This manual is brought to you by the Playstation Manuals Online - Greg Stanton http://www.seanet.com/~greg ***************************************** MLB PENNANT RACE Manual TABLE OF CONTENTS STARTUP INFORMATION 2-3 WELCOME TO MLB PENNANT RACE 4 CONTROL SUMMARY 5-6 MAIN MENU 7 EXHIBITION PLAY 7 Play Mode 7 League Select 8 Team Select 8 Home Team Select 8 Starting Lineup 9 Batting Order 10 ON THE DIAMOND 11 Batting 11 Pitching 11 Fielding 11 Base-Running 12 Throwing 12 Check Scoreboard 12 Check Batter Stats 12 Check Runners 12 DEFENSE MENU 13-16 SEASON 17-18 PLAYOFFS 19 PLAYER TRADES 19 Create Player 20 Reset Rosters 21 Trade Players 21 HOMERUN DERBY 22 OPTIONS 22 GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS 23 CREDITS 24 3 Welcome to MLB PENNANT RACE The makers of NFL GAMEDAY and NHL FACE OFF step up to the plate with MLB PENNANT RACE. The game you're about to play combines the most sophisticated 32-bit graphics with an innovative game design. You'll be able to play single Exhibition Games, full Seasons, or go straight to the Playoffs. All the exciting action and subtle strategy of real Major League Baseball is at your fingertips. The only thing missing is the smell of hot dogs, foul ball souvenirs, and the occasional rain delay. 4 CONTROL SUMMARY -------------------- The following summary outlines the basic game controls. For a more complete explanation of the controls, see On the Diamond on page 8. OFFENSE (Batting) Select Swing Type (except in Arcade Mode) Triangle, X, X Hit and Run (all runners go) Rl ,R2 Steal Lead Runner Triangle Steal One Runner (w/Direcrional Pad) Square Bunt Circle + D-Pad Swing Bat X OFFENSE (Base Running) 1st Base Right 2nd Base Up 3rd Base Left Home Plate Down Advance One Runner (w/Directional Pad) Triangle Return One Runner (w/Directional Pad) X Advance All Runners Square Return All Runners Circle Stop All Runners Rl,R2 Lead Off All Runners Ll Bring Back All Runners to Base L2 Bring Back to Specific Base D-Pad + Ll/L2 Bring Up Score Board Select Bring UP Offensive Menus Start Move Batter in Batter Box D-Pad + R2 5 DEFENSE (Pitching) Select Type & Speed (except in Arcade Mode) Triangle, Circle, X Target Pitch D-Pad Throw to 1st Circle Throw to 2nd Triangle Throw to 3rd Square Throw Selected Pitch X *In Arcade Mode, the D-Pad selects the pitch type DEFENSE (Fielding) Move Fielder D-Pad D-Pad Turbo (Speed Burst) Circle Jump X Dive X + D-Pad DEFENSE (Throwing) Throw to Cutoff R1, R2, L1, L2 Throw to 1st Circle Throw to 2nd Triangle Throw to 3rd Square Throw Home X Lob Throw Tap Regular Throw Press 6 MAIN MENU -------------------- D-Pad up/down to highlight an option. Press X to select the highlighted option. Press Triangle to go back to the previous menu. ALL THE MENUS IN THE GAME OPERATE JUST LIKE THE MAIN MENU. EXHIBITION PLAY -------------------- Exhibition Games do not count in the standings and cannot be saved. Develop your skills in Exhibition Games before you hit the road for a full season schedule or for the playoffs. PLAY MODE Select the desired play mode in the same way as you selected from the Main Menu. Notice that the controller represents "player" and the console unit repre- sents the "computer." 7 LEAGUE SELECT Follow the prompts at the bottom of the screen to select the first league. hen you're finished selecting the first league and team, you'll follow the same process for the second. * D-Pad left/right to highlight the desired league. * Press X to select the desired league. TEAM SELECT With the league selected, now you need to choose the team. * D-Pad left/right to cycle through all the team logos. When the desired team appears, press X HOME TEAM SELECT With both teams selected, now it's time to decide which team is Home and which is the Visitor. D-Pad left/right to reverse the Home/Visitors teams. When you've made your choice, press X to continue. 8 STARTING LINEUP The lineups screen allows you to shift players to different positions, substitute players, and change the batting order. When you're finished making changes to the lineups, highlight Done and press X. If you wish to return to the previous screen, press Triangle. POSITION CHANGE Use this function to shift players in the field without changing the batting order. For example, if you want your center fielder and left fielder to switch positions, you can do it here. Note: pitchers can't play in the field and fielders can't pitch. * Select Position Change. * Highlight one of the players you wish to move to a different position, and press X. * Highlight the player at the position where you want to move the previously highlighted player. (Notice that player's position is now flashing.) * Press X to switch positions. Use this function to substitute a player into the lineup from the fielding/pitching roster. When substituting from the fielding roster, the substitute plays the position of the player he's substituting for, regardless of the position shown next to his name on the fielding roster. * Select Player Change. * Select the player you wish to remove from the lineup. The appropriate roster (Fielding/Pitching) appears with the player you just removed flashing at the top of the list. * Select the player you wish to insert into the lineup. The substitute automatically takes the position of the player you removed. BATTING ORDER When you move a player down in the batting order, the player whose spot