04/25/24
October 11, 2015
Chase Utley Safe at Second Without Touching Second: Second baseman Chase Utley broke shortstop Ruben Tejada's leg with a rough slide into second Saturday night in the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2 victory over the New York Mets in the NLDS. Even though Utley never touched second, he was called safe. The New York Post explains why replay made that strange call.
Utley has been suspended two games.
posted by rcade at 09:39 PM on October 11, 2015
I've been advocating against the takeout slide before this, and I'm hoping this is the catalyst that changes things. It could be a simple rule, too.
"A base runner must touch the ground when sliding before making contact with the fielder."
If they break that rule, then they are out, the batter is out, and the sliding player is ejected from the game.
If you want to add to the rule to say "The feet of the base runner must be directed towards the bag.", you can do that, too.
posted by grum@work at 11:42 PM on October 11, 2015
I like the second part (in terms of being pointed towards the bag). Would eliminate (or I guess penalize) the slide by Coghlan (Cubs) that took out Kang (Pirates) towards the end of the regular season.
posted by holden at 12:23 AM on October 12, 2015
From rcade's linked article, it says that "The Dodgers stand behind Chase Utley."
Well, I would, too. It's a lot safer there.
posted by owlhouse at 02:20 AM on October 12, 2015
In high school baseball, it has long been the rule that a runner going into second base cannot be trying to take out the fielder. The call does not depend on any part of the runner's anatomy being able to reach the base; the path taken by the runner is the determining factor. The call is the runner called out for interference, the ball dead, and the batter-runner called out as a result of the interference. The umpiring mechanics call for the field umpire to make the safe/out call at the base and turn to follow the ball to first while the plate umpire continues to watch the play at second. This allows the plate umpire to make a call even after the ball is thrown. It is more of a safety rule than for any other reason.
Making it mandatory for a runner to be at least on the ground before contact with the fielder makes sense. Perhaps a 3-foot rule, that is requiring the runner to be no further than 3 feet from the bag at his closest proximity,or about as far as the arm can reach, would work.
posted by Howard_T at 04:15 PM on October 12, 2015
Ernie Johnson tonight on the game intro about the slide: "Some say it's good hard baseball."
Is there anyone calling that good hard baseball?
posted by rcade at 08:33 PM on October 12, 2015
The rules were changed to protect catchers in home-plate collisions. Maybe it's time to help middle infielders.