Have any improvements been made to Road to the Show? From what I have read I love the idea of starting in AA.

Absolutely, Road to The Show (RTTS) 4.0 features the additions of two new option settings; RTTS Game Watch and RTTS Game Completion, that allow users to set how much of the game they wish to view. With settings of All Pitches, All Fielding, Result Play, and Off, user's will have the choice to view every pitch of the entire game, or trim the viewing down to just the result pitch. Users will now start their career in Double-A ball and will have to earn their spot in Spring Training.

In order to enforce good fundamental baseball, two new systems have been implemented. The first is a mistake tracking system that will keep tabs on how users play the game and will penalize for throwing to the wrong base, not covering the right base for the out, etc. The second feature is a new Green Light system that has been implemented to reward good base stealing and penalize those that shouldn't be stealing. If a user continues to steal once the green light has been revoked, their playing time will diminish. Once revoked, users will have to improve their speed and base running ability in order to regain the green light. Finally, there is a new stat tracking system that keeps stats for your player’s career versus every pitcher or batter faced during the current season that can be accessed at any time.

The new catcher play sounds interesting. In this mode are you literally telling the pitcher what to throw? Will the AI ever call you off? And if so – can I go to the mound like in Bull Durham and yell at him?

Road to The Show is one of our more popular modes and has been very well received by critics and fans, but the development team is always looking to improve things and make the experience more realistic and more fun. This is a perfect example. In Road to The Show, we’ve always felt that one area that needed to better portray realism was the catcher's role on the team. In history, there have been 116 ex-catchers who have become Major League managers, and that isn't without reason. The catcher is the field manager and is essential to the pitch by pitch strategy. This year, we’ve added a key element to what it means to be a catcher in Road to The Show by introducing the ability for the catcher to call the game. Now, as a catcher you’re not just responsible for fielding the ball and throwing out runners; you’re now making the decision of what pitch to call and what location to throw it to. The A.I. batter over the years of improvements has learned to adapt to pitcher tendencies and game situations, so it’s your job to out-think the batter and win the game.

Finally, if a baseball fan bought MLB 09 and is happy with it – how do you get him to pull the trigger on this new version? Just how significant of an upgrade is MLB 10? Do you think a fan of this series will pop MLB 10 in and immediately notice the differences or are the changes more subtle?

We pride ourselves on improving the game by leaps and bounds every year, so we hope that fans notice the upgrades right off the bat (no pun intended).

Questions or comments? We'd love to hear from you