MLB 09 "Road To The Show" thread

[bigjake62505]

Re: MLB 09 "Road To The Show" thread

" ****-for-brains in the team jacket comes out to relieve you."
When I read this I almost spit water all over my computer! LOL!

[Chef Matt]

Re: MLB 09 "Road To The Show" thread

Okay. So I started as a 20 year old SP for the Pirates. I pitch pretty well in ST (2.50 ERA, 3-1 record), but get sent down to AA Altoona to start the season. I figure that's the way she goes, and that this "mode" was more conducive to realism, so no biggie.

What I later discover is that promotions are based entirely on how well you're rated, and not on your accomplishments... which sucks, because my guy is basically Nolan Ryan incarnated on the stats sheet, but Tanyon ****ing Sturtze in ratings.

I work my way up through the ranks of AA Altoona, going from spot relief, to middle, to long, and then finally to the back of the rotation. By the end of the year, I'm the staff ace. My line was as follows:

IP: 148.1
W-L: 13-4
ERA: 0.89
AVG: .209
SO: 109
BB: 10

I figured that, given my performance, they'd at least have a look at me at spring training... but after simulating the off-season, I discovered that I've been left off the 40-man roster and am subsequently not allowed to participate.

WTF? There goes a hefty chunk of friggin' training points.

On the plus side, I get assigned to AAA Indianapolis and get placed in the starting rotation immediately, so it isn't all bad. I proceed to move up to the #3 spot, putting up the following line:

IP: 107.1
W-L: 10-1
ERA: 1.43
AVG: .198 (lefties), .235 (righties)
SO: 111
BB: 1 (yes, one ****ing walk, because I don't sim any games)

Some of you may wonder how I get so many K's. The key is to pump the living crap out of your fastball. If you play all of your games, you don't have to worry about how your other pitches are rated, because you should be throwing the off-speed stuff away from the plate just to mess up their timing. If you want to throw some junk across the plate, do it straight down the middle on the first pitch to each batter. They won't swing most of the time, and even if they do they're friggin' AA batters and usually have 7 of 9 zones rated cold, so it's not like they'll go yard.

Once you get promoted to AAA, add some control to your change and some velocity to your curve. That's how I've done it, anyway.

Back to the rant...

So I've got these incredible numbers--which are well ahead of any other pitcher in the league, let alone the organization--and I can't get past the third spot in the rotation. I've made all but three or four of my advancement goals, and my manager sends me nothing but kind remarks, but you'd think Phil Dumatrait and Russ Ohlendorf are Satchel Paige and Sandy Koufax in Indianapolis.

What pisses me off even more is the fact that the MLB roster is getting ripped to shreds. They sport the worst offense, pitching staff, and W-L record in the majors... yet they'll call up Joe Jobber (0-7, 6.86 ERA) consistently over me. And this is after I gave them a discount on a two year deal to start.

It's looking more and more like, with the exception of injuries, the progression to the majors in this game is completely scripted, because unless I throw ten consecutive no-hitters with 15 K's in each game, I can't generate enough training points to get my ratings up fast enough.

The other problem is that too many of the junkies ahead of me are overrated, which doesn't help.

As for the game... what the hell is up with the infielders? I've played around 60 games in AAA this year, and the infielders have combined for 93 BLEEPING ERRORS!!!!! There is always one throwing gaff in each of my games (poor 1B always gets overthrown), and I can expect at least one idiot dive play from one of them, too. The hilarious counterpoint: the outfielders have combined for 8 errors. I'm pretty sure all of these E's were during my starts, too, because lord knows I've seen enough hot dog diving attempts on line drives that, if were fielded off the bounce instead, would be a single instead of a god damned triple.

And the idiotic managerial decisions... you have to love it when you're seven innings into a two-hit shutout, give up a single, and ****-for-brains in the team jacket comes out to relieve you. What makes it even better is that, since you're in the Pirates organization, the relief is almost assured to either get you a no decision, or cough up the game completely.

Oh well. They got pissed off at me when I asked for a contract extension and said they'd shop me, so screw 'em.

That was the best post and quote I've read in weeks. Thank you.

[Invictus375]

Re: MLB 09 "Road To The Show" thread

So I started off my RTTS by making my oldest son a CF with the Rangers organization. He sucked it up pretty bad, so I canned him, and made my youngest son a LF with the Rangers. I finally started getting the hang of hitting, and after 3 years and 4 trades decided to try again with myself.

