THE BIGS 2
Played on XBOX 360
by Brian DiMattia
(XBOX LIVE ID: kenmorebrian, if you want to friend me)
Version History:
Version 1.0.....07/13/2009
Rented game from Blockbuster, began guide.
Version 1.1.....07/26/2009
Finished most of season three, remembered that everything had to be in 79
characters per line format and spent forever reformatting it. Added
achievements and submitted first version of guide to GameFaqs.
Version 1.2.....7/28/2009
Spelling and grammar corrections, achievement corrections and additions, and
finished Season 3/Preseason 4 on Become A Legend mode. Added steal strategy,
added more pitching strategy, and added in some basic information on the game.
Version 1.3.....8/5/2009
More corrections. Added bunting strategy, season 4 for Become A Legend,
basics on playing a regular season, and one movie recommendation.
*****TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Playing the Game.................[game01]
---Pitching Strategy.............[game02]
---Fielding Strategy.............[game03]
---Small Ball Strategy...........[game04]
---Steal Strategy................[game05]
---Bunting/Defensive Batting.....[game06]
Home Run Pinball.................[pin01]
Become A Legend..................[legend01]
---Walkthrough...................[legend02]
---Season One....................[legend021]
---Season Two....................[legend022]
---Season Three..................[legend023]
---Season Four...................[legend024]
---Strategy......................[legend03]
Season Mode......................[season01]
---Legendary Milestones..........[season02]
Achievements.....................[ach01]
Thanks and Copyrights............[thanks01]
-----Playing The Game [Game01]
I'll assume that nobody will play this game without at least a basic
knowledge of baseball. The home team bats in the bottom half of the inning,
three strikes and you're out, three outs is the end of the batting team's
half inning.
Players are rated on this game in terms of the "Five Tools":
1. Contact Hitting (or hitting for average).
2. Power Hitting
3. Speed
4. Fielding
5. Throwing
Different tools are important at different positions and in different parts
of the batting order, which I'll get into later.
Now that we've got that cleared up, let's get down to the advanced stuff.
---Pitching Strategy [Game02]
Pitches come in five main speeds, but it's okay to think of them as three
with two subcategories:
1. Fast (Fastballs)
1a. Slightly less fast (Splitters and 2 Seam Fastballs)
2. Medium (Sinkers and Sliders)
2a. Knuckle Balls
3. Slow (Curves and Changeups)
Pitching strategy comes in the form of trying to out-think the hitter.
Putting a different kind of pitch in a different place than he's expecting.
Mostly. You need to balance that out with trusting your best stuff, or at
least the stuff you feel comfortable with your pitcher throwing.
A few things are basic:
1. Keep curveballs over the inside of the plate. In other words, throw them
low or high, but on the same side of the plate that the batter is standing
on. A curveball "left over the plate" is often trouble.
2. In fact, I'd personally recommend working the inside and lower portions of
the strike zone for 70% of your pitches. So if you throw 3 pitches to a
batter, trying going Inside-Low, Inside-Low and then Outside-High. Or if
it's four pitches try Inside-Low Slider, Outside-Low Fastball, Inside-High
Changeup and then go back Inside-Low with a Slider or Fastball.
3. But be sure to work all outskirts of the plate! Fastballs, if thrown
properly, can be thrown at any part of the strike zone. Sliders and sinkers
should be kept medium or low, but can be inside or at the bottom of the zone.
Change Ups I'd keep inside 80% of the time, but sometimes throw one outside
just to keep from being predictable.
4. Avoid the middle of the plate. Unless you've got a real cannon and are
throwing nothing but perfect, legendary fastballs against weak contact
hitters, putting one "down the pipe" is an unnecessary risk. Work up and
down, left and right and they'll be less sure they're getting something
hittable until it's up close.
5. Don't walk anybody. Seriously, just go for the strikeout. That's what
we're here for, and pitches outside the strike zone have a funny way of
getting accidentally tipped off to the batters.
6. Slower pitches are if you're worried about someone with power. Throwing
high curveballs is a good way to make a very strong hitter fowl several
pitches off. But they'll catch up to it eventually. That's why you need
to deal with some batters with heat and others with trickery. Just don't be
constant.
7. "Specialty" Pitches: If, for example, you're playing with the Red Sox you
can treat Daisuke Matsuzaka's Gyro Ball as a medium pitch. But when pitching
with Tim Wakefield or any other "Knuckle Baller," well that's a different
kind of thing. Throw them, practice with them, but don't get attached to
them because letting a couple of batters get good hits off of them will start
wearing away their power. And then you're left with junk fastballs.
8. Now the other thing to remember is an ironic bit of physics. Usually, a
ball pitched harder can be hit harder. Fastballs will be turned around a
lot harder than curves, for example. Not that you can't hit a home run
off a curve, you certainly can. But when you throw the hard stuff it means
you're taking a little more risk.
9. Wheelhouse: Obviously, this is a worry with some batters. But it's the
kind of thing that you have to deal with aggressively. If you're really
confident of your pitching, just throw where you need to regardless of
wheelhouse. If the batter in question is scary, pitch around the wheelhouse
on a couple of pitches, and then be sure to target it with your best pitch,
so that you keep on wearing it away. Remember: you have to get it in the
wheelhouse if you want bonus turbo for each strike, so depending on the needs
of your batters, keep going after it, especially for strike three.
---Fielding Strategy [Game03]
Actually, there isn't a lot of fielding strategy here, unless you're talking
about Build a Legend mode (which I'll get into later). Infielders are mostly
interchangeable, so if you have two good first basemen on your roster and a
lousy shortstop, switch them! The same seems to be mostly true for
infielders in the outfield. Ideally, you're going to want:
1st Base: Good glove, arm doesn't matter since he'll rarely throw to 2nd.
