World Series Baseball FAQ Created 5/25/02 Version 2.0 This document is copyrighted in 2002 by Corey "FrenZy" Truglia, this document is not free to reproduce, though if you would like to link it, quote it, contribute to it, put it on your World Series Baseball shrine website :P, ask my permission via my email address Orotund5@aol.com UPDATES IN V 2.0: Fixed some errors, you press Start + 2 to replace a pitcher / hitter, not '1' Added my personal (but cheap) no hitter technique The FAQ isn't posted twice consecutively :) This is a fairly simple game, but many get discouraged very quickly. In fact, I bought this game from a friend who sold it to me, because he thought it was impossible. For a little while I thought the same, but after you read this, you could have a lot of fun with this game. Now I understand you probably did not buy this game recently-you probably found this cleaning your room, and it has not been touched for years. Now don't be disappointed, because this is a great game. Read this and have a lot of fun. Now I will go through aspects of the game. I. Starting Up II. Right Handed Pitching III. Left Handed Pitching (still very iffy so far) IV. Hitting V. Bunt n' Run Technique VI. Standard Technique VII. Relief Pitching VIII. Pinch Hitting IX. No-hitter EVERYTIME technique X. Which team should you play as? XI. Options, and what they are I. Starting up Fire up your old gamegear, and choose "Open Game." You will not be able to play a full season yet. Pick your favorite team, pick your batters, press start, and then pick a pitcher, preferably one that has many wins, or even losses. You probably don't remember '93 baseball, so pick a pitcher with evidence of extensive use. I will use the '93 NY Yankees throughout this FAQ. As the Yankees, I would experiment with which batters you like, but I would most definitely use Perez. Now I will go over the actual game. Quick Reference: Hold Down and press 2 for a fastball Hold up and press 2 for a slow ball Press 2 for a regular ball Right handed pitchers are far easier to use It is easier to strike lefties out Righties are on the left box, Lefties are on the right box II. Right handed Pitching You are Perez (right hander) right now. You have to pitch differently depending on which side the batter is on. If the hitter is a lefty, meaning he will appear on the right side of the screen, there is only one pitch you need, the "Guided Missile." First. Move the pitcher all the way to your left, and hold up to move your catcher in the same direction. Hold the up button, press 2 to pitch, and while you pitch and slide your thumb on the movement pad to the right, just before the ball approaches the strike zone. The hitter will rarely ever swing, so you have a guaranteed strike out. Eventually your pitcher will run out of stamina, and a lower tone whistling sound will be heard when you throw. Your ball will have no control. Just don't hold up anymore. If worse comes to worse and your pitcher is giving up hits, switch him! If the batter is a righty, things are a little harder. If you have stamina, do the "righty guided missile." (Excuse my made up vocab.) Move your catcher all the way to the right by holding down and press right on the movement pad to move the pitcher in the same direction. Press the "2" button, and immediately press up, and slide your thumb to the left just before your reach the strike zone. This pitch isn't flawless though. You can also do a fastball, but only do it when the hitter is all the way to your left. You do this by moving the pitcher all the way to your left, and the catcher to his right. Then just press "2" and immediately hold on down. The fast ball will whiz in front of him and he will swing and miss. In this situation, if you have a good amount of stamina, you can do a curve ball. Do the same thing, but don't hold on down, but rather when the pitch passes the halfway point between the catcher and the pitcher, hold on right on the movement pad. Try to have the ball tough the to left corner of the right part of the strike zone. Also, if you are low on stamina, you can do the following pitch: Have the catcher in the middle, and the pitcher all the way to your right. When the ball is halfway down, hold on right on the movement pad. Attempt to have the ball hit the top right corner of the right strike zone. Lastly, I suggest to play around with fats balls when you are low on stamina, and curve them in different directions in the strike zones. Come up with your own! III. Left Handed Pitching: If you are playing as the Yankees, you'll find your self angered that you have a pitcher named Abbot (who threw a no-hitter in September 1993) and not be able to use him! Oh sweet fate! Don't worry! You can attempt to use lefties as 'finishers', though it won't usually be necessary. I only have two techniques for lefty pitchers. 1. AVOID USING THEM 2. Use the "right slice fastball" Using my 'right slice fastball' is hard to hit, (not as hard as the 'guided missile') and when it is hit, it will easily go foul or be an flyball. At times it will hit the ground and go pass your defenses, it'll dismay you a bit. Here's how you do it. Move your pitcher (Abbott), all the way to his right, then press down 2, and attempt to throw the ball as far left as possible. Sadly this technique fails too easily, and when your stamina drops, it gets easier for opponents to hit the ball. You can use this technique without the fastball, but it makes it easier to hit, and makes it more prone to be a ball, not a strike. Sadly lefties can't throw "guided missiles" to the opposite direction, it just doesn't work for me. 3. Lefty Guided Missile? You see that, was I wrong? Of course not! Lefty's can't do guided missiles, (holding up and aiming right), but a left hander has no control doing this. But, without holding up during your pitch, you can easily throw a guided missile like pitch against right handers. The problem with this pitch? When you screw up, it won't be a ball, it'll give the enemy a hit, well, not EVERY TIME! This