How do you steal bases?

[Effington]

I don't mean what the buttons are, I mean how do you do it successfully?

My rate of success is 48%, which is dead last in the league. The next four are: 64%, 69%, 70%. In other words, I'm not even close to anyone in the league.

My three main base stealers are Soriano, Miles, and Theriot. All suck. I even boosted Theriot's speed. No help.

The main issue I'm having is getting a good jump. It seems like my guys take FOREVER to get moving. Literally, I press the button and there's like a five second delay. Half the time I try to swing just to foul it off because I know there isn't a chance in hell he'd make it with that ****ty jump.

On top of that, is there a way to control the slide? It definitely seems like head first slides are the way to go, but I can't seem to get control of my guy to do it. Any help?

[Ohpityme]

Hmm
I take the lead just before the wind up and press L2 straight after and I have a great success rate for stealing bases I'm talking 70%+
I dont think I've ever been caught stealing with Reyes.
I'll only ever try and steal with
Reyes,Beltran and Wright and Castillo.
When youre swining at the pitches to foul off then maybe youre just assuming hes not gonna make and youre actually stopping him succesfully stealing a base?
And with the dives its just aim the stick in the direction you want to dive isnt it???

[Zinger]

I sympathise with the OP. I'm playing as the reds, so have got base speed to spare, but so far my success rate has been abysmal. I'll try Ohpityme's tip about taking the lead just before the wind up.

[The Bimmer]

My tip would be that you make sure you run in the right situations. For EX. stealing on the first pitch is a low% play because most pitchers throw a fastball to start. Look for a favorable count to run like an 0-2 or 1-2 count were you know there is a great chance the CPU will try an make you chase something off-speed and out of the strike zone. Sometimes the batter at the plate dictates when i steal. If i have a guy at the plate i know they are trying to pitch around you will find opportunities to run also. Hope this helps

[RogueHominid]

Quote: Originally Posted by The Bimmer

My tip would be that you make sure you run in the right situations. For EX. stealing on the first pitch is a low% play because most pitchers throw a fastball to start. Look for a favorable count to run like an 0-2 or 1-2 count were you know there is a great chance the CPU will try an make you chase something off-speed and out of the strike zone. Sometimes the batter at the plate dictates when i steal. If i have a guy at the plate i know they are trying to pitch around you will find opportunities to run also. Hope this helps

That's very helpful. I've learned what good hit and run counts are, but I was transferring that to steals as well and getting killed, lol. It makes sense to run on pitcher's counts.

What gets me is that the announcers frequently comment on base stealers going early in the count, and since I am still learning good baseball fundamentals, I sometimes take my cue from them. Not such a good idea .

[The Bimmer]

I am glad this helps you out. Also be aware of who you have at the plate. For ex. Last night i had Crawford at first with 2 outs and Burrell at the plate with Gross on deck. I was thinking they might pitch around Burrell to get to Gross (to have lefty against lefty), so i took the first 2 pitches which were balls just like i thought, and on 2-0 i figured i aint seeing anything good here so i sent Crawford and guess what a curveball in the dirt, it gets past the catcher and Crawford moves up to third. Burrell gets walked on four pitches. This should give you an example of a good spot to run in.

[Effington]

I don't think the issue is stealing on fastball counts, it's just that there's a huge delay between when I press the steal button and when he actually moves. I generally press the button right when the pitcher goes into his windup, do you need to wait a second? The few times I get a decent jump I am successful.

[RogueHominid]

Quote: Originally Posted by Effington

I don't think the issue is stealing on fastball counts, it's just that there's a huge delay between when I press the steal button and when he actually moves. I generally press the button right when the pitcher goes into his windup, do you need to wait a second? The few times I get a decent jump I am successful.

Okay, I see what you're saying. I've noticed that delay as well, but you can directly input the steal command whenever you like by hitting triangle. Make sure you have the runner selected using the R-stick, and when you want to bolt, hit triangle and your guy will take off with no hesitation. You just better be right, or you'll get picked off. With the RT, I think there's a slight delay as the batter makes his read to ensure that the pitcher is going to the plate. It wouldn't surprise me if SCEA programmed the baserunning attribute to contribute to the length of that delay, but I can't say that for sure.