It took two violent takeout slides that ended the seasons of New York Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada and Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Jung Ho Kang for the MLB to consider a change. The league and the MLBPA are reportedly moving toward a consensus on a new takeout slide rule.
Following Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley's takeout slide on Tejada in Game 2 of the NLDS, rumors suggested the MLB might consider a change to the current rule, which does not specify how late players can slide into second base in order to break up a double play.
In Utley's case, as you can see in the video below, he was well beyond the bag and his intent was to solely hit Tejada in order to avoid having him get the ball over to first.
While takeout slides remain (and will remain) and important part of baseball, changes clearly need to be made because injuries will mount if players continuously slide in the manner in which Utley did.
Here's the latest on the discussions between the MLB and MLBPA:
"Sources said that in the union's internal discussions, players made it clear they had been taught since they first began playing baseball to go into second base with the intent of breaking up double-play attempts," writes ESPN's Buster Olney. "Although the union wants to improve safety for middle infielders, it does not want to eliminate players' aggressiveness on slides or the ability to break up a double play.
"However, there is a desire on both sides to eliminate slides on which a baserunner goes beyond the effort to reach second to make contact with middle infielders."
A source told Olney that the MLB and MLBPA "will get there" in terms of agreeing on a new rule for the 2016 season.
So exactly what changes will be made?
Olney added more on the subject in his column from this morning:
"What the new rules will do is outlaw those slides in which the baserunners go outside the effort to get to second base and instead target the fielders. If the middle infielder is clearly on the left field side of second base, sources say, the runners will not be able to go over the bag to hit the fielder; if the fielder is out of the baseline, as Tejada was when he was hit by Chase Utley, the baserunner won't be allowed to hit the fielder. Late slides aimed only to hit the fielder, without regard to getting to second base -- and a lot of players perceived Utley's slide to be late -- will be outlawed."
These new changes will seemingly eliminate only unreasonable and dangerous slides/takeout attempts. When Cubs outfielder Chris Coghlan slid into Kang and injured the shortstop's leg, there were calls for a change in the rules, but players were defensive over such potential amendments because they could compromise the identity of the sport. Utley's slide then put the issue on the front burner.
However, the latest rumors regarding the changes seemingly won't significantly alter the nature of takeout slides. They'll just prevent unnecessary and dangerous ones from happening more often.