2nd Base: Great glove, decent arm. Lots of hits come to them and they need
to get the ball to 1st.
Shortstop: Great glove, Good arm. Same as above.
3rd Base: Good glove, Great arm. They'll catch fewer hits, but need power to
get it to 1st quickly.
Left and Right Field: Great Gloves, Good Arms, Great speed. They'll be
running after balls and climbing walls. Center Field: Good glove, Great arm,
Good speed. They need more throwing than other outfielders because they may
occasionally have a chance to throw someone out at second or third.
---Small Ball Strategy [Game04]
The game is based on every at bat being a "Swing For The Fences" kind of
thing. But if you want to score runs you'll just have to frustrate it.
Contact hitting is more important than power hitting, because you'll want to
lob lots of medium hits over the infielders heads and have them drop before
they get to the outfielders. Then just score a succession of singles and
doubles, don't try anything fancy, just wear the defense down and pile on
runs.
Now choosing between and single and a double depends very much on where
you're hitting it to and how fast your runner is. If you hit it to center
field, you should pull up at first unless you have 5 star or Legendary Speed,
or 4 star speed and the fielder drops the ball and falls down. Otherwise, he
has less distance to cover with his throw to 2nd. Similar with left field,
but you may be able to use the same strategy above with one less star per
decision. But unless it hits near the line and rolls towards the outside
corner you'll still be running towards the throw and that will lessen the
amount of time you have. Whereas if you hit it safely into right field, go
ahead and try for second unless the right fielder has a great arm. Just be
familiar with each batter's speed.
For this strategy, you value contact hitting and speed. Start your line up
off with a couple of guys who have both, so you'll have men on the bases when
you get your 3rd and 4th batters up, who should be good contact and power.
The guys who can't hit, or who can hit some but aren't fast, can wait until
the end of the rotation.
Also, don't forget to keep an eye on the pitcher's pitches. He'll throw
everything regardless of strength, but when you knock one of his pitches out
then you'll have a better idea what's coming. So if you knock off his
fastball, you can predict that he'll be throwing a lot of off speed junk.
---Steal Strategy [game05]
Stealing bases depends on two major factors and one minor one. The minor
one is pitch speed. If you're going to run on a pitcher who's throwing
fireballs, you'll have that much less time to get there. But if you
happen to try to steal when the pitcher is tossing a Curve or a Changeup,
the extra seconds could be very beneficial.
But this battle is really won and lost by your runner's speed and the arm
strength of the catcher. If the catcher has a legendary arm, it's not worth
the hassle, no matter how fast you are. If the catcher is a 4 star arm and
you've got 5 star speed, you can give it a try. But even then, using Turbo
to speed your runner up is advisable.
Now, if you're playing Become A Legend and need to steal on Atlanta's
catcher, good luck. Start your guy off at the top of the order and keep
trying to steal and restarting if you don't make it.
---Bunting [game06]
Just a quick word on bunting, which could also be called defensive hitting.
After all, it's a lot of fun hanging a big score on an opposing team and
powering hit after hit into shallow outfield. But it's not always smart.
Sometimes you'll be in a position, be a close game or a stat challenge that
you don't want the computer interfering with. Sometimes you've achieved what
you need and just want to speed the game up. That's when it's time to bunt.
Bunting works only rarely in this game, and then you'd better have Legendary
speed, and maybe the turbo turned on too. What it's really good for is being
sure that your batters get up and sit down again without getting the other
team any 20,000 point legendary catches that will put them over the top for a
Big Slam. If they're close and you don't want to run the risk of them
getting unnecessary points, just bunt (on XBOX 360 hold the X button and
point left) and you'll get thrown out. They won't get turbo from throwing
strikes past your, and won't get points for great catches, Legendary Catches,
or Strikeouts.
-----Home Run Pinball [Pin01]
There are now four different Home Run Pinball locations: New York (Times
Square), Las Vegas (The Strip, with what looks to be elements of both Paris
and Caesar's Palace), Tokyo (Shibuya), and New York (Old Time, which has to
be unlocked to be played). Each place has a variety of both simple, hit them
and score points targets and more complex targets where you get points for
each of a group of broken things, and getting the entire group gives you
access to bonus points. There is an achievement for getting 1 Million points
at each location, and also for hitting a special target with a "Big Blast."
With each 100,000 points you earn, you get a new big blast.
---New York (Times Square)
The Big Blast target is the New Year's Eve Globe in the top center of the
screen. Trigger the Big Blast, then aim straight up with your shot. Bonus
signs include the one on the right spelling out hotel (simple contact hit to
reach it), the sign with about six red letters behind it (power hit to reach
it), and the tribute to the NASDAQ sign, white letters on a globe on the left
hand side.
---Los Vegas (The Strip)
The Big Blast target is a blimp that flies by every now and then. You can
earn bonuses by Clearing out the "CLUB (Something...sorry, can't afford an
HD TV yet, so I can barely see the details)" sign.
---Tokyo (Shibuya)
Your big blast target is a "big brute," which is pretty much just code for a
Godzilla inspired homage monster. This one is a little different, you have
to hit some power shots high and to the right in order to knock some
billboards off a building and reveal the scourge of Tokyo, and then wait
until you get the big blast to actually target old radiation breath.
---New York (Old Time) will be unlocked by completing "Become a Legend" Mode.
-----Become A Legend [Legend01]
Legend mode is similar to the first BIGS, your character needs to join a team
and win games in order to improve his stats and get better challenges.
You'll select which teams you play against, and have a variety of challenges
from straight forward "Win the game" challenges, to scenarios like "Bottom of
the 8th, you're up by 2, hold on to win," and milestone challenges like "Win
the game and have two stolen bases." Then, after getting through these
standard challenges, you'll have the chance to play these teams for the right
to "steal" one of their players to add to your own roster. There are
occasional rewards after other games as well, like unlocking alternate
uniforms for defeated teams, etc.