So i made myself a RF (due to lack of depth there in Texas) and spent 1/2 the season as the starter in AA Frisco. I finished with the following numbers:

AVG: .307
HR: 8
RBI: 36
E: 2

I'm pretty happy with this. My L/R contact are both sitting around 50-53 and my L/R power are low 40's.

I get invited to Spring Training but end up starting out the season in AAA as the starting RF. I'm very stoked since this is the best I've done so far. I'm clearly a much better ball player than my 8 or 4 year old.

First 3 weeks of the 2010 season, and I'm hitting .409 and leading the team in hits and RBI. I actually had one 5 RBI game which is far and away my highest total in a month of playing this game. I'm hitting in the number 2 spot just ahead of Justin Smoak, which is nice. I'm 18/45 in the league and still moving up.

I have to admit that I read every thread i could on hitting b/c I was so damn frustrated with it all. I started having regular success (which lead to me getting away from being a utility player in AA and regular AB's) by starting with the left stick up in the zone and moving it from there. Then as I became more comfortable, I started playing with my L stick position in BP. Trying to go into each AB with a plan has really helped me start this season off with a bang. If I'm trying to H & R then I usually start with the L stick a little lower in the zone and inside, assuming I'm hitting against a righty. Since I hit a lot of pitches high in the zone, I get pitched low a lot, and in AAA pitchers just keep their stuff down more, so I start down there some too. It really varies by AB.

I've been able to accumulate a lot more points since I've been starting, and I try and hoard them for the next round of advancement goals to give myself every chance to make them .

I'm now up around 60 ish for contact and 50 for power. OKC is in 1st place, which is nice, clearly having talent around you helps a little. Learning situational hitting helps with driving in runs and hitting behind runners. I'm finally really starting to enjoy myself. Although I have yet to take ONE BB. I know that's pathetic. I just can't make it happen. I do strike out far less frequently than last season though.

[mjh91]

Re: MLB 09 "Road To The Show" thread

I just told my manager that I wanted more playing time, and he named me the starting shortstop! I'm in the Cubs organization (AA), but I'm having a good early season. I need to train more for sure though.

[moose1619]

Re: MLB 09 "Road To The Show" thread

Just finished 2013 Spring training. I finished with 10 homers, 8 doubles, .373 batting average and 29 RBI's. I am know the starting LFer for the Dodgers. I have started using the power swing exclusively for hitting and I am a huge first pitch swinger. I bat right handed and vs. a righty I am killing low and inside balls. Vs. Lefties I am killing mid to high and outside balls. I sure hope to keep this pace int he regular season because I was able to get a lot of points this spring to increase my clutch, durability, speed and make small improvements in contact and power.

Does anybody else use power swing a lot? I didn'tmy first 5 season, but after this spring I will be continuing this trend.

[Pianoman]

Re: MLB 09 "Road To The Show" thread

Okay. So I started as a 20 year old SP for the Pirates. I pitch pretty well in ST (2.50 ERA, 3-1 record), but get sent down to AA Altoona to start the season. I figure that's the way she goes, and that this "mode" was more conducive to realism, so no biggie.

What I later discover is that promotions are based entirely on how well you're rated, and not on your accomplishments... which sucks, because my guy is basically Nolan Ryan incarnated on the stats sheet, but Tanyon ****ing Sturtze in ratings.

I work my way up through the ranks of AA Altoona, going from spot relief, to middle, to long, and then finally to the back of the rotation. By the end of the year, I'm the staff ace. My line was as follows:

IP: 148.1
W-L: 13-4
ERA: 0.89
AVG: .209
SO: 109
BB: 10

I figured that, given my performance, they'd at least have a look at me at spring training... but after simulating the off-season, I discovered that I've been left off the 40-man roster and am subsequently not allowed to participate.

WTF? There goes a hefty chunk of friggin' training points.

On the plus side, I get assigned to AAA Indianapolis and get placed in the starting rotation immediately, so it isn't all bad. I proceed to move up to the #3 spot, putting up the following line:

IP: 107.1
W-L: 10-1
ERA: 1.43
AVG: .198 (lefties), .235 (righties)
SO: 111
BB: 1 (yes, one ****ing walk, because I don't sim any games)

Some of you may wonder how I get so many K's. The key is to pump the living crap out of your fastball. If you play all of your games, you don't have to worry about how your other pitches are rated, because you should be throwing the off-speed stuff away from the plate just to mess up their timing. If you want to throw some junk across the plate, do it straight down the middle on the first pitch to each batter. They won't swing most of the time, and even if they do they're friggin' AA batters and usually have 7 of 9 zones rated cold, so it's not like they'll go yard.

