Slide (baseball)
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In baseball, a slide is when a player, acting as a baserunner, drops his body to the ground once he is very close to a base he is approaching. There are a number of possible reasons for a baserunner to slide when approaching a base.
- Firstly, on plays in which the baserunner may be tagged out by the opposing defensive player covering the base, the baserunner's body being down on the ground presents the lowest profile target for the defensive player to tag. This makes it slightly more difficult for the defensive player to apply the tag in time to put out the baserunner.
- Secondly, in most cases, it is important that a baserunner's momentum from running is not so great at the time of reaching the base that it would cause the baserunner subsequently to overrun the base, placing him in jeopardy of being tagged out once contact with the base is lost. This need to reduce the momentum from running is directly at odds with the need to reach the base as quickly as possible in the first place. Sliding addresses this problem by providing, through the body's friction with the ground, the most rapid means of slowing a baserunner's momentum. This, in turn, allows the baserunner to remain at top speed for as long as possible before needing to initiate slowing.
The Discovery Channel series MythBusters tested this aspect of sliding, comparing the time taken when sliding into a base against the time taken when coming to a standing stop at the base. When tested by the Mythbusters cast, they did find that sliding into the base, as opposed to staying upright, provided a split second of advantage; the cast cited the more rapid deceleration as the key.
- Thirdly, sliding can sometimes be used as a means of interfering with the play of the opposing defensive player who is covering the base being approached. For example, when it is possible that a double play might occur, and the baserunner approaching second base has already been put out, he might still try to slide toward the defensive player who intends to throw the ball to first base. If the defensive player moves away from second base as he prepares to throw the ball toward first, the baserunner may still slide directly toward the defensive player, even though that means sliding away from second base itself. This has the effect of hampering that defensive player's ability to complete the play, either directly by making physical contact with him, or indirectly by distracting him by making him fearful of such contact. A slide performed exclusively for the purpose of hampering the play of the defense is called a "take-out slide".
Whether a particular instance of a take-out slide is legal within the rules of baseball is a judgment call made by the umpire, usually based upon how close the baserunner comes to the base they are approaching during the slide. If a baserunner strays too far from the base when attempting a take-out slide, the umpire may declare the slide to be an example of illegal interference and call an extra out. As a general (but not absolute) guideline, even if the baserunner clearly slides toward the defensive player and away from the base, so long as the baserunner comes close enough to the base that he is able to touch it with some part of his body during the slide, the slide will be ruled to be legal.
There are many different ways to slide, involving different ways of attempting to avoid the tag, reaching to touch the base, and/or trying to contact the defensive player. Since the defense generally expects a slide, sometimes a baserunner trying to avoid being tagged out will not slide directly towards the base, but rather to a side away from where the ball is coming, and then reach back to touch the base.
Harry Stovey was one of the first baseball players to slide feet first. Because baseball shoes are spiked on the bottom, sliding with the spikes up increases the probability of injury to the defensive player covering the base. Knowledge of this fact can often increase the defensive player's fear of the possible contact from an impending slide and thus increase his distraction while attempting to make a play. Ty Cobb was famous for actually sharpening his spikes in the dugout, in full view of the other team, in order to intimidate their players.
It is generally believed that remaining upright and running all the way to the base at top speed allows a baserunner to reach the base faster than does sliding. (Sprinters, for example, do not slide or dive to the finish line at the end of a race, but rather remain upright and run through the line.) Thus, on plays during which neither being tagged out, nor being put in jeopardy by overrunning the base, is at issue (e.g. when approaching first base after having batted the ball), players are usually advised not to slide. Nonetheless, there is often a psychological factor at play which may cause a player to feel as though sliding will get them to the base more quickly. As a result, players occasionally defy the conventional wisdom about such situations and choose to slide anyway.
