[HarlemYankee]

The player-specific animations were an awesome addition to this year's game, but the situation was almost a little too specific for each animation to be triggered... I have RARELY seen any of the custom animations for players, and I'm pretty sure I've read before that certain situations need to line up exactly how the devs planned, i.e. the Pirates outfield has to be completely intact for them to do the shoulder brush off, Donaldson has to hit a HR with Bautista on deck to do his handshake, etc...

I'm not positive that is the case, but I would still like a way for the user to have a way to customize each step. In the "personality" section of CAP or edit player, each batter should have a walk-up animation, practice swing, "no-doubt" HR follow through, rounding the bases animation, 3rd base coach animation & handshake with the next batter/runners on base animation. It would make sense to have a drop down list of all the players who do something specific for each of these, instead of have it set to "default" and adopt everything that the person whose stance you use does. If you want your CAP 1st Baseman to "walk the parrot" like Encarnacion, bat flip like Bautista, tip his cap when he touches home like McCutchen, then greet the person on-deck like Josh Donaldson, you should be able to customize each one of those steps. After the final out, why not have a choice in what your outfielders do when they come together? Similar to Sounds of the Show, where you can edit team-specific music, why not have a "Team Personality" section where you can edit certain rituals that your team does after games, home runs, walk-offs, etc.

Another thing I noticed is there is next to zero ways to customize your pitcher's personality. Why not have a "pitcher type" that determines whether or not he gets fired up and pumps his fist when he strikes you out in a big situation. Just from watching the Yankees, I can tell you that Dellin Betances will turn his back to the hitter and backpedal off the mound when he strikes someone out in a big situation, Aroldis Chapman will just stand straight up and savagely stare you down as you walk back to the dugout, and Luis Severino will scream his lungs out while pounding his glove if he gets out of a big situation.

And finally, why not have a last out animation for closers? If a pitcher has a signature "move" they do after they close out a game, like when Brian Wilson used to throw up the "X", then you should be able to select that specific animation for your pitcher.

It would also be great if there were variations on these animations, so that they could be ramped up during the postseason... Case-in-point, Encarnacion going bananas after he hit the walk-off in the ALWC game, but still walking the parrot around the bases.

I hate to bring up 2K, but they have it down perfectly. They give you the option to have Allen Iverson's size-up, Kobe's spin move, Lebron's crossover, Chris Paul's floater, Steph Curry's jump shot, Dwyane Wade's layups & Clyde Drexler's dunks. All while being able to customize how much emotion your guy shows.

My question is just, why not MLB? With all the characters in baseball, with all the rituals, this seems like a must for me. Maybe added incrementally throughout the upcoming years, but the more customization the better.

Is anyone with me on this?