Here are some strategies I’ve been using, in case any one wants them (or has even been playing lol)

1. For a 1-inning run, you want to select the closer for both teams to be the pitcher. Do this by choosing the bottom pitcher for both squads. They will pitch from-the-stretch instead of doing a full wind up, which seems to be faster. Also, and probably more importantly, after the first out, the game almost always shows someone getting warmed up in the bullpen. If you start the closer in a 1 inning game, they wont show anyone warming up in the bullpen, skipping this animation.

2. I just started doing this today, but I can already see a difference. I usually play with the cardinals, and David Eckstein is their shortstop. His arm is terrible, so throws take forever to get over to first base. I moved my outfield arms to shortstop and second base to get throws over to first base quicker. I also subbed in some bench guys to put in the outfield because they are fast. Basically, strong arms in the infield and fast guys in the outfield.

3. When I’m batting and I’m trying to quickly click through animation screens, sometimes I accidentally end up check swinging, causing the pitcher to delay throwing a pitch, devastating to a 1 inning run. I counter act this by holding the bunt button. On GameCube, I hold z and rapidly tap the a button. This skips through those screens, but will end up showing bunt instead of check swinging. This does not cause the pitcher to delay throwing his pitch. Then I swing as normal. I use this repeatedly on 9 inning runs. Here is a video showing this strat.

4. Before each batter, they show the batter waking up to the plate. This animation can be skipped if you click through it at just the right time. After the first out of the inning, the umpire puts his hand up to show the out signal. I click the a button just barely after he gets his hand to the top. For the second out of the inning, I feel like you have to click slightly later. You can also time it without seeing the umpire. Here is a video showing this strategy.

5. This one will not save much time, but it isn’t very hard either. When the ball is hit to the outfield, especially on low line drives, I charge the ball at the last second to catch it as soon as possible. Catching the ball a few feet sooner has to save a little time.. Here is a video for this strategy.

I will try to edit this in the future if I have anything else useful to share.