pitch is a tough to execute, stick to right handers. IV. Hitting: Quick References: Bunt: tap 2 button Regular Hit: Hold 2 button until swing is complete (Won't take long) Let go of a bunt: (in case you have changed your mind) 2 button (completes the swing) Keep Moving to next base: 1 button and the button on your movement pointing to the next base you will arrive at. (Gets tricky to describe with multiple people on base, but you'll get used to it) Run back to your base!: 2 button and towards the base where you are running back to Lead: 1 button (during the hitting screen of course) and towards the base adjacent to you. Steal!: "Lead", but keep pressing the 1 button and movement pad towards desired position until he runs! Now to tell the truth, I'm not sure if it matters where you hit, but I believe it does. If you want to power hit, swing with your batter as high as possible. For a ground ball, try to hit it near the bottom. If the ball is heading out of the strikezone, don't swing for a ball. When you do swing, try to develop good timing. V. Bunt and run technique: (As a side note, when you pitch, and someone steals (they only steal during your swing, but if before press one, and throw the ball back to the base using the "2" button) when the ball reaches the catcher, throw the ball using the "2" button to the base he is trying to steal. The one button makes the man with the ball run around, only use this when you have the ball in time. Press one, run towards the runner, than throw it to the other base for a double play, but this is more useful for the AI.) Sorry for the long side note. The easiest way to score runs is to swing normally and get a guy on base. Depending on where the ball lands, you can run for second or even third. Press 1 and the direction you are running to, to continue running, but if you know you can't make it, press 2 and the direction you want to run back to, in order to run back. Now that your man is on, you have to come to a decision. If you have two outs, have the man on steal by pressing the 1 button and the direction you want to run to, just hit like normal (by pressing the 2 button.) If you have less than 2 outs, steal and tap on the swing button until you have a swing just below a straight line. Bunt and run. If you have two strikes, just swing for it. This will win you many games. Remember, don't be afraid to steal home! Just remember if the man stealing should return, do so, and ASAP! VI. Standard Technique: (a.k.a. You have no Baseballs technique) This technique, is just like the technique real teams would do. No bunting and stealing every time, but only when you feel it is necessary. When you get a guy on base, try to hit the ball as normal. Steal sparingly, and only steal second or third base! Though it seems more "PRACTICAL" and less iffy (my word for uncertain, in an inanimate way) than the bunt n' run but I have won far less games with it. So find out which technique works for you. VII. Relief Pitching: This will be a short section, VERY short. Usually when a pitcher loses his stamina, you won't be able to throw usable "slowballs" anymore, just do the same thing without holding up. When a pitcher seems to give up too much hits or lets a guy get a homerun, change him, it usually gives you better luck. TO CHANGE A PITCHER: Press start, and then press 2, then choose your pitcher! VIII. Pinch Hitting: Do you want someone else hitting instead of that guy who was 0 for 3 in today's game? Replace him! Press Start and 2, just like switching a pitcher, and select the hitter in your reserves. In this game, it doesn't really matter if a hitter is right left or switch, unlike real baseball. But a higher average seems to help (not much) and a higher homerun count gives a guy more power in his hits. Usually you won't need to do this, unless you want to give your imaginary player on the screen "some time to think!" IX. No-Hitter Everytime Technique This technique is only good against the computer (as are all of these), and is very, well, CHEAP! In real baseball this will be impossible to execute, you'll find out why. First, select a right handed pitcher which has a lot of stamina (Perez, Guzman Ju., Morris, Mussina ...), you will use the guided missile pitch against all LEFT-HANDED batters. For the right-handed batters? Just walk 'em, but it takes a lot less stamina to just hit them with the pitch. I have never ran into more than 4 right handed hitters in a row (for that will give the enemy points, but still be technically a no-hitter). This technique will result in high strike-outs, possibly an all-striker! (My made up term for 27 Ks in a 9 inning game) But, this is cheap, try to get tons of strikeouts without using insanely impossible means! X. Which Team Should you use? Use the team you like of course, you'll cheer for them, otherwise play these teams. San Francisco Giants: Homerun power, high averages, good pitching Seattle Mariners: High averages, homerun power New York Yankees: Lots of left handed hitters, low averages, low homerun power, good pitching, the most challenging team in the game (well, other than those really crappy teams, but they actually have players with .300 + averages unlike the Yankees) I use the good ol' Yanks! XI. Options: Auto: automatically moves your outfield, keep this on!!! Voice: The announcer will say STRIKE, BALL, SAFE, and OUT. I like it on! Innings: Choose 3, 5, 7, or 9 open mode options only: DH: Designated hitters: If ON, the pitcher won't be a hitter, if OFF, the pitcher will be a hitter. If you are planning to have a game of two American League Teams, put it ON. Game: If you want to pitch first, put it on home, if you want to hit first, put it on "VIST" 'visitor'. That's about it for version 2.0, if I feel like updating it, (which I probably won't :P, but did once :D). Feel free to ask questions or send your own strategies to Orotund5@aol.com. If I post your strategy, I'll give you credit! Remember, this is my first FAQ, and I got no help from it, so my credits are short! Maker of FAQ: ME!