Making the Show: A guide on The Road to The Show game mode (MLB 09: The Show) - Whitesox's Blog

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Making the Show: A guide on The Road to The Show game mode (MLB 09: The Show)

Posted on June 20, 2009 at 02:03 AM.

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Well, becasue people seemed to think my all-around guide here was helpful, I have decided to write another one on the Road to The Show game mode. I love this mode, mostly because it allows people to live out their asperations of being a Major League Baseball player (and making millions upon millions of dollars) without requiring any athletic ability what so ever. However, just because it isn't physically tasking, that doesn't mean it is not difficult, so this guide is made to help you on your way. The first part of this process is:

Creating your player

One of the cool things about this mode is you can make whoever, or whatever you want. You can make yourself, a friend, or just a random person. I will go over each of sub-menus in the creat-a-player feature.

General: This section contains you player's name, age, jersey number, Positions, and your throwing and batting hands. When you choose your name, make sure to check the extensive audio database for it, by clicking first/last name audio. If it is there, the announcers will say your name. If not, you can still choose a cool nickname. Your age is pretty self explanitory.

You can have two positions, a primary and a seconday. For primary you can choose the basic nine positions. However with secondary, you can choose one of the eight positions you haven't selected, and Infield, Outfield, Catcher/Third Base, Catcher/First Base, Second Base/Short Stop, and First Base/Third Base. This is useful if you want your player to have more than two positions, kind of like a utility player. It should be noted, however, that you will play your primary position for the most part. You can also choose to bat left, right, or switch, and you can choose to throw left or right*

*Does not apply to certain positions, this will be explained later in the guide.

Body: This is where you customize the visual aspect of your player. You can select from 8 different skin tones, ranging from pale white to dark black.

You can select your height to be anywhere from 5' 5" to 6' 10". Your minimum and maximum wieghts change based on your height. The minimum weight for someone 5' 5" is 150 lbs. For every inch you grow, it increases 1-2 lbs. The maximum for someone 5' 5" is 220 lbs. For every inch you grow, the maximum increases 4-5 lbs.

You can choose your body type from Fat, Normal,, and Buff. All self explanitory. You can also change your neck size.

Specific Customization: I will be listing each part of the body you can customize in more detail, most include sliders to allow you to give your player a unique look, however the hair features do not.

Head
Hair (No sliders)
Cheeks
Eyes
Eyebrows
Nose
Ears
Jaw
Mouth
Chin
Neck
Facial Hair (No sliders)

Accessories:
Bat: Pine, Black, Red, Brown
Glove Color: Brown, Black, Blue
Left and Right Sleeves: None, Above Elbow, Long, 3/4
Left and Right Forearm and Wristbands: None, Thin, Wide, Thin W/Number, Wide W/Number
Wrist Tape: Left, Right, Both
Batting Glove: Left, Right, Both
Gloves in back pockets: Left, Right, Both
Turtleneck: No, Yes
Helmet Style: Old, New
Helmet Pine Tar: None, Light, Medium, Heavy
Dual-Flap Helmet: No, Yes
Glasses: None, Types 1-8
Eye Black: No, Yes
Elbow/Shin Guard: No, Yes
Pants Style: Low Socks, High Socks, Long, Baggy, Stirrup Socks
Catchers Mask*: Old, New
Knee Savers*: No, Yes

* Only applies to catchers.

As you can see, SCEA offers us an immense amount of customization. Next up:

ATTRIBUTES
I am going to list each attribute and it's effects. It is worth noting that each position has different attibute celings to start with, which I will outline in the next section. When I say left or right, that means there are two of that attribute, one for facing left handed pitchers, and one for facing right handed pitchers.

Contact (Left and Right): Your player's ability to hit the ball on a full swing. Increasing this will increase the amount of hits you get.
Power (Left and Right): How hard your player can hit the ball. Increasing this will allow you to hit more home runs.
Bunting Ability: How good your player is at getting the bunt down. Increasing this makes you less likely to bunt foul or miss on a sacrifice oppertunity.
Drag Bunting: How good your player is at bunting for hits. Increasing this attibute will allow you to get a drag bunt down easier without missing or fouling it off.
Plate Vision: How well your player sees the plate
Plate Disc. : How disciplined your player is at the plate. (May affect check swings)
Clutch: How good your player is at hitting in important situations.
Durability: The higher, the less likely your player is to be injured.
Speed: How fast your player is
Arm Strength: How hard your player can throw the ball.
Arm Accuracy: How accurate your player is with throws.
Reaction: How quickly your player gets to the bal.
Fld Ability: How "sure handed" your player is.
Blocking*: How well your player blocks the plate.
BR Ability: How good your player is at running the bases.
BR Agg. : How aggressive your player is on the base paths.

