HAL bats Brett 9th, someone please explain this to me

[chrisfu]

I have read the posts about letting HAL set your line up to determine the mystery year, but I sure would like someone to explain HAL's potential logic.... I just don't understand....

I have George Brett, an injury reveal shows him to be in his 1985 or 1988 season. We're 116 games into the season so I have some stats as well, it looks like 1988, his fourth best year, still, he's George Brett and his 4th best year is worth keeping. Ozzie Smith gets injured, I have Brett set in the second position and HAL moves him down to 9th in the line up.... why? He's facing Rogers Clemens in Royals Stadium, here is the box score:




Milwaukee Brewsters take 2 of 3 from Dharma Initiative
Milwaukee Brewsters 6, Dharma Initiative 4
Game 117


Brewsters....... 0 1 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 - 6 10 0
Initiative...... 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 - 4 12 1
Win:Welch(12-5) Loss:Clemens(16-7) Save:Mirabella(18th)
Homeruns- D.Strawberry(35th), D.Porter(17th)

In a two run game the Milwaukee Brewsters got by the Dharma Initiative by the
score of 6 to 4.

Milwaukee went ahead for good in the 2nd inning scoring one runner utilizing 2
base hits. Dharma had a chance in the 9th but they came up short.

The win went to Bob Welch(12-5) who allowed 3 runs in 6 and 2/3 innings. Welch
got help from Paul Mirabella who earned his 18th save. Roger Clemens(16-7)
suffered the loss.

'I just wanted to give my team a chance to win.' said Welch, 'I got burned on
a couple of pitches. But we won the game, and that's all that matters.'



Brewsters AB R H RBI AVG Initiative AB R H RBI AVG
G.Young CF 5 1 1 0 .315 P.Molitor 3B 4 0 1 0 .310
H.Reynolds 2B 5 2 2 1 .309 B.Butler CF 5 0 1 0 .293
D.Strawberry RF 4 1 1 2 .271 R.Carew DH 5 0 0 0 .383
K.Hrbek 1B 4 0 1 1 .314 J.Clark RF 3 1 1 0 .283
D.Porter C 5 2 2 1 .273 J.Cruz LF 5 1 3 2 .289
G.Gaetti 3B 4 0 0 0 .298 A.Trammell SS 4 0 0 0 .304
L.Polonia LF 2 0 1 1 .245 K.Hernandez 1B 4 0 1 1 .308
A-B.Sample LF 1 0 0 0 .143 M.Salas C 4 1 1 0 .190
J.Morrison SS 4 0 0 0 .167 R.Oester 2B 4 1 4 0 .328
G.Brett DH 4 0 2 0 .296
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 38 6 10 6 Totals 38 4 12 3

A-Subbed Defensively (LF) For Polonia In 7th Inning

Brewsters....... 0 1 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 - 6 10 0
Initiative...... 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 - 4 12 1

Brewsters IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA
B.Welch WIN(12-5) 6 2/3 8 3 3 4 5 0 122 3.87
S.Farr HOLD(4th) 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 2.40
P.Mirabella SAVE(18th) 1 4 1 1 0 2 0 32 3.00
Totals 9 12 4 4 4 7 0

Initiative IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA
R.Clemens LOSS(16-7) 7 8 5 5 2 5 1 108 3.37
T.Henke 2 2 1 1 1 3 1 49 3.47
Totals 9 10 6 6 3 8 2


Here is the line up I had set before Smith became injured:

Smith
Brett
Strawberry
Hrbek
Porter
Gaetti
Polonia
Reynolds
Young

Can anyone explain the logic?

[LMBombers]

HAL is not as smart as some people give him credit for. Sometimes he makes crazy decisions. I just tried this strategy in the first series of the year for this team:

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=147700

HAL decided NOT TO PLAY Pedro Guerrero in 2 of the first 3 games in that opening series. Do you think that was a smart move by HAL? Pedro now has 68 RBI through the first 54 games of the season and he has only played in 52 of those games thanks to HAL. I won't be trying this strategy in the future.

[Panzer ace]

I had Madlocks best card batting second for me. My leadoff man got hurt and Hal lowered Madlock to 8th. Brilliant. Just one of many such examples.

[voovits]

I had HAL start Pat Sheridan over Jim Rice in right field vrs righties, a move I would not make regardless of which year Sheridan and Rice have.
I still say there's a method to HALs madness, it's just that we don't agree with all his decisions.

I had a conversation with LMBombers about HAL sitting Guerrero in the league we're in, and I think I was able to see the "logic" behind the move. The ultimate reason behind the move I believe is the same reason why HAL started Sheridan over Rice for me. When the offensive difference between the players in question is reasonably close, HAL will favor the guy with better defense. Homerun power and defense is HALs friend.

Bottom line is that I believe that there is a justifiable reason for every move he makes. They are not always the best moves, but they can be justified. I've been experimenting a little with the CDROM game to see how lineups are made when the years are known and I'm noticing consistencies.

I'm glad that many people don't think HAL knows anything, I feel it will give me that little bit of an edge when it comes down to mystery card determination.

[kidskid]

lets weigh this out, man vs computer, unless its arnold playing terminator, man wins every time, dont rely on a no nothing computer espaially if his name is HALLLLLL

[AdamKatz]

HAL doesn't like Guerrero.

[Sykes25]

Post a link to this team please. HAL's moves are made mostly on available players etc. Without seeing your entire batter pool on your squad, I can't make a definitive estimate as to what happened.

[chrisfu]

Here's a link to the team:

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team.html

[chess2899]

Bad link, but since you are in my league, I have it.

This is the specific game:

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/league/boxscore.html?group_id=31423&g_id=701

This is the team:

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=145760

If it is true that HAL hates Guerrero, I also have problem with my Kingdom team. HAL batted Guerrero 2nd against righties and last againts lefties, and bought in a .75 Pinch hitter Heep for Pedro. Do I dump his butt or is HAL playing mind games?

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/league/boxscore.html?group_id=32223&g_id=47

[Sykes25]

Based on splits, 1988 Brett. You'd know if you had the 1985 Brett. :wink:

[code:1:51cb90b9b2]Here is the line up I had set before Smith became injured:

Smith
Brett
Strawberry
Hrbek
Porter
Gaetti
Polonia
Reynolds
Young
[/code:1:51cb90b9b2]

Smith getting hurt puts Morrison at SS. Would Morrison lead off? No way. When HAL is forced to replace your lead off man in the 80's engine, he tends to shuffle the line-up according for those top spots based on program probability.

1- Lead off man needs high OBP and speed. Thus Young gets the start. 1987 Young is not a bad guy to lead off with, even against Welch. Leaves your 9 HOLE EMPTY.

2- Second hitter will need to bunt and H&R based on your settings enabled. Reynolds moves to the 2 spot. 1989 Reynolds is not a bad guy for the spot. Leaves your 8 HOLE EMPTY

3-7 left untouched.

8- Last position player inserted here. Morrsion as the sub at SS.

9- DH Slot- Brett moves down to 9 regardless of what card he has.

The issue is that the advanced lineup settings employed by the 200X and ATG game engine is not capable of keeping the slots in tact with new substitutes.

While the changes implored by HAL are not in line with what a human would do in a face to face card game environment, they are "logical" based on over simplified conditions.

Program decisions have to be made in a certain order to be executed. I'd probably do a better job of explaning this in person over a few beers. :wink:

In summary, if Brett was playing 3B and Gaetti was DH, I would have expected Young to lead off, 2-5 left alone, Reynolds moved up to 6, polonia at 7, Morrison at 8 and Gaetti to 9.