Strides, Slide Steps, and Stealing

[dougdfc]

I lurked a bit beforehand, and didn't find any conclusive answers, so sorry if I missed any potential answers. I've been playing RTTS, and I've stumbled upon a few things that I just can't figure out.

1. I've been bouncing between a bunch of batting stances(Adam Eaton, Josh Donaldson, Hanley Ramirez, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Jimmy Rollins, currently Babe Ruth), and really developed a liking, or at least a comfort level with the ones that have high, or slow strides. I just wanted to know if there's any real benefits or drawbacks to the style of stride?

2. I like to steal bases, a lot. sometimes I'll try to go from first to third on two pitches. Problem is, I can't take leads, without getting a dozen pickoff attempts, and slide step 95mph fastballs. This isn't an issue most of the time when trying to take second, but getting to third is really tough, especially when you can't see the second baseman and the pitcher at the same time. I try the 'hold back until he stretches' trick, but the jump is atrocious when I do that, and get thrown out often. Related: at 80 speed, is it a wise idea to think about taking home?

3. I want to know just how to do the aforementioned slide step. on a file with a pitcher, baserunners have free bases because I can't slide step. Is it even possible?

Bonus question. Why is it so easy to get called up to the bigs?

[corndog86]

What type of basestealing do you do? I usually set my pickoff attempts down to almost nothing. They still pickoff but I can actually take a lead without 10 straight attempts. I've never tried to steal home and my players speeds are usually high 90s. You'd have to get lucky and hope for a breaking ball in the dirt.

Bonus answer. If you don't want to get called up, fail goals on purpose. Hold back putting points into your player's attributes until you're ready. Most of all, set your difficulty higher so you're not batting .400+ in AAA. I'm in my third season in AAA and love it. Batting around .320 with a .370 OBP. I simulate every other game, too, so I don't get an overload of points. I practice patience at the plate to draw walks. Hardly ever swing at the first two pitches. It will come in handy when I make the bigs.

[dougdfc]

I use analog baserunning. generally just hold R1 for the lean, then jump right when I see his front foot move. But if I take a lead it's either slidestep fastball or pickoff attempt. very rarely do I get a regular stretch.

I completely forgot about goals, but i'll try playing on Hall of Fame for my next minor leaguer.

[dougdfc]

Sorry to bump my own thread here, but I really only got an answer to half the questions.

And now base stealing has gotten too easy. How could I ramp it up and make it so I'm not 20 steals ahead of the next best guy in May?