Yesterday afternoon, the Cubs and Pirates concluded their critical four-game series in Pittsburgh. The Cubs would ultimately win the game 9-6 and the series 3-1, but the real story came in the first inning, before the Cubs even recorded an out.
The North Siders loaded up the bases against Pirates’ starter Charlie Morton. They sent MVP candidate Anthony Rizzo to the plate and he hit a double play ball to second baseman Neil Walker. Walker threw to shortstop Jung Ho Kang and Kang, like many middle infielders before him, was slid into by the Cubs’ Chris Coghlan. Only, unlike said middle infielders, Kang wasn’t able to get up and shake off the dirt after the play.
Here is the video, in case you missed it: (WARNING: Video may be disturbing to some.)
Kang suffered a broken leg on the play and is out for the rest of this season and very well could miss the beginning of next season. His loss affects the Pirates’ playoff chances directly, as he could play every position effectively and hit for average and decent power. But this discussion can be put to the back burner for a while; let’s talk about the play.
And here’s the caveat that should come with it while it looks ridiculously dirty, it’s actually a perfectly “clean” play, according to the rule book. Here is the definitive proof (or lack thereof), in MLB rule 7.09:
(f) If, in the judgment of the umpire, a batter-runner willfully and deliberately interferes with a batted ball or a fielder in the act of fielding a batted ball, with the obvious intent to break up a double play, the ball is dead; the umpire shall call the batter-runner out for interference and shall also call out the runner who had advanced closest to the home plate regardless where the double play might have been possible. In no event shall bases be run because of such interference.
But there is nothing there that addresses a runner sliding into a shortstop or second baseman to try to break up a double play. This practice has been in place for decades, but it is pretty rare to see someone actually get hurt on the play. Of course, just because players don’t usually sustain injury on a play like this one doesn’t mean that said play is not dangerous.
That applies here; the tactic that Coghlan used to get Kang off-balance is so commonly used that most fans don’t even react when it happens. This is something that ESPN’s Jesse Rogers addressed yesterday:
Neither the Pittsburgh Pirates nor Jung Ho Kang, through his agent, have indicated a belief Chicago Cubs outfielder Chris Coghlan’s slide into second base, which ended Kang’s season on Thursday afternoon, was dirty.
Anyone who believes it was dirty must also believe every takeout slide has the potential to be dirty. If the infielder isn’t going to jump or move out of the way, then a collision is inevitable.
That’s not to blame the victim here. The blame is on the situation. It came on a double play that developed later than normal on a ball hit by Anthony Rizzo in the first inning of the Cubs’ 9-6 win. Kang bravely stood his ground as second baseman Neil Walker flipped him the ball while Coghlan came at him with a hard-but-legal slide. It’s a slide you see several times in every game — a little off the base but within striking distance of it.
I can understand and even agree with this point of view; while the end result was horrible, slides like the one Coghlan performed are 1) legal and 2) effective. While Coghlan’s slide didn’t break up the double play, there have been too many slides that have to count. That being said, the rule may be in line for slight modification; the game can be made safer without completely removing the play from the sport.
Here is another example to demonstrate why I don’t think much of this “controversy”: many slides, as Rogers mentioned, wander slightly outside of the base. Take, for instance, an aggressive slide into home, one where the runner himself does not actually slide over the base, but one part of his body does: his left hand. The catcher isn’t in the way on the play, so no one really thinks anything of it. But seriously, how could a person look at this slide and think it isn’t designed to avoid the tag?
This is completely beside the point, but Holliday was so out on that play that it wasn’t even funny. Anyway, let’s get back to yesterday’s business.
The best comparison for the second base takeout slide is likely the since-outlawed practice of running over a catcher at home plate. In 2014, Major League Baseball took preventative steps to curtail dangerous, concussion-inducing activity at home plate by implementing rules that prevented catchers from blocking the plate and runners from running outside the baseline.
However (and this is important), the changes weren’t as earth-shattering as they were made out to be. This is what Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards wrote on the two subjects today:
It is important to note that MLB did not actually outlaw collisions at home plate. They addressed the principal causes of collisions, instructed teams on the same, and while the rule did cause some confusion in its first year, the rule appears to be by and large successful.
Unfortunately for our concern regarding the takeout slide, the same factors at home plate do not exist at a force at second base. Where the catcher can get in front of the plate once he has the ball, at second base, almost all takeout slides occur after the fielder has the ball. This makes the second option, arguably the more important and successful of the rules, untenable for takeout slides.
Of course, the rules were clarified last September in fear of the possibility of a Rule 7.13 World Series, one that gets decided by a home plate collision. However, Edwards’ point is absolutely crucial; baseball didn’t actually ban home plate collisions, they just made the rules such that these plays were strongly discouraged and much more rare.
And that is what baseball should do in this case, as well. Commissioner Manfred can make a rule that states that a runner cannot go outside of the baseline to make contact with a fielder trying to complete a double play. The play wouldn’t be removed from the game; rather, it would be made more difficult to pull off and less likely to occur. If a fielder is on the base, then, and only then, can a runner take him out. That seems fair enough to me.
To be perfectly clear, the slide and result were not Chris Coghlan’s fault. He made the right play in that situation and, especially in a game of that magnitude with the Cubs hurtling toward October baseball, gave a complete effort on that play when he could have easily stopped running.
But he didn’t, and now Jung Ho Kang’s season is over.
An outcome that should be avoided at all costs in the future.