Yeah I started a Rangers franchise (I am a Red Sox fan) in MLB 09 and we are limping out of the gates. We are 1-4 or 2-4 with the Rangers winning the first game of the season against the Indians but then lost the next 2 due to poor pitching. Then I lost the next two games against the Tigers in the last couple of innings. Hamilton is providing a spark with a .700 average 0 HR but no one else is pulling their weight so he has no RBI oppertunities. I'm thinking of trading Kinsler (.230 AVG 1 HR 1 RBI) and Young (.287 AVG 0 HR 2 RBI) for A-Rod and Cano but I think i'll wait till later in the season before I begin to question the Rangers offense. My next series is against Toronto so hopefully I can put it to em. I enjoy that i'm losing because when I did a Red Sox franchise I was winning 99% of the time. This is challenging because I need to rebuild some areas of my squad.

Anyway good luck with you franchise (I buy MLB The Show every two years so BRING ON MLB 11!)

Hi ffyfe7, Thanks for responding my blog. Good luck with your Ranger's Franchise. I'm guessing that you are playing at an advanced level. In the future I might play at a higher level too. My main goal with the Franchise is to complete it. You know even with playing at an easy level I still have to get motivated to play the game. If I lost too much I would have quit the season. I try to play 3 games during the week and 5 on weekends. I don't want to get burnt out on the game but I'd like to finish by August. Over the weekend I did lose two tho KC Royals getting blown out 10-3 in one game. I will post the results in screen shots Tuesday. I do lose. I have not masetered veteran level but when I play I really concentrate. I have new respect for Real MLB players. I really seeing that the season is a real grind you really have to work at staying focused.

Yeah I'm playing on veteran and I recently had a game against the Orioles where I was up 5-0 in the 2nd inning but then I gave up 4 HRs (3 in a row) in the 4th and ended up losing 16-6. It was tough to play it out and now I am 2-5 but on the plus side I traded Nelson R. Cruz (.086 AVG, 1HR, 1 RBI) and a minor leaguer for Adam Lind (.386 AVG, 2HR, 8 RBI) and in his 1st game he was a HR off the cycle. I really need better pitching options as the only good starter I have is Kevin Millwood who has a sub 2.00 ERA, the rest suck, my relievers all have over 5.00 ERA and we are currently 30th for both HR's allowed and ERA. I might pick up Ben Sheets from the FA...he's expensive but if I can win games he will bring in the crowds which bring in money and I don't want my season to be derailed this early.

I play at least 1 game a day and with my Red Sox franchise I got up past the All Star break before my PS3 broke so I thought I do a franchise with a team that is good but needs improvements to win a WS.

Hi ffyfe7, Your franchise sounds interesting to me. Are you going for a win this year strategy or are you going to try to build a power house team? Since you playing as Texas,my suggestion to you is make sure you get a ground ball pitcher. Someone with a good splitter,sinker, or 2-seam fastball. Do you use the practices modes. I know the punch out mode helped me a lot with throwing curves,sinkers and , 2-seamers.One other sucgestion that really helped me is if you get a man on base adjust your 3rd baseman to guard the line. The cpu really try to hit ball right up the third base line. As for ps3 breaking I know that feeling too well. Mine broke 2 years ago.Lucky it was still under warranty.It took about 2 weeks to get fixed. I hope my suggestions help. Good Luck with you Franchise.

Yeah well I picked up Ben Sheets for 2 seasons (set me back $30 mil) and put him at number two. Who would you recommend as a good ground ball pitcher because I don't want to give up Millwood and I would like to see how Sheets goes and also my next 3 pitchers are really average because they seem to either go well for the first 2 innings and then collapse or they just collapse.

In regards to practice MLB 09 only has the batter/baserunning training so that is out of the question. Maybe its because I am playing on a HD TV and not SD, it seems to run a bit smoother its not too bad but baseball is all about timing and it could be the difference between an out and base hit, base hit or HR and even between a win and a loss

Hi ffyfe7, Here is a quick list of ground ball pitchers Brandon Webb, Chien-Ming Wang, Derek Lowe, Fausto Carmona, and Justin Masterson. The ulimate Ground ball pitcher today would be Cliff Lee, but you would probably need to give up alot for him. Sorry I forgot you are playing MLB09. One thing I miss about MLB09 is the home run cut scene where you see the batter just mashing the ball,with the camera facing the batter. This year all the cut scenes are from behind the batter. Where do you have Josh Hamilton in you line-up 3 or 4. One of the two teams that I lost a series to this season was the Rangers.