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                              MLB 06':THE SHOW
              Pitcher Career Mode FAQ(Version 1.0; June 29 '06)
                           Written by: Aj_the_one

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Table of Contents
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A.Version History
B.Introduction
C.Legal Stuff 
D.Making a Pitcher
E.Pitches
 E1.Fastballs
 E2.Breaking Balls
 E3.Off-Speed Pitches
F.Ratings
 F1.Pitcher Types
G.Delivery
H.Starting your Career
 H1.Spring Training
I.Regular Season and Playoffs
 I1.Schedule
 I2.Around the League
  II1.Standings
  II2.Statistics
  II3.Team Rankings
  II4.Who's Hot
  II5.League Roundup
  II6.League Leaders
  II7.Accolades
 I3.Player Management
J.Career Home Menu
 J1.Locker Room
 J2.Contract
 J3.Interactions
 J4.Training
K.Off-Season
L.Retirement
M.Pitching Tips
O.Credits 
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A.Version History
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Version 1.0- FAQ Started
Version 1.1- Changed some pitch speeds, added retirement section and updated
pitch ratings 
Version 1.3- Added a new section about the different types of pitchers also
included rating development tips in Ratings section.
Version 1.4- Added a new section explaining some of the tips I have come 
across for pithcing.

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B.Introduction
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What's up people!! I'm back again and I figured I should write a FAQ for this
great baseball game(although I know it's kind of late). I am deep into my
career as a closer so I felt the need to write a FAQ to help the gamers who
haven't quite gotten the career mode. Throughout this guide I will outline 
what I think are the important qualities in your player and which would most
likely result in a successful career. So read on to get the info you need to
have a succesful career!!!

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C.Legal Stuff
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My FAQ may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal or
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other
web site except for www.gamefaqs.com and www.ign.com or as part of any public
display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.

Copyright 2006 Armand Sellers

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D.Making a Pitcher
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Welcome to the start of career!!! First you have ot give your player a name
and choose his height and weight. I haven't noticed a startling difference 
with the height so I just left my pitcher 6'2 and 210. The cosmetics aren't
really important so you can do whatever you want to make your player look more
like you(or if you have and Eyetoy you can use that). Once you are done with
the cosmetics you get to focus on what's really important... Your ratings and
pitches!!

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E.Types of Pitches
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This is one of the most important choices you can make for you pitcher. You 
have alot of pitches to choose from and I would recommend you go with your
favorite pitches. I will outline each pitches movement with a clock system
(1 to 9 etc.)description of the pitch and a speed range. If need help 
choosing your pitches you can use my combination: A 4-Seam FB, Splitter,
Slider, Curveball and a Changeup.

E1.FastBalls

4-Seam-This pitch is normally thrown by gripping the area where the seams are
furthest apart. It is thrown with little movement and is the fastest pitch
your pitcher can throw.

Movement-Little or none

Speed Range-80-102mph

2-Seam- This pitch is thrown by gripping the area where the seams are closest
together then rotating the ball so the seams are perpendicular to his body.
This pitch ranks second in terms of velocity.

Movement-Will appear to have an inside-out movement and will move downward a
little bit. For right-handed pitchers the pitch will move right then left and
for Left-handed pitchers it will do the opposite and move left then right.

Speed Range-75-97mph

Cutter- This pitch is thrown basically the same way the 4-seam is thrown 
except it is thrown with slight pressure from the tip of the middle finger.
It's difficult to hit if thrown hard because it breaks and still moves 90-95
mph making it harder to see.

Movement-This pitch is a cross between a 4-seam and a slider and it's 
break is basically an 11-7.

Speed Range-75-95mph

Splitter-This pitch is thrown by splitting your index and middle finger an
equal distance apart on the ball. This pitch is hard to hit when thrown hard
because it moves fast and it tumbles downward making it hard to hit.

Movement-This pitch will drop straight down with a 12-6 break and will also
break harder the faster the pitch is.

Speed Range-75-91mph

E2.Breaking Balls

Curveball-This pitch is thrown by placing your index and middle finger on the
top of the ball and curving your thumb on the bottom of the ball. This pitch
is significantly slower than a fastball and has a sharp break which will throw
off the hitter's timing.

Movement-This pitch most often has a 12-6 break but there are a good amount of
pitchers who throw this with a 10-4 break.

