• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Header Logo
  • About Us
  • Podcast
  • Blog
    • A Healthy Athlete
    • Coaching and Team Culture
    • Lifestyle
    • Sports Parenting
    • High Performance
    • Mindset and Mental Health
    • Girls Sports
    • Ask Dr. Sam
  • Inspiration & Humor
  • Videos
  • Join the Community
Facebook Instagram Twitter youtube pinterest

The White Sox Yermin Mercedes And The Tricky Question Of Sportsmanship

  • 1,005shares
  • 1,004
  • 1

The White Sox Yermin Mercedes And The Tricky Question Of Sportsmanship

Earlier this week in a Major League Baseball game, the White Sox were thumping the Minnesota Twins 15-4. The Twins, clearly conceding, put in a position player who pitched a lob, 47 MPH to be exact (typical pitch is 93 MPH in 2019), and guess what, the White Sox Yermin Mercedes took a full swing and hit it out of the park, much to the dismay of his manager, Tony Larussa. Larussa had this to say,  “He made a mistake. There will be a consequence he has to endure here within our family”. The controversy has been raging on social media and within the White Sox locker room which has backed Mercedes publicly. Many concluding that if the Twins didn’t want the White Sox to hit, then they shouldn’t have put a position player in to pitch. Should Mercedes have tried to ground out or swing and miss? Statistics are everything in baseball.

But there is this thing about ‘unwritten rules’ and respect for the game and the other team. But should there be? 

This brought me back to my daughter’s high school soccer game a few weeks ago. We were up 6-0 at the half. The coach had a mix of starters and non-starters in the second half and told them, “pass and keep the ball, and see how strong our possession can be and do not score unless you’re right in front of the goal. ” At one point my daughter got too close to the goal and had an awkward time of not taking a shot and pulled back.  A few minutes later, another pass put her close to the goal. She did a little move, got around a player, and took a shot. Soccer instincts at that moment overruled her good sportsmanship instincts. As she turned to celebrate, she was met not with excitement and hugs and cheering, but silence and a few silly eye-rolls from her teammates. She felt bad after the game and was definitely questioning her decision to score. 

I felt a little embarrassed and when I retold the story to a friend, her reaction was surprising.  She said her daughters have too often been on the losing side of those games and said “there is nothing more humiliating as a team that stops playing hard and won’t try to score”.  She went on to say, “My girls would much rather lose 10-0 in a fight, than 6-0 to a team that throws in the towel in the name of sportsmanship”.  Her reaction brought me back to my playing days and I had to agree, the feeling of teams or even my brothers not trying their hardest felt far worse than getting beaten badly.

I posed the question to our Ilovetowatchyouplay Facebook audience and it ignited some lively discussion. The one point most agree on (but not all) that there is an age consideration. Although a point could also be made that the younger they are the less they really care about the score anyways. Many argued that there are ways to keep the score from running up, while still playing your hardest; trying players in different positions, requiring a certain amount of passes or touches before a score, or playing a man down. One reader brought up this great point, “The problem is your theoretical question only focuses on the score. The focus should be the match being a learning experience for both teams. Keeping the score low isn’t of any value if one team isn’t getting to play. There are lots of things that can be done to make play more meaningful.”

The majority of comments supported not holding back and always going hard. But with a few caveats. 

“As long as the team beats us with pride and respect I do not think most players young or old mind losing by any number. It is when the woo-hoo crowd comes out.”  I definitely could relate. The parents that continue to hoot and holler when your child’s team is getting crushed. That does feel like poor sportsmanship.

“To me, it’s not about the losing team. Teaching kids to be graceful winners is sometimes more important.”

“My daughter’s ice hockey team measured their progress by the decreasing number of goals they lost. After a season-and-a-half, they won their first game and it was wonderful. Definitely losing by a big margin is the preference.”

“Never let off the throttle. The better team can win big while being gracious. Put in third-string, swap positions, but never go easy. You never want the idea of taking a shift off to enter their brains.”

“My son’s high school team just had playoffs last night, lost 11-0!
It was sad to see some of the players just give up! It was magical to see my son (team captain) and only a couple of other players who fought hard and gave it ALL they had to try for that 1 goal, right up to the last whistle! “Never let a win go to your head, nor a loss go to your heart.”

