The computer strategy is driving me insane!

[Cipster]

Sigh, this feels like beating a dead horse but I seem to be losing an awful lot of close games so I started looking more carefully at the game recaps. I am still shaking my head at this.
This happened in Particleman's league in a 1-1 game between the Cubs and St.Louis. Apparently the computer strongly believes in my pitcher's hitting prowess.

TOP OF THE EIGHTH
Mark Grudzielanek struck out.
Mark Quinn singled to left.
Paul Bako laid down a sacrifice bunt to the catcher.
Jon Capretz struck out. <===================== This is the pitcher.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, and 1 left on base.
In the middle of the eighth, Chicago leads 1 to 0.

Capretz (a young 24 y.o starter with great stuff) was left in to pitch 9.2 innings. I hope his arm won't fall off. If no one was going to pinch-hit for him why didn't Bako swing away? I ended up losing this game in the 15th inning. I sure could have used a run in the 8th.
BTW in this game Matt Stairs was used as a defensive replacement in Center Field. Matt Stairs should not be a defensive replacement for my grandmother. My starter in center (COrrey Patterson) has great marks in defense and is a better hitter.

[Slugger222]

OK, sports fans! Cipster has started the ball rolling! So, cut and paste any wierd, or blatently non baseball moves here so that the folks at Mogul have one spot to check out their play by play AI.

I think that even though this is a game intended to simulate the long term, and no one expects the AI to simulate a perfect brand of BB, there are some things which may keep people from signing up and spending their hard earned dough.

If you see something like that, put it here!

[Cipster]

More computer strategy fun for your enjoyment:


BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH
Mark Quinn hit an infield single to first.
Ricky Gutierrez singled to center.
Paul Bako flied out to right.
Julian Tavarez grounded to third for a double play. <====Why not bunt/PH
0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, and 1 left on base.
At the end of the fourth, Chicago trails 4 to 0.

TOP OF THE FIFTH
C.J. Nitkowski came in to pitch for the Cubbies.<===Hmm? Why?
Jeromy Burnitz grounded to first.
Jose Valentin walked.
Pat Meares struck out.
Mike Redmond lined out to center.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, and 1 left on base.
In the middle of the fifth, Milwaukee leads 4 to 0.

So with one out runners on 1st and 2nd, one out the pitcher swings away instead of bunting and then gets taken out of the game. My bench was full with the likes of Jim Thome, Matt Williams and David Justice. Why was there not a pinch hitter??? Can this be fixed in a sim update?
I am not sure why also there seem to be an amazing number of infield singles in the sims. They come from guys with no speed too. Matt Williams had a good string of infield singles to first last year.

[Cipster]

Speaking of infield singles:

TOP OF THE EIGHTH
Chris Singleton grounded to second.
Joe Randa hit an infield single to short.<=====No speed
Dmitri Young laid down a sacrifice bunt to the catcher.
Jeromy Burnitz was intentionally walked.
Jose Valentin hit an infield single to second.<====To second? No speed
Tyler Houston pinch hit for Pat Meares.
Tyler Houston doubled in the right field gap for three RBIs.
Geronimo Tawn came in to pitch for the Cubbies.
Mike Redmond flied out to center.
3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, and 1 left on base.
In the middle of the eighth, Milwaukee leads 4 to 1.


I have played in 7 games this season and there have been 17 infield singles hit in those games.... That strikes me as a lot. I have watched a ton of baseball and I probably haven't seen 17 infield singles in the 35-40 games I saw this year. ESpecially of the to second or first variety by guys with no speed.
BTW I love this game and I'm signing up. This is the best on-line game I have ever played. Its main strength is its realism and I just hope this thread helps Clay and Co. make it even better.

[Cipster]

TOP OF THE FIFTH
Jeff Abbott reached first on a fielding error by the second baseman.
Paul Bako flied out to left.
Gookie Dawkins struck out.
Todd Stottlemyre grounded to second.<====Why not PH
0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, and 1 left on base.
In the middle of the fifth, Chicago trails 4 to 0.

BOTTOM OF THE FIFTH
C.J. Nitkowski came in to pitch for the Cubbies. <====New pitcher....
Jeromy Burnitz walked.
Tyler Houston grounded to second for a double play.
Tony Graffanino singled to center.
Curtis Pride struck out.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, and 1 left on base.
At the end of the fifth, Milwaukee leads 4 to 0.

OK, dead horse beating #3
It seems to me that the computer chechs for a pitcher's effectiveness at the beginning of an inning instead of looking ahead when the pitcher bats so a pitcher gets to hit even if he gets yanked the next inning.
Can this be fixed? It does not seem like an extremely complicated thing to implement. I do have 6 bench players so saving your batters does not seem like an issue.

[Clay Dreslough]

Just letting you know I'm hooked into this thread and I'll try to fix the things you mentioned regarding pitcher use and pinch hitting.

As for infield singles, I noticed when building the sim that there are a surprising number. The weakness lies partly in the game recap to fill in the details. For example, if Matt Williams lines a ball off the first basemen's glove and it dribbles into short right field, this will be recorded as "an infield single to first base". The definition of an infield single in the sim is something that hits an infielder first, and that generally means runners only advance one base.