The main difference from the first BIGS is in how your character gets better.
Instead of collecting points by playing well and then spending them on
whatever you want, your character improves by winning challenges. In other
words, your player is only as good as you are at playing mini games and
getting through the season. Well, the running mini-game is simple "hit-the-
right-button" stuff, the contact mini-game requires good timing, and the
power hitting game is about shot selection and being able to hit against the
occasional turbo pitch. This requires a different kind of strategy than the
first game did...and frankly requires less strategy. The second game is more
of a play along a set path set up, as opposed to the experience points/RPG
design of "The Bigs."
As the story unfolds, you are major leaguer who's been injured and has to go
to the Mexican leagues in order to work his way back. At first you'll be
asked to enter basic stuff like name, uniform number and nickname.
Options include:
Animal
Bad News
Big Dog
Boomer
Buster
Cobra
Cowboy
Dr. Bleachers
Fireball
Hit Dog
Rocket
Sarge
Showtime
The Fighter
The Hit Man
Wheels
You can also change pages and other player options like look, hairstyle, skin
color, wrist bands and batter music. You'll have additional personalization
options where you have some things unlocked already, and have to unlock
others as you go along. These include options like tattoos (13 available at
first), bat style and graphics, glove design and more. There's even a simple
but very smart facial hair system, one of the best I've ever seen, with the
ability to layer up to three different facial hair components on top of each
other. (Note to RPG companies like Bethesda...As much as I liked the beard
selection options in Fallout 3, this is really all you needed to do!)
When you're done with this, you'll go to the map page. Don't worry if you
don't like something, because you can always hit a button on the map screen
to go back into character creation and change something or take advantage
of one of the new options that you unlock.
---Become A Legend [Legend02]
Since the only selection on there right now is Mexico, select that. You have
joined the San Guerrero Pollos, and your first challenge will be to play a
five inning game versus the hometown Cozumel Casadorez. And since this is
Mexico, the play by play should have been in Spanish, but no such luck.
Anyway, Cozumel isn't that tough, and your team has some good players. Win
the game, and your next option will be to start improving your stats.
First, a contact hitting drill where a little turret thing tosses balls in an
arc towards you from the side. You don't need to do anything but hit the
"Contact Hit" button when they come close to you. But be sure to wait until
the ball is in your strike zone, or right about belt level. Anything much
higher or lower than that and it won't make contact. You need to get more
points than the other batter, but balls will be coming at you so fast that
you should basically ignore him until the end. Just hit as many as possible.
Second, a fielding drill. You and another player will practice fielding
low line drives and grounders. Hit the "Jump to Field" button to pull off
your best Pedroia like motions. But every third ball or so it will launch a
minigame, where you have to hold down a certain button until a white ring
surrounds the ball, and then release it before the ring gets too small. If
you do this right you'll get double points and a chance to play the hit-the-
buttons-when-prompted minigame for 5x points. You'll get three or four shots
at this throughout, and if you don't get the first one just restart the drill
then. That way you'll know you've got at least one round of bonus points.
Finally, go play the Casadorez again. Beat them, and you're back in the
show, plus you'll unlock some new "Mexican" inspired tattoo options.
Now, the game will ask you to pick a team to play with. Now, I'm a proud
citizen of RED SOX NATION, but didn't see any point in picking them to play
with, since they're already the number one team in the game and there's no
way to improve them through stealing players from other teams. So I'm
recreating the SONNY MCLEAN'S themed LOS ANGELES DODGERS team I had in the
first BIGS.
(A Note of Explanation to Red Sox Fans: Yeah, I know. I'm playing with
Manny. And I had almost decided to steal a player from another team and then
bench him. But I'll be honest with you...it's kind of thrilling to be able
to make Manny run hard on the bases every at bat. Seriously, it's a
vicarious thrill to take the stick and hustle him along. "What's that? You
hit one to right to the shortstop? You'll never make it? Tell you what,
Manny. Let's try to leg it out anyway, big guy. In fact, hustle up the line
and then try sliding into first, just for good measure! Good job, sport!"
All right, I ended up benching him after the first season anyway. I couldn't
respect myself otherwise.)
(One other side note having nothing to do with videogames...if you love the
history of Baseball at all, you've got to NetFlix a documentary called "Lost
Son of Havana," about Luis Tiant, pitcher for the Red Sox, Indians, Yankees,
and others, and his first trip home to Cuba after 40 years of exile. It's
amazing and heart breaking. Okay, public service message now over.)
---SEASON ONE [Legend021]
When I made it to the Big Leagues with the Dodgers, I first had to choose
between three locations. LA (Dodger Stadium in lovely Chavez Ravine),
Colorado and Washington.
*Los Angeles:
1. Mini Game: Speed game...run the course and dodge the obstacles within the
time limit. You don't do much here, just hit the appropriate button or stick
when prompted to win an alternate Dodger's uniform and a one star boost
to your speed rating.
2. Scenario Challenge: Win a 5 inning home game against the Seattle Mariners
and throw at least one runner out (the game recommends you play your
character at 2nd base, which seems to work well. You could try Short as
well, but with only one star in throwing that'll be tougher. You can choose
who plays what position at the beginning of each game). Reward: a one star
upgrade in throwing ability.
*Washington:
1. Scenario Challenge: Bottom of the 8th, up by 2 runs, defend the lead and
win the game. Reward: Alternate Nationals Uniform.
2. Win a 5 inning game against pitcher Scott Olsen
3. Player Steal (Opted not to steal anyone...which turned out to be totally
unnecessary. See my Become A Legend strategy section for more.)
*Colorado:
1. Scenario Challenge: Get two hits with your created character. Reward:
Alternate Rockies Uniform.
