Blue Jays left confused after losing to Rays on new slide rule
To a man the players in the Blue Jays’ clubhouse were confused and angry about the decision to punish Jose Bautista for his slide at second base in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay.
Toronto thought they had taken a 4-3 lead when Rays second baseman Logan Forsythe’s throw to first base to complete a game-ending double play was off target and allowed two runs to score. The Blue Jays celebrated, but their enthusiasm was cut short by Tampa Bay’s challenge of the play at second asking the umpires to take a closer look at Bautista’s slide.
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After review, Bautista was ruled to have violated Rule 6.01(j), which will be forever known as the Chase Utley rule after Utley broke Ruben Tejada’s leg on a slide in last year’s playoffs.
Even though Encarnacion would have been safe at first because of the errant throw, he is automatically ruled out when the new slide rule is applied, making him the third out of the ninth. The runs come off the board. Game over. Blue Jays lose. Everyone on the internet turns into an expert of baseball’s rulebook.
It appears we could all use a refresher on what’s no longer allowed when sliding into second base. Here are the basic tenets of the rule, as laid out by Jeff Passan when it was introduced during the offseason:
• Slide prior to reaching the base.
• Slide so you are able to and attempt to reach or touch the base.
• Slide so you are able to and attempt to stay on the base.
• Do not change your pathway to the base.
OK, got it.
Crew chief Mike Everitt relayed that the call was reversed by the replay officials because Bautista “hindered and impeded the fielder,” and “did not engage in a bona fide slide as he did not attempt to remain on the base.”
By definition of the rule, Bautista was certainly guilty of the former, as he made contact with Forsythe’s legs with his hands. However, the Blue Jays argue that in their view of the spirit of the rule that should be a judgement call for the umpires, maintaining that some ability to break up a potential double play should remain as part of the game and that they had been instructed to keep their hands down when sliding.
Bautista was also judged to not have followed bullet No. 3 from Passan’s breakdown, to which he responded: “I was already out, why is there a need for me to stay on the bag? Common sense has to come into this at some point.”
[Related: Tampa Bay wins when Jose Bautista violates new slide rule]
What’s clear is that the introduction of the rule and how its interpreted by the players still has a ways to go before everyone is on board and understands what is and isn’t legal. Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin compared the transition to when MLB changed the rules on blocking the plate in 2014, which he says took some time via Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi:
“The same thing happened to me with the catcher’s rule. I was in Pittsburgh, there was a force play at the plate, they called me for blocking the plate on a force play. A week later they changed the rule, and got it right.”
The last part of Martin’s comments are what’s most encouraging. Eventually they got it right and as Kyle Ringo pointed out on The Stew last night, maybe having it directly affect the result of a game will speed up that process.
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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
