New to SOMO, is HAL an Idiot?

[BlackFinn]

I have played SOM baseball off and on (C&D/F2F) for 30+ years and thought this would be good for a Strat fan that has lost his opponents.

I'm playing the free trial 2011 season, loved the draft and waiver wire, I put together a good team and it showed in the first 6 games. I was 5-1 and lead the league in scoring. my pitching was OK but my hitting was awesome (Celluar Field :D ).There were a few minor managerial moves by HAL that I questioned, but they did not cost me games so I was still pysched.

Then . . .

Game seven(7) of the season, I am down 2-zip in the 6th, lead-off HR by Victorino (Yes!), an out, BB to Freeman, Hamilton doubles to CF(YEAH)(0 arm) and to my suprise Freeman is thrown out at the plate!!!!! WTF!! My setting for base running was normal, Freeman is a 1-11 and Francour, who was hitting .354 at the time, was on deck.

I could have runners on first and second with a hot hitter at the plate with one out. Why did HAL send Freeman? Hell, Francour could have hit a SF to tie the game.

Does HAL make these idiotic calls on normal settings all the time or is this an anomoly? I'm not swimming in money but I was thinking this would be worth it. Now I am having second thoughts, about even spending $15 for two seasons.

After this experience the only change I would make to the game would be to give the base running option to specific players and not a managerial option.

Will always love SOM baseball but that move by HAL just turned me off of SOMO.

Good rolls to everyone in their leagues and I hope it clears the wall.

Charles (Chuck) S. aka BlackFinn

[rburgh]

1. Yes, HAL is an idiot. Fortunately, it evens out. I'll bet that if you go through the games you won, you will find you were the beneficiary of such silliness in one or more of them.

2. Just like in real baseball, there are things that are out of your control. Just ask Armando Galarraga. If you focus only on them, you will be unhappy here (as in life).

Wait until you see HAL run your bullpen. :roll:

[MrHacktastic]

[quote:1eb438c173="rburgh"]1. Yes, HAL is an idiot. Fortunately, it evens out. I'll bet that if you go through the games you won, you will find you were the beneficiary of such silliness in one or more of them.

2. Just like in real baseball, there are things that are out of your control. Just ask Armando Galarraga. If you focus only on them, you will be unhappy here (as in life).

Wait until you see HAL run your bullpen. :roll:[/quote:1eb438c173]

Lol, I totally agree about the bullpen. I have tried using my settings 1000 different ways and I haven't found a single setup that makes HAL use my bullpen like I actually would at all. Lately HAL's favorite thing to do is bring in my closer for the final out of a games in non-save situations. But when I've set my closer setting to aggressive the closer wasn't used in spots he was needed and $0.50 guys pitched late in tie ball games and such.

It happens to my opponents even more it seems so I am not complaining, just relating.

I totally agree with the TS about the running system. Why on earth are base running and base stealing team specific and not an additional player setting.

My version would be a numerical setting in which you would run if you want a team setting. Instead of normal, aggressive, or very aggressive settings I would prefer the number setting in which I will risk running. This seems simple enough. Then you could have the normal, aggressive, or very aggressive represent how much liberty you want HAL to take with that setting based on game situation.

I think this setting would much more accurately reflect real life. If Papi is on 2nd base the 3rd base coaches job is to already be figuring out which OF he might send Papi on if at all. He in a sense needs to calculate base runner speed, throwing arm of OF, and where ball is hit. If he doesn't like the calculations he doesn't send him. I hate watching a 1-9 runner get thrown out at the plate with 1 out when I have my settings on Normal. If I turn the setting down more it seems like Otix Nixon can't score from 2nd ever.

[Risden]

Yeah, guys never get thrown out at the plate in real life. :roll:

I agree with rburgh - if you analyze every play that is out of your control, you won't like this game. Or real baseball.

Give the game a chance - I've played a few different online and board games and this is the best online game that I have run across based on the entirety of the game package.

Hope to see you in a few leagues.

[pikesvilleal]

HAL is a genius when I win. :D
HAL is an idiot when I lose. :evil:

HAL the idiot showed up last night. Down 3-1, 2 out 2 men on he pinch hits Todd Frazier for Carlos Ruiz. The roll was 2-4 (HR/Double for Ruiz), out for Frazier.

[BlackFinn]

I do not have a problem with guys getting thrown out at the plate but a sludge guy with 1 out? Instead of having runners on 2nd and 3rd and one of my best hitters at the plate I have two outs and a man on 3rd. Just not the way I would have played it.

I just think we should have a little more control of the running game.

Base stealing is the same. I have to set my stealing to conservative for a series just because two of the pitchers are good at holding and HAL does not run against the +4 pitcher in the other game. Just does not make sense.[/quote]

[keyzick]

Look at it this way - you had a 55% chance of scoring...it's only the 6th inning...if he's thrown out, you still have Francouer up with a runner in scoring position and 2 outs anyway.

I don't know that I'd have sent him either, but I wouldn't call the move completely outrageous either.

[Valen]

[quote:f55587511d]I agree with rburgh - if you analyze every play that is out of your control, you won't like this game. Or real baseball. [/quote:f55587511d]
You can say that 2 times.

My Rangers have best run differential going. They win first game against Seattle partly because a guy tried for an inside the park HR instead of playing it safe. Perfect relay, good block of plate, and out. Rangers win.
Then come the next 2 games where the worst offense in baseball against the pitching staff with the 4th best overall ERA puts up double digit runs twice.

That is the way baseball go. That is the way Strat go, especially online. Over analyze either and your unhappiness will multiply. :lol:

[Risden]

[quote:ad695ad463="BlackFinn"]I do not have a problem with guys getting thrown out at the plate but a sludge guy with 1 out?[/quote:ad695ad463]

Yeah; despite a third-base coach right there helping out, it happens (multiple times) every day at every level of baseball.


[quote:ad695ad463="keyzick"]Look at it this way - you had a 55% chance of scoring...it's only the 6th inning...if he's thrown out, you still have Francouer up with a runner in scoring position and 2 outs anyway.

I don't know that I'd have sent him either, but I wouldn't call the move completely outrageous either.[/quote:ad695ad463]

Agreed.


THINK OF YOURSELF AS THE GM OR OWNER - IF A GUY GETS THROWN OUT WHEN YOU WOULD NOT HAVE SENT HIM, YOU GET PISSED AT THE 3RD BASE COACH (who is usually one of the least popular guys in an MLB town). OUT OF YOUR CONTROL...

[Outta Leftfield]

One thing about Online SOM is that--if you accept the fact that you have little or no control over actual game play--you can focus on run production and run prevention on the teams you design. [i:abc2891b1d]That[/i:abc2891b1d] you have a lot of control over, though there's still a large element of luck in the results.

A strong manager will in general focus on creating a team that will score a LOT more runs than the team will allow. If a team has a strongly positive run differential, then HAL's dicey in-game strategy (which will hurt both teams about equally, over time) becomes less important.

Anyway, having played this game for a while, I hardly give a thought to how HAL manages my team--or the opponent's team. Successful OSOM managers tend to focus is on building teams that outscore the opposition to the point where in-game strategy becomes a minor factor in the team's success. If you like that aspect of the game, the OSOM can be really fun. But if you're sweating about each in-game decision HAL makes, then it will drive you nuts.