2. Win a 5 inning game against pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez.
3. Player Steal (stole SP Ubaldo Jimenez)
After finishing my first player steal game (Colorado), unlocked:
*Los Angeles:
4. (not sure why it did it in this order, but it did, maybe it's because I
did one steal game and not the other) Big Play Challenge: Hit one big blast
HR with your character. Reward: a one star upgrade in power batting.
*Cooperstown
Cooperstown hosts a series of 15 challenges against legendary players to earn
"Hall of Fame" Votes. I'll list them in the order they unlocked.
2. Get three hits in 5 innings against the A's. Dennis Eckersley will be the
closer. Reward: 40 Votes.
After finishing my second player steal game (Washington), I hit the back
button and opted not to steal any players. That's partially because there's
a limit on the number of stolen players you can use at any given time (three)
and a limit on the number of players you can steal altogether (nine). The
first game had more steal options than available spaces for stolen players,
so I decided that there wasn't anyone on the Nationals that was an upgrade to
the Dodgers. Still, after this I unlocked:
*Los Angeles:
3. (Yep, that did it) Contact hitting mini game against Chipper Jones. Just
like the one in the Mexican League, wait for the balls to get into the strike
zone. Technically that's from an inch or so below the letters to the knees,
but look for the hit right around the belt area. And this time there are
green balls which count for more points, so be sure to get them! Reward: a
one star upgrade in contact hitting.
*San Diego:
1. Stat Challenge: Get 2 RBIs in a five inning game with your character.
Reward: an alternate Padres uniform.
2. Scenario Challenge: On the road, top nine and you're down by a run. Come
back and win the game!
3. Player Steal (Stole SP Jake Peavy)
*Cooperstown:
1. Win a game against a team of infielders headed by Brooks Robinson. In
other words go deep, because ground balls ain't cutting it here. Reward:
10 votes and New Sunglasses options.
After finishing the San Diego Player Steal Game, the game said that that
"Season 1" was over. Season 2 was unlocked and the offseason challenge began
right away, with three challenges in Japan.
---Season Two [Legend022]
*Japan:
1. Stat Challenge: Throw out a runner with your character in a five inning
game against the Nagano Mountaineers. Just like the earlier challenge, the
reward for this is "Japanese" Tattoos and a one star upgrade in throwing
power.
2. Stat Challenge: Get a hit and a stolen base with your character in a five
inning game against the Shinjuku Red Lanterns. The game recommends you use
Turbo to get that stolen base, and you'll have to in order to get the
reward: Shino Stadium as a playable arena and a one star upgrade to speed.
3. Play Home Run Pinball in Shibuya, Tokyo, score more than 250,000 points.
Win this, and you'll get a trophy and a one star upgrade to batting power.
After finishing Japan, your team comes on home and gets some new challenges.
*Los Angeles:
5. Mini Game: Glove mini game...face Grady Sizemore to win a one star upgrade
in fielding. In fact, after this you should be able to move your player
anywhere you want.
*San Francisco:
1. Big Play Challenge: Get 2 Big Heat strikeouts over the course of a five
inning game. Reward: An alternate Giants uniform.
2. Scenario challenge: Tied in the bottom of the 10th (on the road, of
course). Get the win!
3. Player Steal (Stole Closer ___)
*Arizona:
1. Scenario Challenge: Down by a run in the top of the 7th. Come back for
the win! Reward: An alternate Diamondbacks uniform.
2. Stat Challenge: Get one home run with your character in this 5 inning game.
3. Player Steal (Stole: Starting Pitcher Brandon Webb)
*Pittsburgh:
1. Stat Challenge: Score three RBI's with your character in a 5 inning game.
Reward: An alternate Pirates uniform.
2. Scenario Challenge: Bottom of the 5th and you're ahead. Hold on to win...
for half an inning. Reward: New fielding glove designs.
3. Player Steal
*Cooperstown:
3. Win a game against an all speed team captained by Jackie Robinson.
4. Win a game by 2 runs against a team led by Starting Pitcher Nolan Ryan
(and once you chase him you get Goose Gossage, so that's not much better).
Reward: 10 Hall of Fame Votes and new Necklace designs.
Now, while playing this there was a countdown timer in the top right of the
screen..."Six more games before trading deadline." I assumed that this
referred to not being able to steal any more players, especially since I
played a Cooperstown game and it didn't count that towards the countdown,
so I chose carefully which team I wanted to steal from between Arizona,
Pittsburgh and San Francisco. I was wrong. After finishing all the Stat and
Scenario Challenges, and finishing two steal games my character was the one
who got traded. And to Tampa Bay of all places. Son of a...!
Oh well, might as well make the best of it.
*Tampa Bay:
1. Stat Challenge: Throw at least one runner out in a 5 inning game against
the Texas Rangers. Reward: a one star upgrade to throwing.
2. Stat Challenge: Throw 6 total Strikeouts in a 5 inning game against the
Minnesota Twins.
3. Scenario Challenge: At home, top of the Ninth. Down by 2 to Oakland. Win
that game!
Which brings us to the World Series:
*World Series:
1. Win Game One against the Mets, 5 innings on the road.
2. Win Game Three against the Mets, 5 innings at home.
3. Win Game Five against the Mets, 5 innings at home.
4. Win Game Seven against the Mets, 5 innings on the road. Reward: 10 Hall
of Fame votes and a World Series trophy.
*Cooperstown:
5. Beat a lineup that includes Ted Williams. (Oh man, they've got to release
a .mod for this game that will let you pitch against just Ted Williams'
frozen head. With the understanding, of course, that Ted's head alone would
hit .385 with, like, a .570 OBP.) Reward: 10 Points.
