HAL in all his wisdom

back-up catcher is injured, 1B Cecil Cooper is injured, 1B/LF Briggs is injured

HAL puts catcher Stearns at 1B (where he is rated too), and non-catcher Schaal at C

Rod Carew (a 1B) is my DH when Cooper's in -- HAL leaves him there, rather than put him at 1B, Stearns at C, and ANYBODY at DH

Schaal allows 5 SB and a throwing error, directly resulting in 2 of the 3 runs in a 3-2 loss

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/game/425870/241

moving the DH into the field is a tricky rule. Here is a quote from baseball reference:

The DH can play in the field, but once a manager decides to play him on defense, the pitcher immediately takes over the batting spot of the defensive player which the DH replaced (unless there are multiple substitutions, in which case the manager can decide where the pitcher will bat).

So, moving Carew from DH to 1st means that the pitcher would have to bat, and maybe that was too hard to program in.

I don't mean mid-game -- I mean at the beginning of the next full game

Interesting. I'm guessing that the program first fills the injured slot (1st), then fills the other spots. And maybe there is something weird in the program about changing the DH. Do you have Carew listed as the backup for 1st?

From the FAQ, "How exactly do backups work?"

Also, the backup system will NOT move the starting DH to another position even if he is the listed backup. The game will then take the next available backup or another player from the bench. For example:

Sample depth chart
1B: Paul Konerko (backup 1: Lance Berkman) (backup 2: Miguel Cairo)
DH: Lance Berkman

If Konerko is injured, the computer manager will keep Berkman in the DH spot in the lineup and skip him when choosing a new first baseman, which will be Cairo. If I wanted Berkman to start at 1B I would need to move him out of the DH role and select another player as the starting DH.

OK, I see

I got fooled by the fact that the DH himself has back-ups -- presumed incorrectly that it meant he could be moved to a different spot

wonder why this is so hard to program?