Speed Range-63-86mph

Slider-This pitch is thrown the same way the curve is except the thumb is 
closer to the third finger. Also the pitch is released off the middle finger
most commonly.

Movement- This pitch will have a lateral movement, similiar to a 9-3 break.
Also the faster the pitch thrown the harder the break, making the pitch alot
harder to spot.

Speed Range-68-91mph

Sinker-This pitch is thrown basically the same way the 2-Seam is except you
can add sideways movement to the pitch by putting more pressure on the index
or middle finger. This pitch is essential for producing ground-outs when hit.

Movement-The pitch will break downward sharply as it approaches the plate. It
will also move in on left-handed batters and away from right-handed batters.

Speed Range-76-92mph

Slurve-This pitch can be thrown with 2-seam or 4-seam grip. With the 2-seam
grip the pitch will have a stronger break but less speed and the 4-seam grip
will have more speed and less break.

Movement-As it's name implies the break will normally be 11-5 with a late 
break.

Speed Range-73-87mph

Forkball-This pitch is thrown the same way the splitter is except the ball is
wedged more tightly between the fingers and the ball breaks a little later 
than the splitter.

Movement-This pitch has the same break as the splitter with a 12-6. In
addition to this it also breaks later than the splitter.

Speed Range-70-87mph

Knuckle Curve-This pitch is thrown just like the curveball except the index
finger is bent while the rest of grip is like the curve. This pitch moves
slower than the curveball and has a more deceptive break to it. It's also
very hard to control(Both in the game and in real-life).

Movement- This pitch is thrown with a 12-6 break and breaks sharply as it
approaches the plate.

Speed Range-62-80mph

Screwball-This pitch has an appropriate name because the movement and the
finger placement is crazy. This pitch is thrown by holding the ball with a 
4-seam grip and upon release turning your wrist clockwise(sounds confusing? I
know).

Movement-This pitch will start to move towards the batter then move away.
With right-handed pitchers the pitch will break right then left, and with left
handed pitchers it will break left then right.

Speed Range-63-75mph

Knuckleball-This pitch is most commonly thrown by holding the ball with your
knuckles. This pitch has an extremely erractic motion and is hard to both hit
and control.

Movement-I couldn't chart the movement of this pitch because it was so crazy
but the most common pattern I have noticed(by the game showing where the pitch
was intended and where it landed) that it breaks in the same direction of the
throwing arm of the pitcher.

Speed Range- 55-69mph

E3.Off-Speed Pitches

Changeup-This pitch is thrown by placing three fingers on the top of the ball
while keeping the other finger off the ball and the thumb placed on the 
bottom of the ball.

Movement-This pitch will break downward slightly as it approaches the plate
with a 12-6 motion.

Speed Range-59-82mph

Circle-Change-This is thrown by placing your index finger and thumb together
around the ball while gripping the ball with the other three fingers.

Movement-This pitch will have a downward break and will move in the opposite
direction of the pitcher's throwing arm(Left-handed pitch will break away from
a right-handed batter).

Speed Range-69-83mph

Palmball-This pitch is thrown exactly as it sounds, by placing the ball in 
your palm.

Movement-Similiar to a changeup with a 12-6 late break.

Speed Range-60-73mph

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F.Ratings
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In this section I will outline all of the pitching ratings in the game and
explain each one and how they should be developed for a successful career.

IMPORTANT- If you want to have a relatively easy start to your career then 
make sure that you give yourself one really good pitch(I would recommend the
4-seam Fastball) and make your per 9 ratings really high. I have a career as a
starter and I found it to be easy going through the year with high per 9
ratings. Make sure that you MAX OUT ALL YOUR PER 9 RATINGS BEFORE YOU SPEND
POINTS ON YOUR PITCHES. As crazy as this sounds it is the best strategy I have
seen. As your per 9 ratings get better, your pitches will gain a little more
break and you'll have alot more control making it easier to hit your spots and
get strike and groundouts.

STAMINA- This determines how many pitches you throw in an outing. The higher
the bar the more pitches you can throw and the more innings you can go. If you
are creating a Starting Pitcher then this will be an important rating starting
out because it will allow you to keep a good level of energy throughout a game
which in turn makes it easier to throw your pitches with control. 

If you are creating a Starter then you should put the bar should be at or past
the first digit of your weight. This level ensures that you won't have to 
touch your stamina throughout the season and will allow you to focus on your
Hits per 9, Balls/9 and your Strikeouts/9.

