The drawbacks of being overly focused on winning in amateur baseball teams

If you play amateur baseball, haven't you ever thought at least once, "I don't want to go, I don't want to"?
I've experienced it many times.

To put it simply, if you don't want to go, then don't go.
Playing amateur baseball is a hobby, not a job.
There's no need to go if it means having an unpleasant experience.
If you're running a team as a manager, you'll naturally have a certain level of responsibility.
However, as just one member, you don't have much responsibility.

One reason why someone like me, who has no baseball experience, might dislike it is that "the team becomes obsessed with winning."
This time, I'd like to talk about what happens when a team that was originally "for everyone to have fun" becomes a "team that is obsessed with winning," using my own team as an example.

KeithJJ / Pixabay

Changes in training content

The training will primarily focus on experienced players with proven skills, and there will be fewer opportunities for beginners to improve.
Even with practice drills, in the end, the skilled players are the ones who do the fielding during games, so inexperienced players often end up just helping out.
(Picking up balls, passing balls to the person hitting the balls, etc.)

However, in the team I belonged to, the experienced players didn't come to practice very often, and mostly just showed up for matches.
Therefore, I don't think that inexperienced players were deprived of opportunities to practice to that extent.

However, because the practice sessions tended to be centered around the opinions of the players who would be central to the game, there was a tendency for them to include many practical drills such as free batting.

Changes in orders

Naturally, the ranking will be based on skill level, so experienced individuals will be the main focus.
No matter how much inexperienced players practice, they will always fall short of experienced players, so the teams tend to be filled with experienced players who only come to the matches.
In this situation, inexperienced players have no chance to play in matches, which lowers their motivation to practice.
Also, the team atmosphere is completely different because the members are entirely different from those we have during practice.
Sometimes I think I should just join a different team.

Changes in the game

Because the matches were not for enjoyment but for winning, the atmosphere was often tense and cutthroat.

"Dirty" tactics are becoming more common, such as rough play like breaking up double plays, intentionally hitting batters with pitches, and swinging wildly at the catcher's mitt to try and interfere with the batter.

Naturally, the atmosphere with the opposing team deteriorates, and it becomes difficult to enjoy the game.
There's no atmosphere of tolerance for mistakes, and sometimes pitchers even show signs of anger when defensive errors occur.

Other changes

As explained above, focusing solely on winning creates a tough environment for those with no prior experience.
If the team's policy is to "go for the win," then I suppose there's nothing that can be done about it.

However, if you adopt a half-hearted approach of "having fun first, and then trying to win," then the team won't function without clear rules.

For example, rules would be needed to prioritize filling desired positions based on who is the first to register for a match, or to prioritize those who attend practice the most.

If the required number of participants has already been reached, and experienced individuals who sign up at the last minute end up pushing aside inexperienced individuals who signed up earlier, then there's no point in signing up early.
Will you focus on winning, or will you just enjoy yourself?
I think this is an eternal question in amateur baseball, but how is your team doing?