Wednesday, April 13, 2016

The Slide Rule



Just a week into the season and we have seen two games decided by “The Utley Rule” (one obviously was the Jays, the other the Astros) and reaction hasn’t been great.  Out of anger towards the outcomes of games, of games, the new rule has received a lot of negativity from players and managers alike.  The sad thing is, this was a rule put into place to protect those players.  I am in total agreement that protection of the players should be of the utmost importance, but from where I sit, I find it incredibly unfortunate that a rule with the best of intentions was bastardized so poorly.  To break it down, the new “Slide Rule” states that a runner has to comply with all 4 of the following:


  1. Begins his slide (i.e., makes contact with the ground) before reaching base.
  2. Is able and attempts to reach the base with his hand or foot.
  3. Is able and attempts to remain on the base (except home plate) after completion of the slide.
  4. Slides within reach of the base without changing his pathway for the purpose of initiating contact with a fielder.   
     
For the first two points, I find them to be well implemented, and within the spirit of the new rule to keep second basemen safe.  Basically the rule is saying, when making a slide into second, you have to at least try to be safe.  Don’t bust out a Liu Kang flying kick over top of the bag, and be close enough that you are at least within the act of trying to remain safe.


The next two?  This is where I have a problem.  For rule 3, it states “Is able to remain on the base”. There are legitimate challenges that occur because players making routine slides sometimes “aren’t able” to stay on the base after a slide.  How many times have you seen a foot or hand come loose on a hook slide?  Every time a guy slides into second if I’m a manger I’m checking to see if he stayed on the base, because if not you just saved yourself an out.  Remove “is able” and I have full buy in.   It then just helps to reinforce that you have to be at least trying to be safe, even if you’re coming in hot, which is completely fair.  Having said that, this isn’t the egregious part of the rule in my opinion, so no need to belabour it further.


Rule 4 is where is gets simply ridiculous.  “Slides within reach of the base without changing his pathway for the purpose of initiating contact with a fielder.”  What in the name of Jesus Alou is this?  If you are enforcing the other 3 rules you are going to successfully protect the players while keeping in an integral part of the game in breaking up double plays.  This segment is such a load of crap.  If you are not flying through the bag and still making an attempt to remain safe, why can you not slide to one side of the bag or the other to try to disrupt the natural rhythm of a throw?  What happened to transitioning and making a throw over a sprawling body like a pro.  Disgusting.


So bringing this full circle back to the Jays, was the right call made on Jose? Yup.  Sure was.  To the letter of the law Jose broke 3 (slid past the base) and 4 (moved his arm which is changing the path).  It felt initially like the Jays had just been screwed by a bad call.  Unfortunately they were just suffering the new reality of a poorly constructed rule.  A poorly constructed rule to which players are going to have to adjust to just like they did the Posey rule.  Fortunately for Jays fans it has already started to happen.  Sunday's game in Boston presented another potential slide rule appearance with the bases loaded.  Set in the first inning, it wouldn’t have had the immediate impact of determining the outcome of the game, but could have cost the Jays a couple of valuable runs.  With Joey Bats again standing at first, EE put the ball in play towards short, with the tough possibility for the Sox to turn a double play.  This time however, Bautista slid directly into the bag (no arm swipe altering his path) and also made a visible effort to remain on the bag throughout the slide.  A rushed Pedroia overthrew first allowing Edwin to reach safely and both Pillar and Donaldson to score on the overthrow.  After a quick dugout check, Boston decided not to review the play seeing a legal slide on the replays.   


It is a positive sign that the Jays are adapting to this early on, however I still hold out hope that  they revisit the rule like they did to a couple last year, and allow a little bit more leniency on double play slides.  Protect the players, but don’t completely remove one of the more exciting plays in baseball. 

- Dustin

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