HAL makes 3 Strategy errors in 9th Inning of Ch-ship!

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/ga ... 427821/989

Just lost Gm 7 of Championship 5-2.
Settings:
Felder - avoid RHP
Wills avoid RHP
Burleson avoid RHP and LHP
Pinch Hit LHP - Oberkfell (in his 80 best yr)
Pinch Hit RHP - Gedman (in his 85 best yr)
Had based runners on 1st and 2nd with 0 out in the 9th when a RHP reliever was brought in to face Felder. HAL brings in Oberfell to face RHP and singles - 1st error!
Then HAL fails to PH for Burleson and he hits into a DP scoring 1 run. -2nd error!
Then HAL fails to PH for Wills leaving Gedman sitting on the bench while Wills makes the final out of the game. 3rd error!
What did I do wrong?

First, I assume you marked Burleson as Avoid LHP & RHP to make HAL pinch-hit for him. This does not work like you think it does. All Avoid LHP & Avoid RHP does is keep a pinch-hitter (or reliever) from ENTERING the game facing a LHP or RHP. It does not create a situation to remove Burleson for a pinch-hitter.

In other words, Avoid LHP or RHP only works for bringing a hitter (or pitcher) into the game. It has no effect on a player already in the game. Avoid RHP was not the reason HAL pinch-hit for Felder. I don't think you can minutely control when HAL pinch-hits for other offensive players. You can provide tools on the bench for HAL to use and give some direction. I NEVER use Avoid LHP or Avoid RHP for hitters. I do use Avoids for RPs that I want to use a LH or RH specialists.

Now, if you had marked OBERKFELL as Avoid RHP, he would not have entered as a ph for Felder.

First, I assume you marked Burleson as Avoid LHP & RHP to make HAL pinch-hit for him. This does not work like you think it does. All Avoid LHP & Avoid RHP does is keep a pinch-hitter (or reliever) from ENTERING the game facing a LHP or RHP. It does not create a situation to remove Burleson for a pinch-hitter.

In other words, Avoid LHP or RHP only works for bringing a hitter (or pitcher) into the game. It has no effect on a player already in the game. Avoid RHP was not the reason HAL pinch-hit for Felder. I don't think you can minutely control when HAL pinch-hits for other offensive players. You can provide tools on the bench for HAL to use and give some direction. I NEVER use Avoid LHP or Avoid RHP for hitters. I do use Avoids for RPs that I want to use a LH or RH specialists.

Now, if you had marked OBERKFELL as Avoid RHP, he would not have entered as a ph for Felder.

Thanks for the clarification, I DID misunderstand the Avoid RHP/LHP setting. I still don't know why HAL didn't PH Gedman (hit .355 vs. RHP) for either Burleson (hit .196 vs. RHP) or Wills (hit .204 vs RHP) in the 9th.

Since I usually carry a .50 backup catcher, I'm not sure how HAL treats using your backup Catcher as a pinch-hitter. There may be some defensive thought going into that decision as well.

Difference between playing the Strat card game and playing Online Strat:
-Playing the card game, YOU are the field manager. You make all the decisions regarding strategy yourself, for better or worse.

-Playing Strat Online, you are a very hands-on GM who puts together the best talent he can under the cap, and who is always making suggestions to the field manager and bugging the crap out of him. Most of the time the field manager does what you say, but sometimes he has to make the best decision among some poor alternatives.

Since I usually carry a .50 backup catcher, I'm not sure how HAL treats using your backup Catcher as a pinch-hitter. There may be some defensive thought going into that decision as well.

Difference between playing the Strat card game and playing Online Strat:
-Playing the card game, YOU are the field manager. You make all the decisions regarding strategy yourself, for better or worse.

-Playing Strat Online, you are a very hands-on GM who puts together the best talent he can under the cap, and who is always making suggestions to the field manager and bugging the crap out of him. Most of the time the field manager does what you say, but sometimes he has to make the best decision among some poor alternatives.

The Catcher as PH thought is possible. In the occasions when Gedman did PH during the season, it was mostly for the other catcher (Benedict); he did PH for Owen once when Burleson was benched.

Hal just can't make the more complicated decisions---and a playoff game 7 is treated just like a regular season game 7, there is no urgency in the last inning of the year.

I know it is time consuming and difficult to update the AI, sometimes it is better to start over rather than try to force changes into a program. I think a lot of the on-line changes have unforeseen consequences--like the remove for defense option which will take the player out even if there is no defensive replacement.

Some things that need to be fixed.

1-- the above replacement problem, but I can live with it--I use it to remove high injury guys mostly.
2-- Pinch hit for a pitcher in the bottom of the 6th (or top 7th) when he has the remove after 6 option checked. DUH!
3-- Platoons should be designated in the Strategy or Hitters pref, they should PH for each other in obvious situations.
4-- Pinch hit when leading with those platoons especially if runners are in scoring position--My biggest HAL pet peeve.
5-- add a PH "for" in addition to the don't PH for.
6-- Reverse lineups --give a choice for what point you want to use them 1 to 8 L/R.
7-- This is only convenience-I would like Home and away lineups too, just so I don't have to change them so often.

# 3-5 may have made a big difference in that game 7

I would expect the logic to be reluctant to use a catcher as a pinch hitter as that could leave you exposed to a catcher injury with no catcher on bench. Same decision applies in real life with different real live managers handling differently.

I would also expect trying to game the game by marking a player as avoid both left and right would have unpredictable results in the logic tree. Sometimes you can put so many limitations on Hal that there is no good decision possible. With no good decision possible or any decision made being defined as bad odds of a bad decision or no decision at all being made have to go up significantly.

Hal just can't make the more complicated decisions---and a playoff game 7 is treated just like a regular season game 7, there is no urgency in the last inning of the year.

I know it is time consuming and difficult to update the AI, sometimes it is better to start over rather than try to force changes into a program. I think a lot of the on-line changes have unforeseen consequences--like the remove for defense option which will take the player out even if there is no defensive replacement.

Some things that need to be fixed.

1-- the above replacement problem, but I can live with it--I use it to remove high injury guys mostly.
2-- Pinch hit for a pitcher in the bottom of the 6th (or top 7th) when he has the remove after 6 option checked. DUH!
3-- Platoons should be designated in the Strategy or Hitters pref, they should PH for each other in obvious situations.
4-- Pinch hit when leading with those platoons especially if runners are in scoring position--My biggest HAL pet peeve.
5-- add a PH "for" in addition to the don't PH for.
6-- Reverse lineups --give a choice for what point you want to use them 1 to 8 L/R.
7-- This is only convenience-I would like Home and away lineups too, just so I don't have to change them so often.

# 3-5 may have made a big difference in that game 7

great ideas here. there are so many tweaks they could make to improve the product. my backup catcher starts against reverse righties. i set him to be replaced for defense when i had a lead. well my starting catcher was hurt and hal decides to replace my catcher with the 3rd baseman, you know for defensive purposes. they should allow you to designate a specific replacement for a player. if that player is not available then nothing should happen.
#6 is the one I'd like most to see. if a sliding scale is too tough then just add in a vs neutral lineup option, for pitchers that are even or +/-1 (maybe +/- 2 ?)