*Only applies to catchers
PITCHING ATTRIBUTES
Stamina: How much energy your pitcher has
Pitching Clutch: How good your pitcher is at getting the big outs.
H/9: How frequently your pitcher gives up hits.
HR/9: How frequently your pitcher gives up home runs.
K/9: How frequently your pitcher gets strikeouts.
BB/9: How frequently your pitcher gives up walks.
Pitch X* speed: How hard your pitcher can throw pitch X*.
Pitch X* control: How much control your pitcher has over pitch X*.
Pitch X* break: How much break your pitcher throws pitch X* with.
*There is no pitch X, X is a variable.
Just a little more for attributes, each position has a different cap for the attributes at the start, and some have different restrictions. Remember when I said some positions can't throw left handed?

POSITION SPECIFIC RESTRICTIONS AND BENEFITS

SP: High Stamina (cap 70), Low BB/9 (cap 25)
CP: High Pitching Clutch (cap 55), low stamina (cap 20)
C: CAN ONLY THROW RIGHT HANDED High arm strength/accuracy (cap 50)
1B: High contact/power (cap 45), Low speed (cap 30)
2B: CAN ONLY THROW RIGHT HANDED High speed (cap 50), Low power (cap 35)
3B: CAN ONLY THROW RIGHT HANDED High arm strength (cap 55)
SS: CAN ONLY THROW RIGHT HANDED High speed (cap 55), Low power (cap 30)
LF/RF: High arm strength (cap 55), Low speed (cap 30)
CF: High speed (cap 65), low Power (cap 25)

Ok, whew, done with create a player. That just goes to show how deep the create a player is. Next up:

ENTER DRAFT vs. SELECT TEAM

SCEA gave us the beautiful option of choosing to either enter the draft, and get picked by a team, or select our team. Each option has it's distinct advantadges. If you choose to enter the Draft, then you will end up on a team that actually needs someone of your position.

For example, say the Marlins need a Center Fielder, but the Yankees don't. If I enter the draft as a Center Fielder, there is a good chance I will get picked by the Marlins, because they need a Center Fielder. But if I am a Yankees fan, I can choose to be picked by the Yankees, and while I will enjoy playing for them in the coming years, I can't be sure that they will have an opening for me. It will be harder for you to get to The Show, and you might get traded anyway, because the Yankees don't need you, and wind up on the Malins anyway. The choice is yours, but I perfer the draft because I don't have to worry about not playing when I fully develop. However if the Yankees need starting pitching, and I am a Yankees fan. If I make a pitcher Road to the Show then there is no reason to not choose to be picked by them.

SPRING TRAINING

It's time for you to begin your career! This is where the real fun starts. You seem to start quite often if you play as a position player, if you play as a Starting Pitcher you will be the #5 starter, and if you play as a Closer you will be the teams closer. Now one thing to remember about spring training is that you are a brand new created player, witth very low stats, playing against major leaguers. You will probably not do well here, so don't get overly fristrated! Just remember to take it wasy, it is only a game.

TRAINING
Training is how you get better in this game. You earn training points by performing well..so in order to get better, you have to perform well. This is one of the hardest things about Road to the Show, because it is just a vicious cycle. In order to get good, you have to be good, and in order to be good, you have to get good. One of the hardest things you will do over your career is breaking this cycle.

ADVANCEMENT GOALS
These goals will determine if you can get the starting job, keep the starting job, and get promoted. These goals are the NUMBER ONE priority for any Road to the Show Player. You will be given an amoun of series' to complete certain tasks like raise Contact vs. LHP or Bat .300. The amount of goals and the timeframe you have to do them vary, but are proportional. The game will not give you 6 goals to complete within a week, but rather 2 or 3. Likewise the game will not give you one goal to complete over 2 or 3 weeks.

