stealing bases

[raagnar]

I am new to video gaming and am enjoying this game. The only real gameplay problem I have seen so far revolves around base running. Station to station and absolutely no chance on stealing bases.
But......maybe that's just me. I'm playing PS2 and discovered that hitting L1 three times gives you the biggest lead; but it doesn't seem to do much for me.
Any hints on how to steal bases? Perhaps it is that Bobby Hill and Corey Patterson, while having good speed, aren't established base stealers. They are getting thrown out by a mile though. Is it just my poor timing? You have to get the big lead and then activate the steal at the earliest moment in the windup without tipping it off to soon? Or is there something else that I'm missing?
I can't really hit and run either until I get a better feel for this. I guess the good part of it is; that the cpu is not having any success running off of me either....and it's not like Paul Bako and Mike Mahoney are the second coming of Johnny Bench either. ....thanks in advance for any info

[HMcCoy]

Re: stealing bases

The most important thing to watch is the pitcher. There is a slide step and if the pitcher does it you don't have a prayer. The cpu does a good job of pitching out and mixing in the slidestep so watch the pitcher. Usually, with two strikes the pitcher will go into his stretch and that is the best time to try to steal.
As for the hit and run, make sure you try it with a hitters count and angle your cursor towards the gap. If the pitcher is ahead in the count and you try to hit&run, he will usually pitch away and not let you get contact. The CPU is a pretty smart SOB.

[HMcCoy]

Re: stealing bases

The most important thing to watch is the pitcher. There is a slide step and if the pitcher does it you don't have a prayer. The cpu does a good job of pitching out and mixing in the slidestep so watch the pitcher. Usually, with two strikes the pitcher will go into his stretch and that is the best time to try to steal.
As for the hit and run, make sure you try it with a hitters count and angle your cursor towards the gap. If the pitcher is ahead in the count and you try to hit&run, he will usually pitch away and not let you get contact. The CPU is a pretty smart SOB.