New Slide Rules Under Discussion

Middle infielders have become targets because existing rules aren’t enforced. Graphic created by Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

MLB Gathering Information About Slides?

Joe Torre said during an interview that MLB is “gathering information” about a possible rule change.  Someone needs to clarify what information they need because it seems that the rules already forbid such slide – in several places – even if they move it around every year or so.

Herewith extracts from the official rules which seem to say the only thing needed in enforcement. The number in parenthesis after the current paragraph number is where this rule was in the 2014 rules.

Offensive interference is an act by the team at bat which interferes with, obstructs, impedes, hinders or confuses any fielder attempting to make a play. If the umpire declares the batter, batter-runner, or a runner out for interference, all other runners shall return to the last base that was in the judgment of the umpire, legally touched at the time of the interference, unless otherwise provided by these rules.

This clearly says that doing anything on purpose to prevent a defender from completing a play is interference. Okay, I got it.

Rule 5.09(a) (6.05m) A batter is out when:. . . Rule 5.09(a)(13) A preceding runner shall, in the umpire’s judgment, intentionally interfere with a fielder who is attempting to catch a thrown ball or to throw a ball in an attempt to complete any play; Rule 5.09(a)(13) Comment (Rule 6.05(m) Comment): The objective of this rule is to penalize the offensive team for deliberate, unwarranted, unsportsmanlike action by the runner in leaving the baseline for the obvious purpose of crashing the pivot man on a double play, rather than trying to reach the base. Obviously this is an umpire’s judgment play.

Here we are told that the runner cannot intentionally interfere with a defender. Yep I got that too.

Rule 5.09(b) (7.08) Retiring a Runner Any runner is out when: (1) He runs more than three feet away from his base path to avoid being tagged unless his action is to avoid interference with a fielder fielding a batted ball. A runner’s base path is established when the tag attempt occurs and is a straight line from the runner to the base he is attempting to reach safely;

The baseline a a DIRECT path between the bases with a 3 foot wide area on each side allowed for the runner to avoid a tag. Graphic created by Fred Owens

A Picture May Help

Oh, okay a straight line with a three foot area on each side.  Got it.

PENALTY: For penalties applying to a runner’s intentional interference with a thrown ball or his hindrance of a fielder’s attempt to make a play on a batted ball, see Rule 6.01(a) PENALTY FOR INTERFERENCE Comment (Rule 7.08(b) Comment). (4) He is tagged, when the ball. Rule 6.01(a) Penalty for Interference Comment (Rule 7.08(b) Comment): A runner who is adjudged to have hindered a fielder who is attempting to make a play on a batted ball is out whether it was intentional or not. If, however, the runner has contact with a legally occupied base when he hinders the fielder, he shall not be called out unless, in the umpire’s judgment, such hindrance, whether it occurs on fair or foul territory, is intentional. If the umpire declares the hindrance intentional, the following penalty shall apply: With less than two out, the umpire shall declare both the runner and batter out. With two out, the umpire shall declare the batter out. If, in a run-down between third base and home plate, the succeeding runner has advanced and is standing on third base when the runner in a run-down is called out for offensive interference, the umpire shall send the runner standing on third base back to second base. This same principle applies if there is a run-down between second and third base and succeeding runner has reached second (the reasoning is that no runner shall advance on an interference play and a runner is considered to occupy a base until he legally has reached the next succeeding base).

The caveat about the runner being in contact with the base is clearly designed to prevent an interference call when the runner is sliding directly into the base and the middle infielder is still standing on it – not three feet or six feet away but on it.

Let me gather all I’ve learned together here.

• It’s interference if a player hinders a fielder whether or not it’s on purpose unless he’s physically touching the base at the time.
• The baseline is a straight line between the bases with a three foot margin on either side.
• The intent of rule Rule 5.09(a)(13) is to prevent a runner from leaving the baseline and intentionally crashing into the pivot man on a double play instead of trying to reach the base.\

Bringing it all together

So let me get this straight, a throw in route to first base hits Freddie Freeman’s finger as he’s sliding into second and  both runners are declared out but Chris Coghlan’s intentional slide shown below isn’t. Why, because the umpire didn’t think it was intentional?

Neither is Jedd Gyrko’s slide  in this game against the Mariners, presumably because no one was injured.

Even though Gyrko is clearly sliding at the player and not the base.

Sceencap for the MLB Video shown above by Fred Owens

And of course there’s the infamous Chase Utley slide.

Screen cap of Chae Utley slide into Jedd Gyrko

Oh wait that wasn’t the infamous one, this was.

Screen cap of the Utley slide into Ruben Tejada from the above video

In every case the player sliding in to second and his manager said the purpose was to break up the double play by forcing the defender to make a bad throw. In other words the player was not trying to reach the base safely but to hinder a fielder attempting to make a play on a batted ball. In no case was the runner within the 3 foot wide extension of the baseline – no, having his head and arms in that area does not count when the intent is to contact the defender. In none of these instances was the runner touching the base and in every case a collision was the probable outcome and severe injury a possibility.

In football clipping is the act of a “throwing the body across the back of the leg of an eligible receiver or charging or falling into the back of an opponent below the waist after approaching him from behind. It is prohibited because it has the potential to cause damage to the knees including collateral and cruciate ligaments and meniscus as well as to the hips and back. The NCAA banned clipping in 1916 but baseball still allows it even though there are rules in place to prevent 99% o rmore of collisions that would be considered clipping. Why?

This isn’t about Utely, Coghlan, or any of the other players who make these slides every year. I don’t believe any are intending to do harm to a fellow player. It’s about a system where the rules are bent a little bit, then a little bit more and a little bit more, until the rule is completely ignored. That’s down to the failure of MLB to enforce the rules.

Conclusions

Information gathering is spin for convincing the owners that they need to enforce the rules.  The data – or information – is clear sliding anywhere but towards the base is not an attempt to reach base safely, it is interference.

Even if there is no intent, if the runner isn’t touching his legally acquired base it is interference. . .unless the umpire decides it isn’t. When is it not when the runners aim at the defender after they have already been called out?

There is no need for a change in the rules, simply enforce the rules as they exist.  Slide toward the base not the player, it is easy to tell the difference. If you are reaching for the base with your hand for any reason other than to avoid the tag while your feet and/or body are aimed at the defender it’s interference.

Enforcing the rules means that the neighborhood play is no longer a thing. It was created out of the need to protect middle infielders from runners hell bent on making contact with them even thought they have already been called out.

This is an easy fix, it is not a rule change and doesn’t need to be collectively bargained although there is no reason – none, nada, zip, zilch, zero – the MLBPA shouldn’t readily accept the decision to enforce the existing rules as it prevents their members from serious and potentially career ending injury.