INTERACTIONS
Interactions occur primarily between you and the manager. With these interactions you can: Call a team meeting, Ask for a position change, "Talk" to the manager about your playing time, and ask for a trade. Be aware thuogh, all of these will have negative reprocussions if they don't succeed.

OPTIONS (NOT THE CONTRACT KIND)
An option is baiscally a way of limitting a team can send a certain player down to the minor leagues without having to pass him through waivers. This includes you. Each player gets 3 minor league options. If you are sent down to the minors after you have reached the pros, you lose an option. However, once an option has been used, it lasts all year.

OPTIONS (THE CONTRACT KIND)
A contract option basically allows the team or the player decide if the player wants to come back for another year. If your contract has a player option, then at the end of your contract you can choose to stay an extra year. If it has a club contract, then the team chooses if they want you back.

FREE AGENCY
Once your contract is up, you may be wondering why you can't be a free agent. You must have 6 years of Major League Service Time. After you hit that mark, and your contract expires, your team has 15 days to exclusively try and sign you. After that, you are free game.

SERVICE TIME
A service year is defined as 172 days. This can be earned during a regular season. When you get 3 service years, you are eligible for abitration, and at 6 you are eligible for free agency

ROOKIE QUALIFICATION
You may be wondering why you aren't a rookie anymore. A player is no longer a rookie if he has had 130 or more at-bats in a season, or he has had 50 or more innings pitched in a season.

And finally, I have prepared 5 vital tips for you on your Road to the Show.

1. GOALS COME FIRST!
This is the single most mis-understood thing about Road to the Show. If you don't do your goals, you will never make it to the show. You will rot on the AA bench while you hit tons of homers or steal tons of bases. Complete your goals, and then better your skills.

2. STATS MEAN NOTHING
Stats are nothing in terms of advancement in this mode. The manager might say we are not promoting you because of your stats, but this is not true. SCEA just put that in to make it sound authentic. You do need stats to gain training points, but that is it. You then use your training points to complete your goals and better your skills, so you can get promoted and earn more points.

3. SPRING TRAINIG = FREE TRAINING POINTS
Beacause there are no advancement goals in spring training, you can use your points on whatever you want. You can carry them over to the regular season, where you will have goals, but those goals are designed to be completed withing the timeframe given, not over spring training.

4. LEARN TO USE THE PLAYER OPTION ON YOUR CONTRACT
This can be very useful when your club doesn't want you back, and you enjoy playing there, or are making a lot of money.

5. BE PATIENT!
This is huge. Remember, no one makes it to the show in one year, and you are no exception. If you expect to be in the majors instantly, then this mode really isn't for you. Also remember, this mode is one of many, so don't overplay it, or you may not want to again.

AND FINALLY *drumroll*

RETIREMENT

Yes, after a long and (hopefully) prosperous career, you can retire like a true champion. After that the game gives you a rating on your career. There is also a Hall of Fame potential bar, which suggests you can be inducted into the Hall of Fame, even though I have yet to do it.

That just about does it, as always, please leave constructive criticism,any thing you want me to write about, and ANY errors you find in this mamoth document. It is huge, so there are sure to be some in there. I don't care if it is in the form of a Privite Message, Comment, Chalkboard Message, or even a meebo IM. Good luck with the show!

Comments

# 1 TheRunAndShoot @ Jun 22

another great blog... A franchise blog next?

# 2 Whitesox @ Jun 22

Perhaps

But that will be hard because I need some actual meet for the guide rather than just copying the transaction handbook.

# 3 babyruth1914 @ Jun 4

Do you know if our career players can get their number retired?

# 4 Whitesox @ Jun 4

I don't think so, because for one's number to be retired, they must retire. And if you retire, then the game ends. (At least I think)

# 5 babyruth1914 @ Jun 5

In other words do jersey numbers become unavailable while you still play? if you go to another team or get traded? It would suck to have a really, really good player thats destined for the Hall of Fame, and see it go to some schmuck fake guy. That to me would make no sense at all to have numbers in the game that are unavailable, but you can't ever seem to get that honor your self to at least have our career players number unavailable for anyone else while he plays. I made the best pitcher in the majors and i know if he was that good in real life they wouldn't hesitate for a minute no matter what team he played for.