My first HAL "HUH?"

[artie4121]

In my opening game last night, as Bengie Molina was on the Injury list, I had my only other catcher, A.J. Pierzynski (a Lefty) in the game for him.

With the game tied in the 8th Inning, a Lefty comes into the game, and HAL decides to use my LHP Pinch hitter, Jorge Cantu, to hit for A.J. . . . leaving me with no catcher. :? Enter Jorge (a non-catcher) . . . who gives up a Passed Ball which sets up the winning run. :(

I looked back and sure enough I did NOT -- on A.J's individual playing card -- have the "do not p.h. for Vs. Lefties" checked off.

My conclusion (and tell me if I'm wrong) is that HAL does not look ahead at the fielding situation before he (she? it?) removes someone for a p.h.

A lesson learned.

[SGTD]

HAL works in mysterious ways and it won't be the last time that you get to experience some unreal moves :D . SGT D

[ergie63]

Getting used to HAL is tough. Why just the other day I was victim of an utterly bizarre call to the bullpen where the prior day's starter was brought in relief even though the bullpen was full of fresh and appropriate arms. We immediately lost a 2 run lead and the game.

The way to think about HAL is not that he will always choose the statistically correct decision every time (the data is available to him), rather his decisions emulate the decisions made by real managers (or perhaps real Strat-O players) in real life. Just as real managers occasionally evoke a "what was he thinking" response from us, so will HAL.

TSN tell us that there is always an element of randomness in HAL's decisions. I would not be surprised if the probabilities were based on studies of real managers or Strat-O players.

[ergie63]

By the way, the pinch hitter call sounds like one of those gutsy he'll-look-like-a-genius-if-it-works moves that are sometimes made in real life. It could be that AJ had a particularly bad probability of success in that particular circumstance and the pinch hitter may have offered HAL a significantly improved chance of success.

From Wikipedia:
[quote:1b00d2b0fb]In its "The End of the Century" series, ESPN rated Mayo Smith's decision to move [Mickey] Stanley to shortstop for the 1968 World Series as one of the 10 greatest coaching decisions of the century.[/quote:1b00d2b0fb]

[artie4121]

ergie wrote:

[quote:61f17ca7d0]TSN tell us that there is always an element of randomness in HAL's decisions. I would not be surprised if the probabilities were based on studies of real managers or Strat-O players.[/quote:61f17ca7d0]

. . . on [b:61f17ca7d0][i:61f17ca7d0]drugs[/i:61f17ca7d0][/b:61f17ca7d0] perhaps. LOL. :|

Was there anything in your settings that would have indicated that your pitching change was a "sane" thing to do? Any confusing settings?

Maybe I have to look at the overnight games as being in the hands of my field manager (HAL) who can't fire. ;)

I personally think the "randomness" factor may be some CYA at work.

Isn't there enough challenge to AI that they don't need mental breakdown level madness factored into the decisions? :roll:

Well, as I said, I am loving this. I can't believe that I hadn't stumbled on this before.

And if I am loving it having gone 3-11 in my last 14 games, I can't imagine my ecstasy once I get back in the black.

[/b]

[ergie63]

I intentionally keep my pitching settings to a minimum so I don't force HAL into resolving an impossible conflict. My closer usage was set to maximum, but I had not identified anyone as my "closer". Still, a 2 run lead in the 9th inning calls for a closer if ever a situation does.

The one thing I do is set my best starters with a "do not relieve B4" an F7 level of fatigue. Since my starters have better cards than my relievers, this presumably prevents me from suffering the indignity of a nickel reliever coming in too soon and blowing a game, which seemed to happen with alarming frequency before I started using that switch.

This will often cause the starter to pitch into the 9th inning with a lead as was the case in my example. A couple of runners got on base and the fatigue fell below F7. A reliever was called for and HAL chose yesterday's starter instead of the fellow with a C5 rating and a fresh arm.

[Badjam]

I had one recently where my normal dh got hurt so instead of putting bob muesel in left and let goslin dh. HAL went with meusel (lf1 -5) at dh and goslin (lf3 +1) in left. We need the replacement option available for dh on the depth chart.

[elpasopesos]

In the 2008 season set I am platooning Greg Dobbs and Jose Dillon at first with Mark Teahan playing third. Dobbs is an 4e4 at first and Teahan is a 3e26 at third. HAL (it should always be in all caps) will rutinely switch them late in a game Dobbs a 4e13 at third and Teahan a 3e12 at first. That doesnt make any improvement in my book I would rather have a good chance at a dp (e 4) at one position than a goodchance of an error at both positions.

[Mean Dean]

My math does have the 1B-3e12/3B-4e13 combination as being very slightly (as in, about two runs over the course of an entire season :o better than the 1B-4e4/3B-3e26 combination. See my blog for details.