Unwritten Rules of Baseball: Sliding and Tagging

Although not written in the Rule Book, the technical and situational 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 an etiquette have not been passed down to most players and coaches today. On a daily basis, time after time, the majority of challenges allowed for replays involve a poorly executed slip, touch, or both.

Sliding:

Slides should not be used unless necessary, especially at first base or home plate. Those bases should only be touched, not held. It has been scientifically analyzed and conclusively tested by ESPNthat a runner can reach first base faster by running through what sliding within it’s; which is also the case with home plate. Any slip into 1st will be an unforeseen emergency maneuver to avoid a tag, which has potential injury written all over it. At the plate, any slide will be to avoid a bunt by a well-protected catcher.

The three commonly accepted types of slides are bent leg (pop-up), hook, and head first. Here’s what varsity Hall of Fame coaches and All-Star shortstop Gold Glove had to say about sliding headfirst:

• Coach, Skip Bertman-LSU, 5X National Champs: From his 1975 book, YOUTH LEAGUE BASEBALL TRAINING “This slide can be dangerous, because a jumping defender could land on their hands or arms with their spikes.”
• Ron Fraser-UofM, 2X National Champions. From his 1983 book BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: “Head sliding has generally proven to be dangerous, therefore it should be discouraged.”
• Bud Harrelson, NYM ’69 WS Champs, GG. From his 1972 book, HOW TO PLAY BETTER BASEBALL: “I used a head swipe for a while because it seemed to be faster and allowed me to start my swipe sooner, but I don’t anymore, and I would not recommend it to anyone at any time.. The reason I am so against it is that it is extremely dangerous. You’re going to walk in with your bare hands in front of you; your head is exposed, and if the baseman drops his knee in front of the bag, you can hurt your fingers or break your neck.”

Bases are hard, immovable objects. The hands and arms are not designed to be an irresistible force. The proof is the number of players who wear specially constructed protective gloves on their hands, due to injuries sustained from previous head slides.

In recent years, a new combination slide has been introduced into the mix. Runners will slide feet first past second and third base, or home plate, and extend one hand to grab the base or touch home 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 through the base before the hand, which defeats the intent of “as fast as possible.” I have yet to see someone slide headfirst past a base and touch 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 poor fielder tags.

Here’s a new unwritten rule: If you’re sliding feet-first, the first thing to touch a base must be a foot. If you slide headfirst, the first thing a base should touch is a hand.

Labelled:

Here’s what the pros had to say about labeling runners:

• Skip Bertman: “The ball should be in the fielder’s glove and immediately in front of the base. Then he finds the runner’s foot and allows the runner to tag himself by sliding into the glove. Many junior league players make the mistake of reach out to tag the runner. Invariably, the umpire calls the runner safe, claiming he slides under the tag.”
• Bud Harrelson: “A lot of young players get in trouble when they try to tag a runner who comes to a base, because they hit him with the ball in the air, instead of touching the base, that is, holding the ball in front of him.” the bag, where the broker has to arrive. No matter what kind of slide he uses, he has to get to the bottom. So when I have the ball in my glove, I get right to the front of the bag. “
• Ron Fraser: “As soon as the catch is made, put the glove down to bunt.” All the photos in the book of him show the fielder carrying his glove with the ball in front of the base to let the runner tag himself. Obviously at the time the technique was being taught, practiced and used so frequently that he did not feel the need to express that thought.

Watch replays of challenged plays to see which slides and tags in MLB games routinely violate these unwritten rules.