Final score: 48-47. Guess which sport.

We ran into a team last night that instructs their kids -- 7 and 8 years old -- not to swing until they have two strikes. That, combined with an umpire who cuts the strike zone off at the belt like they do in MLB, makes for some fun times.

 

"Well, we're out of umpires. What should we do?"
"You know, I saw this in a movie once. It just might work!"

 

The should have invoked the mercy rule - for the fans.

Loved the coaches quotes. I'm sure the scorebooks showed zero errors.

 

I was assisting a manager who told our kids the same thing one year. You're basically conditioning the kids to look for the walk. We almost won the league on that strategy and I hated it. Given the awkwardness of it, my fellow assistants and I would be yelling "swing baby" even though the mgr. had said take. It was pretty funny.

Even in the majors this year, where almost no one walks, we've still got guys looking for the walk and not swinging until there's 2 strikes. Kills me (because they rip me in BP).

 

Since you're in the Bay Area, I have to ask: Was your manager Billy Beane?

 

Holy crap.

 

If my editor had sent me out to cover a game where the teams had one freakin' win between them this late in the season ... well, the discussion would last as long as this game.

 

You guys have to understand something, this is the lowest division in the Southern Section. These schools have just a handful of players and are lucky if they have someone who can throw the ball over the plate. They have two maybe three players who know what softball is. We have two teams that play in Cuyama's division (at least for football) and they're pretty bad. One of those teams started the season 0-6, including its first league game. In that stretch, they lost to a team 31-6 and another 22-0. They were playing for a league championship this last weekend.
So that line of 10 hits, 36 walks, 12 hit batters and threw 25 wild pitches doesn't surprise me.

 

No, Michael Lewis ) Just kidding.

 

You could've boiled your reply down to: "It's shithouse softball."