Like lots of people across the Golden Triangle, my family and I spent last weekend shuttling back and forth to a Mississippi Dizzy Dean State Tournament. Ours was the 6U edition in Greenwood. In preparation for our weekend of fun in the blistering sun, I decided to dig into the official Dizzy Dean rulebook.
Beyond the requirements for uniform patches, notarized birth certificates and total banishment of coolers – including outside food and water – from the park, the rulebook outlines how games for the various divisions are organized. For players in the Farm Leagues (ages 5-8) there is a 5-pitch limit for all at-bats, unless the fifth pitch is fouled. If the ball isn’t put in play by the fifth (or sixth) pitch, the batter is out. It’s a strange rule – what if all five pitches are unhittable? – but it’s one everyone knows in advance and deals with accordingly.
That’s the thing with Dizzy Dean; all rules are published in advance and the act of registering a player for a Dizzy Dean tournament signifies understanding and intended adherence to such rules, no matter how arbitrary they may seem. There are no “ifs,” “ands” or “buts” in the rulebook.
But, there’s another section of the rulebook that caused much consternation during the 8U tournament played at Cornerstone Park over the weekend, even though Rule 11.24 is quite simple. It reads: “A team must field ten (10) players in tournament play at all times. PENALTY: FORFEIT.” No caveats, no exceptions, just plain English.
One of Starkville’s 8U teams, the Stars, found out Sunday morning exactly how inflexible the rules are. Already down a player due to vacation (leaving them with the minimum 10, see Rule 11.24,) the team learned it would be without a 10th player that morning, as the player’s family was attending church instead of the game. Despite protests and attempted negotiations by coaches and parents to play with nine, Starkville was forced to forfeit its scheduled game against Choctaw County, and, with that forfeit being their second loss, were eliminated from the tournament. A sad ending, sure, for the players, coaches, parents and fans who were there Sunday morning for baseball, but the rules either matter or they don’t.
So that was that, right? Everyone learned a valuable lesson and moved on? Hardly. As news spread online of what happened, the hot-take machine kicked into gear and was soon operating at full capacity. Parties to blame were, in no particular order, Mississippi Dizzy Dean (for scheduling games on Sundays), the tournament director (for enforcing the rule), Satan (for the decline of Western civilization) and Joe Biden (for the same reason).
Virtually every weekend tournament in every sport schedules games on Sundays. When you sign your child up to play, it’s your responsibility to know that playing on Sunday is a possibility. If that doesn’t work for your family, don’t participate. These tournaments are purely voluntary. That’s not freedom denied. That’s actual freedom. Making a decision with the expectation that certain rules won’t apply to you is only unfair to those who abide by the rules: You know, the other nine players and their families who were there.
As the culture warriors and commentariat united behind the cause on Facebook, I was struck by how badly many of them were missing the point. This was not a case of religious persecution, a denial of civil liberties or any other Deep State-Dizzy Dean conspiracy designed to further erode the religious values so many are convinced this country was founded on. This was simply a proper application of a previously agreed upon rule.
I think it’s a dumb rule. You can absolutely play a baseball game with nine players in the field. But a dumb rule is still a rule.
Philip Poe is sports editor. He can be reached at [email protected]
Philip Poe is sports editor.
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