Alright, so let’s talk about MLB The Show 24. Been sinking my teeth into it, as I do every year. You know, I’ve been through the wringer with all the pitching interfaces they’ve thrown at us over the decades. Meter, Pulse, Pinpoint – tried ‘em all, mastered some, cursed others. But the other day, I had this urge, this weird nostalgic pull, to go back to basics. Yeah, I’m talking about classic pitching.
My Dive Back into Classic
So, I fired up an exhibition game. Didn’t want to wreck my Diamond Dynasty record or anything, just a casual run. Went into the settings, scrolled past all the fancy new stuff, and landed on ‘Classic’. Felt a bit strange, like digging out an old vinyl record. You pick your pitch, you aim the ball marker (which, let’s be honest, feels more like a vague suggestion than a pinpoint target), and you hit the button. That’s it. No timing, no tracing weird patterns on my controller. Simple.
My first thought was, “Huh, this is gonna be easy street.” Boy, was I wrong. My pitcher, a guy who usually has decent control with Pinpoint, suddenly seemed to have a mind of his own. I’d aim for the outside corner, and the ball would sail right down the middle. Fastball down and away? Nope, hanging curveball, see ya later! The first couple of innings were just batting practice for the CPU. I was getting shelled. It felt like I was just suggesting where the pitch should go, and the game was like, “Yeah, cute suggestion, but I’m gonna do this instead.”
The “Practice” (or Frustration) Begins
Okay, I thought, maybe I’m just rusty. Maybe there’s a subtlety I’m missing. So, I actually went into practice mode. Picked a pitcher with high control stats, thinking that would be the key. And yeah, it helped a bit. The pitches were generally closer to where I aimed. But that “generally” is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
- I tried tapping the button.
- I tried holding the button.
- I tried whispering sweet nothings to my controller.
None of it seemed to make a lick of difference to the precision. It really felt like the pitcher’s stats, especially Control (CTL) and Pitch Break (BRK), were doing 90% of the work, and my input was the other 10%, just to tell it what pitch and a general direction. If the pitcher had a bad day, or if the RNG gods weren’t smiling on me, that ball was going wherever it wanted within a pretty wide cone of uncertainty.
The biggest challenge for me was the lack of direct feedback and control. With meter or pinpoint, if I mess up, I know I messed up. My thumb slipped, my timing was off. With classic, it felt like a lottery. Perfect release? Who knows! The ball just… goes. And sometimes it goes right where the bat is.
What I Reckon I’ve Learned
After a few more games, stubbornly sticking with classic, I started to get a different feel for it. It’s less about your stick skills and more about understanding your pitcher’s strengths and weaknesses, and honestly, managing your expectations. You’re not going to dot every corner. You’re going to give up some meatballs. That’s just classic pitching, I guess.
It forces you to think more like a manager. Can this guy reliably throw his slider for a strike in this situation if I aim it low and away? Or am I better off just trying to pound a fastball in the vicinity of the zone and hope for the best? It’s a different kind of mental game.
For me, it’s definitely not the go-to for competitive play. No way. I need that feeling of control, even if it’s sometimes a false sense of security. But for a more relaxed game, maybe when I’m just chilling and don’t want to focus super hard on complex inputs, classic pitching has a certain charm. It’s straightforward. It gets you through innings quickly. It’s… well, it’s classic for a reason, I suppose. It’s how we old-timers used to do it, for better or worse.
So, yeah, that was my little adventure with classic pitching in MLB The Show 24. Not sure I’ll stick with it full-time, but it was an interesting trip down memory lane. Made me appreciate the other systems a bit more, while also kind of understanding why some folks might still prefer this simpler approach. It’s just a different beast entirely.
