MLB 09: The Show

MLB 09: The Show is a baseball video game developed by San Diego Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3. It is the fourth edition of the MLB: The Show series, as well as the last to use THX technology. 2008 American League MVP Dustin Pedroia is the cover athlete.

Gameplay
MLB 09: The Show adds features to its predecessor The franchise and career modes have been altered with Road to the Show 3.0, which updated the mode with a steal and lead-off system, as well as more interaction with the player's coaches. Franchise 2.0 added several features to its career mode which include salary arbitration, waiver transactions, September call-ups, and the 40-man roster.

Also receiving an update is the game's online league play, allowing players to play out-of-order games and create their own custom rosters, and upload them online for other players to use. Players may also create custom chants.

Among the in-game alterations, there are more dynamic animations and reactions, improved bare-handed flips, in addition to "Progressive Batting Performance", in which player abilities improve or regress depending on how they play. With "Multi-Branch Fielding", players can now take full control of fielders and break out of any animation in the process, while "Adaptive Pitching Intelligence" (API) allows catchers to call the game based on the individual strengths and weaknesses of each pitcher and analyze tendencies of batters. The "Pitch Command System" (PCS) affects a pitcher's ability to throw a specific pitch change depending on how often the pitcher throws it.

The game also features pitch analysis, a breakdown of all the pitches thrown during the current game being played. This feature is also available for batters, and the batter analysis allowed for a breakdown of how a batter has performed. SportsConnect Online User Tracking (SCOUT) allows players to set their game preferences, store them on the server, and then allow the system to look for a Quick Match with an opponent that fits their criteria.

The game also features live MLB updates in-game, as well as SportsConnect Headline News. In addition, SportsConnect provides weekly roster updates that can be downloaded onto the console.

Reception
The PlayStation 3 version of MLB 09 The Show received "universal acclaim", while the PlayStation 2 and PSP versions received "generally favorable reviews", according to Metacritic.

During the 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated MLB 09: The Show for "Sports Game of the Year".