As you may know, MLB has changed its policy on takeout slides at second base. As of Opening Day 2016, runners are no longer allowed to go wide of, or past, the bag at second base in an effort to take out the fielder and break up the double play.
After several players were hurt last season – most notably, Jung Ho Kang and Ruben Tejada – the rule seems to be sensible and in everyone’s best interest. However, changes to the game are rarely accepted right away, especially when they affect something as ingrained into the game/players as taking out the fielder at second base. Still, the Chase Utley slide into Ruben Tejada in last season’s NLDS is hardly something we’d like to see again:
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And if you think that is bad, wait until you see Jose Bautista’s absolutely savage slide into Logan Forsythe, I almost can’t bare to watch it twice:
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Okay, obviously that wasn’t really a bad or aggressive slide, but the umpires ruled interference, which ended the game, and, frankly, they got the call right (according to the rules, at least).
It’s a bit unfortunate that the call came on a play that would have swung the game in the other direction, and I’m fairly certain that wasn’t the type of slide being targeted when the rule was created, but Bautista very clearly reached out and grabbed/touched Forsythe’s right leg. Heck, that wasn’t exactly legal under the old rules, either, even if it wouldn’t have been enforced.
As you can imagine, Jose Bautista didn’t love the call, and thought he was within the rules (BlueJays.com):
“My feet were aiming straight at the bag. I felt like I was within reach. I didn’t go directly at him. As far as I understood, I was assuming contact was still OK and obstructing his path was still OK as long as you stayed within reach of the bag and your feet were headed towards the bag. I feel like I respected the rule, felt like it was absolutely a clean slide. It’s just disappointing and somewhat embarrassing to lose a Major League Baseball game [that way].”
We haven’t heard the last of the slide rule impacting games and being debated.