Spoiler-less, TL;DR, fast, simple, and easy-to-digest review:
Ball, Strike, Out
5/10
Animation? Ok (+)
For 2009 release, the animation ain't that bad... just below average. The artsyle doesn't have much details and relied on simplicity. The art reminds me of Doraemon and other children-oriented animes.
Characters? Ok (+)
They are mid at best. Most characters have very slow character development, including the main cast. Kou is bland, Aoba is insufferable, Azuma is as bland as Kou but cooler... I guess, Senda is annoying, Akaishi is a friend you want when you are being bullied, and the rest are just NPCs. They have very slow skill development given that they have 50 episodes to become the very best. And most of them have not improved that much at all. They all still relied on the MC and their star batter. What is this?! Modern day LA Lakers?! I feel like if this team is featured in Wii Sports baseball, they are not even close to Matt's team. I can beat them easily. Poofesure can even 99-0 them lmao.
Story? Meh (-)
A sports game that took SoL route most of the time. A bizarre choice and not a good one. I expect sports anime to take the play-by-play approach, where we see our characters play, make mistakes, and learn from it to overcome the odds. In this anime, I only see some few moments of that, and the rest are SoL, and not a good one and boring. As a SoL enthusiast, I can say that they failed there. (Update from Ashita no Joe) At least in Ashita no Joe, they flesh out their characters and plot development there more than enough, even if that show has SoL element dominated there compared to the sport side. Here, they just have SoL element for the sake of it.
Pacing? Trash (---)
I have to suffer many episodes to see them shine in baseball field?! Too many unnecessary down times, too few sports moments. Feels like watching a snail travel in 1km road. And the payoff? Terrible. You can skip some episodes and not be confused.
OST? Meh (-)
Decent... but forgettable.
Enjoyability? Bad (--)
Very low replayability. Too many snore moments. The only intense moments in this anime are if the main team hits the ball, if the star batter didn't get ball 4'd, and if the MC strikeout'd opponents. That's it. This anime is for people who wants very slow character development and wanna watch the lives of athletes behind the scenes.