FanPost

AI wrote this game summary of an all-time Cardinals vs Cubs Game



Author: ChatGPT

Good evening, Birdos fans! What a game we had today at Busch Stadium, as the all-time Cardinals greats faced off against the all-time Cubs greats. It was a classic matchup that did not disappoint, as the Redbirds came away with a hard-fought victory in extra innings.

The game got off to a quick start, as the Cardinals scored two runs in the first inning. Stan Musial led off with a double, and then Rogers Hornsby followed with a single to put runners on the corners. A groundout from Albert Pujols brought in the first run, and then Jim Edmonds hit a sacrifice fly to score Hornsby.

But the Cubs did not go down quietly. They answered right back in the second inning, with a solo homer from Sammy Sosa. And then in the fourth, they took the lead with a three-run blast from Ernie Banks. The Cubs were riding high, but the Cardinals refused to let them get away.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Cardinals tied the game up with a two-run shot from Mark McGwire. And then in the seventh, they took the lead back with an RBI double from Lou Brock. The Cubs kept fighting, though, and they tied it up again in the eighth with a run-scoring single from Ryne Sandberg.

The game remained deadlocked at 5-5 until the bottom of the 11th inning. That's when Ozzie Smith came up to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. The Wizard had already made some incredible defensive plays earlier in the game, but now he had a chance to be the hero. And boy, did he deliver.

Smith lined a single into center field, scoring both Willie McGee and Musial to give the Cardinals the walk-off victory. The crowd at Busch Stadium went wild, and the Cardinals players mobbed Smith at first base.

It was a great team effort by the Cardinals, with several players making big contributions. Musial went 3-for-5 with a double and a walk, while Hornsby had two hits and a run scored. McGwire's homer tied the game up, and Brock's double gave the Cards the lead. And of course, Smith's walk-off hit was the icing on the cake.

On the pitching side, Bob Gibson got the start for the Cardinals and pitched six innings, allowing four runs on six hits with four strikeouts. Chris Carpenter came in for relief and threw two scoreless innings, and then Bruce Sutter and Jason Isringhausen each pitched a perfect inning. But it was the last pitcher for the Cardinals, Adam Wainwright, who got the win. Wainwright threw three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out two.

It was a tough loss for the Cubs, but they had some standout performances as well. Sosa's homer got the Cubs on the board early, and Banks' three-run shot gave them the lead. Sandberg had two hits and an RBI, and Billy Williams also had a hit and an RBI.

But in the end, it was the Cardinals who came out on top. They showed that they still have what it takes to beat their archrivals, even with the all-time greats on the field. It was a game that will go down in history, and we're lucky to have witnessed it. Until next time, Birdos fans!

---

Peter here. I gave ChatGPT the following prompt:

"Write a game recap in the style of Viva El Birdos recapping a game between the Cardinals and Cubs. The game should be in St. Louis and the Cardinals win a close extra-innings victory. The game is between the all-time Cardinals greats and the all-time Cubs greats. Include many details and specific players names for a long article. Also include witty, fun commentary. It should be written in the past tense, to describe a game that happened yesterday."

Check out what we got! Fun, huh? Musiel, Hornsby, and Pujols all on the same team to take down Ernie Banks, Sammy Sosa and co.

The AI picked Ozzie Smith as the hero with the extra innings victory I asked for.

If you read the recap carefully, though, you'll see some logical issues. Let's start with the first paragraph that describes the scoring

"The game got off to a quick start, as the Cardinals scored two runs in the first inning. "

Got it, how were those two runs scored?

"Stan Musial led off with a double, and then Rogers Hornsby followed with a single to put runners on the corners."

That makes sense! Though this must have been an older, slow Stan the Man if he couldn't score from second on a single.

Then, batting third is Pujols:

"A groundout from Albert Pujols brought in the first run"

Makes sense. So now we should have Hornsby on second.

"...and then Jim Edmonds hit a sacrifice fly to score Hornsby."

Hmmm, how did Hornsby score from second on a sac fly? Or did he somehow get to third on the groundout? Or maybe there was a stolen base in there...? We'd have to add a few details to straighten out the raw AI output.

The recap continues in a perfectly logical fashion, with the AI not getting into two many details about exactly how the runs score. Then it delivers that satisfying Ozzie walk-off. But did you notice who scored the winning run?

"Smith lined a single into center field, scoring both Willie McGee and Musial to give the Cardinals the walk-off victory. "

The game should have ended once McGee scored to end the contest at 6-5, but I guess in this game the rules allowed Stan the Man to scamper home and bury the Cubbies with an unecessary run!

The pitching recap explains that the line was:

Bob Gibson: 6 IP, 4 runs, 6 hits, 4 Ks

Chris Carpenter: 2 IP, 0 runs

Bruce Sutter: 1 IP, 0 runs

Jason Isringhausen: 1 IP, 0 runs

Adam Wainwright: 3 IP, 0 runs, 1 hit, 2 Ks

That adds up to 13 innings pitched, in a 10-inning game!

So the AI output would need a little massaging to pass for a VEB post, but it's not far off, is it? Go to chat.openai.com and try making your own imaginary games!