Coach Nicholas is 100 percent correct in that people should not "run up" the score for any reason. I don't care if there are 10 run rules or not. Baseball is the "greatest game on Earth." It is fun because it is mostly played in warm-weather and sunshine. It is fun because whether you are a player, manager, coach or fan, you are always thinking about the strategy and the game itself. Baseball's clock is your own enjoyment. I fail to see anyone's enjoyment when teams that are ahead by eight or 10 runs. When we are ahead by 10, my players are unhappy with the lack of a game. We don't run or bunt or suicide squeeze. We do, however, run hard from base to base on passed balls and wild pitches. We don't appreciate other teams running up the score when we have position players on the mound to chew up innings. Stealing bases ahead during games with insurmountable leads shows a tremendous disrespect for baseball.
Many people quote Bobby Bowden and other unprofessional comments that don't belong in baseball. I have no problem with people beating my brains in by 20 runs. Just make sure you swing the bats and run the bases hard. Stealing and bunting will only get players hurt. If the other team is ripping our pitching staff with doubles and triples in the gaps, well, then I tip my cap. But when you run knowing that the game is six outs away from being over, then you have no respect for baseball. If you are worried about a team coming back, well, then your team must not be that good to begin with. I have played, coached, umpired and managed at high levels for more than 40 years and I can only recall two instances where teams were down eight or ten with six outs to play came back and won the game.
The ten-run rule is not an excuse to act in an obnoxious manner. Swing the bats, play the game hard without stealing bases on backups and making a travesty of the great game of baseball. I don't care if people run the score up on me, but they will answer to me after the game. I don't retaliate because it is not baseball. It is another game coached by those who don't appreciate the work of others. For those who think that it is appropriate to run up the score, fine, please do so, but remember that there are great people out there who spent hours to make this game fun for all of us. Please don't ruin it by trying to show your fans that you know how to hit and run, steal, suicide squeeze to beat a team 15-1 instead of 9-1.