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Sounded like classless parent(s) you were going against. You tried to stop the bleeding. Can you help the fact that your back-ups were better than their starters?
Sounded like classless parent(s) you were going against. You tried to stop the bleeding. Can you help the fact that your back-ups were better than their starters?
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We played a game yesterday against a pretty good team and it was 0-0 in the 4th. By the end of the 5th it was 4-2 but still really close. We got them out 1, 2, 3 in the 6th then loaded the bases. Our runner on 3rd stole home and scored to make it 5-2. The coach from the other team freaked out and started yelling through the fence at me that we were classless for stealing home when the game was already over. What the heck?? Since when is the game over when the score is 4-2?? Being ahead by 2 runs against a team that has taken you to the wire the whole game is far from running up the score to me. They were undefeated so I'm sure that had something to do with him being so mad, but to call us classless because we were playing the game is crazy. It ended up 8-2 which I don't even consider a blow out. When the score is 4-2 do you stop running??? Isn't that the goal, to score a comfortable lead?
Klump, You should have told him if he didn't like it to go home and practice.
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I agree with tangymike, coachjwb and others who talked about the mercy rule. That gives a rough guide. But I think the mercy rule can cause problems of its own with regard to this issue and I have an example from this weekend.
We were up 8-1 in the bottom of the 5th inning (we had scored 4 already in the inning) and had a runner on third with one out. Our batter was an excellent bunter and we had speed on third. It was a perfect squeeze situation. It was the first game of four on the weekend and our #1 pitcher was pitching. She has various injuries and I'm trying to save her every possible inning, not only for her comfort, but to keep her pitching as much as possible for us. So do we squeeze and probably end it or not squeeze and risk having her pitch one or two more innings?
We hit away and got the job done, but I really wanted to squeeze. Without the mercy rule in existence, there is no way I squeeze in that situation, as we were up seven and the other team simply wasn't coming back against our ace. I am so sensitive to the unwritten rules of the game that I did what probably wasn't in our team's best interest just to keep the other team from thinking we were bush.
We were up 8-1 in the bottom of the 5th inning (we had scored 4 already in the inning) and had a runner on third with one out. Our batter was an excellent bunter and we had speed on third. It was a perfect squeeze situation. It was the first game of four on the weekend and our #1 pitcher was pitching. She has various injuries and I'm trying to save her every possible inning, not only for her comfort, but to keep her pitching as much as possible for us. So do we squeeze and probably end it or not squeeze and risk having her pitch one or two more innings?
We hit away and got the job done, but I really wanted to squeeze. Without the mercy rule in existence, there is no way I squeeze in that situation, as we were up seven and the other team simply wasn't coming back against our ace. I am so sensitive to the unwritten rules of the game that I did what probably wasn't in our team's best interest just to keep the other team from thinking we were bush.
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Without too much exception, in fastpitch softball the only person who would have had to deal with the ramifications of breaking the unwritten rule would have been you.
In baseball, you would have had to consider the well being of your first three batters because chances are someone would have gotten "plunked" in the first inning of the next game. If the risk of someone getting hit and the coorsponding counter-plunk and then the risk of ejection from either bench clearning or umpire warning was in play, would you have even thought about squeezing in that situation. I would not.
In my mind, unwritten rules are such because of the unwritten consequences. IMHO, people who grew up in baseball but now coach softball live by the unwritten rules not because of the unwritten consequences but because its how we were raised and taught.
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We played a game yesterday against a pretty good team and it was 0-0 in the 4th. By the end of the 5th it was 4-2 but still really close. We got them out 1, 2, 3 in the 6th then loaded the bases. Our runner on 3rd stole home and scored to make it 5-2. The coach from the other team freaked out and started yelling through the fence at me that we were classless for stealing home when the game was already over. What the heck?? Since when is the game over when the score is 4-2?? Being ahead by 2 runs against a team that has taken you to the wire the whole game is far from running up the score to me. They were undefeated so I'm sure that had something to do with him being so mad, but to call us classless because we were playing the game is crazy. It ended up 8-2 which I don't even consider a blow out. When the score is 4-2 do you stop running??? Isn't that the goal, to score a comfortable lead?
