Naturally, the conversation today and for several days has been the "take out" slide. FIrst of all, I was never taught a slide that is a "take out" slide. The intent when I played was to reach the bag as soon as possible and make the other player rush their throw because I was trying to beat the throw to the said bag. Admittedly, i never played the upper levels of baseball (professional or otherwise) where "take out" slide is perhaps taught. I've heard more professional players say this, "we are taught to take out the other guy" in defense of what Chase Utley did against Ruben Tejada. I believe them, what happens in major league baseball is all revolving around winning, so it's not necessarily what anyone playing baseball at any other level will do.
In essence, they take baseball and winning to different levels and thus this becomes a little harder or perhaps different for fans to understand because we don't have the perspective of "win at all cost by any means necessary". Hence it's harder to have a true fan opinion, all we can do is react as fans of baseball at our level of understanding and of course that means we call cheating and dirty play at times that major league baseball players react way differently to. It is also why major league baseball players police their own and it is a disconnect of sorts with fans (who will boo a high and tight fastball, while pro ball players know the intent is to push someone off the plate and keep them from leaning over the bag... see Gibson, Bob). I guess the most famous of the hard, take out slide is what happened between
Pete Rose and Bud Harrelson and then later with Pete Rose taking out Bob Fosse in the All Star game.
With all this, sliding has taken on a whole new emphasis in a fan's view, not only because of the "take out" slide, but because now we see more and more the slides employed by major league players because unusual and somewhat perplexing in terms of what it is they are really trying to do. Replays (especially the slow motion replays from the right angle) now help an umpire crew call close plays at any bag where tags are applied. Actually, they don't help an umpire crew, the can correct or verify the call by an umpire. So let's talk about the three basic types of slides employed by a major league and why the lack of use of one of these slide techniques and the over use of another has now caused what seems to me, a larger emphasis for a major leaguer to rethink what it is they are attempting to do when acquiring a base. We are not just talking about stealing a bag, but everything surrounding the acquisition of a base in all players, like going from first to third, tagging up to move over one base or score, and of course slide at home to try and score on a base hit. The three nominal types of slides are:
Straight-leg slide (or also known as the pop-up slide)
The hook slide
and the Head first slide.
I learned early on to use the
straight-leg slide (pop-up). The strategy is this: the fastest way between two points is a straight line. If executed correctly, the pop-up part of the slide will allow the player to acquire the base and stay on the bag securely with little to no extra movement. I don't really see major leaguers use the pop-up slide any more. I was somewhat surprised when I saw Colby Rasmus use this technique to steal a base against Perez and Royals the other night and he did it to perfection. Even though the shortstop held the tag on his leg longer, it didn't matter, Colby arrived well before the tag, secured the bag and never came off because this is what you get from a pop-up slide.
The other two types, the
hook slide and the
head first slide are really used more by major leaguers and even a combination of the two. The best example of the combination technique is how I see Jake Marisnick slide into any base he tries to acquire. Altuve as well. Using the combination or the singular type like head first or the hook really creates a lot more movement by the player and really doesn't end in a proper securing of the bag. But before the use of replay, these two types of slides really create a little more to process for an umpire because of all the movement. Now that some teams are having the players hold a tag longer, there are chances... really good chances ... to have a call overturned because with said movement, the possibility that a player has not secured the base or at minimum lost the acquisition of the base for a nano-second now comes into full view on replays.
If major leaguers are going to start to employ the straight-leg slide more now, a couple of things to consider:
1. When you pop-up, keep your foot and leg as quiet as possible once you land your front foot. I was known on the teams I played for as a great pop-up slider. I was often asked to help some of my teammates who coached upper levels of baseball (high school) to help teach players how to execute this type of slide. My speed was adequate, so I only used this technique because I had no other choice... to beat a throw I had to make a very straight line to a base. But where I got really good is in the acquisition of a base and maintaining it. Like I said before, when Colby Rasmus did it, I was surprised how well he did it.
2. If players start to use straight-leg slides, you're going to find many of the players who attempt steals who aren't blazing speed types of players will go down in attempts. This will change the approach major league teams use for a running game and an aggressive on the basepaths strategy. Maybe not if they think that it is worth the risk of having a play overturned by replay if they continue to use hook or head first slides. I'd really rather they change the slide technique of really fast players so they can do what Colby did more often and less of what Jake does often. Jake gets away with it primarily because of his speed, but what could happen if Jake were to use a pop-up slide (not at home though, you slide through the base because it's not about acquisition and more about touching the base as quickly as you can) and anyone else is a very secure acquisition of a base and maintaining it so replay challenges will be less used by opposition managers.
