[Cred]

[quote author=Cred link=topic=16598.msg191724#msg191724 date=1492270603]
[quote author=Goose link=topic=16598.msg191713#msg191713 date=1492233247]
[quote author=BobK link=topic=16598.msg191706#msg191706 date=1492221680]
Mercy again

FWIW, I have always wondered about the "mercy" rule, even in little league. It seems to be saying that you are so bad you can't 59er up to "real" competition. It is kind of insulting in that sense. Then again, in this case, it may be true.
[/quote]

The "mercy" rule does serve a practical purpose in tournament play, as it helps keep the games on schedule.

Generally speaking, I'm pretty okay with the rule anyway. It not only spares the losing team from absorbing an unnecessarily prolonged beating but spares the losing team's fans further exposure to the slaughter.

Though this act of invoking "mercy" might seem a little insulting, the fact that the actual play on the field beats the "mercy" rule to the punch in suggesting that the losing team doesn't belong on the same field with the competition, I think, takes a lot of the sting out of the insult.  :)
[/quote]

My youngest had played in a Little League tournament for 8 year olds representing our little area against Los Gatos, and our team wasn't very good.  Theirs was terrific.  At one point, we were behind 22-1.  We got a player on first base, and he dances off the bag.  The pitcher had taken the ball, but wasn't yet on the pitching rubber.  He throws the ball into right field, our runner runs all the way around and scores.  Umpire pronounces him safe.  LG coach stops the game so he can find the tournament director and get him to remove the run scored, ensuring that it remains 22-1 and not 22-2.  Makes a big stink, lots of yelling and arm waving.
[/quote]

I was 8 years old. Shortly before the start of my first season of Little League Baseball, my team, the Pups, played an informal preseason game (or "practice game," as we called such games) against the Cubs, another of the teams in our 6-team league. We beat them 41-0 (might have hit the half-century mark but, being the home team, we didn't get to bat in the bottom of the 6th).

Guess we played them a couple of times during the regular season but I've no recollection of how the games played out; however, I do recall meeting them again in the semifinals of the playoffs. We were down 5-4 and down to our last out in the 6th. I was standing on 3rd base as the potential tying run when our strikeout king stepped up to the plate and went down like Mighty Casey (minus the reputed might) for the game's final out. We then won the "consolation" game to finish 3rd, while the other team went on to win the championship. Cubs win! Cubs win! Cubs win!

Apparently that team's coach knew how to develop players.

[Cred]

[quote author=Cred link=topic=16598.msg191724#msg191724 date=1492270603]
[quote author=Goose link=topic=16598.msg191713#msg191713 date=1492233247]
[quote author=BobK link=topic=16598.msg191706#msg191706 date=1492221680]
Mercy again

FWIW, I have always wondered about the "mercy" rule, even in little league. It seems to be saying that you are so bad you can't 59er up to "real" competition. It is kind of insulting in that sense. Then again, in this case, it may be true.
[/quote]

The "mercy" rule does serve a practical purpose in tournament play, as it helps keep the games on schedule.

Generally speaking, I'm pretty okay with the rule anyway. It not only spares the losing team from absorbing an unnecessarily prolonged beating but spares the losing team's fans further exposure to the slaughter.

Though this act of invoking "mercy" might seem a little insulting, the fact that the actual play on the field beats the "mercy" rule to the punch in suggesting that the losing team doesn't belong on the same field with the competition, I think, takes a lot of the sting out of the insult.  :)
[/quote]

My youngest had played in a Little League tournament for 8 year olds representing our little area against Los Gatos, and our team wasn't very good.  Theirs was terrific.  At one point, we were behind 22-1.  We got a player on first base, and he dances off the bag.  The pitcher had taken the ball, but wasn't yet on the pitching rubber.  He throws the ball into right field, our runner runs all the way around and scores.  Umpire pronounces him safe.  LG coach stops the game so he can find the tournament director and get him to remove the run scored, ensuring that it remains 22-1 and not 22-2.  Makes a big stink, lots of yelling and arm waving.
[/quote]

I was 8 years old. Shortly before the start of my first season of Little League Baseball, my team, the Pups, played an informal preseason game (or "practice game," as we called such games) against the Cubs, another of the teams in our 6-team league. We beat them 41-0 (might have hit the half-century mark but, being the home team, we didn't get to bat in the bottom of the 6th).

Guess we played them a couple of times during the regular season but I've no recollection of how the games played out; however, I do recall meeting them again in the semifinals of the playoffs. We were down 5-4 and down to our last out in the 6th. I was standing on 3rd base as the potential tying run when our strikeout king stepped up to the plate and went down like Mighty Casey (minus the reputed might) for the game's final out. We then won the "consolation" game to finish 3rd, while the other team went on to win the championship. Cubs win! Cubs win! Cubs win!

Apparently that team's coach knew how to develop players.