Finish up the World Series, and at first you don't have anything to do. So
what does a major leaguer do when they just won the World Series, don't have
a contract, and don't know what they're doing with themselves? Go to Vegas,
of course, and destroy private property. I mean, c'mon, it's not like MLB is
going to go Roger Goodell on them and suspend them.
*Las Vegas:
1. Play Home Run Pinball against Vladimir Guerrero for a one star upgrade to
power hitting, the unlocking of new bat graphics and another trophy.
After this little display, you get resigned by your old team. Which kind of
sucks. They gave up on the season and sent you to TAMPA, and you don't get
the chance to tell them where to stick it? Where's video game Scott Boras
when you need him? (No offense to the nice people of Tampa, but I hate
humidity. So I'm still ticked off.)
But apparently, you weren't quite done with the showing off because before
you get to report back to LA (or wherever) you have one more PR stunt to pull
off.
*New York:
1. Play Home Run Pinball against Alex Rodriguez for another one star upgrade
to power and another trophy. (Which takes some strategy. Be sure that when
you build up to a power up you're ready to send a power show high and in the
center right away, because even if you earn a power up he'll still have the
chance to hit it first and steal it.)
And thus begins season three.
---SEASON THREE [Legend023]
*Los Angeles:
6. Mini Game: Contact hitting mini game...face Maglio Ordonez to win a one
star upgrade in contact hitting. And this time there are red balls mixed in
with the white ones and green ones. They ARE NOT bonus points, in fact
hitting a red ball makes you lose 10,000. So avoid them, they're just there
to break up your rhythm.
7. Mini Game: Speed mini game...run the track in the time given, hitting the
right buttons to propel you, to win a one star upgrade in speed.
8. Mini Game: Contact hitting mini game (unlocked after Cincinnati steal
game)...face Dustin Pedroia to win a one star upgrade in contact hitting. And
now when you hit three straight green balls it launches a whole bunch of
green balls at you. Try to get them all, in fact if you miss two green balls
in this mini game, you might as well just restart.
9. Mini Game: Fielding mini game (unlocked after St. Louis steal game)...face
Albert Pujols to win a one star upgrade to your fielding. Same as before,
make the basic catches, make a legendary catch on the green balls to get
double points and trigger another mini game for 5x points.
*Cincinnati:
1. Stat Challenge: Get 2 Hits and 1 RBI with your character in a five inning
game. Reward: An alternate Reds uniform and a batting title trophy.
2. Scenario Challenge: On the road, bottom 14, tie game. Win it.
3. Player Steal (Stole Closer Francisco Cordero)
*St. Louis:
1. Stat Challenge: Perform two legendary catches with your team in a five
inning game. Reward: An alternate Cardinals uniform.
2. Scenario Challenge: Bottom of the second and down by 2. Come back to win.
3. Player Steal (Stole 1st Base Albert Pujols. I mean, seriously, were you
considering anyone else?)
After the Cincinnati steal game, which I did first, the New York Mets cropped
up as an option. But before I looked into them I finished off St. Louis and
that opened up All Star Weekend.
*All Star Weekend:
1. Power Hitting Derby: Face Lance Berkman in a Home Run Derby sort of thing.
Basically, you want to aim power shots at the targets that crop up. When you
hit three targets, you get to swing for the scoreboard for many more points.
The count starts over if you miss a swing, but not if you make contact and
just don't hit anything. When you get 100,000 points you can trigger a Power
Blast aimed at the scoreboard...and that's how you win it. Reward: 10 Hall
of Fame votes and new "American" themed tattoos.
2. All Star Game: Hit a home run and get the win. Reward: 10 Hall of Fame
Points and the All Star Game MVP Trophy.
Won the all star game, and that triggered Atlanta, plus I had access to the
Mets games that I'd opened but not gotten to play before.
*New York (Mets):
1. Scenario Challenge: Bottom of the 5th, up by a run, hold on to win!
Reward: Alternate Mets Uniform.
2. Stat Challenge: Have a wall catch with your team in this five inning game.
3. Player Steal (Stole CF Carlos Beltran, wanted to take a reliever but I was
so sick of this guy making acrobatic wall catches that I decided to take him
in case I ever have to play these guys again.)
*Atlanta:
1. Big Play Challenge: Get a Grand Slam with your team in this five inning
game. Reward: Alternate Braves Uniform. Not so tough, you can use the "Big
Blast," or you can just get three guys on base, take control of them as
runners by hitting the button corresponding to the lead runner and make them
stay until the bases are loaded, and then hit a regular big shot.
2. Stat Challenge: Get one Home Run and one Stolen Base with your character.
Quite tricky, since you'll probably only have 4 star speed at this point, and
Atlanta's catcher has a Legendary throw. I'd put your character first in the
batting order, get him on base and then try to steal on the second or third
pitch, and then restart the game if it doesn't work until it does. But
that's just me and my short attention span.
3. Player Steal (Stole Catcher Brian McCann)
Cooperstown:
6. Get a shut out against Willie Stargill and friends. In other words,
don't let them score a single run. Reward: 75 HOF Votes.
7. Beat Roberto Clemente and a team with really good gloves. Reward: 40 HOF
votes and a Batting Helmet with no ear flaps.
After both Player Steal games, opened up the Olde Towne Team.
*Boston:
1. Stat Challenge: Get one HR with your character in a five inning game.
2. Big Challenge: Get one Big Blast HR with your character in a five inning
game. Be sure to get 100,000 points and then trigger Big Blast (both
triggers together on XBOX 360).
3. Stat Challenge: Get two HRs with your character in a five inning game.
Reward: 10 Hall of Fame Votes and the "Magazine Cover" trophy.
And so ends Season 3. You've got, by now, a great team through steals and
development and your character just set a new record for single season
Home Runs. And yet, apparently, you still weren't good enough to make the
playoffs. Whatever.
---SEASON 4 [Legend024]
Now before Season 4 officially begins, you get two offseason challenges.