PITCHING CLUTCH- This rating allows your pitcher to dig deep and get out of
tough situations(Bases loaded, no outs). This is important for starters but
really important for relievers because they will most likely come in the game
in pressure situations.

Since you have to worry about your other ratings first you can put the clutch
around the same area as the H in Weight. This will give you some clutch. It
should be enough because your games will be on rookie and it will be fairly
easy to get out of jams depending on how good you are at the pitching system.

HITS PER 9- This rating determines how easy it is for batters to get hits off
you. Needless to say this is important for both starters and relievers. If you
make the mistake of not touching this stat and focusing on your pitches you 
will be sorry because your pitches will get hit frequently by all batters good
or not.

Since this is important I would recommend putting this stat around the end of
the blue bar that surrounds the word Weight. This will make it relatively hard
for the minor league batters that you are facing to hit your good pitches. 
This will allow you to rack up points by not giving up any runs and getting
alot of strikeouts, saves or wins.

HOMERUNS PER 9- This rating determines how hard it is for your pitcher to give
up a homerun or a deep fly ball which could turn into a double or triple. This
is important for both Starters and Relievers because nobody wants to give a 
walk-off home run or a bases loaded jack which will severely damage your ERA.

The bar for this should be between the H and the T of Weight. Since the minor
league batters won't have a lot of power you won't have to worry about giving
up a HR unless you make a bad pitch.

STRIKEOUTS PER 9- It took me a while before I realized how important this stat
was. This stat determines how easy it is for your pitcher to get a strikeout.
Since I am a closer I found this to be important because if I can strike out
the side I don't have to worry about the runners on base. This is less 
important for starters because if you get alot of strikeouts, your stamina
will suffer because you will throw more pitches.

Since I love overpowering pitchers I made this stat the same as the Hits per 9
because it's fun to strike out the side when you come in to close a game. I
would recommend that you fill this stat according to how you pitch. If you 
like to get strikeouts then put it where you put the Hits per 9. If not and
you would prefer groundouts or Flyouts then put the stat lower around about
the beginning of the H in Weight.

BALLS PER 9- This is another stat that I overlooked initially. This stat
basically determines your pitchers overall level of control on his pitches.
This is very important because if he has no control then your pitches won't go
where you want them to and that will make it easier to give up walks or even
worse hits.

I would recommend that you put this stat in-between the end of the word Weight
and the end of the blue bar(right before it reaches the empty black area). 
This will give your pitcher some control early and will make it easier for you
to hit you spots and get the popouts and groundouts that you want and also 
avoid mistake pitches.

DURABILITY- I am in my 4 season as a closer and my pitcher has been injured 5
times( twice in the first season and once in the others). The reason for this
is my durability is zero. DO NOT make this mistake. Without durability your
pitcher will spend alot of time on the DL(and won't gain points).

Don't waste the points when you first create you pitcher but MAKE SURE that
you increase this stat as the season goes on. It will become really important
later on. On the other hand you can cheat and just reset your game when you
get injured. If you want to take that route then you can(nobody will penalize
you for it).

FIELDING ABILITY- This determines how many fielding error your pitcher will
make. Since your pitcher really won't have that much interaction on the field
don't worry about this stat until you have points to spare(meaning all your
pitches are maxed out).

Like I said above don't worry about this because your points earlier on in
your career can be spent on you pitches and Per 9 ratings which are alot more
important than fielding ability.

ARM STRENGTH- This determines how strong your pitchers are is in the field.
Like fielding ability this also isn't important until you have points to spare

ARM ACCURACY- Like Arm strength this isn't important for you pitcher because
most of his throws innthe field will be short anyway so he won't need to have
accuract because he is so close to his target.

F1.Pitcher Types
-Thanks to LawoftheFajita for sending the most of the information in this FAQ
good looking man!!

IMPORTANT!!!Just about every pitch can be thrown for both types of pitchers
effectively. Whether you are a strikeout pitcher or Groundball/Control
pithcher determines more on your H/9 and K/9 and your pitching  style than 
your pitches. Also the pitches listed are suggestions by LawoftheFajita.

Strikeout Pitcher

A strikeout pitcher is my favorite, he dose exactly as his name says, 
strikes people out. The only down side to a strikeout pitcher is he 
throws a lot of pitches, so to go deep in a game you need a lot of stamina. 
Here are the stats that you need to MAX OUT before you start you 
career.

