Rule that ends a sports event due to an insurmountable lead
For the 2002 film, see The Slaughter Rule.
A mercy rule, slaughter rule, knockout rule, or skunk rule ends a two-competitor sports competition earlier than the scheduled endpoint if one competitor has a very large and presumably insurmountable scoring lead over the other. It is called the mercy rule because it spares further humiliation for the loser. It is common in youth sports in North America, where running up the score is considered unsporting. It is especially common in baseball and softball in which there is no game clock and a dominant team could in theory continue an inning endlessly.
The rules vary widely, depending on the level of competition, but nearly all youth sports leagues and high school sports associations and many college sports associations in the United States have mercy rules for sports including baseball, softball, American football and association football.
However, mercy rules usually do not take effect until a prescribed point in the game (like the second half of an association football game). Thus, one team, particularly if it is decidedly better than a weaker opponent, can still "run up the score" before the rule takes effect. For instance, in American football, one team could be ahead by 70 points with three minutes left in the first half; in baseball, the better team could have a 20-run lead in the second inning, but the game would still continue.
A mercyrule, slaughter rule, knockout rule, or skunk rule ends a two-competitor sports competition earlier than the scheduled endpoint if one competitor...
Fireproof. In 2014, she co-starred with her husband in the independent movie MercyRule, playing a married couple with two children. Although not the first movie...
favor of the leading team. In addition to the 10-run mercyrule, there is also a 100-run mercyrule. If at any point in the game one team attains a lead...
same web address. Cameron starred in and produced the 2014 family film MercyRule, in which he plays a father who tries to save his small business from...
NXT No Mercy was the 14th No Mercy professional wrestling supercard produced by WWE. It primarily featured wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division...
Rule may refer to: Mercyrule, in sports to allow a lopsided game to come to an early end The Slaughter Rule, a 2002 film Self-executing rule, a rule...
opponent by a specified number of points. It is wrestling's version of the mercyrule. It is informally abbreviated to "tech" as both a noun and verb. In scholastic...
(13–0), causing the game to be called in the seventh inning due to the mercyrule. On 10 November 2007, the Wyverns repeated their performance, defeating...
practice officially known as the "runs ahead rule" (sometimes referred to as a "mercyrule" or "slaughter rule"). Rarely, a game can also be won or lost...
books of religious poetry and a noted text on St. Benedict's rule of life. A Severe Mercy is undoubtedly Vanauken's best known and most successful book...
scored as conversions instead of touchdowns. Thirty-four states have a mercyrule that comes into play during one-sided games after a prescribed scoring...
is 8 runs. The mercyrule takes effect at the end of an inning. Thus, if the team batting first is ahead by enough runs for the rule to come into effect...
ejected from a game. See contact play. Also known as a mercyrule or run-ahead rule, a run rule is a rule used in some leagues that automatically concludes...
with a few exceptions known as untimed plays. Some high schools employ a mercyrule in which the clock runs continuously after one team's lead over the other...
all of its appearances, in the process becoming the first team to score mercyrule wins over Cuba and the United States. In the 2013 World Baseball Classic...
not bound by vows nor were they under a particular rule. Archbishop Murray asked the Sisters of Mercy to declare their intentions as to the future of their...
that could not be played earlier in the year due to inclement weather. A mercyrule may be in use, which terminates play when one team is ahead by 10 or more...
in American football, kneeling or running the ball up the middle). Mercyrules are used in some amateur sports, which end the game when the score differential...
baseball. Aluminum bats were disallowed after 1996 Atlanta. There was also a mercyrule that was invoked if a team was winning by 10 or more runs after 7 innings...
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