First up, a return South of the Border. That's cool, I could use a Carnitas
Burrito right now.
*Mexico (Casadorez)
1. Stat Challenge: Throw out two runners during the course of a game. The
description tells you to watch out for "Del Toro." This turns out to be
their star pitcher, "El Tormento" Del Toro. "He who irritates the bull."
Nice. This guy would be a nasty pitcher on his own, with a great fastball
AND knuckleball. But he also has a four star pitch known simply as "Fuego."
And he likes to throw inside. Your character and a few of your other key
players will be targeted for injuries. He actually beaned three guys in the
first inning alone. And the worst part was, by the time he got up in the
order so I could get him back, the manager pulled him for someone else. And
when I went after the new pitcher with a "Perfect" Ubaldo Jimenez fastball,
it hit him and did no damage. Cheap. Anyway, Reward: Get both Mexican
teams unlocked for use elsewhere in the game and get your fifth star in glove.
After this win, you get invited to return to Japan with a team of MLB All
Stars.
*Japan
1. Single Game: Beat the Nagano Mountaineers with a team of MLB All Stars.
2. Stat Challenge: Beat the Shinjuku Red Lanterns and get 2 Steals with
your character. Reward: Japanese Teams unlocked and the fifth star for
speed. Plus: The Japan/All Star MVP trophy.
After finishing Japan, you're told that the fourth season has "flown by" and
your team is in the hunt for the Pennant (Championship of the National
League, with, presumably, the World Series to follow). This unlocks several
one off Stat Challenges and Scenarios in several towns.
*Los Angeles
10. Perform a Legendary Catch with your character in a five inning game.
Reward: Your fifth star in Glove/Catching.
*Philadelphia
1. Stat Challenge: Get four hits with your character in a five inning game.
Reward: An alternate Phillies uniform and the Babe Ruth Award Trophy.
*Florida
1. Stat Challenge: Throw out two runners with your character in a five inning
game. Reward: An alternate Marlins uniform.
*Houston
1. Scenario Challenge: Top 6th, down by 3 runs. Come back to win the game.
Reward: An alternate Astros uniform.
*Chicago (Cubs)
1. Scenario Challenge: Bottom of the 12th, tie game. Come back to win.
Reward: An alternate Cubs uniform.
*Milwaukee
1. Stat Challenge: Get 3 stolen bases with your character in a five inning
game. Reward: An alternate Brewers uniform and the Legacy Award Trophy.
*Cooperstown:
8. Beat Tom Seaver and team by four or more runs in this five inning game.
Reward: 75 HOF Votes.
9. Beat Yogi Berra and a team of power hitters. Reward: 40 HOF Votes.
10. Use your character to get 4 hits in this game...against the throwing arm
of Ernie Banks. Just try not to hit it anywhere near 2nd. Reward: 40 HOF
Votes.
11. Rollie Fingers is coming in to close a five inning game. Reward 10 HOF
Votes.
Finish all these up, and you go back to the post-season. Most of them aren't
that bad: for the 4 hits, put your guy first in the lineup so he gets up the
most times, and throw strikes so you have plenty of turbo to hit with and to
shore up your weaker hitters to hit for the cycle at least once. The
Legendary Catch was a pain in the neck. I tried him at every different
position but catcher, and finally lucked out when he was at first base. Not
that the legendary play minigame is that difficult, but it's impossible if
none of the batters will hit it to you.
*POSTSEASON:
A series of nine games, two versus Houston, then three versus the Cubs for
the NL Pennant and the League MVP Award Trophy. Then beat the Yankees in
four games for the World Series MVP Trophy and 40 HOF votes (like I wouldn't
happily do it anyway)! The fourth game is a Stat Challenge, and will require
you to get a Home Run and five RBIs. Keep in mind, you'll be playing at home
which makes this tougher...since you'll bat in the bottom of the inning and
if, in the fifth inning, you're ahead after the other team's top half you
won't get to bat in the bottom half of the inning.
After the World Series win, they tell you that you've retired. But you don't
yet have enough votes for the Hall of Fame, so go play some exhibition games
with the other prospects. This will unlock the rest of the Cooperstown
challenges.
*Cooperstown:
12. Eddie Murray: Make a legendary catch, in the outfield, with your
character.
13. Lou Brock: Steal 3 Bases with your character in this game.
14. Mike Schmidt: Just win against this defensively boosted team.
15. Rod Carew: In order to stop his bat, perform 2 Legendary catches.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, Old Time New York in HR Pinball mode
didn't unlock after the World Series, so I guess you have to beat the rest of
the Cooperstown games first.
---Become A Legend Strategy [Legend03]
Because your performance in the average game with your character doesn't
really matter, strategy for this is different than it was in the first "The
Bigs." But there is still strategy involved for individual challenges.
For example, it's easiest to start your player off at first base. That's the
place a player will need points in throwing the least. And when they get up
to three stars in arm and glove you can move them to second. And when they
get legendary in both you can move them to short.
But with the "Throw a runner out" challenges, just do what the computer says
and put them at second. They'll see more opportunities at shortstop, but
second is better with the weaker throwing arm.
When putting your character in the batting order, it doesn't really matter
where they are. In the last game there was a strategy to getting the most
points per game, but here they don't have those points so bat him where ever
his contact hitting and speed require. If that's 8th or 9th, that's fine.
But if you're in a challenge where you need to get multiple hits, but him
right there at the top of the line up so he gets a few more cracks at it.
And it isn't cheating to have your guy bat first and restart the game if he
doesn't get on base first time up. After all, 5 innings is a lot to play
through if you're going to have to get to the end and THEN find out you failed
and need to restart.