Stamina, K/9, and BB/9.

When into your career be sure to focus on these three, but don�t 
forget about HR/9 and H/9. Now for the pitches you need as a strikeout 
pitcher and their stats

4 Seam Fastball
Speed: Max
Control: Max
Break: 0

Slider
Speed: Max
Control:Max
Break:Max

Curveball
Speed:Max
Control:Max
Break: Max

Change-Up
Speed: 25
Control:Max
Break:25

You can add whatever fifth pitch you want. Just remember that control 
and speed for the fastball are a must, and control and break for the 
breaking balls, speed for breaking balls should just be last but they are 
needed also. As for tactics with a strikeout pitcher these should do.

-	Throw fastballs low and inside
-	Breaking balls should always break away or across your body
-	Don�t throw sliders to left-handed batters (for a right handed 
pitcher) and vice versa
-	Mix up inside outside, try to stay low
-	On counts 0-0 0-1 1-0 2-2 3-2 throw what ever you feel like
-	On counts 2-0 3-0 3-1 throw a strike, not down the middle but a 
strike
-	On 0-2 1-2 throw a breaking ball that breaks out of the zone or a 
fastball high inside
-	Try to paint the black with breaking balls and don�t put the fastball 
in the zone to much

Groundball/Control Pitcher

Groundball/Control pitchers are the easiest, you will get a lot of first pitch
outs and wont throw too much. The main problem with a groundball 
pitcher is you will give up homeruns late in the game unless your stamina is 
high up. You will lose control of your pitches and they will stay up in 
the zone because you will loose some of your break. Here are the stats 
you need to MAX OUT before your career.

Stamina (for starters, for closers not so much), HR/9, H/9

You need to put some in BB/9 and K/9 but don�t max it out. Max out 
those top three once into your career. Now the pitches needed to be a 
groundball pitcher.

Fastball
Speed: 25
Control:Max
Break: 0

Sinker
Speed: Max
Control: Max
Break: Max

Slider
Speed: 25
Control: Max
Break: Max

Change-Up
Speed: 20
Control: Max
Break: Max

Splitter/Forkball
Speed: 25
Control: Max
Break: Max

The sinker is going to be your pitch, max that out first then work on 
what pitch you want. The sinker has a tendency to break away form the 
pitcher and then sometimes it breaks strait down. About 98% of the time 
it will break away from the pitcher, that�s why you should wait before 
getting a splitter / forkball because the splitter 100% will break 
strait down and the forkball has only once broken away form me. These are 
some tips for groundball pitchers

-	The sinker will always be your main pitch
-	Throw the sinker inside on a hitter
-	The splitter / forkball can be thrown anywhere
-	Keep all pitches low
-	Throw fastball every once and a while to mix them up
-	Don�t put the pitches to far in the strike zone, they will get 
crushed
-	Try to get them to chase so they just hit enough to go down.
-	On counts 0-0 0-1 1-0 2-2 3-2 throw what ever you feel like
-	On counts 2-0 3-0 3-1 throw a strike, not down the middle but a 
strike
-	On 0-2 1-2 throw a breaking ball that breaks out of the zone or a 
fastball high inside
-	Try to paint the black with breaking balls and don�t put the fastball 
in the zone to much

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G.Delivery
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This is important for a couple of reasons. First and foremost it determines
how your pitcher throws the ball. I have broken down the different types of
deliveries and I will explain what pitches have the most break with each
delivery and also what the arm angle is on the delivery. I will also list a
pitcher or two who is known for that style.

OVER-HAND DELIVERY(Mike Mussina,Trevor Hoffman)
Since Mike Mussina is my favorite pitcher I had to do the over-hand delivery
first. As the name implies your pitchers release point is over his head and
more often than not his wrist his facing straight down after he releases the
ball. I have found that pitches that have a downward break are more effective
when throw from an over-hand delivery. Depending on the pitcher the ball will
also be hidden until it leaves your pitchers hand which makes it harder for
the batter to recognize what's coming. On the other hand I don't like throwing
pitches that a sideways movement from this delivery because it doesn't break
as much(Primarily Sliders).

Best Pitches to throw- Anything with a downward or 12 to 6 break meaning 
curveballs, splitters, changeups, Knucklecurves and Sinkers.

