The Show Stuff

Got the green light from Sony PR so I can talk about it a bit.

I have played parts of about 5 games so far and 3 complete games, testing stuff out, etc.

This is obviously a polished looking game and if you're a fan of The Show then you're set -- in many ways this plays like a tweaked version of '08. It seems more like a refinement so far, and nothing has jumped out and made me say, "Whoa that was not in last year's game."

This is what happens when your game from the previous year is that good. It starts to get hard to find the obvious fixes and enhancements.

And to be clear: I love The Show '08. Love it. But I'm still digging and uncovering what's really new. That's going to take time -- as again I have only fiddled with Exhibition games.

I just finished a 3-2 win for the Reds over Washington and I won on a catcher error throwing on a dropped 3rd strike. Catcher heaved it into RF and I scored the game winner. Hilarious. Gotta love those Nats.

Two things that jump out that we should keep an eye on:

Doubles. Yes, you can hit doubles this year -- more than last year I'd say. But the whole "down the baseline issue" is still there. Look, if my batter laces a frozen rope over the 3rd base bag, unless there is a OF shift on, I better be standing on 2nd base unless I'm Greg Luzinski. I still see way too many singles on hits that LOOK like they should be doubles when they are first hit. And again, I hit three doubles last game so it's not like it's all singles all the time -- far from it. But the visual indicator I see when playing doesn't always add up. It's a balancing act I'm sure. I mean you don't want teams hitting 6...7 doubles per game, but just know going in that this is not 100% fixed.

A big issue?

No, not as much as last year because there are more gappers and more hits down the line tend to reach the wall -- but many of them seem to die when they hit the grass.

OK, next is the CPU sliders. I dunno if they are working or if they are they are doing SUBTLE changes to the formula. Case in point: CPU pitch control. I played the last game, just to see what would happen, with CPU Throw Strikes at zero. All the way to the left. The SP for the Nats ended up walking me 1 time (a MR issues one, too) and for the game the SP threw strikes 82% of the time. That's with Throw Strikes at 0? And I take a LOT of pitches. Granted I still swing at some I shouldn't but it even out in the end -- I took a fair number of pitches down the pipe.

Just something else to keep in mind when you get the game next week.

We'll do some franchise stuff tomorrow, but for now I want to play a game at Wrigley.

On the plus side, I walked 3 batters with Volquez -- and I was not trying to walk them. It just sorta happened. AND -- NO HOMERS in that last game against the Nats; I dunno about you, but I love baseball games that allow this to happen.