Kickball combines many different sports into one all-encompassing, chaotic and beautiful game. One of the sports that Kickball borrows from, is Dodgeball.
Dodgeball creeps onto a Kickball field in a couple of different ways, but the most important one is when a fielder has the ability to tag a baserunner out by throwing the ball at them. To make the rule simple, when a baserunner is on the baseline, if they are hit with a ball thrown by a fielder, they are out. This brings up a serious and debate-worthy question, is it strategic or unsportsmanlike to throw the ball at baserunners? Well, the answer…is both.
First of all, whenever you are directly obeying the rules of a sport it is hard to argue that your actions are unsportsmanlike. Let’s look at the act of hitting someone with the ball from this angle first. It is most definitely strategic to try and hit a baserunner with the ball in a couple of scenarios:
- If they are very close to you as a fielder and you have the ball
- If they are closer to you than to the base they are headed to
- If they are into, or heading into, scoring position
However, hitting the baserunner can be unsportsmanlike when:
- The runner is a bit slower than most other runners
- The throw is too hard, or too high (no head shots people!)
- The runner is coming straight towards you, i.e. you are a baseman
So, it can be both strategic and unsportsmanlike to hit a baserunner with the ball in Kickball. One very important thing to remember though is that if you miss them, you are basically guaranteeing them an extra base. That ball is bouncy and will hit the infield and shoot in any direction, so if you are going to try and throw out a baserunner, make sure you get them!
Have fun out there.
