Taking it easy on weaker teams?

[mad hornet]

Coaches who have been around and who have played softball or baseball usually understand the unwritten rules here. First, you have to be able to discern the difference between a competitive game and a game where the losing team has no chance to come back.

Once you have the latter and a comfortable lead, it's time to stop stealing bases, bunting, taking chances on bases, attempting pickoffs and perhaps other things I'm not thinking about. You still play the game hard, you just don't rub it in by taking advantage of the other team's inabilities.

Whether one agrees with all of this or not, many of us believe in these unwritten rules. These are customs that developed in baseball that many of us believe also apply in softball since the games are so similar. We don't walk around in society giving people the middle finger. When we run the score up on opponents, it's like giving them the middle finger.

The tough thing can be figuring out exactly when it's time to call off the dogs, especially with mercy rules in place. I was on both ends of it this past spring. We had a team beating us 14-U and pulled a double steal, then squeeze bunted after that. We had no history whatsoever with the team, so there was no retaliation involved for some past transgression. Needless to say, my coaching staff and I were hot. It was a non-league game, so that team will not be on our schedule any longer. On the other hand, I had a league coach mad at me during a game. It was the second game of a doubleheader and we were up 9-1 in the top of the fourth inning and I had a player steal second. A bit later in the inning we were up 11-1 and I waved a runner home from second on a base hit to left-center. The other team was in the third-base dugout and the coach let me know she wasn't happy with those two moves and it was time to call off the dogs.

I explained to her later that I was trying to make sure we would win the game in five innings. We had only two pitchers on our staff, both pitching with injuries in cold weather, and I wanted to try to save a couple of innings for the one pitching that game. We had played two games against the same team the day before and won twice, but both games were competitive (I think we won by 5 and by 2). The inning kept going and it was eventually 15-1, at which point I eyeballed the base ump and then our runner at second. Being an experienced college umpire, he knew what I meant and called the runner out for leaving early even though she didn't leave early and didn't know I had requested the call.

Good post!

 

[CoachKevin]

I also was involved in both situations this past Spring. We were playing very bad and it was 10-0 in the 2nd inning. The one thing that made me start jawing was this coach even had the gall to call for a delayed steal of home, now 11-0!!! They kept bunting and stealing as well. It wasn't fun at all, and I know our girls didn't have fun playing in it.

The other time I believe we were up 12-3 in the 3rd. I made sure we didn't advance and score on any passed balls, we didn't bunt or steal.

People talk about keeping the team focused and aggressive... well running up the score doesn't do that. The players will respond depending on the competition. All running up the scores do is keep the coaches ego in the clouds. You, as a coach, can hold up runners, and do things that will slow the scoring.

 

[Mark H]

Good post!

Yes. Wish I had said it so well.

 

[Mark H]

I also was involved in both situations this past Spring. We were playing very bad and it was 10-0 in the 2nd inning. The one thing that made me start jawing was this coach even had the gall to call for a delayed steal of home, now 11-0!!! They kept bunting and stealing as well. It wasn't fun at all, and I know our girls didn't have fun playing in it.

The other time I believe we were up 12-3 in the 3rd. I made sure we didn't advance and score on any passed balls, we didn't bunt or steal.

People talk about keeping the team focused and aggressive... well running up the score doesn't do that. The players will respond depending on the competition. All running up the scores do is keep the coaches ego in the clouds. You, as a coach, can hold up runners, and do things that will slow the scoring.

Coaches like the first one you mentioned eventually get their ego deflated by coaches who know they are good and don't need to feed their ego. That's best case. Worst case, a pitcher figures out who the coach's kid is and gives them a round red tattoo.

 

[JoeA1010]

Thanks for the words about my post. I agree with Kevin that calling off the dogs is not going to affect your own players in the future. Any kid over 8 years old understands the concept and is not going to not play hard in the future because her team backs off in a game.

In all my years of coaching, I've never had a girl ask me why we were stealing or whatever else in a competitive game when we stopped doing it in the last game we played when we were destroying the opponent.

There are college coaches who have the ignorant attitude of, "It's not my job to keep the score down." Of course, that is completely missing the point. Whether those coaches like it or not, most coaches consider it bush league to run up the score and humiliate an opponent. That is the custom that developed over time. Ignore society's (or softball's) customs and you can expect to be ostracized from the community.

What makes me steaming mad is that there are so many of these coaches and their players are not learning respect for the game. As a result, we get more and more coaches who don't understand the game's unwritten rules and the culture in the game just gets worse and worse.

 

[Mark H]

You do your best but sometimes nothing works. It was a cold day and the other team, who we were friendly with, could do nothing right even though it was usually an even game when we played. We were way up. Pitcher walked the bases loaded. I took my catcher aside and said I want you to swing at every pitch no matter where it is. Of course the result was a grand slam. I didn't know whether to be happy or embarrassed. But we weren't running, or taking a base on passed balls and the like and there were no hard feelings.

 

[a softball life for me]

Interesting conversation. What I've seen most people do is signal the ump for the leaving the base early call. Back in the day, we used to bunt back to the pitcher with the coach promising it wouldn't affect our BA.

A few years ago, we were a very, very young 10U team, just starting out. We were at our first tournament but our #1 pitcher got injured. The other 2 pitchers could not find the plate, just a bad day. One team beat us 27-0, never stopped running.

We are more experienced now. We've been playing together for years. We've won a couple of tournaments. We are scheduled to play a tournament in a few months and this organization has a team in our age group. The girls still remember. Should be fun .

 

[Mark H]

A few years ago, we were a very, very young 10U team, just starting out. We were at our first tournament but our #1 pitcher got injured. The other 2 pitchers could not find the plate, just a bad day. One team beat us 27-0, never stopped running.

Some boys teams I've been around would have started plunking people. Happens less often in fp but sooner or later they are going to run into a girl with some attitude and get one of their kids hurt for not calling off the dogs. Not saying it's right. Just saying it is.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

I'm not sure why you would blame the team that has prepared for and executed better during the game. To me its all about the intent and attitude of the winning team when they have a big lead. If they are rubbing it in my team's face, that is one thing and is disrespectful to the game; but if I have not prepared my team to be competitive shame on me and my players. If a game is 27-0, I would really question the coaches for arranging this type of match-up (i.e. pick a more competitive tourney, league, etc.). No good (for either team) can come out of this type of game.

 

[a softball life for me]

Well, this is not SoCal and there isn't a variety of tournaments to choose from. Like I said, our team was young, wasn't planning on a pitcher injury and the other 2 completely imploding. It happens...they were 9.

But some good did come of it. The girls didn't like it and they have worked very hard. The coaches learned from that as well. When we were the 2nd year 10U team, we made sure we didn't do that to other teams.