"A baserunner breaking up the double play has to slide, he has to touch the base, and he has to make an effort to stay on the base. He also can't swerve out of his pathway."
The newest rule to the baseball rulebook is now in place. No more rolling blocks. No more going way out of your way to hit the pivot man, no more shenanigans of any kind when breaking up a double play.
Chase Utley's playoff game-deciding cheap shot in front of a huge national audience on television, resulting in a broken leg, late last season, was all it took.
This is a great change. I'm surprised it took so long. They'll even have replay appeal on those plays.
The only problem? In the past, pivot men were allowed to be "in the vicinity of second base" without actually touching it in double play situations. That was to protect them from the hard slides that are now banned. That's going to be changing with replays on those types of plays. If replays show the runner was sliding legally into second, the pivot man will be expected to touch the base as well.
So if the guy slides hard, the fielder might still get his leg broke or knee taken out in the impending collision.
I've always liked the vicinity play at second base. Protecting the fielders' legs was always the priority. The new rule helps but not at the expense of the fielder having to touch the base. I sure wouldn't want to play short or second either way if the the baserunner pulls off a questionable slide. There might even be more leg injuries...
My suggestion (Joe Posnaki said it first): The replay should be at full speed. IF it isn't clearly wrong at full speed on replay, let the play stand.
The frame by frame analysis at super-slow motion, an ability that no viewer or umpire has, should NOT overrule judgement calls.
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