Once you get promoted to AAA, add some control to your change and some velocity to your curve. That's how I've done it, anyway.

Back to the rant...

So I've got these incredible numbers--which are well ahead of any other pitcher in the league, let alone the organization--and I can't get past the third spot in the rotation. I've made all but three or four of my advancement goals, and my manager sends me nothing but kind remarks, but you'd think Phil Dumatrait and Russ Ohlendorf are Satchel Paige and Sandy Koufax in Indianapolis.

What pisses me off even more is the fact that the MLB roster is getting ripped to shreds. They sport the worst offense, pitching staff, and W-L record in the majors... yet they'll call up Joe Jobber (0-7, 6.86 ERA) consistently over me. And this is after I gave them a discount on a two year deal to start.

It's looking more and more like, with the exception of injuries, the progression to the majors in this game is completely scripted, because unless I throw ten consecutive no-hitters with 15 K's in each game, I can't generate enough training points to get my ratings up fast enough.

The other problem is that too many of the junkies ahead of me are overrated, which doesn't help.

As for the game... what the hell is up with the infielders? I've played around 60 games in AAA this year, and the infielders have combined for 93 BLEEPING ERRORS!!!!! There is always one throwing gaff in each of my games (poor 1B always gets overthrown), and I can expect at least one idiot dive play from one of them, too. The hilarious counterpoint: the outfielders have combined for 8 errors. I'm pretty sure all of these E's were during my starts, too, because lord knows I've seen enough hot dog diving attempts on line drives that, if were fielded off the bounce instead, would be a single instead of a god damned triple.

And the idiotic managerial decisions... you have to love it when you're seven innings into a two-hit shutout, give up a single, and ****-for-brains in the team jacket comes out to relieve you. What makes it even better is that, since you're in the Pirates organization, the relief is almost assured to either get you a no decision, or cough up the game completely.

Oh well. They got pissed off at me when I asked for a contract extension and said they'd shop me, so screw 'em.

Following up on this...

I've since thrown three CG's (two of them shutouts), and I finally got the nod over Phil Dumatrait as the AAA team's staff ace. Normally I'd be ecstatic, but I still feel like the move was scripted and had nothing to do with my accomplishments.

What's hilarious is that, even though I'm the 5th ranked SP in the organization now--not to mention the fact that I lead AAA in pretty much every pitching statistic--Ty Taubenheim (2-9, 7.16 ERA) gets the call when Ian Snell goes down with an injury.

To make matters worse, the GM that I pissed off has suddenly taking a liking to me and won't trade me because I'm "too valuable to the organization". I swear if the in-game personalities were any dumber, they'd be sending you reports in crayon.

Anyhow, if any developers read this, I have a question for you:

If this pointless exercise is all about jacking up my ratings before I ever have a hope of making the pro roster, why the **** would anyone waste their time on this in the future when they can just start a new franchise mode, create a player with jacked ratings and not waste their time with multiple, meaningless seasons in AA or AAA? Realism, at least for me, is being rewarded for putting up good numbers. I'm not asking for a guaranteed role in my first year, but the way the game handles this **** is beyond ridiculous. At the very least, there should be an average expectation that is derived from 50% rating requirements and 50% statistical ones. I should also hope that *gasp* it would be possible to be recalled, sent back, recalled sent back, and not just allowed to rot in the minors until the piece of **** ahead of you (whose ratings are clearly overrated, so it would seem) either gets injured, retires, or retires from injury. Honest to ****ing god, that seems to be the only way to beat the scripted curve.

[mer1in20]

Re: MLB 09 "Road To The Show" thread

Well, I finally did it. In year 2017 and I finally broke the all-time hit streak record. I currently have hit successfully in 57 games and got a whopping 2000 points for it and some nice comments from the manager. Ironically, this is my last year of this contract so I shoudl be getting a big payday at the end of this one.

Just to catch you up, I have won 2 rings with the Sox after being traded all around the league. I am currently batting .331 with 99 RBI's, 21 homers, .990 OPS%, .379 OBS% and 40 coubles and I am currently in the beginning of July.

Unfortunately, some Rookie idiot for the Rangers has 39 homers, 142 RBI's, etc and I have no shot at MVP, Batting Champ, or anything for that matter. I did make my first all-star game though.