Recommended Delivery- Mike Mussina 

SIDE-ARM DELIVERY(Randy Johnson,Dennis Eckersley)
Also like it's name implies your pitcher's release point is at his waist 
level. Pitches from this delivery will most likely move a little more than you
want them to(i.e. my curveball thrown to inside of a left-handed batter will
move a little more towards him than a over-hand). This isn't a bad thing, I
find it to be quite useful because it not only do my curveball and splitter
have a 12-6 break, they also appear to move up then down as opposed to an over
hand delivery in which the pitch would just tumble downward from the release
point. I love throwing sliders with this delivery because they have more of
a side to side or 9-3 break to them. Fastballs are also effective because it
feels like you get extra speed on the fastball(It feels that way, I haven't
notices a speed difference).

Best Pitches to throw- Sliders and Fastballs. Breaking pitches work well also
just not as effective as with a over-hand delivery.

Recommended Delivery- Randy Johnson

THREE QUARTERS DELIVERY(Pedro Martinez,Johan Santana)
This is the most common delivery style in the MLB. Your pitchers realease 
point is slightly above his shoulder(Not quite a side-arm but not an overhand
either, stuck right in the middle). There is good reason why most pitchers use
a three quaters delivery and that reason is all pitches have a good amount of
break to them. Fastballs come out fast, breaking pitches tumble downward with
a bit or sideways movement, and off-speed pitches appear slower. You really
can't go wrong with any of these deliveries.

Best Pitches to throw- All pitches work wonderfully with this delivery.

Recommended Delivery- I don't like long deliveries so I go with Jason Jennings
For those who don't care I would have to go with Pedro Martinez.

SUBMARINE DELIVERY(Byung-Yung Kim, Mike Myers)
Like the name implies(I know it's getting old) your pitcher's release point is
at his thigh to the point where his hand is almost scraping the dirt. I really
have no complaints about this delivery and it actually is my favorite for a
couple of reasons. First it's easy to confuse batters with this delivery. Next
when I throw my fastball(which tops out at 102mph) it looks like it's going
alot faster than 102mph and batters are always late swinging at it. Also my
slider has a ridiculous amount of break when thrown from this delivery(I can
leave the ball in the middle of the zone and it will slide outside of the box)
My splitter and curveball also have a small amount of 9-3 motion when thrown
which is great when thrown into or away from the batter.

Best Pitches to throw- Fastballs, Sliders and Splitters. All other pitches 
work well also.

Recommended Delivery- Mike Myers

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H.Starting your Career
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Once you have finished making you pitcher you will be prompted to select what
team you want to go. Depending on what you chose to do(Starter or Closer)your
team will differ. If you chose to be a starter then I would recommend that you
go to the YANKEES. The reason for this is that during spring training you will
be playing with the MLB squad and it will be easier to get wins because they
will back you up. Also since their pitching staff is relatively old you'll get
your shot on the team. You'll also spend a year or two in the minors to 
develop your pitches and ratings to big league levels. If you are going to be
a closer than I would recommend the REDS. I played with them and in my first
year I had 48 saves between AA and AAA(12 and 37 respectively). You will get
alot of time because your team will have alot of close games that you will 
close out.

H1.Spring Training
You will only have the opportunity to do spring training in your first year.
There are ways to get around this limit though. Whenever your contract is up
decline the offer from the teams and choose to go into the season without a
team. You will get the chance to pick what team you want to play for then you
will be able to do spring training all over again. Your goal in spring 
training is to do good enough to make the team(You will never make the MLB 
team from spring training. You will always start in the minors). This is good
because you get to play with the Big Boys and get alot of training hours to 
improve your pitcher. Just focus on getting Wins if your a starter or Saves
if your a closer.

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I.Regular Season and Playoffs
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Once spring training is done you will enter the regular season and a number of
menu options available for you to cycle through. I will give a synopsis of the
options and also go into depth a little bit. I'm going to assume that everyone
who is playing this game knows how the regular season progresses so I'm not
going to explain that in this section.