 

There are countless tales of athletes showing good sportsmanship at all levels, like the soccer player who tied the laces of the opposing goalie during a shootout because there wasn’t time for him to take off his gloves or the ski coach who gave a competitor from another team a ski when his broke. Showing class, grace, kindness, and humility doesn’t seem to have much to do with not playing your hardest or not swinging at a pitch that is right over the plate. I think one of our Facebook readers said it perfectly, “There are so many teachable moments on either side of the ball, the biggest lesson is don’t be a jerk”

 

Primary Sidebar

Search
Generic filters

Categories

  • A Healthy Athlete
    • Exercises
    • Growth Spurt
    • Injury Prevention
    • Mental Health
    • Nutrition
    • Overuse
    • Puberty
    • Recovery
    • Specialization
  • Ask Dr. Sam
  • Ask Our Experts
    • Ask Dr. Sam
  • Balance
    • Coach/Team
    • Parents
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • BMX
  • Coaching and Team Culture
    • Coaching with Intention
    • Parent/Coach Relationship
    • Player and Coach relationship
    • Sportsmanship
    • Teamwork
    • Transformational coaching
    • Volunteer Coaches
  • COVID
  • Dance/Cheer
  • Equestrian
  • Equipment
  • Football
  • Girls Sports
    • A Healthy Athlete
    • Coaching and Team Culture
    • Mindset
    • Parenting girls
  • Golf
  • Gymnastics
  • High Performance
    • Club and Travel Teams
    • College Athletes/Recruiting
    • Performance Training
    • Playing at the next level
    • Private Training
  • Ice Hockey
  • Ice Skating
  • Inspiration & Humor
  • Lacrosse
  • Learn
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts and Crafts
    • Books/Movies/Music
    • Case-Study (Learning from successful families)
    • Clothes
    • Equipment
    • Gadgets
    • Gifts
    • Grandparents
    • Recipes
    • Scientific Studies
    • Shopping
    • Technology
    • Youth Sports Charities
  • Mindset and Mental Health
    • Burnout
    • Depression
    • Grit
    • Growth Mindset
    • Mental Edge
    • Mindfulness
    • Motivation
    • Pressure/Anxiety
  • Podcast
    • Coaching and Team Culture
    • High Performance
    • Lifestyle
    • Mindset
    • Sports Parenting
    • Well-being
  • Quitting Your Sport
  • Readers Share Their Stories
  • Relate
  • Rugby
  • Snow Sports
  • Soccer
  • Softball
  • Sports Parenting
    • Bad Sports Parenting
    • Balance
    • Code Of Conduct
    • Parent/Coach Relationship
    • Productivity
    • Support vs. Pressure
    • Videos
  • Surfing
  • Swimming
  • Ten-Minute Topic
  • Tennis
  • Track
  • Uncategorized
  • Videos
    • A Healthy Athlete
    • Coaching and Team Culture
    • High Performance
    • Lifestyle
    • Mindset
    • Sports Parenting
    • Well-Being
  • Volleyball
  • Water Polo
  • Youth Sports And Best Practices
    • The high cost of youth sports

Footer

WHAT'S TRENDING IN YOUTH SPORTS?
Asia Mape Video

Recently Featured in

follow us
facebook instagram twitter youtube pinterest

We Believe In The Power Of Sports

Injuries in young athletes have soared. Costs to compete have skyrocketed. Kids are quitting in record numbers. But we believe strongly in youth sports, and the many ways it improves our childrens’ lives.

We are here to help parents regain balance and sanity, and to help restore the joy, accomplishment, and core values derived from sports.

Begin your journey today.

 

More About Us

Join the Community

Sign up for our weekly newsletter for the latest news, articles, inspiration, stats, funny videos, tips and everything you need if you are a parent or coach in youth sports, delivered right to your inbox!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

About the founder

According to a survey conducted over 30 years by two coaches and athletic administrators about what young athletes want to hear most from their parents after a sporting event, it turns out it is: “I love to watch you play.”

Become a Contributor

Advertising/Media

Contact

Privacy Policy/Amazon Affiliate Notification

Copyright 2022 © I Love To Watch You Play. All rights reserved. | Accessibility Feedback | Developed by Tiny Frog Technologies

Join Our Community

Sign up for our weekly newsletter for the latest news, articles, inspiration, stats, funny videos, tips and everything you need if you are a parent or coach in youth sports, delivered right to your inbox!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Sign up for our newsletter
  • Sign up for our weekly newsletter for the latest news, articles, inspiration, stats, funny videos, tips and everything you need if you are a parent or coach in youth sports delivered right to your inbox!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.