Bush League Tactics......

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I am just wondering what kind of Bush league tactics that anyone has seen during games. The worst I ever saw was last year when a coach allowed his team to scream at the top of their lungs when the pitcher released the ball and screamed all the way until the catcher caught the ball. I call that bush league..100%. There has to be a few good ones, because I have seen dozens Myself.

 

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Saw a batter square to bunt, and waved the bat right in front of the catchers mask. After complaining to umpire nothing was done. On the next pitch the bat actually came into contact with the mask, then the umpire stepped in an gave a warning. Thats the bush league way to steal a base!!!!!

 

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Wow, Now that IS bush league. The ump should have been all over that. jmho

 

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Elimination play in tournament. Bottom of 6. We are batting and trail by 1. Time limit is close to expiring. Our 1st 2 batters make quick outs and then the other teams manager calls time goes out to the pitcher and calls all his infielders in to talk and waste time. Luckily our next batter makes the 3rd out with 1 minute left on the time so we had to go to the 7th.

Sweet justice. We tie it in the 7th and win it in the 9th.

 

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Had this happen at NSA States this year. It was a rather dry and windy day. Opposing teams 3rd baseman would kick up the dirt and send a big cloud of dust into our batters face. She did it the entire game. I'd call that bush league. Sad to say, they still came out on the losing end. :'(

 

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Back when my daughter was 10 and catching for a local rec league team we had an opposing coach, with their team have 1 out and runners at 1st and 3rd, yell at the batter, after striking out, to go, go, go to 1st base. Of course, my kid throws to 1st in all the comotion and their runner promptly scores from 3rd to the delight and high 5s from this coach. This guy has won 6-7 STATE championships at their local high school and still felt a need to do that to a 10 yr old kid!
I have been the head coach in appx 250-300 travel ball games and I never did see anything that came close to that, other than a certain visored 3rd base coach last year at 16u almost get kicked out by the umpire for "trying" to do almost the exact same thing.

 

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A team last year had players who would shout out in turn as the batter was going to the batters box and while the ball was being pitched. The 3rd base would yell something like "Uh, oh" and right after that the SS would yell "What" and then the 2nd baseman would yell "thats right" then the 1st base would yell "yeah". It was very annoying. Very bush league. They did this the whole game in a Toledo Tournament. Very Immature.

 

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Here's one for you, how about the third base coach (of the opposing team) screaming out while the defensive player is making the play on the ball. ?When I complained to the home plate umpire he said that there was nothing against the rules about screaming out loud as long as it was not negative. ?Diddo for girls screaming out while pitcher delivers pitch, yes both definitely Bush League Tactics.

 

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We had a 3rd base coach scream out every time my dd was in the pitch. Didn't like him much!

 

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I have seen a third base coach that whistles during the pitchers motion. ? This is pretty bush league. ? I am amazed at how teams, players and / or coaches that use these tactics don't seem to do any better than anyone else. ? It seems like a lot of work for not much return. ?

 

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I agree! We won that game!

 

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A coach from another team told my dd to take it easy on a batter. She was very young and scared. With the heart my dd has she walked her the first time. But I told her she is never ever to back off. The girl shouldn't be there if she is afraid! I'm not quite sure how the other coach was able to approach my dd at all!

 

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I believe I can win this contest! A Carolina team beating on wood dugouts with bats and balls and syncronized screaming while our pitcher was pitching the whole game, we came back to beat them in ITB and they stood in the parking lot flipping off my team while we where leaving and the coach yelling "Merry Christmas, that was the best present you ever got" pretty sure he was Junior Sample from Hee Haw.
5 players from that team showed up the next night at our game and went into the dugout of a Tennessee team and started the ball/bat beating and screaming, I had them removed from the dugout and they started beating on metal garbage cans behind home plate while pitching and didn't leave until we got close to a run rule win. Pure BUSH! ?
The bad thing about the situation, the parents came with them and sat next to my parents causing a scene, The apple does'nt fall far from the tree! ?

