What would yo udo?

[Greenmonsters]

I'm with Sparky, but I don't think it is bush. Once you time a game you introduce clock management. It is simple really, the game was designed to play full innings and timed games are abominations and I hate them, but show me the rules and I will play the game. In this situation my catcher is going to be dancing a lot with that girl on third and taking plenty of time doing so. My pitcher is throwing high outside pitches a foot off the plate and taking her time in doing it. When the two walks are on I am going to change pitchers.

Time has no place in the game.

I've seen the teams in this situation end up facing each other during elimination play any number of times. Guess who wins that game 95% of the time?!!

 

[Pdiddy]

What does the level you're playing at have to do with anything? Are you still considering the OP or are you off on some other thing? Making a pitching change is not an issue, only when you're burning clock due to the situation the OP posted.

fair enough.....I guess....the OP did mention "drop dead" so maybe you should read it again yourself.....others here consider making a pitching change late in a game, no matter what the reason, "stalling" if you have a lead, so it has been a "burning clock" issue. As for the level, in "Rec" and "C" there are certainly other goals than winning and certainly understand that younger team coaches have to teach other things and not just fundamentals....at the upper levels, winning is one of the most important things for the survival of a club and/or individual team....that's just how it is....and no one complains about making a pitching change at the upper levels, or if they do they do it quietly because most everyone would think they just whiney butts....we don't condone stalling and don't it, but I did say we will make a pitching change sometimes to extend time in drop dead tournament and a couple of posters think that's disrespectful....which I don't agree with at all....

 

[JJsqueeze]

this is all moot IMO. The game is not meant to be played with a time limit. When you limit the time, gamesmanship, etc no longer exist because it is a different game. Flip the script a little...say a team is down by 1 and puts up 5 runs in the top of the last inning and takes the lead so the score is 9-5, then time runs out and it reverts....is that fair? When the clock goes on, the gloves come off, plain and simple. If games were timed by rule then we would not be having this discussion as all of these things would be accepted parts of the game like fouling the last minute of a basketball game or kneeling in football. We would accept the fact that if a team had a certain amount of lead with a certain amount of time left then the game is over because they can now manage the clock.

I don't like it but it is reality and all this holier than thou stuff is BS because it is a different game when a clock is on. Do you rail against a football team that kneels the last 4 plays of a game to drain the clock for the win?

 

[Pdiddy]

amen....and great points....

 

[Slappers]

Those aren't great points as they aren't even remotely related other than being a sport that uses a clock. Fouling at the end of the game is to used to prolong it to give the losing team a chance to get back into it. Kneeling for four downs isn't outside the scope of the game.

A clock in softball is outside the scope of the game. What it comes down to is how you choose to handle it. Some of us ignore the clock and play the game as one normally would, and others like to use it as a tool in a way that isn't designed for to their advantage.

 

[Pdiddy]

"yes" those are great points and it is a timed game, the same as football and basketball at that point....how in the world can you say it's not....? do all three examples have a clock which is counting down....? and if you choose to enter a tournament that has "drop dead" rules and could care less about the clock good for you....

 

[CycloneSoftball22]

My team will take the classy loss before we stall to get the win

 

[CoogansBluff]

Do you rail against a football team that kneels the last 4 plays of a game to drain the clock for the win?

A football team that kneels the last 4 plays is not draining the clock. The clock would drain anyway. The purpose of taking a knee is to eliminate the chance of a turnover or needless injury when a game is essentially decided. That's unlike softball, where you stop the game completely but still allow the clock to run by calling a timeout that has no other strategic value but to run the clock. I don't know where that strategy exists in any sport.

It's true that if something is not against the rules, someone will use it to their advantage. I disagree that this makes issues of sportsmanship moot, just because it's not against the rules.

I assume that it is not practical to have a rule that stops the clock during all timeouts after, say, 1 hour. Perhaps that would take the issue out of it.

 

[Little Angels Softball]

I have never heard anyone say something derogatory about a coach who doesn't stall and who plays the game honestly.

I have heard several "colorful" names ascribed to coaches who do stall by making pitching changes, having girls tie their shoes, having catchers run back every base runner after every pitch, etc. during a game under a fast-approaching time constraint.

I suppose I just prefer to be grouped in with the former rather than the latter. And trust me when I say this: I only coach to win. I would not survive in the environment I coach in if I didn't.

I am not as sure as others that the level of play matters so much for such basic concepts as respect and fairness, but I have indeed coached "A" ball ..... for 14 years, to be exact. I have never stalled in a game during that time, and will not as long as teams are still willing to have me as their coach. Seems to have worked for 15 years now, as the organization has asked me back for 2015.

 

[JJsqueeze]

Look people, as long as the games do not run to a defined number of innings then any result short of that is really not even a complete game. It doesn't matter if it is 1 inning or 5, when time runs out it is a matter of who is ahead at that point. Time management tactics are really just a coaches way of saying that "I would prefer to end on last innings artificial score rather than this innings artificial score since the game is not running to a full length anyway".