Game_ThreadGPT

During the March 5th Mariners/Brewers Spring Training game, I spent some time feeding game situations into ChatGPT. The results were...interesting. You can see a sampling of the generated comments below. Have fun with these, I sure did!

Game Situation: Prior to first pitch

• Prompt: "The tenth spring training game is about to start, write a message board comment"
• ChatGPT: "Let’s go, fans! It’s time for the tenth spring training game of the season! The players have been working hard to get ready for the upcoming season, so let’s cheer them on and show our support. Grab your peanuts and Cracker Jacks and get ready for some baseball action!"
• Notes: My first couple prompts were a bit generic, so there were generic responses from the system. This features some generic rah-rah things and a reference to make sure we all know it is talking about baseball. A bit clunky of an opening attempt, but there is plenty more to come.

Game Situation: The Mariners go down in order in the top of the first inning.

• Prompt: "The away team goes down in order in the top of the first inning, write a comment for a baseball message board."
• ChatGPT: "Quiet start for the away team in the first inning. Let’s hope they can turn up the heat and come out swinging in the next inning!"
• Notes: This one sounds a bit more human than the first comment, and likely wouldn’t be completely out of place, though we were against Woodruff, so a slow start might be expected.

Game Situation: The Mariners get their first hit but come away with no runs in the top of the second.

• Prompt: "The Mariners got one hit but fail to score the runner in the second inning. Write a comment for a baseball message board."
• ChatGPT: "Mariners manage to get a hit in the second inning but fail to bring in the run. It’s still early in the game, but missed opportunities like this could come back to haunt them later. Let’s see if they can capitalize on their hits in the upcoming innings."
• Notes: The relative vagueness of the prompt and putting the word fail into it seems to have made ChatGPT think this was a bit more dire of a situation. There are often comments like this in games where runs could be at a premium, but overall, this comment sounds pretty normal.

Game Situation: Teoscar Hernandez hits a two run single, Mariners take the lead.

• Prompt: "Teoscar Hernandez hits a single to score two runs. The Seattle Mariners take a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Write a Mariners message board comment."
• ChatGPT: "Teoscar Hernandez comes up big with a clutch hit in the third inning, driving in two runs to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead. The offense finally breaks through after being held scoreless in the first two innings. Now it’s up to the pitching staff to hold the lead an secure a much-needed win. Let’s go Mariners!"
• Notes: Here I noticed that switching to a "Mariners" message board was more conducive to getting comments in the style I was expecting. The results read a bit more like a label to a highlight than a comment one of us would post during a thread.

Game Situation: Cooper Hummel hits a two run home run in the top of the forth.

• Prompt: "Offseason addition Copper (whoops!) Hummel hits a two run home run to give the Mariners a 4-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Write a Mariner’s message board comment."
• ChatGPT: "Copper Hummel is making a name for himself early in the season, crushing a two-run homer in the fourth inning to give the Mariners a 4-0 lead. The offseason addition is proving to be a valuable addition to the team, showing off his power and ability to come through in clutch situations. The Mariners offense is firing on all cylinders today, and it's great to see them putting runs on the board. Can the pitching staff hold the lead and secure a much-needed win? Let's go Mariners!"
• Notes: This one took a bit to get a good response. I added the offseason addition part to see if it would add flavor to the comments. This led to many different responses where Hummel was a prospect that was brought up.

Game Situation: Jarred Kelenic hits a solo home run in the top of the fifth.

• Prompt: "Jarred Kelenic hits a monster home run to give the Mariners a 5-0 lead. Write a Mariners message board comment."
• ChatGPT: "Wow, what a blast from Jarred Kelenic! The young outfielder crushes a monster home run in the fifth inning to give the Mariners a commanding 5-0 lead. Kelenic has been on fire lately, and he’s quickly becoming a fan favorite in Seattle. The Mariners offense has been clicking today, and it’s great to see the team putting runs on the board. Can the pitching staff maintain their shutout and secure a much-needed win? Let’s go Mariners."
• Notes: Kelenic-mania running wild on ChatGPT. It is also happy to see the assholes have indeed been scoring runs.

Game Situation: Brian O’Keefe hits a solo home run.

• Prompt: "Brian O’Keefe hits a deep home run to extend the Mariners lead to 6-0 in the sixth inning, write a mariners message board comment."
• ChatGPT: "YES! Brian O’Keefe with a clutch home run to extend out lead to 6-0 in the sixth inning! This is exactly the kind of offensive fire power we need to keep pushing ahead and secure the win. Our pitching has been rock solid and now our bats are heating up too. Let’s keep the hits coming and finish the game strong! GO MARINERS!"
• Notes: Here the bot is getting into it a bit more, being more expressive in the comments it generates. That, or it just secretly loves Brian O’Keefe.

Game Situation: Brennan Bernardino gets through the seventh inning.

• Prompt: "Corco’s favorite player Brennan Bernardino sits the Brewers down in order including two strike outs. Write a Mariners message board comment."
• ChatGPT: "What a fantastic inning from Brennan Bernardino, Corco's favorite player! Two strikeouts and he made it look easy. You just know Corco is somewhere smiling at the sight of his favorite player dominating on the mound. It's great to see our young talent stepping up and making an impact, and Bernardino is definitely a rising star to keep an eye on. Let's keep the momentum going and finish this game strong! GO MARINERS!"
• Notes: I got curious how it would work in some more specifics. I was impressed with what it came up with. Interestingly, the first couple attempts at this comment had the system thinking Bernardino was Corco’s protégé, despite being told he was just a favorite player.

Game Situation: The Mariners win.

• Prompt: "Despite giving up a run in the ninth, the Seattle Mariners defeat the Brewers 6-1. Write a Mariners message board comment."
• ChatGPT: "What a great win for the Mariners today! They played a solid game all around and managed to come out on top against the Brewers.
  
  Even though the Brewers were able to sneak in a run in the ninth inning, our team didn't let it get to them. They stayed focused and held on for the win.
  
  It's always satisfying to see our team come together and play well, especially when it results in a victory. Here's hoping that they can carry this momentum forward into the next game and keep racking up the wins!"
• Notes: Always satisfying indeed ChatGPT.

Overall, the comments worked out to sound more like labels for highlight pictures/videos. Many of the ones that were generated sounded like comments a person would make, but I doubt they would pass as actual things a person would say. I started out thinking I would just post comments in the actual game thread without indicating I was doing this, but when I saw the results, I felt writing them up in this form was more interesting. I may do this again in the future, though my interest has mostly been satisfied. One last note, I fed one more prompt into the system and got this helpful reminder:

"As excited as we all are about Jarred Kelenic’s progress in spring training, I think it’s fair to be cautiously optimistic. We’ve seen players have great spring training performances before, only to struggle when the regular season rolls around. That being said, Kelenic has been putting in the work and has shown some impressive improvements, so let’s hope he can carry that over into the regular season. We’re all rooting for him and can’t wait to see what he does on the field. GO MARINERS!"