The one thing in the world that can push Disney into the backseat come March is baseball’s Spring Training. It's that time of the year again when the pitchers and catchers are coming out of hibernation and preparing to eradicate the rust from their joints and give us another classic baseball season. With the release of MLB 08: The Show, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better representation of that anywhere else in the world outside of the real thing.

This is the second season of MLB: The Show for the PlayStation 3 console but Sony Computer Entertainment San Diego (SCE San Diego) will have you thinking they’ve been doing this forever. The studio looked to build on last year’s success and improve the game where the fans criticized it the most, and it clear they put forth the effort to do just that. So, instead of waiting for the seventh inning stretch, we’ll jump right into the down and dirty.

Baseball simulations will always only be as great as the gameplay within them. Without a core standard of gameplay, any feature-packed game can fall short. We’ll start off with the improved hitting system and go from there.

The Show brought in a ton of new signature player styles, not as many as its main rival, 2K8, but enough for it to be a noticeable addition to the lineup. On top of this, the hitting mechanics are flawless. You’ll utilize the face buttons, mainly square and X to designate whether you want a power swing or a contact swing respectively. Each type of swing will have a varying effect from batter to batter. We’ve come to notice that a smaller, non-power hitter is more likely to hit a homerun by swinging for contact than for power; while a power hitter can hit one out regardless of swing type, but seems to take more out of the park if he’s swinging for power.

Now, this doesn’t mean the power hitter has an unfair advantage, not by any means. The homerun to single/double/triple ratio is extremely realistic. You’ll never feel as though one happens way too much compared to the other. We found ourselves enjoying a nice even distribution of hit types, much like you’d see while watching an actual game.

The actual types of hits are varied as well. You’ll get to experience the broken bat fly ball, the slow roller, hard grounder and so on. MLB 08: The Show didn’t pull any punches when it came down to the core gameplay of hitting and if you’ve taken a couple of swings from the demo, you know full well on what we’re talking about.

When it comes to pitching, SCE San Diego used the old phrase, “If it ain't broke, don’t fix it.” Obviously, they left the pitching systems from last year remain. You’ll be able to choose between classic pitching or meter pitching, each having its own variance of difficulty. With the meter pitching, you’ll be expected to time your power and accuracy in order to hit the appropriate location, while with classic you’ll be able to pitch without the meter troubles.

Each pitcher also has their own style of wind-up and release, much like their real-life counterparts. They also come with their proper arsenal of pitches that they throw in the big leagues as well. We really wish they would have tried something new and innovative like the new pitching mechanics provided in MLB 2K8, but unfortunately we’ll have to wait a bit longer for something different.

When it comes down to fielding, don’t expect any real surprises either. Last year’s system worked perfectly and not much has changed. A player’s awareness and throwing accuracy will prove to be important, especially in the exclusively improved Road to the Show game mode.

MLB 08: The Show has a variety of game modes that you’re basically already accustomed to. They give you the option to play a basic season, full-fledged franchise, exhibition, manager mode, rivalry mode and their exclusive Road to the Show mode.

Each mode name is fairly a generic representation of all it encompasses. Season/Franchise will allow you ... (continued on next page)