middle area. Inside pitches are the toughest to make good contact
on, so you will see a lot of them. Try to out wait the pitcher and
start cracking on those juicy pitches.

iii) Although it may be tempting, stealing bases are a very hard thing to
do in this game. It is an activity that should only be tried every
now and then, trying to anticipate when a slower pitch will be thrown
by the hurler, allowing for some extra time to reach the next base.
Stealing Home Plate is nearly impossible (far below 1%) unless you are
pulling a double steal to confuse the opposition.

iv) When a ball is hit high into the air and it appears as if a fielder
can make a play for the ball, try to hold the runners between their
current base and the next one by alternating between the
DOWN + A Button to the DOWN + B Button. If the ball is caught, use
DOWN + A Button to return all runners to base, but if it drops in, use
DOWN + B Button to get them all started toward their next base.

v) Sometimes you will have a runner on Second or Third Base with no one
behind you on the previous base, sometimes it is best to hold your
position as opposed to advancing. This holds especially true for a
ground ball (if it is on the left side of the field, definitely hold)
as your player could get caught in a rundown if you are careless on
the base path. Wait and see if the fielder is going to pay any
attention to your runner before taking flight.

vi) When you see a deep outfield fly ball, have your runners on Second and
Third stay on the Base. As soon as the ball is caught, send them
running for the next Base on the tag up. Just be ready to turn them
around and send them back if the throw looks like it will beat them to
their destination.

vii) Always be on the look out for where the throw from the outfield is
going to which base. If it is not the one that a runner can advance
to, take off running as the time it takes to reach the intended target
will likely allow the runner to reach that extra base, increasing the
chance of their scoring. Just be wary of a player who can cut the
ball off from it's target, as these can really mess up your plans.

viii) Sometimes sacrifice is the best way to get runners into scoring
position. This is especially useful for when your bottom of the order
is batting (they hit poorly for the most part) and you have at least
one runner in scoring position with one or none out. Perform a half
swing to get the bat over the plate, and then move it to the position
that the pitch is headed, knocking the ball into play. If done
properly, the advancing runner(s) will be too far into their strides
(send them on stealing a base to help their chances while you are
bunting), leaving the opposition no choice but to throw to first for
the force out, allowing the runners to enter into scoring position.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------Defensive Strategies----------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

8) This section will teach how to field to keep the opposition off the
scoreboard.

i) When it comes to pitching, try to keep the ball on the corners of Home
Plate. This will not only make your opponent think on if the pitch
will be called a strike or not, but it will also make it more likely
that an opponent will end up ticking the ball or popping out due to
poor connection on the ball.

ii) Try to get ahead in the count when pitching. This will make for less
care at the plate by the batter, making them more likely to chase a
ball that is out of the strike zone.

iii) If an opponent rockets a ball high into the air, you will need to
figure out which fielder you want to play the ball as soon as
possible, which will allow you to start moving in the direction that
fielder will need to move to make the catch. Even though you will not
be able to get control of them immediately (closest fielder is in your
control), by moving that fielder out of range will allow you to gain
control sooner, allowing for some extra time to get underneath the
ball. Keep in mind this is best suited to high, fly balls, reaching
the outfield.

iv) When your Second or Third Baseman fields a ground ball and a runner is
approaching their base, let them run to tag the runner out or step on
the bag. This will keep the runners as far from home as possible,
minimizing their scoring opportunities.

v) Sometimes you can fake out an opponent by pretending to miss the ball,
which will get them to try and get an extra base. If done properly,
you might catch them being greedy and off-guard, allowing for an out
where one did not exist. However, just be sure that you will hold them
to where they are if the out is not attainable, as losing a base to
them is not what you want to be doing.

vi) As stated in iv), whenever possible, get the lead runner out. This is
especially true for when a force out is to be had at a base across the
diamond, so go for it, remembering that a fast runner will sometimes
make the force out impossible, thus demanding you get the force out
elsewhere.

vii) While on the topic of force outs, if you have two out already, any
out will do, so get the easiest possible out you can. This means you
must be aware of the out totals at all times, but it is not that tough
of a thing to be doing after all!

viii) If you can keep the batters from hitting the ball consistently, you
are more likely to pick up the W (ie win). Another way to help out
your chances of victory are to keep the balls rolling on the ground,
so keeping your pitches low and inside on the batter will help with
this, though nothing is guaranteed.

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9) As is the usual, this walkthrough is copyright property of Brian P.
Sulpher, 2004. The only website, group, person, etc. to have access to
post it is www.gamefaqs.com, www.ign.com, www.retronintendo.com, and
www.honestgamers.com. You must ask for permission before posting this,
as doing so without consent is a violation of international copyright
law.

If you liked it, hated it, have anything to add, then please E-mail me at
[email protected]. You can also contact me through MSN messenger
through the same E-mail address.

GameFAQs user "Solid Snake 1138" deserves a mention as he helped me out
with a link to the manual for this game online. It assisted me quite a
bit in constructing this FAQ, so thanks to him and www.vimm.net for the
online manual!