How does Home Run Batting work?
You look out from behind the catcher and swing the bat at the exact moment the pitch crosses the strike zone. Perfect timing with the bat at the height of the ball sends the ball over the wall for a home run; a little early or late gives you a foul, a grounder or a fly ball.
The pitcher mixes four pitches with different speeds and locations. The fastball comes in straight at 140 to 156 km/h, the curve is slow but drops a lot, the slider breaks sideways, and the changeup looks like a fastball and then sinks slowly. The pitch type and speed appear at the bottom of the screen after every pitch, so you can see which one is giving you trouble. This is a real swinging game, not the number guessing game that also goes by the name baseball.
How is swing timing judged?
The bat crosses the front of home plate 0.12 seconds after you press swing, and where the ball is at that instant decides Perfect, Early, Late or a swing and miss. The difference between the bat height and the ball height is then added to set the angle and power of the hit.
| Call | Condition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Perfect | Timing within 0.025 s, height within 8 cm | Exit speed around 165 km/h. Usually a home run |
| Early | The bat passes before the ball arrives | Pulled to the left (third base side). Very early is a foul |
| Late | The bat meets the ball after it has passed | Pushed to the right (first base side). Very late is a foul |
| Bat under the ball | Height off by 8 to 21 cm | High fly ball or pop up |
| Bat over the ball | Height off by 8 to 21 cm | Ground ball |
| Swing and miss | Timing off by more than 0.085 s or height off by more than 21 cm | Strike |
The ball flies under gravity and air drag while the camera follows it into the outfield. The wall is 97 m down the lines, 119 m to center and 3 m high. Clear it and fireworks go off, the HOME RUN letters bounce in and the distance is shown. A ball off the wall is a double, and anything that lands in front of the wall is a hit or an out depending on where the fielders stand.
What modes are there?
Home Run Derby, Batting Practice, 9 Inning Game and Two Players. In every mode you can pick slow pitches, normal or fast pitches.
| Mode | Rules | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Home Run Derby | Anything that is not a home run, including a pitch you do not swing at, is an out. Ten outs end the derby | Home runs, longest shot |
| Batting Practice | Ten strikes to hit. Up to 100 points for contact quality plus 1 point per metre, 500 for a home run, 200 for perfect timing, 30 for a foul | Points |
| 9 Inning Game | Score runs against a computer defense. Three strikes is a strikeout, four balls is a walk, grounders and flies are judged by fielder positions. Extra innings up to the 12th if tied | Runs, hits and strikeouts |
| Two Players | Player 1 takes a ten out derby, then player 2 follows. Most home runs wins, longest shot breaks ties | Both home run counts |
How are hits and outs decided in the 9 inning game?
The game looks at the direction, speed and hang time of the ball and checks whether any of the eight fielders can reach it. If one can, it is an out; if nobody can, it is a hit. A grounder is out when an infielder stands on its path, and a fly ball is out when a fielder is close to where it lands.
- Types of hits: balls that travel past 93 m or hit the wall are doubles, deep balls down the lines are sometimes triples, everything else is a single.
- Runners: runners advance by the number of bases of the hit and score when they reach home. Walks push forced runners along. The diamond at the top shows runners in yellow.
- The computer's offense: the computer's runs for each inning are written on the scoreboard at the start of the inning. Faster pitch settings also make the computer score more.
- Balls: in game mode some pitches miss the zone. Take them for a ball; swing and miss for a strike.
How do I handle each pitch?
- Fastball: the fastest pitch, almost straight. Watch the pitcher's arm come down and swing on a steady beat.
- Curve: slow with a big drop. Hold the bat one notch lower than where the ball first appears and wait half a beat.
- Slider: fastball speed with a late break to the right. The height barely changes, so just swing a touch later than for a fastball.
- Changeup: looks like a fastball but is slow. The arm motion is the same, so if the speed readout is low, wait before swinging.
- Height first, timing second: as soon as the ball leaves the hand, set the bat height on its path, then swing the moment it reaches the zone.
Any tips for hitting more home runs?
- Park the bat at the middle of the zone and wait. Big height changes while the ball is in flight are too slow; small nudges from the middle are more accurate.
- Swing just before the ball touches the zone box. The bat needs 0.12 seconds to reach the plate, so pressing after the ball is in the zone is late.
- Read the Early or Late call and adjust by half a beat on the next pitch. The call appears after every swing, and the same pitch type arrives at a similar time.
- Learn the rhythm on slow pitches, then move up. On the slow setting every pitch is 20% slower with smaller breaks.
- In the derby a pitch you take is an out. Swing at everything rather than waiting.
Controls
- Mouse: move the mouse up and down and the yellow bat height band follows. Left click swings.
- Keyboard: ↑ ↓ or W S for bat height, Space, Enter, X or Z to swing. Space on the title screen starts right away.
- Phone and tablet: drag the vertical slider on the left to set the height and tap the yellow swing button at the bottom right. Tapping anywhere else also swings.
- Two players: on the same device, when player 1 is done, tap the player 2 button and hand it over.
Best records for home runs, longest shot, practice points and game runs are stored only in this browser and never sent to a server. All graphics and sounds are drawn and synthesized in code, so there is no sign up and nothing extra to download.