With all the (deserved) griping about some of the things the robot does I felt I'd give the robot props for the wonderful job it did when I had to put my team on autopilot for much of this year.

Shortly after the season started, real life popped up in a big way and I had to leave my team, Rochester Titans - 2000RT1, in the hands of the robot manager. I was able to do some spot managing here and there, but from about game 40 - 140 the robot was on it's own. On my return, I was shocked to see my team with the best record in the league!

The team has a strong lineup built around good platoons and the bullpen is very strong, but the rotation consisted of 3 INN starters, David Wells and Carlos Zambrano. The team actually fared worse when I took over, but then injuries were finally taking their toll. The robot still managed my team to home field advantage in the playoffs.

I think what really helps the robot is the bullpen. It seems to me most of the really bone-headed moves are bullpen-related and in my case I had 4-5 very good relievers which really limited any head-scratchers. As for lineups, I think the robot does a very good job getting the right batters in. I guess Barry Bonds helps a bit too. ;o)

So yeah, the robot has it's faults - but here's my props to the guy as Rochester Titans team MVP!