I1.Schedule
As it's name implies this is where you see your teams schedule and where you
have to go to play your games. The greatest feature of THE SHOW is the ability
to simulate innings and games. What I mean is if you only want to play the 
games in which you are pitching you would simply hit X and then hit the option
that says sim to next appearance. The game will simulate all other games until
you start pitching then you will control your pitcher(and the batters if you 
want also). If you are a starter then the game will simulate every four days
until you pitch then you will play that game. If you are closer it is the same
thing except you will play the game when you appear in it. This allows you to
progress through your season really fast because if you are a starter you will
only play 35-40 games because that's how many you would normally start. If you
are a closer your season will go even faster because you will only do about a
inning of work and only appear in about 60 games. Just to give an idea on how
fast it will move I am already in my 4th season and I started this career 2
weeks ago. You will spend quite some time here in your season mainly because
you have no choice.

I2.Around the League
This is basically your stats central. If it's a stat it can be found in this
menu. I will break this down section by section to make it easier to read and
more comprehensive.

II1.Standings
This is where you come to check the standings in the league. You can see what
your overall record is, How many runs your team has scored, Runs given up, 
Winning Streak,record of last 10 games played,Record against division, Home
record,Away record, Day record and Night Record. Yeah I know it's a lot of 
stats and you probably won't look at them through most of the season.

II2.Statistics
In this screen you can see the individual statistics for the entire league,
broken down team by team. There is a very comprehensive list of stats and if
I listed them all this section would be alot longer so I am going to name the
primary ones which are:Games Played,At-Bats,Batting Avg,Hits,Runs scored, 
doubles,triples,homeruns,Runs Batted In,Stolen Bases,Times Caught Stealing,
stolen base percentage,Base on Balls, Strikeouts,Slugging Percentage, and
On-Base Percentage.For the pitchers it is:Games Played,Wins,Losses,Earned Run
Average,Games Started,Complete Games,Shutouts,Saves,Blown Saves,Innings 
pitched,Hits allowed,Runs,Earned Runs,HomeRuns,Bases on balls and Strikeouts.
 
III3.Team Rankings
In this screen you can see what your team is ranked in every offensive and
defensive category an also see the top the three players on your team in that
category.

III4.Who's Hot
Here is where you can see who's hot in the league or who's been on a tear in
the past month. This is useful for seeing who you should avoid when you play
a particular team.

III5.League Roundup
This is where you can monitor all the transactions in the league. Signings,
trades, releases everything involving the movement of players either from the
DL or to another team or even moving up and down from the minors.

III6.League Leaders
Here is where you can see who is leading the league in a good portion of the
statistics that were listed above. If you are a stat nut(as most of us are)
then you will spend alot of time in this menu option looking at and glossing
over your stats.

III7.Accolades
It is in this menu screen that you see who the front runners are for the 
yearly awards and also look at the MLB single-season and career records in
addition to being anle to look at the list of all the players inducted into 
the Hall Of Fame. You can also see where everybody is in terms of the All-Star
voting. Depending on how good your numbers are you will spend some time in the
awards and the All-Star voting sections.

I3.Player Management
In this screen you see your team's batting order and pitching rotation but 
since your a player not a manager you can't mess with any of the lineups or
rotations. This means you have to rely on the manager putting you in the game
which can be very frustrating. By pressing O you can see your player card 
which has your information on it such as your stats for the current season and
the one before it,all of your ratings, your contract info and your scouting
report which can be interesting to read. This is where you can see where you
measure up with the rest of the league. The scouting report for the most part
is accurate to your player(It says my splitter is legendary). It's also 
interesting to see what they are saying about you as a player. Since you can't
edit the rosters the only reason for you coming here is to see how much better
or worse you are than your teammates which can affect your playing time.

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J.Career Home Menu
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I decided to dedicate a whole section to this area of the game because it has
some really important options that need to be discussed in depth so everybody
can have a good understanding of how they work. As I will break this up into
sections for ease of reading.

J1.Locker Room
In this section you will see all of your mail from your teammates and manager.
This stuff really isn't important enough to read but if you want to read you
can feel free to do so. When you hit R1 it brings up your list of PERSONAL
ACHIEVEMENTS throughout your career. Just about everything major that you do 
in your career will show up here from the awards you've won to records you've
broken and even when you got called up or sent down from the minors. Also 
there is a status bar on the bottom of the screen which shows what level your
player is and also what difficulty level you should be playing at. The more
achievements you get and better you do in the season the fast the meter will
rise. Once it reaches a certain level you DON'T have to change the difficulty
level but the game feels your good enough to step it up to the next level. If
you hit R1 from the achievements screen it will bring up your career stats.
These are your complete stats from the majors and minors. If you want to see
how you did in a season, look no further than this screen. It will show you
everything you did from the start of your career.

