Baseball FAQ - Guide for Wii Sports

Wii Baseball is my favorite game in Wii sports, and it’s 
probably the trickiest to learn, especially for someone 
who doesn’t know the rules of baseball. Note that Wii 
Sports baseball doesn’t apply all the rules of normal 
baseball, so big time baseball fans may be disappointed.
 Anyways, for you baseball newbies here is the info on 
baseball as it applies to this game:


Contents of this FAQ:
1.	Baseball terms
2.	Pitching
     a.	Basic pitching techniques
     b.	Types of pitches
     c.	Pitching strategies
     d.	Good pitches to use
     e. Fielding
3.	Batting
4.	Running and scoring
5.	Playing against the computer
6.      Differences from real baseball
7.	Credits and free copyright information



1. Baseball terms:

Diamond-Baseball is divided into 4 bases; 1st, 2nd, 
3rd, and home. To score a point, or a run, the player
 must get from home to 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and then back 
to home. 

Home plate- The batter stands here to try to hit the
 ball. Home plate is shaped like a pentagon.

Infield- The area inside of the diamond

Outfield- The area outside of the diamond, but 
inside fair territory

Fair territory- The area, marked by two white lines
 going out from home plate into the outfield, with
 two yellow poles at the end.

Foul territory- Anything outside fair territory.

Run- In baseball, a point is called a run

Batter- The person holding the bat at home plate. 
Tries to hit the ball and score runs.

Pitcher- This player throws the ball and tries to
 not let the batter hit it.

Pitch- When the pitcher throws the ball.

Inning- The game is divided into 3 innings in 
which each team gets a chance to score runs.
 An inning is kind of like a quarter.

Out- Each teams gets to try to score runs until
 they get out three times.

Strike- The pitcher can throw a strike to try to get 
the batter out. A strike is when the batter swings 
and misses. A strike also happens when a pitch is 
thrown over home plate and above the batter’s knees,
 even if the batter doesn’t swing.

Ball- Well in baseball this is two things. The 
obvious one is the thing you are playing with; a ball. 
More specifically in baseball, a ball is when the 
pitcher throws and the ball is either thrown below the
 batter’s knees or is thrown to the left or right of 
home plate. If the pitcher throws a ball, do not swing,
 otherwise it will be counted as a strike (if you miss). 
If the pitcher throws 4 balls to a batter, the batter 
automatically gets to go to 1st base. If there is someone 
already on 1st base, that person will go to 2nd base and so 
on.

To the inside- A pitch is thrown to the side of home plate 
that the batter is on

To the outside- A pitch is thrown to the side of home plate 
away from the batter.

Foul ball- This is when the batter hits the ball but it does 
not go into fair territory. This is counted as a strike, 
unless the batter already has two strikes.

Home run- This is when the ball is hit by the batter and 
it goes into the crowd while still in fair territory. All 
batters on base, including the current batter, run the bases 
and get a run.

Out of the park- Same as a home run.

Mercy Rule- If at the end of the inning you have five or more 
runs over your opponent, the mercy rule will kick in and you’ll 
automatically win. This only applies after the first and second 
innings.

Single, double, triple- Everyone on base progresses one, two, 
or three bases respectively.





2. Pitching

To pitch the ball with the best results, hold the wiimote 
over your shoulder, facing away from the screen and thrust 
it forward to face towards the screen. Be careful though, 
because pretty much any quick movement will cause the computer 
to pitch. Eventually your pitcher will get tired and start 
sweating. When this happens your pitches wont be as accurate 
or as fast.


A. Basic pitching techniques:
Speed- The quicker you thrust the wiimote, the quicker you 
will pitch the ball. Faster pitches are often harder to hit.

Controls- Press left or right once on the wiimote to throw 
the ball left or right of center (home plate). If you have 
vibrate on, the controller should vibrate for a moment. After 
each pitch, it will be set back to center. You can also 
press A or B for different types of pitches

To throw the ball underhand press 2, and to go back to 
throwing overhand press 1.