he takes moves directly above him. When you move a player up in the batting order, the player whose spot he takes moved directly below him. * Select Batting Order. * Select the batter you wish to move. * D-Pad the highlighted player to the desired spot in the batting order, and then press X 10 ON THE DIAMOND -------------------- BATTING It's important that you familiarize yourself with your batters so you can capitalize on their strengths and avoid their weaknesses. It will help you to know that the Power swing, while it generates more bat-speed and thus more power, increases the chance of a wiff. Conversely, the Contact swing takes some of the speed off the bat but allows for more control. Normal is, of course, the player's regular swing. PITCHING You want to get out of every inning in the fewest pitches possible. Where stamina is an issue (in Veteran and All-Star Levels), it's important to know that the harder (faster) you throw, the more fatigue your pitcher will suffer. A little research on the batter never hurts, either. Most power hitters love to see high heat. FIELDING A Fielders Speed and Leaping rating determine his ability to get to the ball. His Glove rating determines his ability to catch the ball. You'll want to familiarize yourself with your fielders to better know how to position them on the field and control them when the ball is hit. 11 BASE-RUNNING A runners Speed and Stolen Base statistic indicate his ability to steal a base. You'll want to test the pitcher's pick off move against your lead off to see how much advantage you can take on a steal. When running with the ball in play, you need to gauge your runners speed with the fielders arm. Sometimes it's simply a matter of making an instantaneous decision whether or not to gamble. THROWING As soon as the fielder collect the ball, you can throw it. If you don't think you can get the lead runner, try to nab another runner. The runner's speed and your fielder's arm rating become important when the play is likely to be a close one. CHECK SCOREBOARD * To check the scoreboard and the batters due up, press R2. CHECK BATTER STATS * To check the stats of the batter at the plate, press L2. CHECK RUNNERS When you're pitching, you can check the run- nets on first and third. To check the runner on first, press R1. To check the runner on third, press L1. 12 DEFENSE MENU -------------------- When you're on defense, you can access the Defense Menu. PRESS START BEFORE THE PITCH TO PAUSE THE GAME AND BRING UP THE DEFENSE MENU. The eight options on the menu are explained below. * To activate an option, highlight it and press X LINEUP The Lineup menu allows you to make fielding and pitching changes in the same way as you made them on the Lineup Screen before the game. In addition, this menu offers a database of expanded player statistics. D-Pad up/down to cycle through the player stars, beginning with the pitchers. Press X to return to the Lineup menu. PLAYER LEVEL There are three pitching levels: Rookie, Veteran, and All Star. In Rookie mode, you pitchers never tire out or lose control of their pitches. 13 In Veteran mode, your pitchers will show some signs of fatigue after several innings. In All-Star mode, your pitchers is liable to tire easily, just like real major league hurlers. STRATEGY The strategy screen allows you to shift your infielders and outfielders in a variety of ways to suit particular situations. Each of the four shift options offer their own choices. Select the kind of shift you would like to make. D-Pad left/right to highlight your choice, and then press X INFIELD SHIFT Shift the infield left, right, or to guard the foul lines, to compensate for individ- ual batters. Right handed batters generally hit to the left side, and vice versa. Guarding the lines can prevent extra-base hits. 14 IN FIELD DEPTH Changing the infield depth affects the range of individual infielders. In general, u want to pull infielders in when there's a force-play at home and you can't afford to give up a run. Moving infielders back, into Double Play depth, increases their range and makes it harder get the ball past them. OUTFIELD SHIFT Shift the outfielders in the same circumstances as you would shift the infielders. Shifting is sometimes called 'overplaying." OUTFIELD DEPTH You'll want your outfielders to play shallow to prevent a run from scoring on a bloop single or base hit through the infield. Or you can bring them in when a hitter who lacks power is at the plate. When a hitter with undeniable power is at the plate, sometimes it's a good idea to play deep. CAMERA VIEW * Highlight one of the four camera views and then press 15 OPTIONS The Options menu allows you to customize your game using a variety of differ- ent features. RADAR GUN: Displays the pitch speed DISTANCE METER: Displays the length of each hit ANNOUNCER: Play by Play audio BALL MARKER: Shows where the ball will cross the plate AUTO FIELDING: The computer fields for you ARCADE MODE: Simplifies Pitcher/Batter interface COMPUTER: Turns computer opponent on/off ARCADE MODE In Arcade mode, the pitching an batting menus are removed. When pitching in Arcade mode, the D-Pad selects the pitch type. Up=Slow, Down=Fast, Left=Curve, Righr=Curve. As the ball approaches the batter, you can use the D-Pad to control it in the air. CHANGE STADIUM Available in Exhibition mode only, select the desired stadium from