 

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We took a group of girls to a rec tournament. We were up by 12. The first base coach screamed non stop on the top of her lung.."this is YOUR GAME ***********" continuously. She had my first baseman in tears. And I was also told that as long as she was not making negative comments there was nothing to be done about it. I had never witnessed such behavior out of an adult. Total bush.

 

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Bigguy:

Yep, I'm pretty sure you WILL win this contest. Ugly, ugly, ugly. >

 

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bigguy i think we played this team at a tourney in KY. one mom in particular screamed the entire game, she was huge and so was her mouth. by the end of the game i was amazed that her vocal cords held out. the good thing about having a dd that is getting older is that most of these idiots realize by U16/U18 that they aren't in the game and just let the players play. not all mind you.

 

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We took a group of girls to a rec tournament. ?We were up by 12. ?The first base coach screamed non stop on the top of her lung.."this is YOUR GAME ***********" ?continuously. ?She had my first baseman in tears. ?And I was also told that as long as she was not making negative comments there was nothing to be done about it. ?I had never witnessed such behavior out of an adult. ?Total bush. ?

What kind of an idiot umpire would tell you something like that?

 

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Bigguy - I honestly thing you win this one hands down. ;D

My DD was catching at a game and there was a big girl on third. The girls dad yelled at her and "Reminded" her that softball is a contact sport. Shamefully I yelled out to my DD and with a warning (I know I'm not suppose to, but it was more of a mamma protecting her young thing). My DD isn't a huge catcher but she can hold her own. She took off her mask looked down third, then looked at the parent who yelled the comment and looked at her coach and grinned with the comment "I don't think so." The girl from third didn't come in. It shut up the parent for the rest of the game. And just to make the game even sweeter, we won.

Now with that said, I simply don't get it? Why do some teams need to use Bush League Tactics? From what I've read it doesn't seem to help them win and it seems to strengthen those teams that play clean.

Any insight from those that deal with it all the time?

 

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This is where site and tournament directors need to "step to the plate". They have the power to put an end to it. Remember, your name (TDs) is associated with the tournament. If you let teams get away with this kind of behavior, then it will continue. If you let them know that this kind of conduct will not be tolerated or they will be forced to leave the tournament and never ask back, then the behavior will cease.

The tournament/site director has a lot more authority than umpires. Umpires have to follow the rule book. TDs have a lot more leeway. We happen to host a tournament at a facility in which the property owner has zero tolerance about people who demonstrate bad behavior (in this case, no partial refund at all. If you refuse to go, then you are arrested). Just as teams have the right to boycott/pass up a tournament (for whatever reason), TDs have the right to deny teams and/or people based on their conduct (past or present). And if TDs get the word out to other TDs about problem people/teams and they are denied entry/participation in other tournaments, then the behavior (be it coach/player tactics on the field or coach/team/parent behavior in general) will change.

It may seem like a severe approach, but if TDs want teams to come back to their tournament, then stand up and take charge. Teams will come to tournaments that give each team a fair chance and where they can enjoy playing and not worry about the obnoxious people.

Okay, I'm done ranting.

 

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Timac4, this was a 16U team, they were the defending champions of this nationals.

The only thing that baffled me was the TD saying they are doing nothing against the rules. He expained the opposite team dugout deal as "how do I know they don't play for that team some place else" The TD and Umpire in Chief were visable when this team showed up and went into our opposing teams dugout, they sent armed security behind both dugouts and armed undercover security behind the backstop, I spoke to them and they said they have the situation under control, in response I said in Ohio, that team would of been removed after their first antics and armed officers should not be present at a girls softball game.

My girls/parents showed Ohio class and handled the Jerry Springer team by winning, but I"d bet If I dropped the ranes, we would of had a good old fashioned southern throwdown and my team is big, but they choose sportsmanship and I realized what a great group of kids I had.
We joke about it now, but it was a nitemare at the time and will always be a memory of southern hospitality.

Timac4, was she wearing a large light purple hat? if so, feel my pain, she sat right next to my third base coaching box and I endured 8 innings without expressing myself, a top knotch anger management video could surface from that game.

One other item, when I drew a line on how far down I wanted my runner to go in a situation, the third baseman walked over and erased it everytime. ANGER MANAGEMENT!

I Win!