MLB 2k8

I haven't played it much, but the new pitching mechanics are . . .  interesting, to say the least. The hitting and fielding I already have down since those are the mechanics that you find in EA's two editions of NCAA baseball.

There was a roster download already in place, and that put Jayson Nix in the game under the name Jarrod (I think) Nen. Chris Nelson, Greg Reynolds, Casey Weathers, Corey Wimberly, and EY Jr. all appear on minor league rosters. There might be a few more, but those I got at first glance. I'm waiting for someone to come up with a complete list of minor leaguers in the game, so I can edit those names and then start my franchise.

That, and get the pitching down (or go back to classic mode). Don't want to keep serving up meatballs.

Picked it up for the 360 on Tuesday, and I've pretty much been playing ever since. Once I got the pitching down it's made the game that much better, and I really like the new fielding style. The amount of home runs and "Willie Mays" catches have really been toned down this year, and there are quite a few little intricancies that make it feel like a real baseball game.

I've gone through and edited the entire Rockies minor league system - there were a bunch of real players with fake names, and some I just adjusted so I could have a certain minor leaguer on my team. I'll post up a list later and anyone that wants to can match up the fake names with the real ones (or edit some players attributes to match another if you want).

I was a little concerned about the sliders today, because after playing the Tigers I noticed that Tulo's arm strength seemed to be weaker than it should be. When I looked it up though it was around 90, so it should be fine. I also checked Jeff Bakers sliders to see where his hitting was at, and both his power and contact sliders were pretty high about even with Spillbourgh's. Speaking of Baker he seems a little stiff at 2nd, but his defense has been solid so far and his bat has proven to be a plus so far. The Tigers have a tough offense, Polanco bats 8th and has a .340 batting average. I need to start facing some scrub pitchers, because so far after playing against Beckett yesterday and Verlander today my hitting really needs some work. Verlander twice hit 100 on the gun in 7 innings. Although now that I think about it, the rest of the NL West will probably be just as difficult with the likes of Peavy, Young, Haren, Webb and the other aces in the wild west. Another interesting quirk I noticed was when I was pitching with Aaron Cook today, and he didn't have a sinker in his repertoir. I will have to make an adjustment later when I change the player's sliders.

Thanks for everyone participating in the poll, I didn't realize Zelda was so popular. Also someone mentioned posting a minor league list, that would be awesome.

Not all of these players had fake names - I edited some of their attributes so I could have a roster full of (almost) all Rockies farmhands.

You'll know if a real player is in the game under a fake name if the initials match (usually along with things like height, weight, etc). Also, some of the players may be at different levels on your roster as opposed to mine, as I've already shuffled around the lineups and rotations the way I want them.

MLB:
RP Matt Herges (fake name - Brad Almanzar)

AAA:
SP Mike Esposito
SP Greg Reynolds

C Mike Rose
2B Jayson Nix
3B Christian Colonel
LF JJ Davis
LF Joe Gaetti

AA:
RP Jentry Beckstead
RP James Burok
RP Chris George
SP Brandon Hynick
SP Marc Kaiser
SP Ching Lung Lo
SP Ryan Mattheus
RP Casey Weathers
SP Keith Weiser
RP Alec Zumwalt

C Tino Sanchez
C Neil Wilson
1B Duke Sardinha
1B Mike Paulk
2B Corey Wimberly
2B Doug Bernier
2B Eric Young Jr
3B Geoff Strickland
SS Chris Nelson
LF Jordan Czarniecki
LF Matt Miller
CF Dexter Fowler
RF Chris Frey

A:
RP Adam Bright
SP Samuel Deduno
SP Simon Ferrer
RP Jon George
RP Jarrett Grube
RP Alan Johnson
RP Andrew Johnston
RP Darric Merrell
RP David Patton
SP Chaz Roe
SP Josh Sullivan
SP Sean Thompson

C Rick Guarno
C Michael McKenry
1B Jeff Kindel
2B Jeffrey Dragicevich
3B Matt Repac
3B Jason Van Kooten
3B Spence Nagy
LF Cole Garner
RF Justin Nelson
RF Travis Becktel
RF Daniel Carte
RF Jay Cox

Hope this helps - sorry that I didn't write down which players were actually in the game and which I edited to put in the game; I didn't think to do it. At least you can get in the real players and then decide if you want to do like I did with the remaining ones or just leave them. Good luck!

Don't get me wrong, I like the game and all, but I decided to simulate a full season to see what the outcome would be.  The Giants won the NL West then took the Mets to seven games in the NLCS.  Ummmm.... what?  The Mariners swept the Mets in the World Series, and the Rockies finished in fourth place with 78 wins, just ahead of the D-Backs at 76 wins.  If that wast bad enough, the Rockies had the 5th worst team batting average, not one player batted above .300.

You have to wonder if the people who make this game know anything about baseball.

in this game for the Wii.  I was so excited when I found out there would be a decent baseball game for the Wii, but it does not have a lot of stuff that is in the 360 and PS3 versions.  No minor league play, and no online play.  I may have to just take away my stepson's 360 and play it on that.

Against the Dodgers since they left Dodgertown I figured they're fair game in my ST. I ended up extending the Physicist a little too far, but it was a close game with Brad Penny nearly pitching a no-no. Tulo hit a one out double in the 9th to break it up and the boys in blue ended up beating me 1-0. I had a chance to tie it in the 7th when I drew a walk with WillyT then proceeded to steal 2nd and 3rd base. Tulo struck out and then Fankles was batting 3rd and a hit a soft fly ball to Pierre in left field. Right as he caught it I pushed the wrong button and Willy never left 3rd base. Matty struckout with the tying run 90 feet away. Oh well those are the lessons you learn when starting a game.

Pretty soon I will adjust my sliders and set the final roster so I can begin a season. That's the fun part of the game. If the geekheads don't know how to program correctly the user can always bump the sliders a little bit to improve the team.

A couple of things I am dissapointed about with the game are:

The Rockies defense is not even ranked in the top 10.

There is no NLCS pennant on the wall. Just the lonely wild card flag drooping in left field.

Things I like:

Franklin Morales has electric stuff, he's thrown no hit ball for 3-4 innings every time I have pitched with him.

Catching flyballs is more realistic than last seasons game.

The catchers haughtily flips the ball towards the mound after a strikeout for the 3rd out in the inning.