the list and then press X 16 SEASON -------------------- The Season option allows you to begin a new season or continue an old one. STANDINGS The Standings screen displays the current divisional standings. D-Pad up/down to cycle through the six MLB divisions. LEAGUE LEADERS The League Leaders database displays the top eight players by league in 16 offensive and defensive categories. The number one player in the selected stat category is displayed in the selection window. To switch leagues, D-Pad left/right. To change the stats category, D-Pad up/down. Press X to activate the player list, and the D-Pad up/down to display the players on the list. 17 PLAYER STATS The Player Stats screen displays all the individual player stats for all the MLB teams. See page 21 for a list of all the abbreviations. D-Pad left/right to cycle through all teams. D-Pad up/down to cycle through the players on the selected team. Press X to return to the Season Menu. PLAY GAME The schedule screen displays all the regular reason games for the selected team. You can play as many or as few of the games as you wish. When you skip ahead on the schedule, the computer generates results for the unplayed games on the dates prior the game you select. D-Pad up/down to highlight the game you wish to pay. To change the number of innings in the selected game, use the L1/L2 finger buttons. Press X to proceed to the lineup screen. 18 PLAYOFFS -------------------- The Playoffs Mode takes you straight to the post-season Divisional Series. If you win there, you move on to the League Pennant Series, and after that to the World Series. The screens function just like those in Exhibition mode, and on-screen instructions are provided to assist you. PLAYER TRADES -------------------- The Trade Player screen not only allows you to swap players on a one-for-one basis, but it let's you create new players and add them to existing rosters, as well as restore the league rosters to their original condition. CREATE PLAYER The Create Player screen displays a Free Agent pool, from which you can create new players. Before you begin, highlight and select Create Player. * D-Pad up/down to highlight a free agent, and press X to select him. If you select a pitcher, that player can only be a pitcher. If you select a fielder, you can change that player's position when you modify him. Use this screen to construct a player in the following manner. Use the D-Pad to highlight the desired attribute box, and then press X D-Pad up/down to cycle through the options in the box. In the First/Last Name boxes, up/down cycles through the alphabet, and left/right moves the cursor. When you're satisfied with the entry, press X and use the D-Pad to move to the next attribute box. FIRST NAME: Player's first name LAST NAME: Player's last name POS: Fielding Position NUMBER: Uniform Number THROWS: Throwing Arm BATS: Batting Side HIT L: Skill vs. Pitches on the Left Side of the Plate HIT C: Skill vs. Pitches at the Center of the Plate HIT R: Skill vs. Pitches on the Right Side of the Plate (Maximum Combined Total = 100) SPEED: Foot Speed ARM: Throwing Arm 20 GLOVE: Skill with the Glove LEAP: Leaping Ability (Maximum Combined Total = 100) CONTACT: Skill as a Contact Hitter NORMAL: Skill as a Normal Hitter POWER: Skill as a Power Hitter (Maximum Combined Total 100) * When you're finished creating the player, press X and then select DONE. RESET ROSTERS To clear all the changes to all the rosters, highlight Reset Rosters and press X TRADE PLAYERS The Trade Players screen allows you to swap players one-for-one. Select Trade Players from the menu. D-Pad up/down to highlight a team, and then press X D-Pad up/down to highlight a player to trade, and then press X Select another team. Select a player to pick up, and press X 21 HOMERUN DERBY -------------------- The Homerun Derby offers a one or two player Homerun competition in the Major League Stadium of your choosing. Notice that you can change the pitch- ing level. This is an ideal way not only to slug it our with a friend, but to take batting practice. Even the great ones need batting practice. D-Pad up/down to move the highlight bar. D-Pad left/right to change the highlighted setting. When you're ready to move on, press The Select Hitter screen works just like all the other lineup screens. * When you've selected a hitter, press (r) to begin the Homerun Derby. Batting in Homerun Derby works exactly as it does in a regular game. OPTIONS -------------------- The Options screen allows you to access the PlayStation memory card and other important system options. Follow the on-screen instructions to make desired changes, and then return to the Main Menu. 22 GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS -------------------- PITCHING BATTING/FIELDING ERA: Earned Run Average Average: Batting Average Win: Games Won HR: Home Runs Loss: Games Lost RBI: Runs Batted In Save: Games Saved G: Games Played G: Games (Appearances) AB: Ar Bats GS: Games Started R: Runs Scored CG: Complete Games H: Hits SHO: Shutouts 2B: Doubles IP: Innings Pitched 3B: Triples H: Hits Allowed HBP: Hit by Pitch R: Runs Allowed BB: Bases on Balls ER: Earned Runs Allowed IW: Intentional Walks HB: Hit Batsmen K: Strike Outs BB: Base on Balls allowed SB: Stolen Bases IW: Intentional Walks E: Errors Committed K: Strikeouts DP: Double Plays Performed T: Throwing Arm B: Batting Side