[krmarks]

Re: MLB 09 "Road To The Show" thread

Just a note on the ratings thing, I have noticed it is a fairly decent chunk of how the AI seems to promote...but I have noticed that it seems vastly more important to hit your Advancement Goals. I will use my 2 RTTS players as examples (at least for me)

1. My catcher was god awful at AA hitting roughly .222 or so, but I kept hitting my goals and got promoted to AAA for 3 weeks or so before getting added to the 40 man roster right at the end of his first season. 2nd season started in AA for 2 weeks before getting promoted to AAA for hitting .286 but meeting my goals. Then played out the year in AAA hitting ~.280 or so. Invited to spring training, hit .385 or so and got the starting nod for San Diego for the regular season. My contact by year 3 is only 61 for both hands and 51/52 power, overall rating is a C while most of the rest are D's....so I tend to think he is not being promoted based on Ratings...could be wrong tho.

2. My starting pitcher, had a decent first spring training with a 4.50 or so ERA. Sent to AA and met goals to get into the rotation, was doing well with a 2.85 ERA and got hurt right before the allstar game for 1 month or so. He got back into the rotation and was doing well keeping the 2.8ish ERA going and got a september callup to STL. He was left off the playoff roster tho, and was invited to spring training next season. Had an OK spring with a 3.3ish ERA, but was sent back to AA. Started about 3 weeks there and was promoted to AAA for meeting goals. In AAA was doing pretty well with a sub 3 ERA and got a callup to STL due to an injury. Did OK up there with a 4.2ish ERA but got sent back down when the injury was over....meanwhile this whole time I am a C rated pitcher with a lot of D rated stuff. Got a spring invite again, was used mainly as a mid relief (totally odd) and was sent to AAA after having a stellar spring 2.5ish ERA. In AAA was a midrelief for 1 month, even tho I hit all my goals, then skipped the starting rotation all together there and got sent up to STL to start due to an injury. That is where I am now, with a B overall now tho since I was pumping velocity to an A.

The game seems to act differently each season, I thought I could follow a given path that would be known success, but it hasn't happened with either of my guys. So don't get discouraged that it is all based on scripted events...sometimes you can get lucky or so it seems.

[Chef Matt]

Re: MLB 09 "Road To The Show" thread

Following up on this...

"I swear if the in-game personalities were any dumber, they'd be sending you reports in crayon."

.

Great stuff!

[masterkembo]

Re: MLB 09 "Road To The Show" thread

Well, I finally did it. In year 2017 and I finally broke the all-time hit streak record. I currently have hit successfully in 57 games and got a whopping 2000 points for it and some nice comments from the manager. Ironically, this is my last year of this contract so I shoudl be getting a big payday at the end of this one.

Just to catch you up, I have won 2 rings with the Sox after being traded all around the league. I am currently batting .331 with 99 RBI's, 21 homers, .990 OPS%, .379 OBS% and 40 coubles and I am currently in the beginning of July.

Unfortunately, some Rookie idiot for the Rangers has 39 homers, 142 RBI's, etc and I have no shot at MVP, Batting Champ, or anything for that matter. I did make my first all-star game though.

Some guy has 39 homers and 142 RBI's in the begginning of July???? That seems just a bit off. With 3 months left, the guy is on pace for what, 80 home runs and 300 RBI's??

Congrats on breaking the record though - that's awesome. I've put my RTTS on hold until the crash issue gets sorted out.

[Pianoman]

Re: MLB 09 "Road To The Show" thread

Following up on this...

I've since thrown three CG's (two of them shutouts), and I finally got the nod over Phil Dumatrait as the AAA team's staff ace. Normally I'd be ecstatic, but I still feel like the move was scripted and had nothing to do with my accomplishments.

What's hilarious is that, even though I'm the 5th ranked SP in the organization now--not to mention the fact that I lead AAA in pretty much every pitching statistic--Ty Taubenheim (2-9, 7.16 ERA) gets the call when Ian Snell goes down with an injury.

To make matters worse, the GM that I pissed off has suddenly taking a liking to me and won't trade me because I'm "too valuable to the organization". I swear if the in-game personalities were any dumber, they'd be sending you reports in crayon.

Anyhow, if any developers read this, I have a question for you:

If this pointless exercise is all about jacking up my ratings before I ever have a hope of making the pro roster, why the **** would anyone waste their time on this in the future when they can just start a new franchise mode, create a player with jacked ratings and not waste their time with multiple, meaningless seasons in AA or AAA? Realism, at least for me, is being rewarded for putting up good numbers. I'm not asking for a guaranteed role in my first year, but the way the game handles this **** is beyond ridiculous. At the very least, there should be an average expectation that is derived from 50% rating requirements and 50% statistical ones. I should also hope that *gasp* it would be possible to be recalled, sent back, recalled sent back, and not just allowed to rot in the minors until the piece of **** ahead of you (whose ratings are clearly overrated, so it would seem) either gets injured, retires, or retires from injury. Honest to ****ing god, that seems to be the only way to beat the scripted curve.

