Good Sportsmanship??

[ctfastpitch]

Every tournament has time limits. Throw on top a rain delay and your squeezing even more. Played in some where we had a :45 drop dead, revert to last complete innings score. Good times there.....not! As home team we took the lead and lost.......same token we've purposely made outs to end the inning before drop dead time so we wouldnt lose. Imagine you take the lead in the bottom half only to tell yur girls to leave the base early to make outs cause we only have :02 before drop dead. At the same time the other team makes a pitching change....or calls time....or the catcher visits the circle every pitch.
Most tourneys start with 1;15- 1;30 no new inning starts, only semi and championships get the "traditional" 7 innings. With 2 solid teams battling, most pool play games go 7 innings....however watching the clock has become a must in travel ball. A time management stragedy is a must.
Stalling.....poor sportsmanship....or good time mgmt. Having to tie your shoe....or leaving the base early to make outs.
Im sure they knew going into the 5th that it was thier last at bat.....especially after scoring 6 runs (no easy way to score 9 "quick" runs).

I don't understand that interpretation of a "drop dead" time limit. Seems to me if the home team is winning when you hit the drop dead limit, then they win.

 

[SoCalDad]

I don't understand that interpretation of a "drop dead" time limit. Seems to me if the home team is winning when you hit the drop dead limit, then they win.

I agree. Every tournament I have played in the past several years uses a rule very similar to below:

... in all drop dead instances, if the home team is ahead, than the score stands, if they are behind then the score reverts back to the last completed inning...

Usually there is an additional rule about ties and whether they stand in pool or require ITB.

 

[ctfastpitch]

I agree. Every tournament I have played in the past several years uses a rule very similar to below:

... in all drop dead instances, if the home team is ahead, than the score stands, if they are behind then the score reverts back to the last completed inning...

Usually there is an additional rule about ties and whether they stand in pool or require ITB.

Just in principal, you would have to take the score at point where the losing team has had at least as many turns at bat as the winning team (you can't win a game by taking the lead in the top half of the last inning if the home team doesn't have final at-bat)

 

[hallelujah]

I wouldn't call this bad sportsmanship. I'd call it strategy. Whatever it takes to win a game. Time is part of the sport in some instances and using the excuse "softball games shouldn't be timed" is just silly in my opinion. Yes, maybe they shouldn't be timed, but they are, and time is now part of the game, so this element must be incorporated into a team's strategy.

I've seen coaches stall for time, and I've seen coaches try to rush time. It's part of the game. Hey, her shoe is untied, she needs time to tie it. If this happens to every batter however, then if I were the umpire I wouldn't grant them time. But one person tying their shoes while up to bat wouldn't probably piss me off if I were the other coach, but I'd do the same if I were in that situation. Hell, I'd even call time and have a little time-stalling chat with my batter. It's just part of the game.

 

[softball_chic_12]

i understand the point of tying her shoes and walking up there slowly. That is strategy. But there is a line she crossed and it was no longer strategy but it was poor sportsmanship. That line was when she called time to tie her shoes. I would have stalled too, but by walking a lil slower and maybe taking 1 or 2 extra swings.

 

[CoachKevin]

i understand the point of tying her shoes and walking up there slowly. That is strategy. But there is a line she crossed and it was no longer strategy but it was poor sportsmanship. That line was when she called time to tie her shoes. I would have stalled too, but by walking a lil slower and maybe taking 1 or 2 extra swings.

Whats the difference? Tying shoes or taking 10-15 swings before every pitch? Why is one bad sportsmanship and the other not? Stalling is stalling no matter how you do it.

 

[Aunt B]

Like it or not time is a part of the game. It doesn't matter if you are on the winning side or losing side - in our league the clock is a factor. In the last 5-10 minutes if you are winning, you slow the game down a bit. If you are losing you want to hussle a little faster. Yesterday we we on the losing side and worked hard to get a 3 up 3 down inning so we could get another bat in --at the same time the other team was taking extra swings and walking to the plate slowly. We missed it by less than a minute. Lost by 1. We also realize that the game wouldn't have been that close if we hadn't make a few mistakes in the earlier innings. Win some lose some! When you lose just don't lose the lesson!

 

[dytakeda]

This reminds me of the fake injuries in the World Cup that I've been watching lately. Really irritating. Play ball.