MLB The Show 22

Back to Old School Program Breakdown

Published on September 1, 2022

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With the Dog Days of August behind us, this also means the Dog Days Program has come and gone. We now move on to the Back to Old School Program and the three Bosses of Chipper Jones, Billy Wagner, and Lou Gehrig. Those three names all have varying degrees of cache within the DD community, so let’s get to those cards, the other notable flashbacks and legends, and an Eric Davis sub-boss.

Back To Old School Program Breakdown

Bosses

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Takashi Okazaki Billy Wagner
Awards Chipper Jones
Prime Lou Gehrig

This is an old-school program, so you’ll be picking just one boss from the three. It’s hard to argue any of them are not worthy of selection, but Chipper Jones has appeal at SS and 3B. If you’re comfortable with him at SS, it’s hard to argue against him being the best bat at that position when factoring in the switch-hitting ability. The fielding is certainly not great, so I would not be shocked to see people considering him more at his primary 3B position. We’ve had better Chipper Jones cards, but this is a really good 99 for this point in the year.

Prime Lou Gehrig has off-the-charts hitting stats, and then he’s just fast enough to not be a liability in the corner outfield spots. I don’t think his best spot will be 1B considering the competition there, so like Chipper, a lot of people might end up using him at the secondary position of RF (or maybe LF). That said, also like Chipper, you just have to cope with middling defensive attributes to get a monster of a bat in the lineup. Again, this feels like a balanced 99 overall for September.

Takashi Okazaki Billy Wagner is the third boss. No matter the time of the year, people are always eager to see new relievers. Depending on who you talk to, Wagner’s earlier card this year was either great or super easy to hit. I tend to think he was easy to deal with earlier in the year, but this is certainly an improved version. He has 125 H/9 and has a curve and change to go with the slider and 4-seam combo. He has outlier and perfect control of his 4-seam fastball, but he will be a little wild otherwise. I would guess Gehrig and Chipper will end up being picked more than Wagner.

Classics Pack

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Monthly Awards Brandon Lowe
Postseason Danny Jansen
Postseason Ian Happ
Monthly Awards Jackie Bradley Jr.
Ke’Bryan Hayes

A bunch of fodder cards for any outstanding collections you might have. I’ve always had a soft spot for Jackie Bradley Jr. cards, but I wish his defense were better to make it more palatable to use him. Still, his bat is much better than usual.

Flashbacks & Legends

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Awards Jim Palmer
Finest Joe Smith
Finest Juan Pierre
Prime Justin Turner
Signature Series Tony Perez

The quality jumps up here a bit from the Classics pack both in terms of binder fodder and usable players. Pierre and Joe Smith can fill holes on the roster, and then you have a Signature Series card, a Prime card, and then Jim Palmer is likely the runt of this litter.

Mini-Boss

Eric Davis and his signature tomfoolery in the batter’s box return here. I think we’ve gotten better mini-bosses when factoring in the time of year, but he’s going to hit bombs against LHP and be a speed demon. He’s also a legit top-end defensive center fielder, so there’s still stuff to like here if you can handle the batting stance.

Featured Program Moments

Each moment is worth 2,000 XP

The Iron Horse Is Unstoppable
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Tally 6 total bases
Big Dog Bashes
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Tally 2 hits
- Tally 1 XBH
Cakes Wins Cy Young
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Strike out 6 batters
- Do not give up 1 run
Davis Is A Speed Demon
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Steal 1 base
Billy The Kid K’s A Pair
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Pitch 1 inning
- Do not give up 1 run
- Strike out 2 batters
Chipper Holds Down The Hot Corner
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Tally 2 hits
- Tally 1 XBH
JP Goes Beast Mode
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Tally 2 hits
Smitty Is Simply Filthy
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Pitch 1 inning
- Do not give up 1 hit
- Do not hit 1 batter
- Strike out 1 batter
- Do not walk 1 batter
RedTurn2 Goes For Extra Bases
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Tally 1 XBH

Week 1: Legend & Flashback Missions

Each mission is worth 2,500 XP

300 PxP with Monthly Awards Jackie Bradley Jr.
300 PxP with Future Stars Ke’Bryan Hayes
300 PxP with Monthly Awards Brandon Lowe
300 PxP with Postseason Danny Jansen
300 PxP with Postseason Ian Happ
300 PxP with Finest Juan Pierre
300 PxP with Prime Justin Turner
500 PxP with Awards Jim Palmer
500 PxP with Finest Joe Smith
300 PxP with Signature Series Tony Perez
300 PxP with Prime Eric Davis

Collections

Finest Kerry Wood (30,000 XP)
Finest Aroldis Chapman (30,000 XP)
Finest Robinson Cano (30,000 XP)
Finest Josh Donaldson (30,000 XP)

Exchanges

Each exchange is worth 5,000 XP

Exchange AL East players
Exchange AL Central players
Exchange AL West players
Exchange NL East players
Exchange NL Central players
Exchange NL West players

Grasshopper Conquest

You will earn 30,000 XP for completing this Conquest map. There are no special requirements for this map, and you’ll earn some Ballin’ packs, secrets, and some new jerseys.