Major League Baseball’s change to the sliding rules has already begun to have a negative impact on games. So now everyone is miserable. In only one week of regular season play, lots of anger and aggravation with the rule surfaced from coaches and players.
After getting burned by the rule last week in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Blue Jays Jose Bautista called it a “bad rule.” Toronto manager, John Gibbons had even more comments after Bautista’s slide into second was ruled a double play. Gibbons said, “Are we trying to turn the game into a joke? I mean, really. That was flat out embarrassing.” Then he went on to say something about the future of baseball involving players in dresses. Great sexist comments are born from the world of contempt managers feel for umpires.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I think the attention to safety and interference while the ball is in play is great. Unfortunately, the umpires are left to interpret the actions on the field. And therein lies the problem. They never seem to get it right.
The rule was put in place after last season’s National League Division Series when Los Angeles Dodger, Chase Utley, ran into New York Met, Ruben Tejada in an attempt to break up a double play. The MLB’s goal is to prevent broken legs and clarify the sliding rule for umpires. The officials on the field that day said Tejada had not tagged the bag once the ball was caught. Utley got the base and ultimately two more runs scored during the seventh inning of a decisive game.
Rule 6.01 (j) now explicitly states that the runner has to make a “bona fide slide” and should be “able and attempt to remain on the base (except home plate) after the completion of the slide.” The player must be able to make and take the base without colliding with a player from the opposing team.
The trouble that I have is, well, physics. It is kind of crazy to expect a player to slow their speed down, or move a bit more to the left or the right, and stick the landing when momentum rules the moment. This is not gymnastics. Has the MLB heard of Newton’s first law of motion? “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction.”
Same speed. Same direction. Whether a freight train or Jose Bautista, it’s hard to aim when going full throttle.
The real problem is not the rule, but the MLB review and challenge process. Cue up “Three Blind Mice,” because these guys are not getting it right. Still, how can they when the location of the officiating staff, or cameras, is crucial to a good call. How many times do we need to see our local cable provider do a better job of capturing the event in question than the MLB cameras?
In conclusion, play and pray while turning those double plays, boys. Hope for the best. When everyone plays scared, no one wins.
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