B. Types of pitches:
Fastball- To throw a fastball simply thrust the wiimote 
forward quickly without pressing A or B. This will give 
you the fastest pitch you can get.

Change up- To throw a change up, thrust the wiimote forward 
gently. Note: It will appear on your screen as a fastball, 
but slowing down the pitch makes it a change up because you 
are changing up the speed. This will often catch the batter 
off guard and cause him/her to swing too early.

Screwball- Thrust the wiimote forward while pressing A to 
make the ball screw off to the right (left from batter’s 
view)

Curveball- Thrust the wiimote forward while pressing B 
to make the ball curve off to the left (right from 
batter’s view). 

Splitter- Thrust the wiimote forward while pressing A and 
B to throw a splitter. This will make the ball look like 
a slow ball, but it will go low and hit the ground. This 
is very hard to hit and almost impossible for the batter 
to get a single. The drawback is that if the batter 
doesn’t swing, it counts as a ball, and sometimes you 
will “fail” to make the pitch, in which case an exclamation 
mark will appear over the pitcher’s head and he/she will 
instead throw a nice slow, easy to hit pitch right over the 
plate.


C. Pitching strategies
Try not to pitch any balls to the outside (the side of the 
plate away from the batter) because they will usually get a 
home run, or at least a double. Change up your pitch every 
time you throw for the best results. Use splitters sparingly. 
When playing against friends, switch to underhand throwing 
by pressing 2. This will often make it harder for them to 
figure out what kind of pitch is coming their way. Also try 
switching between overhand and underhand. 


D. Good pitches to use:

Note that these are for if the batter is right handed (stands 
to the left side of the plate from batter’s view, or to the 
right side of the plate from the pitcher’s view). If the 
batter is left handed, substitute screwballs with 
curveballs and vice-versa. 

Screwball-  Will be thrown over the inside of homeplate, and 
its hard to hit.

Screwball to the inside- This will be a ball, but its hard 
to tell and, if they swing, there is no way they will get to 
a base.

Curveball to the inside- It will look like it’s a ball, but 
it will curve over home plate for an easy strike.

Fastball- Don’t use this too often as its easy to hit, but 
when you use it, throw fast. And don’t NOT use this either, 
because its good to change up your pitches.

Fastball to the inside- The batter will anticipate a curveball 
and will swing and miss, or get a foul ball

Change up to the inside- The batter will usually swing too early 
to hit this.

Curveball to the outside- This is the only time you should throw 
a pitch to the outside because usually it will be thrown too far 
to the outside to hit.

Splitter- This pitch is golden because it’s almost impossible to 
get a base hit on. Use this sparingly though because sometimes 
(especially if your pitcher is sweating) you’ll mess up and 
instead throw a nice slow ball down the center of home plate, 
making an easy homerun for your opponent.

Splitter to the inside/outside- This will increase your chances 
of the batter missing by a lot, but it will also be more obvious 
that you’re throwing a ball. Use this sparingly.


Any other pitch can be used, but it increases the likelihood that 
your opponent will hit a double or a home run.

E. Fielding:

When you're the pitcher, everyone else on your team becomes a 
fielder. In wii baseball there are eight fielders; catcher, 
first baser, second baser, shortstop, third baser, left 
outfielder, right outfielder, and center outfielder. These 
fielders try to catch the ball whenever it is hit. If they 
catch a hit ball before it touches the ground, the batter 
gets an automatic out. If the ball is picked up from the 
infield, it will usually be an out for the batter. If the 
ball goes into the outfield, the batter will get a single, 
double, or triple; depending on how long it takes the 
fielders to grab the ball. Sometimes the fielders will 
make an "error" and accidently drop the ball. When this 
happens an exclaimation point will appear over the fielder's 
head and they will try to pick it up again. Dropping the 
ball is completely random.





3. Batting:

For best results when batting, stand like a batter would stand. 
These will be for right-handed batters. Stand with your left 
shoulder facing the screen. Stand with your legs apart so that 
the outsides of your feet are aligned with the outsides of your 
shoulders. Hold the wiimote up with both hands, right hand on 
the wiimote and left hand on top of the right hand. Hold the 
wiimote next to your right shoulder with the sensor facing up. 
When you want to swing, swing the wiimote like a baseball bat.