J2.Contract
This screen shows you your contract, your yearly salary, how many years you
have remaining with that contract, whatever contract options you have, and a
year by year breakdown of how much money you are slated to make for the length
of your contract. Hitting R1 from this screen brings you to a screen with your
yearly goals that you should try to accomplish. The goals differ year after 
year and you get training hours for every goal you complete. This screen is
useful only if you like seeing how much money you are making or what goals you
haven't accomplished.

J3.Interactions
Now this is the most important menu screen in career mode. There are several
actions that you can take which will either make you Manager and Team like you
or dislike you. I would advise that you USE EXTREME CAUTION with these options
as doing the wrong thing and upsetting you manager can get you cut which you
don't want because you won't be picked up by another team for at least a year.

COMPLAIN-"If you think that the mananger is going one eay with his philosophy
and the team is going another way, complain about him".

Reaction- This action will almost always result in your Managers mood being
cut at least by a quarter and in a worst case you getting cut after doing it
about 5 times. With pitchers I have seen a temporary increase in ratings after
using this interaction.

DON'T SEE-"Say what's on your mind. Tell your manager that you're not seeing
eye-to-eye with him."

Reaction-This will result in manager unhappy and stripping away all of your
mood points with him. Twice and you will be released.

POSITION-"Not happy with your spot in the rotation?Make it known that your a 
better pitcher than that."

Reaction- If you are a starter this interaction will move up in the rotation
if you are doing good and move you down if you are slipping. Closers will use
this interaction to get more playing time in close situations.

POOR TEAM-"Have a players only meeting to talk about team chemistry and how to
improve on it."

Reaction- If your team is winning you will anger your teammates and their team
mood will take about a quarter hit from it

CALL UP-"Are the minors becoming not much of a challenge for you? Request a 
call up and see what happens.

Reaction- If you are doing good enough and they need you at the next level you
will be called up. Otherwise you will stay where you are and your request will
be denied. When they are ready to call you up they will.

TEAM-"Break the honorary players code and tell the media what goes on behind
closed doors from the team."

Reaction- This will upset your team but it won't be by much. Their mood meter
won't go down by that much so you really won't take a hit for using this.

MGR-"Have an exclusive interview with the media and spill the beans about your
manager."

Reaction- This will piss your manager off and you will lose all of your mood
points with your manager. Do this twice and you will be released.

REQUEST-"Request more playing time that you think you deserve because of your
talent."

Reaction- This is alot like the position interaction only it has a little more
effect. Especially if your are a starter and you want ot get intt the rotation
Use this when you feel you aren't getting enough playing time,especially as a
closer, because even if you get a negative comment he will put you in more 
than he would have.

TRADE-"Do you feel that you need a change of scenery? request a trade and hope
they'll do you a favor."

Reaction- If your are a good player chances are they won't trade you. If you
are a distraction and you constantly complain that you aren't getting enough
playing time you will be released. Use this sparingly because you don't want
to get released, trust me.

RETIRE-"Retire from major league baseball and ride off into the sunset like a
true professional."

Reaction- Retiring will allow you to look at your plaque with a statement of
how you did in the league. You will be able to look at your numbers one last
time but you won't be able to play with your player anymore and you will also
have to start another career mode.

J4.Training
Okay!! This is where you will spend most of your time in your career because
it is here where you will make your pitcher better by using the training hours
that you accumlate through completing the in-game tasks. As a pitcher you will
have 7 areas that you can work on with the rest of the areas reserved for your
pitches. For this section I will use my own ratings and show what comes up on
my screen including my rating in the area. If you don't have 5 pitches you
will have the option to spend points(I think 170) to learn a new pitch.