Similarly, if you're in a challenge where you need to get RBIs, put your two
best contact hitters with speed up first in the lineup. Get them on base,
and then take control of the runners so they end up in "scoring position," on
second and third base. Then go for a good contact swing with your character
and most singles will bring them both home.
If you need to hit the long ball, try to get as many hits and strike
outs as you can to build up 100,000 points for the "Big Blast," and pitch
with an eye to getting as much turbo power to bat with as you can. In other
words, throw strikes.
If you need to make a legendary catch or throw a certain number of players
out, that's a pitching problem. Throwing High Curveballs is a good way of
making batters ground out so that you can field them and throw them out. As
for legendary catches, remember that when you're fielder is running towards a
landing circle you can hit the action button ("A" on the XBOX 360) in order
to dive for it. Otherwise, try to throw some high medium speed pitches to
encourage pop outs or high fastballs to encourage people to swing for the
walls your guys are patrolling.
As for stealing players, you want to fill out the weaknesses of your own
roster, but you can only use three of your stolen players per game. So
think carefully. For example, the Dodgers already have a good catcher with
great speed and contact hitting. But Atlanta's catcher, Brian McCann not
only has a legendary arm for throwing people out at second, he has a perk
that gives plus one star to every pitcher on the roster. In other words,
you can use someone like him and then do better with the so-so pitchers
already on your staff instead of adding a new Starter, Reliever and Closer.
On the same subject, keep in mind that Starters can only start, and you can
only have one closer. So if you steal more than one Starting pitcher, only
activate one of them per game to start for you. And if you steal a Closer to
activate, your original closer won't show up in the Bullpen.
Consider, also, that I messed something up. I never stole a player from the
Nationals, because there wasn't anyone worth stealing, and in the first BIGS,
you could only steal a limited number of players. That isn't the case any
more. Now, to put a limit on things, they have the "only play 3 stolen
players per game" rule, but you don't have to be careful of stealing more
players than will fit on your roster.
PanozFan08 on the GameFaqs Message Board suggested I mention that if you play
as one of the teams that the game uses, it will substitute Minnesota (in the
AL) or Florida (in the NL). This may help to inform who you steal, as Hanley
Ramirez from Florida is a very valuable shortstop, and Joe Mauer, from
Minnesota, is a great catcher.
-----Season Mode [Season01]
You also have the option of playing a season based on the regular season.
Your "Become A Legend" Character isn't eligible for this, just a standard
team with their real-life roster. This will let you trade players and
sim games, and also has "Legendary Milestones" that your team can accomplish
to win an Achievement, some of which are easy, some of which are borderline
insane. I started looking into this with the Red Sox, but also checked with
other teams and got the same milestones.
---Legendary Milestones [Season02]
Offense:
1. 73 HRs for the season.
2. 4 HRs in a game with One Player.
3. 130 Stolen Bases in a season.
4. 7 Stolen Bases in a game.
5. 262 Hits in a season
6. 9 Hits in a game with one player.
7. 191 RBIs for the season.
8. 12 RBIs in a game with one player.
Pitching:
1. 41 wins in the season.
2. 383 Strikeouts in a season.
3. 20 Strikeouts in a game.
Now, if you're serious about beating these, you can go into settings and
change the number of innings per game (if you plan to get 20 strikeouts,
you'll need more than 5 innings in a game, not to mention getting 9 hits).
-----Achievements [Ach01]
---General Achievements
1. Against All Odds (10 Points):
Just get any hit off of a pitcher who's throwing a legendary pitch. If you
play "Become A Legend" and do the Cooperstown challenges you should get this
one easily. Otherwise, first time you're up against a pitcher with a
legendary grade pitch just go for the contact hits until you get one off
the pitch in question.
2. Blammo! (15 Points):
Fill your power meter and go into Big Slam mode...not Big Blast mode. On the
XBOX 360 it's holding down both bumpers, instead of both triggers. You don't
even have to get the full four runs, just get a Home Run at the end of it.
3. Burglar (15 Points):
Three steals in any single player game. Easier to get if you try to do it in
conjunction with "Two For The Price Of One" below.
4. Can't Intimidate Me (10 Points):
Find a batter with Legendary stats like Albert Pujols or Manny Ramirez.
Strike them out with three straight pitches in their batter wheelhouse.
Ideally, use a pitcher with strong pitches, like a legendary fastball and
at least one other pitch at 4 stars or better, but it's certainly doable if
you mix your pitches up and get at least a couple perfects. Again, should
be doable in Cooperstown Challenges.
5. Hit For The Cycle (75 Points):
This refers to having any one batter over the course of a game hit a single,
double, triple and home run. Can be done in a 5 inning game. Should be a
batter with good speed and good hitting in both contact and power. I used
the Dodgers' Andre Ethier, who has four stars in all three of those stats.
Over the course of "Become A Legend" you'll probably have the play-by-play
guy say something about "He just needs X for the cycle." Or, if you're
looking to do this, try hitting towards right field each time. When you get
one that the fielder has trouble with, has trouble fielding, just keep
going and try for 3rd. Easier when they come up early in the lineup, and
when there's no one on base. Try using turbo to hit the contact ball and
then just gun it and slide in. Then, wait for a "Big Blast" to hit the
home run.
6. Look Out Below (20 Points):
Get 5 Home Runs in a single solo game.
7. Party Like It's 1881 (50 Points):
This wants you to get a Grand Slam the old fashioned way. By earning it.
(I miss John Houseman.) In other words, get the bases loaded and then have
someone hit a home run. I did this normally, and hit the home run with Turbo
on a player, but you might be able to do it with a Big Blast, just so long as
you load the bases on your own. If you try that and it doesn't work, try
doing it with a regular, non-Juiced homerun from someone with great batting
Stats, like David Ortiz or Joe Mauer.
