BASEBALL FAQ By Robert Johnson (Rej72380) Created on June 25, 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1) INTRODUCTION 2) CONTROLS 2.1) BATTING 2.2) BASE RUNNING 2.3) PITCHING 2.4) FIELDING 3) RULES OF THE GAME 4) GENERAL STRATEGIES 5.1) BATTING 5.2) BASE RUNNING 5.3) PITCHING 5.4) FIELDING 5) PLAYER LIST 5.1) USA MODE 5.2) JAPAN MODE 6) IN CLOSING 7) CONTACT INFORMATION 8) LEGAL INFORMATION 1) INTRODUCTION Welcome, folks, to my FAQ on the Gameboy game Baseball. As you can quite imagine, it is a baseball video game. In this guide, I'll give you the basic controls of the various factors of the game, such as batting and pitching, as well as general strategies to win at least a few games against the very cheap A.I., a full player list for both USA and Japan mode and detailed rules of the game. Without further ado, let's play ball! 2) CONTROLS As you can quite imagine, base is a sport that can't be conquered without learning the basic flow of play, or in the case of video game baseball, basic controls of gameplay. 2.1) BATTING Control Pad--Moves the batter in the batter's box. A Button--Swings the bat. Slightly tap A to make a check swing (not recommended), press A to attempt to bunt and hold A to swing the bat fully. 2.2) BASE RUNNING A Button + Control Pad--Return runners to the previous base. B Button + COntrol Pad--Advance the runner to the next base. Base running key: Right--First Base Up--Second Base Left--Third Base Down--Home Plate 2.3) PITCHING A Button + Control Pad--Select a pitch A Button, after selecting a pitch--Pitch the ball B Button + COntrol Pad--Pick off base stealer Pitch key: Down--Fastball Up--Breaking ball Left--Curveball left Right--Curveball right Use the diagonal buttons of the Control Pad to mix up pitches, such as the slider or the screwball. Pick off key: Right--First Base Up--Second Base Left--Third Base Down--Home Plate 2.4) FIELDING Control Pad--Moves fielder. All fielders will move in unison. A Button + Control Pad (while ball is in glove)--Throw to infielder/ catcher. Throwing key: Right--First Base Up--Second Base Left--Third Base Down--Home Plate 3) RULES OF THE GAME For the complete novice or n00b baseball fan/player, you're probably wondering what the general rules of the game would be like. This section covers the rules of the game, with a a rule usually not seen in Major League Baseball. OBJECT OF THE GAME: The object of the game is for one team to score more runs than the other team within a 9-inning timeframe. REGARDING BATTING: Each player, in a nine-player order, will have a turn at batting. A base hit is made if the batter successfully hits the ball thrown by the pitcher onto the field, without any mistakes made by the opposing defense. An out is made when the batter either strikes out, is tagged by a fielder with ball in glove, their batted ball gets caught in midair or the fielder touches a base that hasn't been occupied by a baserunner. If the batter gets four balls called in his at-bat, he'll get to go to first base, with any baserunner on first moving up to second and so on. If the batter gets three strikes by either swinging and missing the pitch or the pitch is in the strike zone, he called out. Hitting a foul ball with two strikes will give the batter a free pitch to hit, with the lone expection being that the ball is bunted out of bounds. Any balls that are hitted foul with less than 2 strikes will result in a strike, regardless of it being swung or buntted. REGARDING PITCHING: If a pitcher throws a ball outside of the strike zone, it is called a ball. If a pitch is thrown in the strike zone or the batter swings or misses the pitch, regardless if it's inside the strike zone, is called a strike. FLOW OF THE GAME. Each inning consists of two halfs--One for the away team, going first, and one for the home team, going secon-- with three outs per half. The game is over when the final out is recorded in the bottom of the ninth, with the away team leading, in the top of the ninth, if the home team is winning, or if the home team takes the lead in the bottom of the ninth. Special rule in Gameboy Baseball is the mercy rule, which ends the game in any inning if the team leads by 10 or more runs at the end of the home team's half of the inninng. If the game is tied after nine innings, the game will go into extra innings, playing until one team has the lead at the end of the inning. 