Stamina-Train your stamina to be able to grind it out in the late innnings.Max

Pitch Clutch-Learn how to bear down and get the out in clutch situations. Max

H/9-Spend some time learning how to give up less hits per game.(Max)

HR/9-Learn how to avoid the long and keep your pitches just out of reach.(Max)

K/9-Work on your ability to get that crucial strikeout. (Max)

BB/9-Work on your ability to hit your spots and avoid giving the free pass.Max

4SFB Speed-Develop your fastball velocity and learn to drop the hammer.(Max)

4SFB Control-Learn to spot your fastball anywhere in the zone.(Max)

4SFB Break-Increase your ability to throw your fastball with movement.(1)

CB Speed-Train your ability to throw a hard by increasing your speed.(Max)

CB Control-Develop more control on your curveball.(Max)

CB Break-Learn how to add more break to your curve.(Max)

SL Speed-Improve the speed on your slider.(Max)

SL Control-Learn how to paint the corners with your slider.(Max)

SL Break-Develop a nice tight spin on your slider.(Max)

SPL Speed-Develop better velocity on your splitter.(Max)

SPL Control-Train you control on the splitter(Max)

SPL Break-Learn how to drop that splitter through the zone.(Max)

CH Speed-Keep the hitters guessing by learning to throw a slow changeup.(Max)

CH Control-Gain pin-point control on you changeup.(31)

CH Break-Pull the string on your changeup by adding more break.(Max)

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K.Off-Season
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For all the stuff you have to do during the season you would the off-season
would be worse right? Well you'd be wrong you have 4 options to look at in the
off-season menu which are Retirements,Hall of Fame inductees,Career 
progression and end off-season. There really isn't anything to do except look
at a numerical representation of how much better you got. Outside of that just
continue on to end off-season and start the next year. If you are in a
contract year then you will have the option of resigning with your old team or
accepting a contract from a new team. Regardless of what you do, you can get
alot more then what they are offering(depending on how good your player is).
Make sure that you save your game before you go into the off season so when
you negotiate your contract you can see how much money you can get out of 
them. I was surprised to see that I could get an 8 year deal worth 120 million
with the Yankees as a closer.

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L.Retirement
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If you choose the retirement option in the Career Home menu your manager will
give you a message basically supporting your decision to retire. After that
message you will see your plaque which will have a paragraph basically 
outlining how great or poor you were in your career. I don't know if you can
get in the hall of fame because I am not that far in my career(only 30 years
old, 10 years pro) but I believe you can because the message I got when I 
retired was:"Sellers Retires!! on the cusp of the hall of fame". My career
stats at this point are:28 Wins,8 Losses,479 Saves,1001 K's and an ERA of 0.54

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M.Pitching Tips
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This section I decided to make after I came across a couple of useful tips
that will help you destroy your competiton both CPU and Human.

Tip#1- When throwing a pitch put no energy into it(basically hit the x button
while before the meter goes into the yellow. This will make the pitch break
less but will increase the speed by 5-7 mph. I have found that this works best
with the slider and splitter. When you throw the slider low in the zone or up
and in this way it will still break but will be moving at 97-99mph(If the 
speed on your slider is max). For the splitter it will drop off the plate but
will be harder to catch because it will be moving at 93-94mph(I've thrown it
96mph).You can also use this tip with the cutter, 2-seam and just about all of
the breaking pitches.

Tip#2- Keep all of your pitches low in the zone. This makes it harder to knock
out of the park. Also look at the spread chart for the batter you are facing.
Tailor your pitches around where they don't like to hit(For batter who have a
high percentage pulling the ball keep your pitches away, For batters who like
to opposite side, jam them in on the hands.

Tip#3- Manipulate the pitching cursor. What I mean by this is intentionally
miss the middle of the cursor to give your pitch more movement. For example
lets say you place a slider on the bottom of the strike zone. When you see the
pitch meter instead of getting the marker right in the middle, you get it 
before it reaches the middle. This will make the pitch go higher than it was
supposed to. If you put the cursor after the middle point the pitch will go 
lower than you wanted it to. Manipulating the pitch cursor can help you fool
human batter and will even fool the computer on occasion.

Tip#4- As dumb as this may sound, Throw a fastball down the middle on a 2 
strike count. When throwing the fastball power it all the way but don't get
cursor in the middle. Get it slightly after the middle point. I have struck
out so many batters doing this it's not funny. Needless to say, you need a 
very developed Fastball to do this. I would recommend that your fastball is
maxed out in speed and control is around 25.

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O.Credits
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-Sony for making this wonderful baseball game
-Gamefaqs for posting my guide
-Wikipedia for providing me with some of the pitch grips
-My brother for encouraging me to write this FAQ
-My fellow gamers for reading and using this FAQ
-LawoftheFajita for contributing his pitcher types section

Any questions or comments please E-mail me at:

[email protected]