Bad Sportsmanship or Hard Nose baseball??

I have attended many high school baseball games, as many TBR posters have done the same. When I see something happen on the field, I am often undecided if it was bad sportsmanship or just baseball being played at a higher level. I thought we could enjoy some comments and debate about some of the things we have all witnessed this year (or before) and maybe broaden our perspective at the same time. I am all for deception as part of the game and I love the history of the game and honoring long held traditions of the way the game is supposed to be played.

I was at a game last week and the head coach was coaching third base and every time the count would go 2-0 he would call out the batter and go into a long dissertation about how the "pressure is on the pitcher now" and "he's gotta try to throw a strike here", etc. His real intent is to get into the opposing pitchers head (who is standing on the mound waiting for this Little League speech to conclude). I understand prepping your hitter to see a good pitch, but HS players should already know how to approach a 2-0 count. The repetitive aspect and overly demonstrative tactics were too much, I thought at the time. I prefer to see coaches coach their players and not match wits directly with opposing players.

Bad sportsmanship or good baseball?

 

"waiting for this Little League speech to conclude"

I think you answered your question right there. It seems juvenile for a high school coach to do that.

 

Bad Sportsmanship

I witnessed this already this year and have seen it a lot in the past.
Runner on third and pitcher throws a pass ball. With NO play at the plate, the pitcher fakes a catch and tag to get the runner to slide. In my opinion, that "BUSH"!

Now it's different if your on the bases and you fake a tag to keep the runner(s) from possibility advancing.

Just my opinion.

 

Poor coaching. Situation can change: Runner on third third base coach goes into his deal. Throw over hard and to the head. Runner my score but, point will be made.

 

Coaches head, I presume....

 

I don't like to see anything done that is bush and takes away from the game...but I admire a coach that can affect an opposing team by getting into the heads of the players. That's gamesmanship...and a lost art.

 

Braves, so you like it and think gamesmanship is a lost art and Plate Dad thinks the pitcher should pick off at third on the first opportunity and throw at the coaches head to put a stop to it. That's what I like about TBR....a broad range of opinions and everything in between.

 

hardnose or bush

2 outs. Man on third. breaking ball in the dirt for strike 3, dropped 3rd.
ball gets away, rolls about 10 feet toward 1st base dugout. Catcher has ball, makes throw to first, just then runner from third (who has crossed the plate by 10 feet and is on the way to the dugout) dips should to clip catcher in face trying to create the error.

same player earlier in the game takes inside route with left shoulder down on a routine ground out to first clipping the first baseman.

old school or bush?

 

Yeah, as much as I like PlateDad, we tend to be on the opposite spectrum of a discussion. That's not to say I'm right or he's wrong.

...but i don't believe throwing at anybody's head. Well...maybe Stretchy's as an umpire, but his is hard to find.

Oh, and just to be sure I am understood, the situation you described is not gamesmanship...but LL coaching.

Let me give an example of gamesmanship:

- How high or low I cut my grass depends on the team I'm playing
- If you are a bunting team, the edges of the grass will slope towards the foul lines
- Pre-game warmups is a perfect opportunity to intimidate (some coaches force their players to watch...why? I have no idea) The good one's don't.

There are endless ways to use gamesmanship

 

First scenario, little league coaching mentality,,,,,,,,, baseballx3's scenario, bad attitude.

One topic which often becomes a debatable issue is HOW MUCH is TOO MUCH when you're winning big? In other words, what margin do you consider is running up the score and have you ever been involved in such a game that you couldn't help, and what did you do about it?

Ex: There is a team that once had a 20-run lead late, and it was reported that the winning team pulled their infield IN, when the losing team finally got a runner on 3B to preserve the shutout. Good baseball, or running it up?