You're right that Ichiro should get a lot more infield singles than Matt Williams and I believe the sim reflects this pretty well, but I'll take another look.

Clay

[playshogi]

In the middle of the ninth, San Francisco leads 6 to 5.

BOTTOM OF THE NINTH
Corey Horner came in to pitch for the Giants.
Toby Deyle came in to play Catcher.
Carl Phipps lined out to second.
The Giants guarded the lines.
Barry Angelico pinch hit for Joel Priddy. <-- good! Priddy is pitcher
Barry Angelico walked.
Barry Angelico stole second.
Reggie Koozora singled up the middle. <--Angelico has B- speed didn't score from 2nd.
Josh Hom pinch hit for Leo Bulliard. <-- ???
Josh Hom grounded to short for a double play.

GIANTS WIN: 6-5

ST. LOUIS ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
Koozora (C) 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 .305
Bulliard (CF) 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .367
Hom (PH) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .276
Josh Hom pinch hit for Leo Bulliard.
At .367 Bulliard is the league's leading hitter (late August).
Josh Hom has power, but with 1st and 3rd and 1 out in a 1 run game would you pinch hit for a guy hitting .367 with 2 hits on the day already?

[playshogi]

BOTTOM OF THE SEVENTH
Calvin Joulios hit an infield single to first.
Rene Bronson singled to center.
Carl Phipps laid down a sacrifice bunt to the catcher.
Josh Hom pinch hit for Andrew Krug.
Josh Hom popped up to third.
Emilio Wechsel pinch hit for Reggie Koozora. ***
Emilio Wechsel lined out to right.
0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
At the end of the seventh, St. Louis trails 5 to 1.

TOP OF THE EIGHTH
Sergio Wang came in to pitch for the Browns.
Barry Angelico came in to play Catcher.

Koozora (C) 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .295
Angelico (C) 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .373 (based on ~75 AB)
Wechsel (PH) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .305 (based on ~134 AB)

***If you're going to pinch hit for the leadoff hitter, why not use the back up catcher and save Wechsel for later? Angelico sports a better batting average too.

[muchomaas]

`I've got a similar report, equally bad, i.e. besides blowing the pinch hitter, when they did use him, he was used to SAC BUNT? Check the logic on the Sac....

BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH
Mike Piazza singled to left.
Brian Giles walked.
Raul Johnson grounded to first.
Gavin Nelson singled to left, scoring a run.
The TGG brought the infield in.
Dave Burba popped up to second.
Usama Shurinova walked.
Jeremy Giambi struck out.
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, and 3 left on base.
At the end of the fourth, New York trails 4 to 3.

TOP OF THE FIFTH
Paul Wilson came in to pitch for the TV Police Show.


later, same game....

BOTTOM OF THE EIGHTH
Alan Embree came in to pitch for the TGG.
Raul Johnson hit an infield single to short.
Gavin Nelson popped up to short.
The TGG guarded the lines.
Armando Rios pinch hit for Wil Bui.
Armando Rios laid down a sacrifice bunt to the catcher.
Usama Shurinova was intentionally walked.
Jeremy Giambi singled to left, scoring a run.
Magglio Ordonez lined out to left.
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
At the end of the eighth, the game is tied at 4.

[playshogi]

BOTTOM OF THE EIGHTH
Armando Almanza came in to pitch for the Babe Ruth League.
Curtis Pride singled in the left field gap.
Tony Graffanino laid down a sacrifice bunt to the catcher.
Jose Valentin was intentionally walked.
Mike Redmond pinch hit for Brian O'Connor.
Mike Redmond laid down a sacrifice bunt to the catcher.
Chris Singleton grounded to third.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, and 2 left on base.
At the end of the eighth, the game is tied at 2

How often does this happen in real life?
Also, it seems that after a first sacrifice bunt, the computer
automatically intentionally walks the next batter.
Is that always appropriate?

[muchomaas]

Maybe we could do something about the micro-managing managers. this particular ALL TOO FREQUENT appearance particularily bugs me.

BOTTOM OF THE TWELFTH
Mike Piazza singled to center.
Raul Johnson laid down a sacrifice bunt to the catcher.
Brian Giles was intentionally walked.
Jeremy Giambi laid down a sacrifice bunt to the catcher.
Neifi Perez was intentionally walked.
Carl Everett pinch hit for Brian Rose.
Carl Everett lined out to left.
Pirates win 7-6!

[Slugger222]

TOP OF THE EIGHTH
Zachary Altshuler came in to pitch for the Dodgers.
Jason LaRue grounded to second.
The Dodgers guarded the lines.
Herman Shinn pinch hit for Junior Baldwin.
Herman Shinn singled through the hole.
Joe Banovac hit an infield single to first.
Carlos Febles laid down a sacrifice bunt to the catcher.
Corey Lamison reached second on a throwing error by the third baseman - two runs scored.
Kenny Araiza came in to pitch for the Dodgers.
Frank Catalanotto lined out to third.
2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, and 1 left on base.
In the middle of the eighth, Pittsburgh leads 7 to 6.


In this case, the pitcher was charged with 2 earned runs, but they should have been un-earned. The error would have been the third out, and no runs would have scored.