4) GENERAL STRATEGIES This section is for those who want to some tips to help beat either the computer opponent or a very tough human opponent, via the Gameboy Link Cable. 4.1) BATTING - As you can quite imagine, the opposing A.I. rarely pithces ball when it is on the mound. Your best bet is to swing at every pitch. - It helps to know that the timing of your swing will affect where the ball goes. Swing too early and you'll hit a foul ball. Swing too late and it will fly in the air, allowing the A.I. to get under the pop fly and easily catch it for the out. - Beware of the A.I. when it comes up to bat, as it'll get quite a few hits and homeruns, sometimes running up the score board in just one inning, regardless of what type of pitch you threw to or where it was thrown. 4.2) BASE RUNNING - Don't get too greedy running the basepaths, as the A.I. will quickly gun you down if you try to get a double. Make sure the ball is hit long enough out of the reach of the fielders to improve your odds of getting at least a double. - If you have a runner on first base, you can go from there to third if you get a base hit, as the A.I. will forget to throw to third to gun you down. This is something to exploit to the fullest extent. - The A.I. is really intelligent when it comes to base running. Any errors made by your team in regards to fielding will ensure extra bases for the computer. 4.3) PITCHING - Keep an eye on your pitcher's stamina, as he'll get tired as the game progresses. His velocity will drop as his stamina drops. - Try using your fast ball as much as possible, especially against hitters who use the same hand as the pitcher. - Your pitching game should consist of the third pitcher in the bullpen to start the game, the fourth pitcher to be the set-up man and the first pitcher to be the closer. 4.4) FIELDING - There will be instances where the fielder will automatically catch a fly ball. Don't move the field in this regard. - If the catch is not automatically made, you can still manually catch the ball by moving the fielder under the shadow of the ball. - Try to eliminate fielding errors as much as possible. If a batter gets a base hit, throw to second base to cut him off and limit him to just a single. 5) PLAYER LIST This is the player list for both teams in the game, the W-Bears and the R-Eagles. Remember that the player batting ninth in the batting order is always the pitcher. 5.1) USA MODE W-BEARS BATTING ORDER 1) Mike 2) Tom 3) Jim 4) John 5) Bob 6) Rick 7) David 8) Eddie W-BEARS PITCHING STAFF 1) Mario 2) Paul 3) Eric 4) Jimmy W-BEARS BENCH -Jack -Alan -Fred R-EAGLES BATTING ORDER 1) Joe 2) Louis 3) Teddy 4) Steve 5) Peter 6) Scott 7) Brian 8) Jeff R-EAGLES PITCHING STAFF 1) Luigi 2) Phil 3) Randy 4) Sam R-EAGLES BENCH -Duke -Jason -Mac 5.2) JAPAN MODE W-BEARS BATTING ORDER 1) Waka 2) Michi 3) Wan 4) Cho 5) Khoji 6) Buchi 7) Isao 8) Yoshi W-BEARS PITCHING STAFF 1) Igawa 2) Mura 3) Kane 4) Natsu W-BEARS BENCH -Kake -Morio -Dai R-EAGLES BATTING ORDER 1) Fuku 2) Jiroh 3) Hario 4) Futo 5) Kado 6) Ochi 7) Nomu 8) Toyo R-EAGLES PITCHING STAFF 1) Tonbi 2) Yama 3) Keshi 4) Inaho R-EAGLES BENCH -Hide -Erito -Irose 6) IN CLOSING I hoped you enjoyed this guide. With the knowledge in hand, even you can be a recurring winner and the opposing A.I. at it's own game. 7) CONTACT INFORMATION If you got any questions about this guide, or any of my other guides, contact at the following E-mail address: Rej72380@aol.com 8) LEGAL INFORMATION This document is the copyright (c) 2008 of Robert Johnson. You are free to post this document on your website, on the condition that you retain the original author's name in the copy. Baseball and Gameboy are trademarks of Nintendo of America. This document was not created, endorsed nor approved by Nintendo of America.