Deliberate swing and miss on a wild pitch for strike 3

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GIMNEPIWO

GIMNEPIWO
Dec 9, 2017
171
43
VA
You must be real fun at parties.

And unless you know a rule about the ball needing to be in proximity to the bat it doesn't matter.

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MTR said : "at least been fooled into believe such contact was possible."
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
Perhaps this is a contradictory thought:

On the issue of bad sportsmanship, I'm not sure it is. But I would never, ever teach or encourage my players to do this. For one thing, it's my job to make them better players. I want to win, but I don't know if I'd feel so great about it if we won because I taught our worst hitter to swing at terrible 0-2 pitches and then run to first. I'm doing her a disservice. And I think I'm showing a total lack of confidence in her ability.

On the other hand, if one of my players did this on her own, I'd be happy. I'd be happy because it shows she's thinking about the game and how to best help her team win (let's pretend this is a key situation and not a game we're up or down by 10). I'd appreciate just how heady the play could be. I don't think it's bad sportsmanship. In theory, the defense would still have a chance to get her out anyway.

I don't know. Maybe I'm being inconsistent for thinking about it this way, but I look at it like this: I feel like it's something I might try when I was a kid, but if a coach instructed me to do it, I wouldn't want to play for that coach anymore.
 
Feb 15, 2017
391
43
On the other hand, if one of my players did this on her own, I'd be happy. I'd be happy because it shows she's thinking about the game and how to best help her team win (let's pretend this is a key situation and not a game we're up or down by 10). I'd appreciate just how heady the play could be. I don't think it's bad sportsmanship. In theory, the defense would still have a chance to get her out anyway.

My 7 YO did this at 10u ALL the time. Drove me nuts but 40 games in we looked at GC and between these, walks and getting hit she lead the team in OBP by a LONG way. Only had 3 true hits all year but was always the kid crossing the plate. One day I flipped at her for swinging at garbage and later she told DW why she was swinging- because she knew she could probably get on base and loved running. (FACEPALM).
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
My 7 YO did this at 10u ALL the time. Drove me nuts but 40 games in we looked at GC and between these, walks and getting hit she lead the team in OBP by a LONG way. Only had 3 true hits all year but was always the kid crossing the plate. One day I flipped at her for swinging at garbage and later she told DW why she was swinging- because she knew she could probably get on base and loved running. (FACEPALM).

Ha! I love it.

That's an incredible acumen for the game at that age. Obviously that plan doesn't work at higher levels when fewer and fewer pitches hit the dirt, so hopefully she doesn't rely on that crutch forever. Still, it's impressive she figured it out and took advantage.
 
Feb 15, 2017
391
43
Ha! I love it.

That's an incredible acumen for the game at that age. Obviously that plan doesn't work at higher levels when fewer and fewer pitches hit the dirt, so hopefully she doesn't rely on that crutch forever. Still, it's impressive she figured it out and took advantage.

Thankfully that turned out to just be a 1 year deal once she figured out she could actually hit the ball. Then she decided that was funner than swinging 10feet before the ball got to the plate. :) years 2, 3 and 4 (so far) have been absent of this “strategy”. It was cute after I calmed down.

Its not just exclusive to her for sure. I have seen it a bunch since then. These kids are a whole lot smarter than we were at this age....at least that is what I keep telling myself!
 
Mar 14, 2017
453
43
Michigan
My 7 YO did this at 10u ALL the time. Drove me nuts but 40 games in we looked at GC and between these, walks and getting hit she lead the team in OBP by a LONG way. Only had 3 true hits all year but was always the kid crossing the plate. One day I flipped at her for swinging at garbage and later she told DW why she was swinging- because she knew she could probably get on base and loved running. (FACEPALM).

Getting on base on an error wouldn't help your OBP, it would lower it.
 

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