Game 1:
Westside Warriors - 1 3
Belgian Wiffles - 0 0 Belgian had only 2 players, forfeit.
WP: Maclin Malloy
LP: Richie
Game 2:
Westside Warriors - 13 3
Belgian Wiffles - 3 0 Belgian had only 2 players, forfeit.
WP: Maclin Malloy
LP: David Buhr
Game 3:
Westside Warriors - 11 3
Belgian Wiffles - 0 0 Belgian had only 2 players, forfeit
WP: Maclin Malloy
LP: David Buhr
Game 4:
Westside Warriors - 5 3
Belgian Wiffles - 0 0 Belgian had only 2 players, forefeit
WP: Maclin Malloy ** PERFECT GAME **
LP: Richie
WP: Maclin Malloy
LP: Richie
Game 2:
WP: Maclin Malloy
LP: David Buhr
Game 3:
WP: Maclin Malloy
LP: David Buhr
Game 4:
WP: Maclin Malloy ** PERFECT GAME **
LP: Richie
This was a tricky situation. The two teams had played four games, the results of all 4 games had come in, been made public and celebratory chatter about Malloy's perfect game had already begun before we learned an important illegal bit of information: Belgian only had 2 players on the field for their games. The WSEM rules clearly state that it takes 3 players on a roster to constitute a team: "Teams should be made up of four or more players, although games will be allowed to be played with a team of as few as three." Belgian did not have a team at the Westside Reservation on Sunday, therefore they forfeit the four games. While the records will not have to change, the scores will be changed to 3-0 Warriors for all games. Individual hitting and pitching stats will not be recorded, HOWEVER, the accomplishment of Malloy having thrown a perfect game, the first in WSEM, will not be stripped. The honor will go into the record books stating that on June 19th, 2011 Maclin Malloy of the Westside Warriors threw the first perfect game in WSEM. Will there be an asterisk next to it? Absolutely, but while the perfect game was being thrown all the players on the field were competing, trying to win, and the result was not a gift. Maclin's performance and his accomplishment deserve to be recognized, not taken away from him.
So: 4 forfeits, 4 3-0 wins for the Warriors, no stats, but the perfect game honor will be upheld. This could not have come at a worse time than right on the heals of the Ass Kickers forfeits the day before, making for a really ugly weekend for Wiffle in Southeast Michigan. However, all rulings need to be made by the same standard: if a team is unable to field a team for their games, then they forfeit. The human, feel good, "we just want to play" factor cannot affect the forfeiture decision. While, yes, we want everyone to have fun, we also have to do things by the book to keep things fair across the league and everyone on a level field. I fully understand this ruling, in both games, makes many mad, and that is fine. Be mad, and use that to not let it happen again.
So: 4 forfeits, 4 3-0 wins for the Warriors, no stats, but the perfect game honor will be upheld. This could not have come at a worse time than right on the heals of the Ass Kickers forfeits the day before, making for a really ugly weekend for Wiffle in Southeast Michigan. However, all rulings need to be made by the same standard: if a team is unable to field a team for their games, then they forfeit. The human, feel good, "we just want to play" factor cannot affect the forfeiture decision. While, yes, we want everyone to have fun, we also have to do things by the book to keep things fair across the league and everyone on a level field. I fully understand this ruling, in both games, makes many mad, and that is fine. Be mad, and use that to not let it happen again.