Winning 41-0: 10u Little League All Star Game

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to say, if this is your standard all start team with all the coaches kids and friends on there and not the kids who deserve to be then, oh well. Hope it was worth it! They got beat by a better team of real "All Stars" and weren't playing Daddy Ball.

It isn’t always that, though. Our district has some large leagues (with a lot of talent to choose from), but also some small leagues that can barely even get a team together for AS. Usually those games result in really lopsided scores

You can't really be an All Star team if you can't make an out though. Come on.

With a game like that, hard to tell what happened. My guess is tons of walks + really really bad outfield play. Usually that will do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to say, if this is your standard all start team with all the coaches kids and friends on there and not the kids who deserve to be then, oh well. Hope it was worth it! They got beat by a better team of real "All Stars" and weren't playing Daddy Ball.

It isn’t always that, though. Our district has some large leagues (with a lot of talent to choose from), but also some small leagues that can barely even get a team together for AS. Usually those games result in really lopsided scores

You can't really be an All Star team if you can't make an out though. Come on.

With a game like that, hard to tell what happened. My guess is tons of walks + really really bad outfield play. Usually that will do it.

Makes you wonder how the tryouts for the "All Star" team went.

[Anonymous]

OP here. It is a small, poor agricultural town who lost vs much larger suburban affluent area. There weren’t that many walks, the better team was hitting well but I still don’t get how once it is 31-0 after 2 innings you don’t tell kids to switch hit and no more stealing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It is a small, poor agricultural town who lost vs much larger suburban affluent area. There weren’t that many walks, the better team was hitting well but I still don’t get how once it is 31-0 after 2 innings you don’t tell kids to switch hit and no more stealing.

Those kids aren’t always terrible though. They may not have the most expensive bats and cleats but they are quite often good teams and thrash those suburban kids. You win some, you lose some.

[Anonymous]

A story - several years ago now - I read a little blurb about a girls high school playoff game where a kid set a new record for most points scored in a game.

Obviously you immediately think why would a coach let that happen? Where’s the sportsmanship, etc…. I opened the article on the game, and the kid set the record in a double overtime game. She had scored something like 86 of her team’s 95 points. It makes me smile every time.

How did you not put 3 players on her? Or, maybe they did and she still scored. And, did anyone play any defense. High school games are pretty short.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. It is a small, poor agricultural town who lost vs much larger suburban affluent area. There weren’t that many walks, the better team was hitting well but I still don’t get how once it is 31-0 after 2 innings you don’t tell kids to switch hit and no more stealing.

Totally disagree with the switch hitting. That looks so jerky to me. Like, hey, you guys suck so bad we are going to bat from the wrong side. As the losing team, I’d much prefer they just keep scoring runs than do that. Subtle attempts to get caught stealing are helpful but what can you do if the kid is successful. I’ve seen that. The continued steals are sometimes risky steals to attempt to give the other team an easy out without making it obvious but then the other team overthrows it and the steal is successful.

[Anonymous]

When I've had teams that are clearly better I put in a kid who isn't a regular pitcher, fun for the kid who rarely gets the chance to pitch in a game and allows the other team to have a chance to not get shut out. I agree that it is tough to put the brakes on kids who have been coached to run, run, run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A friend’s kid was playing 10u Little league all star game not in this area and the final score after 3 innings was 41-0. One team scored 16 runs in the first inning, 15 runs in the second and 10 runs in the third. The winning team was actively stealing and advancing multiple bases all game. It’s a double elimination tournament so having more runs doesn’t matter.

I have my own thoughts but curious what other people think.

My DS was on an All Star team a dozen years ago that was on the 0 side of an extremely lopsided game. I don't remember the final score but it was over 30 - 0. Our LL is very small and only fields two or three teams per age group. The kids who were picked for the all star team were the ones whose parents agreed to the time commitment required. Our district has a league that has two divisions of at least six teams in each division. That large league can field a true all star team. This is in Fairfax County.

