Baseball's Unwritten Rules: Sliding & Tagging

Although not written in the Rule Book, situational and technical aspects of the Game have been taught and written about for over a century. The well-known, practiced, and accepted aspects of when and how to slide, and properly apply a tag, have not been transmitted to most of today's players and coaches. Daily, time after time, most of the permitted challenges for replays involve either a poorly executed slide, tag, or both.

Sliding:

Slides should not be used unless necessary, especially at 1st base or home plate. Those bases must only be touched, not retained. It has been scientifically analyzed, and conclusively proved by ESPN, that a runner can reach 1st base faster by running through it than by sliding into it; which is also the case with home plate. Any slide into 1st will be an unanticipated, emergency maneuver, to avoid a tag, which has potential injury written all over it. At home plate, any slide will be to avoid a tag by a well-protected catcher.

The three types of commonly accepted slides are the bent-leg (pop-up), hook, and head-first. This is what College Hall of Fame coaches and All-Star, Gold Glove, shortstop said about sliding head-first:·

Coach, Skip Bertman-LSU, 5X National Champs: From his 1975 book, COACHING YOUTH LEAGUE BASEBALL "This slide can be dangerous, because a jumping defender might come down on his hands or arms with his spikes."·
Ron Fraser-UofM, 2X National Champs. From his 1983 book CHAMPIONSHIP BASEBALL: "The head-first slide generally has proven to be dangerous, therefore is to be discouraged."
Bud Harrelson, NYM '69 WS Champs, GG. From his 1972 book, HOW TO PLAY BETTER BASEBALL: "I used a head-first slide for a while because it seemed to be faster and allowed me to start my slide earlier, but I don't anymore - and I wouldn't recommend it for anyone at any time. The reason I'm so dead set against it is that is extremely dangerous. You're going in with bare hands in front of you; your head is exposed, and if the man covering the base drops his knee in front of the bag, you may jam your fingers, or break your neck."
Bases are hard, immovable objects. Hands and arms are not designed to be an irresistible force. The proof is the number of players wearing specially constructed protective gloves on their hands, because of injuries sustained with previous head-first slides.
Over the last few years a new combination slide has been introduced to the mix. Runners will slide feet-first past 2nd and 3rd base, or home plate, and reach out with a hand to grab the base, or touch the plate. The object of a slide is to avoid a tag by reaching and securing the base as quickly as possible. Sliding past the base means the feet went by the base sooner than the hand, which defeats the "quickly as possible" intent. I have yet to see anyone slide head-first past a base and touch it or secure it with a foot, because a hand would obviously reach the base before the foot could get there. The only reason the new slide sometimes succeeds is because of bad tags by the fielders.

Here's a new unwritten rule: If sliding feet-first, the first thing to touch a base should be a foot. If sliding head-first, the first thing that should touch a base is a hand.

Tagging:

Here's what the professionals said about tagging runners:

Skip Bertman: "The ball should be in the fielder's glove and immediately in front of the base. He then looks for the runner's foot and allows the runner to tag himself out by sliding into the glove. Many youth leaguers make the mistake of reaching out to tag the runner. Invariably the umpire calls the runner safe, claiming that he slid under the tag."
Bud Harrelson: "Many young players get in trouble when they try to tag the runner coming to a base, because they swipe at him with the ball up in the air, instead of tagging the bag - that is, holding the ball in front of the bag, where the runner has to come. No matter what kind of slide he uses, he's got to come to the base. So, when I get the ball in my glove, I come right down with it in front of the bag."
Ron Fraser: "As soon as the catch is made, sweep your glove down to make the tag," All his book's photos show the fielder taking his glove with the ball to the front of the base to let the runner tag himself out. Evidently, at that time the technique was so commonly taught, practiced, and used, he didn't feel the need to express that thought.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9752148

评论

发表评论

此博客中的热门博文

Stomps: High-Resistance, High-Intensity Intervals for Indoor Cycling (Very Cool)

If you do cycling workouts and have ever done stomps, you may think I'm crazy when I say this, but I've always liked them. They're extremely tough but appeal to that twisted part of me that enjoys hard training. If you're an outdoor cyclist or an indoor cycling instructor, you probably have that part, too. Stomps are designed to increase power in the saddle . Chris Carmichael is generally given credit for them; his guidelines involve 20-second stomp intervals outdoors. The indoor program I taught followed the format below. Because stomps are difficult and can stress knees and lower back, a solid warm-up is essential. Roll the legs for several minutes, then run this pattern several times: 2:00 seated at 110-120 rpm; 1:00 of 80-rpm standing runs; 1:00 seated with resistance at 80 rpm; 1:00 of recovery at 90 rpm. A stomp interval is 60 seconds; recovery is 60 seconds. Allow 25 minutes or more for a set of 5, a 5-minute break, and another set. The break can be longer. Resis...
阅读全文

Baseball Players Who Have Spent Three Different Stints With The Same Club

When he suited up for Kansas City after the trade deadline on August 1, outfielder Melky Cabrera joined a host of other players who have spent a second stint with a team. Cabrera had previously been with the Royals back in 2011, a year before he won the National league battle title as a member of the San Francisco Giants. Many of those who return to a team have been motivated by a desire to end their careers with the club with which it began. Just last year retiring All-Star Gold Glove outfielder Torii Hunter rejoined Minnesota, where he had spent the first decade of his playing career. A few seasons ago Ken Griffey, Jr., who spent his first eleven big league years with the Mariners, returned to Seattle to finish out his career. All time hits leader Pete Rose had done the same thing back in 1987, when he went back to Cincinnati to end his playing days with the hometown club that had signed him. Nearly every year at the trade deadline or during the winter meetings at least one player, s...
阅读全文

Bontrager - Never Compromise on Quality

The story of Bontrager is legendary. It is founded by Keith Bontrager, a driven do it yourself guy, who was a rider himself. He was also a mechanic, designer, physicist, and an engineer. He used to spend a lot of time in the dumpsters collecting broken parts, and dedicating himself to make better designs. This reverse analysis helped him develop a saying that went, 'Pick Strong and then light'. He had a reputation of making bikes with the strongest and lightest parts available. He always demanded that the parts be stronger and lighter but not always cheap. He never compromised on this logic and the customers to agree that quality is of utmost importance. Bontrager has grown tremendously from its early days of pondering over the broken parts in his garage . Many categories of Bontrager parts are now available and Keith now spends a lot of his time testing these parts on the field. The logo, which shows a B- dot assures quality and durability. They have undergone stringent tests ...
阅读全文