This is what makes baseball such a hard sport; you have to 
decide in a split-second whether or not you should swing. 
If the pitch will be a ball, don’t swing. If it is a strike, 
it should be an easy hit and you should swing. 

Bunting- A bunt is when you hold the bat out in front of you 
and let the ball hit it. Bunting will often result in a foul 
ball or an out. If you can bunt the ball to the left, 
sometimes you’ll be able to get a single. If you bunt it 
will not count as a swing, so if a ball is thrown you won’t 
get a strike. 





4. Running and scoring:
If you hit the ball to the infield, it will usually get picked 
up quickly and you’ll get an out. The computer will play all of 
the infielders and outfielders for you. Sometimes it will be 
accidentally dropped and you can get a single. This will happen 
randomly. Also, if the ball is caught before it hits the ground, 
you’ll get an out. If the ball is hit into the outfield the amount 
of bases will depend on how long it takes for the computer to pick 
it up. You can get either a single (all players move one base), 
double (all players move two bases), triple (all players move three 
bases) or home run (all players automatically get to home plate and 
score a run). 

You can also get a ground rule double. This is when a player hits 
the ball into fair territory and the ball bounces off the ground and 
into the stands.

In the outfield there are banners that say "Hit it here". If you 
hit the banner, the ball will bounce off at a weird, angle making 
it hard for the outfielders to get the ball, and you'll usually
get a triple.





5. Playing against the computer:

When you play against the computer, it will track the scores of your 
individual Mii. Note that guest Miis will not keep records. The more 
you beat your opponent by, the higher your score will go. Once you 
get to 1000 you will turn pro. The opponents will get harder the more 
points you have, and once you’re a pro if you don’t beat them your 
score will start to go down. Also, if you don’t beat them by enough 
or get a tie, your score will also go down. Once your score gets to 
about 1250 or so, you’ll face Champ Sakura. She is a left handed 
pitcher, and left handed pitchers naturally have an advantage 
against right handed batters. She will throw splitters a lot and 
she will never mess up. Just watch for them; eventually they will 
become easy to spot. Unlike most other computer opponents, Sakura 
is not afraid to throw four balls and let you walk to first base, 
so have a keen eye to spot good pitches and bad ones. After she 
goes through your batter lineup twice, she’ll start to get tired 
and most of her splitters will suddenly become easy slow pitches 
down the center of the plate. Hit these for easy home runs.




6. Differences from real baseball:

There are a few differences from real baseball in this game. I
will list as many as I can think of here. If I have missed one,
please e-mail me and I will add it (and I'll of course give you
credit):


There are no force outs or double/triple plays. Each hit can only 
result in one out.

If a foul tip is caught, it will not count as an out.

There are no umpires and therefore no umpire errors. Each strike
will count as a strike and each ball will count as a ball.

Bunting a foul ball with two strikes does not count as an out.

There is no base stealing.

Every runner gains the same amount of bases. The only exception 
is if a batter is walked.

There is no "hit by the pitch" rule, nor can a batter be hit by 
a pitch.

Every player has the same amount of skill in pitching, batting, 
and catching.

If the score is tied at the end of the game, the game ends 
in a tie instead of going into extra innings. (Thanks to 
basefall fan Matthew Denton!)

There is no "Mercy Rule" in real baseball

In real baseball there are 9 innings instead of 3.





7.	Credits and free copyright information

Credits:
Brian- I wrote this FAQ
I also want to give credit to
Daniel
Worth
Eric
Amanda
Matt
Ken
for playing baseball with me.

Matthew Denton for showing me the fact that there is a shortstop
(how could I have been so careless?) and a tip in section 6.

Free copyright information
I’m allowing anyone use of this information for their website or 
other use under the condition that they credit me as “psigaming of 
the GameFAQs.com forum”. Any non-credited use is plagiarism as 
defined by all federal statutes and is illegal.