Once the score becomes super lopsided, the steals should stop. But I don't think you can blame the winning team for making easy plays. You can't ask the team in the field to intentionally drop an easy pop fly. Or intentionally strike out when they're hitting. Also the cheering for the winning team needs to be subdued. Good sportsmanship.

It's not fun to be on the losing end but it's also not easy being the team that is slaughtering the other team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A friend’s kid was playing 10u Little league all star game not in this area and the final score after 3 innings was 41-0. One team scored 16 runs in the first inning, 15 runs in the second and 10 runs in the third. The winning team was actively stealing and advancing multiple bases all game. It’s a double elimination tournament so having more runs doesn’t matter.

I have my own thoughts but curious what other people think.

My DS was on an All Star team a dozen years ago that was on the 0 side of an extremely lopsided game. I don't remember the final score but it was over 30 - 0. Our LL is very small and only fields two or three teams per age group. The kids who were picked for the all star team were the ones whose parents agreed to the time commitment required. Our district has a league that has two divisions of at least six teams in each division. That large league can field a true all star team. This is in Fairfax County.

Once the score becomes super lopsided, the steals should stop. But I don't think you can blame the winning team for making easy plays. You can't ask the team in the field to intentionally drop an easy pop fly. Or intentionally strike out when they're hitting. Also the cheering for the winning team needs to be subdued. Good sportsmanship.

It's not fun to be on the losing end but it's also not easy being the team that is slaughtering the other team.

I think this answer has the right balance of respect and sportsmanship for the other team. Don't make it intentionally obvious that you're not going all out, but don't go all out. Don't rub in the loss via cheering on the sidelines, but still support your team (and the other team if you can - OK to cheer for their good plays if they make any).

[Anonymous]

This is very stupid. There's a reason for the slaughter rule...

First of all, this is a waste of time. When you're up 15-0, the point has been made that one team is much, much better. No need to literally waste everyone's time going through a pointless excercise—if your team is scoring THAT easily, it doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment, so it's not even worth it so that kids on the winning team can say they had some personal benefit.

It's also brutally cruel to the losers. There's nothing wrong with winning, or even winning big... but you don't want to discourage anyone. It's literally bad for the sport. Even if you're the most bloodthirsty selfish person on earth, you need people to play against. My kid quit baseball because he got sick of too many one-sided games (nothing like that) where he just stood around.

Finally, good sportsmanship is a good idea for all sorts of reasons. It's just mean to beat up a defenseless person, but also, again, even if you're some sort of venal cruel monster, you should remember that what goes around, comes around. Nobody is ALWAYS on the winning team (and if they are, they almost certainly wind up a loser later when reality hits them in some other way). Don't treat another team in any way you wouldn't want to be treated.

[Anonymous]

Yeah that's just miserable.

At that point, you have to stop stealing (although I appreciate the point some have made about trying to get caught stealing) and for sure you have all your weaker players playing, or move people to different positions. I'm sure the right fielder would have loved a chance to play 1st base or something.

[Anonymous]

Normally it’s an opportunity for kids who don’t play to get in the game and you don’t want to tell them to not try.

The losing team shouldn’t take it personally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Normally it’s an opportunity for kids who don’t play to get in the game and you don’t want to tell them to not try.

The losing team shouldn’t take it personally.

Most baseball teams only have 11-12 kids. Most of them play in the game plenty. There's not a second bench to pull from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I've had teams that are clearly better I put in a kid who isn't a regular pitcher, fun for the kid who rarely gets the chance to pitch in a game and allows the other team to have a chance to not get shut out. I agree that it is tough to put the brakes on kids who have been coached to run, run, run.

But the runs allowed count. I am all for trying to reduce runs at some point, but giving up runs in this case may not make sense, especially if still in pool play.

[Anonymous]

My kid has been on the winning and losing side of this. And while it sucks for the kids who at that age know they are losing badly, they do get over it pretty quickly. Let the coach talk about it after the game, get some ice cream, and don't say another word about it. My kid usually just asks what time the next game is and moves on. It might be harder for the parents than the kids to watch.