8. Penultimate Perfection (50 Points):
Get a no hitter. 5 innings, nobody gets on base, at least not by getting a
hit (see "Textbook Perfection" below). Good luck with this one, you'd better
be using a great pitcher and a great infield, against a team that can't hit
at all.
9. Perfection (20 Points):
Less Perfect. You just need to keep the other team from getting a run.
10. Power Struggle (15 Points):
Win a game on "Super Hard" difficulty in a single player mode.
11. Taste Of Power (10 Points):
Perform your first Legendary catch. This should happen over the course of
your first or second game.
12. Textbook Perfection (100 Points):
This is the actual definition of a perfect game. Don't let anyone get on
base for any reason. This means no walks, no errors, no hit batsmen. But
considering I've yet to see an error in this game, you can forget that.
Frankly, it's tough to imagine getting Penultimate Perfection without also
getting this, but if you're pitching style includes throwing more outside the
strike zone than mine does, it's certainly possible.
13. The Slam Dance (10 Points):
Your opponent (or the computer) triggers Big Slam mode. Put a perfect 2 Seam
Fastball right past him high and inside. Or your choice of pitches that he
fails to hit.
14. Two For The Price Of One (10 Points):
Get a double steal. Hit the lead off button, followed by the Steal button,
followed by the Double Steal button (Right Bumper on XBOX 360). The catcher
will usually go after the lead runner, the one trying to steal 3rd, so be
sure you've got your fastest guy on first. Don't forget, it's easier to get
"Burglar" above in the same game that you get this one.
---Home Run Pinball Achievements
15. Apocalyptic Success (10 Points):
Build up 100,000 points to earn a big blast and then hit a power shot
straight up and you should get the New Year's Eve globe.
16. Double The Fun (50 Points):
Play Home Run Pinball on Co-Op Mode. Get a total of 2,000,000 points between
you.
17. Happy New Years (10 Points):
Get Big Blast and take out the New Year's Eve ball in Old Time New York.
18. Retro Times Square Master (10 Points):
Get a total of 1,000,000 points in the Old Time New York Home Run Pinball.
19. Shibuya Master (10 Points):
Get a total of 1,000,000 points in the Tokyo Home Run Pinball game.
20. Slay The Giant Brute (10 Points):
Take out the billboards on the top of the building to the right to reveal
the Godzilla homage. Then earn a Big Blast and power hit it up and to the
right.
21. Take That Blimp Down (10 Points):
Build up 100,000 points to earn a Big Blast in Las Vegas, wait until the
blimp is in range and then take it out!
22. Times Square Master (10 Points):
Get a total of 1,000,000 points in the modern New York Home Run Pinball.
23. Vegas Master (10 Points):
Get a total of 1,000,000 points in Las Vegas Home Run Pinball.
---Become A Legend Achievements
24. Become A Legend (100 Points):
Finish Become A Legend mode.
25. Japan Complete (20 Points):
Finish the Japan portion of Become A Legend. This won't trigger until after
the season 4 preseason, so don't be worried if you don't have it after the
first trip to Japan.
26. Mexico Complete (20 Points):
Finish the Mexican portion of Become A Legend. This won't trigger until
after the season 4 preseason, so don't be worried if you don't have it after
your rehab stint in Mexico before season one.
---Season Specific Achievements
27. Best Season Ever (50 Points):</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
Match all of the Legendary Milestones during a season in Season Mode.
28. Power Derby Winner (30 Points):
Win the Season Mode Power Derby
29. You Are The Champions (100 Points):
Win the World Series at the end of a season with 1,000,000 points total.
---Legend Specific Achievements
30. Legendary Strikeout (15 Points):
Strikeout Babe Ruth.
31. Steal Dave Winfield (15 Points):
Beat the Dave Winfield challenge.
32. Steal Ozzie Smith (15 Points):
Beat the Ozzie Smith challenge.
33. Steal Reggie Jackson (15 Points):
Beat the Reggie Jackson challenge.
34. Steal Ryne Sandberg (15 Points):
Beat the Ryne Sandberg challenge.
35. Steal Wade Boggs (15 Points):
Beat the Wade Boggs challenge.
---Multiplayer Achievements
36. 10 Times The Fun (20 Points):
Win 10 Ranked Exhibition Xbox LIVE matches.
37. Cross-Continental Success (10 Points):
Win your first XBOX Live match.
-----Thanks and Copyrights [Thanks01]
Thanks to Blue Castle Games, 2K Sports and Take Two interactive for making an
enjoyable game, and thanks to the nice folks who make XBOX. They rock my
world on a regular basis.
Thanks to the Red Sox...just for being them. I recognized them in my guide
to The Bigs (part 1) and they won a world series. So thanks to them again,
including everybody who wasn't here for one of my previous guides: Bay,
LaRoche (who was here for the first two versions of this FAQ, but had been
traded again by the time V1.3 was done. So, thanks dude. It was fun while
it lasted.), Penny, Saito, Smoltz, Greene and Lowrie! And, out of respect to
history, to Rice, Pudge, Spaceman, Dewey, Yaz and Buckner! And to El Tiante:
Gracias.
And since they help me practice this nonsense on a regular basis, thanks to
my softball team, HOUSE MONEY, who make it all worthwhile. JR, Marty, Wild
Bill, Apryl, Al, Cait, AT, Cougar, BooBoo, Laura, Neil, Tales, Mike, Joel,
Amy and Eric.
The original advice/analysis and other content of this FAQ/Guide is copyright
2009 Brian DiMattia. Please don't copy it elsewhere without giving credit.
XBOX, XBOX 360 and all related trademarks belong to Microsoft.
The Bigs and all related trademarks are copyrights of 2K Sports, Blue Castle
Games and their related entities.
All MLB team names, stadiums, events (like "World Series"), player names
and likenesses are copyright and/or trademarked by Major League Baseball
or the Major League Baseball Players Association.
