Battle to the Death
Why Fight an 18 Run Loss?
Today, Miami Hurricanes Baseball swept Dartmouth in the third game of the series, winning 20 to 2. As I watched, I noticed something very prevalent in any sport: As the score gap increased, the Dartmouth players appeared to be defeated—something that, no doubt, affected their playing. Since the first game, there have been increasingly more rookie mistakes being made. This is not to rag on the Dartmouth players. Although, as a Miami fan, I am glad we won by such a large margin, the Dartmouth players fought until the end—a very admirable thing.
But this perseverance made me wonder: Why even continue fighting a losing fight? Sometimes, you’re beat so bad that it seems reasonable to pull out of the battle. Isn’t this the point of a mercy rule in certain conferences and leagues?1 Chess players, for example, often resign once they see there is no way out of a loss, even if they are not already in checkmate. There may even be some good reasons to forfeit when you know you cannot recover the deficit: Avoiding needless injury, saving players’ energy, etc. Still, it seems wrong to simply forfeit once you know that you will lose. Where’s that fighting spirit?
These “good reasons,” I believe, are only reasonable in extreme circumstances.2 It may seem crude to encourage a “battle to the death,” but it is all in the spirit of the game. To continue fighting is to develop the virtues of perseverance and sportsmanship, showing both love for the game and an internal toughness. No matter the temptation, a real ballplayer should keep in the fight until the very last out.
It’s very intuitive that we resist giving up as soon as the going gets tough. After all, the tides might turn in your favor, and you may end up winning. This is not as intuitive when you know you’ve lost. It is more tempting to simply throw your hands in the air and say “I’m done!” once you’ve face an impossible gap. One difficulty with this mode of thinking, however, is where to draw the line. Surely an 18 run gap is impossible to bridge. But what about a 15 run gap? It still seems implausible. But a 10 run gap? I’ve seen similar feats. At what number, then, do we finally say, “Ok, it’s finally time to pack up and go home”? It maybe the case that we simply decide when we feel like it, echoing the Supreme Court3: “I know it when I see it.” This too, I believe, won’t cut it. Not only is this line of thought so vague to vary greatly across coaches, players, and fans, but it also seems to rely on feelings. As a child, there would be times when I didn’t feel like going to practice or playing in a game. Still, my parents made me anyway—and rightfully so! What makes these cases any different? Unless someone can offer a reason, I doubt there is any.
Besides this negative critique of forfeiting, I think it is more beneficial to draw light to the positive things about staying in the fight. As I said before, playing in these losing battles increases the virtues in these players. Many coaches would agree that perseverance and sportsmanship are good traits for a player to have, and scenarios like these certainly help build these characteristics. Still, it is important to understand how virtue relates more deeply to our discussion here.
I want to consult the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle here. He says that “the virtues we do acquire by first exercising them,” and “their full development in us is due to habit.”4 A commonly used term for this is “habituation.” We become more virtuous when we habituate ourselves in accordance with these character traits. More simply, the more we act a certain way, the more we become like that way. To illustrate this, take the virtues mentioned above: perseverance and sportsmanship. We cannot simply persevere because we know what the concept of perseverance means—we must consistently act to fight through difficult struggles. Same with sportsmanship: We can only have good sportsmanship if we consistently act in a good manner, both when we win and lose.
It is clear that players will develop these virtues if they fight in these losing battles. When you know you are going to lose, you no longer play to win—you play for perseverance, sportsmanship, and love of the game.
Players should not only act in virtuous ways, but they should find joy in acting in these ways. Sure, it may sting to suffer such a bad loss, and these losses should light a fire under your butt to get practicing and do better. Nevertheless, someone with true love for the game will suffer through these long losses and find joy in the fact that they are learning and increasing in virtue.
Now, I have said much about players with a “love for the game.” This might sound familiar as well; but, again, it is important to know why everyone who loves the game should persevere and be sportsmanlike.
I will consult another philosopher, Thomas Aquinas, here. He says that “to love a thing is to will it good...”5 Simply put, if we love something, we actively work for the good of that thing. If we love baseball, then, we must actively work for the game to be good. But what is baseball without its players, coaches, and fans? In order for baseball to be good, it must have good players, coaches, and fans, among other qualities. This starts right inside of us—if we love the game, we will grow in these virtues, even if it hurts to watch the other team run up the scoreboard.
This all applies to life as well. We take the virtues we learn out on the field and apply them to life. To be a good ballplayer is, in part, to be a good person. Sure, there are some professional players who have horrible reputations but amazing skill. They may be good in one respect, but they do not fulfill the others.
To restate the question: Why, then, should players and coaches continue to fight in these losing battles? The answer is simple: For love of the game. No matter how difficult it is, losing will teach us to be better ballplayers, better coaches, and better fans. This may sound trite. I apologize if it does, but it has been said often because it is starkly true. I simply hope that my new perspective on an old answer allows us to approach the game more humbly. It is important to grow in these virtues if we love the game; only in this way, can we make it better.
I don’t wish to defend or attack mercy rules here. I have my skepticism about them. This is simply an example of the perceived reasonableness of forfeiting while down by an immense score gap.
To give a few examples: When your players are consistently becoming injured or are prone to injury; when there are so few players on a team that any further exertion would cause harm that outweighs the ability to substitute the players; when you have good reason to forfeit under normal circumstances (e.g. lack of eligible players, etc.).
Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184 (1904).
Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics, trans. J.A.K. Thomson (London: Penguin Books 1976), bk. II, ch. 1.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica I, q. 20, a. 3, accessed at https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1020.htm.