I finished my season, and as I figured the Pirates didn't even bother giving me a look.

My AAA line for the year:

IP: 204.1
W-L: 20-3
ERA: 1.28
AVG: .199
SO: 217
BB: 2 (I actually beaned more guys (8) than I walked, lol)

I led the league in each of those categories, and also led in CG's (4), SHO's (4), and quality starts (25). Those numbers were good enough to rank me as the top pitcher in the organization for the better part of the schedule following the all-star break, yet I still found myself getting snubbed for Dumatrait (recalled twice), Taubenheim (also recalled twice), and Ohlendorf (recalled once), each of whom had substantially worse numbers than I did.

The best pitcher in an organization starved for pitching, and they wouldn't recall me from Indianapolis. Bastards!

It turns out that they didn't want to risk waiving one of their crappy players in order to put me on the 40-man roster. Idiots. Turns out that two of their 6.00+ ERA "relievers" retired in the off-season (one due to injury, another due to skill... but neither due to age, ha!), and the club finally manned up and offered me a four year, $7.7 million dollar deal (which I promptly countered at with $8 million, since they were such pricks) to be their MLB staff ace. They accepted (which shocked the living **** out of me, given how cheap they usually are), and now I'm heading to 2011 spring training as their own version of Tim Lincecum.

So to recap very quickly: I joined the Pirates organization, thinking that I could move up quickly with their depleted staff. I not only endured an entire season with their crappy AA Altoona club, but got left off their 40-man roster so they couldn't recall me the next season even if they wanted to. Then, after it's painfully obvious that their MLB "talent" isn't good enough, they wait until I hit the open market to offer me a contract and a guaranteed spot.

In other words, the Pirates had a blue-chip talent, failed to recognize it, and deprived themselves of at least half a season of his services before finally signing him to a deal that will only guarantee them four years of his services before he goes to New York or Boston.

And here I thought the game wasn't realistic!!!

[DeskCoder]

Re: MLB 09 "Road To The Show" thread

Same here, I have a SS for the Padres. I hit .410 with 90+ RBI, 30+ Doubles, 50+ steals. I dominated AA, never moved up in my first season. I was the 2nd rated SS in the organization.

I signed a one year contract. Off season comes, no one offers me anything except the Padres, starting AAA SS. I just started that season. I am the top SS in the club out of 3 SS, but not on the 40-man roster. No SS at all on the 40.

Of course, I am 5'10'' 180 pounds, batting clean-up. I have 73 speed, and I was hoping to make myself a lead off guy, but that ain't working out. I only have 45 power, and I only hit 3 HRs last year. Why would they hit me cleanup?

[mer1in20]

Re: MLB 09 "Road To The Show" thread

Some guy has 39 homers and 142 RBI's in the begginning of July???? That seems just a bit off. With 3 months left, the guy is on pace for what, 80 home runs and 300 RBI's??

Congrats on breaking the record though - that's awesome. I've put my RTTS on hold until the crash issue gets sorted out.

Sorry, it is August, not July.

[DeathMetal]

Re: MLB 09 "Road To The Show" thread

Just started a CP in RTTS and it has been extremely easy so far. My ERA is like 0.45 after 12 games.

[braun4mvp]

Re: MLB 09 "Road To The Show" thread

So after signing my big 5 year contract with the A's i had the worst spring training i could have ever imagined. I had a 7+ ERA, batters were hitting better than .350 against me and i only had like 13 strikeouts. It was bad, real bad.

So i decided to play my first start and hope i would do better than i did in spring training, although i can't see how it could get any worse. So i'm the 5th guy in the rotation and my first start came against the Chicago Whitesox. I struck out 2 out of the first 3 batters and was doing good until the second inning when they had a man on first and the guy batting hits it to center. I thought it would drop and they would have guys on first and second but no the center fielder decides to dive for a ball he didn't come close to catching and instead the guy gets a triple and they score a run. So we took the lead going into the bottom of the 7th 3-2 and i was still in the game. I gave up a lead off hit and that was all she wrote for my first start, but i was still in line for the win. Of course the bullpen has to blow it, we lost the game in the 9th and so my first career win will have to come at a different time.
My final stat line looked as such:
6 IP
5 H
2 ER
3 K