I was at this game and watched the first three innings. It did appear to be a good game. I will say, the noise from the losing teams' spectators was very vocal. I felt like I was at the Horseshoe and their double wide was in the parking lot.
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In my humble opinion...it is IMPOSSIBLE to run up a score without at least reaching the run rule. There are all sorts of things that go into whether or not a team has run up the score, but I personally think if you never reach the run rule, then you cannot have run up the score.
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Yep, you said it all there. And it's those unwritten rules that keep civility in the game, which is all too frequently missing in fastpitch because too many coaches and almost all of the players have no clue about those rules.
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You score till the cow bells stop:lmao: (You would have had to been there)!!!
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:lmao::lmao: The cow bells and whistles were a nice touch for that double wide feeling. :yahoo::yahoo:
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Nothing like a nice cow bell in your ear for an hour!!
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You had to know "plunking the batter" would come up before this was over! lol! And it's women's fastpitch!!
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You had to know "plunking the batter" would come up before this was over! lol! And it's women's fastpitch!!
No Sammy, if you read my statement - its the 'lack of plunking', the lack of consequence that is the problem in softball. In baseball, the unwritten rule is lived by because the coach/players don't like the unwritten consequence. Like in Joe A's example, neither he nor I would have ever considered suicide squeeze being up 8, 10, 12 runs to get a game over if via mercy because the consequence would have been getting batter 1,2 or 3 plunked. But without the true fear of consequence - the decision is at least easier to justify - Joe didn't do it but he could have likely without fear of retrobution.
Before anyone starts, No, I am not pro-plunking, I am pro-fear of getting plunked. Obviously getting 'written up' on OFC isn't enough to cause people from doing stupid things, that gets proven every weekend.
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Stupid question time............Is there a point at which an umpire should/or could step in to help diffuse the situation? I'm thinking from a standpoint of excessive noise and to keep the game under control.
Or, should I bring my air horn if/when we play this team?
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Maybe the fear of consequences is there, plunked with a ball vs. plunked with a metal stick:lmao:
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Our team was down 9-0 when the other team's runner stole 2nd and I was fine with it. If you make 10 errors in a game, you better get busy fixing some things...
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Maybe they brought their cow bells because they "wanted to play with their ding-a-lings."
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it is running up score if you are past run rule and then still being aggresive.i always play full go till we are at run rule especially in tournaments short games are an advantage
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When I was in high school as a pitcher.. the only time I plunked a batter was when they turned to bunt with a runner on third base.
Obviously, that is what you do so a squeeze does not happen. If the batter is lucky enough to get out of the way... the runner is not getting to the plate.
I lost a league championship game on a squeeze bunt in the eighth inning my sophmore year as a pitcher. I vowed it would never happen again.
My senior year, I plunked a friend of mine from another school that I uses to play summer ball with for three years. He told me after the game, " I knew you was going to hit me as soon as the coach gave me the bunt signal". He took it in the chest.
THAT'S the unwritten rule of the game. Doesn't matter what the score is.
Obviously, that is what you do so a squeeze does not happen. If the batter is lucky enough to get out of the way... the runner is not getting to the plate.
I lost a league championship game on a squeeze bunt in the eighth inning my sophmore year as a pitcher. I vowed it would never happen again.
My senior year, I plunked a friend of mine from another school that I uses to play summer ball with for three years. He told me after the game, " I knew you was going to hit me as soon as the coach gave me the bunt signal". He took it in the chest.
THAT'S the unwritten rule of the game. Doesn't matter what the score is.
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First off the cowbell is classless and annoying and i wish i could fire a ball upstairs at those old buzzards. Second, the coaches from the team in queastion are some of the best people I have met in or out of softball. knowing your team a little i say run up the score as much as you can because you never know when the girls are going to melt down(trust me thats the way we approach it). Newer younger teams are subject to melt down at least once a game. I say put 90 on em next time if you can.
