“A lot of what we do on the field is instinctual, not instructional.” said A.J. Hinch, the Astros’ manager.
At the minor league level, where there are many teams and a correspondingly higher number of sliding injuries, the Angles require players who tend to slide headfirst to wear thumb guards, Manager Mike Scioscia said. In the past, the Astros removed minor leaguers from games if they slid headfirst into first or home.
Major leaguers who prefer to slide headfirst say it is easier to avoid tags and to remain on the bag with their hands rather than with their feet. Many also say it feels faster to slide headfirst.
The theory is that outstretched hands extend farther than feet ahead of the body's center of gravity, located in the pelvic area and the reference point for velocity. Thus, headfirst slides should reach the bag slightly quicker. The difference might be two-hundredths of a second, the equivalent of a few inches, which can make the difference between being safe or out. But sliding involves many variables, and the available science is contradictory.
“It's not completely obvious you will always get there quicker one way or the other,” said Alan M. Nathan, a retired physicist at the University of Illinois who studies the physics of baseball. “My take from the experiments is that it's so close, on average, it's a wash.”
In any case, both Trout and Bryant said in interviews they would continue to slide headfirst.
“It was a freak thing,” Trout said of his injury. “After your first slide, you tend to forget about it. I'm not going to switch.”
Bryant said before a game against the White Sox: “There are ways to maneuver your hands so they can't tag you. But with me sliding feet first, my feet are big, my legs are big － it's so much easier to tag someone out.”
But Alex Bregman, Houston’s third baseman, said he was reconsidering the headfirst slide in the wake of extended absences by Correa and Trout.
Camp, a onetime first baseman at Lee University in Tennessee, said the evidence was not yet compelling enough to call for a ban, or restriction, on headfirst sliding.
“I think we need to see much more dramatic difference in injury rates and injury severities before we start advocating for any rule change,” he said.
The theory is that outstretched hands extend farther than feet ahead of the body's center of gravity, located in the pelvic area and the reference point for velocity. Thus, headfirst slides should reach the bag slightly quicker. The difference might be two-hundredths of a second, the equivalent of a few inches, which can make the difference between being safe or out. But sliding involves many variables, and the available science is contradictory.
“It's not completely obvious you will always get there quicker one way or the other,” said Alan M. Nathan, a retired physicist at the University of Illinois who studies the physics of baseball. “My take from the experiments is that it's so close, on average, it's a wash.”
In any case, both Trout and Bryant said in interviews they would continue to slide headfirst.
“It was a freak thing,” Trout said of his injury. “After your first slide, you tend to forget about it. I'm not going to switch.”
Bryant said before a game against the White Sox: “There are ways to maneuver your hands so they can't tag you. But with me sliding feet first, my feet are big, my legs are big － it's so much easier to tag someone out.”
But Alex Bregman, Houston’s third baseman, said he was reconsidering the headfirst slide in the wake of extended absences by Correa and Trout.
Camp, a onetime first baseman at Lee University in Tennessee, said the evidence was not yet compelling enough to call for a ban, or restriction, on headfirst sliding.
“I think we need to see much more dramatic difference in injury rates and injury severities before we start advocating for any rule change,” he said.
Instead, the study recommended the use of hand guards and taping as a preventive measure. And it suggested the possibility of using bases softer than the current bags, or breakaway bases instead of those anchored by small posts. But further research on the bases is needed before changes could be enacted in professional baseball, Camp said.
Joe Maddon, the Cubs’ manager, said that softer or breakaway bases could disrupt players who pivot on a base while running or turning a double play, and might even cause more injuries.
“Be careful what you wish for,” he said.
But Bryant said he would welcome softer bases. And Ben Zobrist, the Cubs’ versatile infielder and outfielder who dislocated a thumb on a headfirst slide in 2014, said he would prefer bases that were tethered with straps instead of anchored with posts.
“I'd be all for going back to something like that, something you slide into and it stays there, but it's got softness to it and is going to a little bit,” Zobrist said. That, he added, seems “so much safer.”
Asked its position on headfirst slides, Major League Baseball noted that its rules did not distinguish between head-first and feet-first slides. And it pointed to recent changes to enhance safety: Catchers cannot block the plate without possessing the ball, and on potential double plays, runners cannot change their path to the base or use a roll block to make contact with fielders.
The players' association said in an email that it “constantly monitors the health and safety of our players; and that takes into account concerns in every aspect of the players' workplace.”
Joe Maddon, the Cubs’ manager, said that softer or breakaway bases could disrupt players who pivot on a base while running or turning a double play, and might even cause more injuries.
“Be careful what you wish for,” he said.
But Bryant said he would welcome softer bases. And Ben Zobrist, the Cubs’ versatile infielder and outfielder who dislocated a thumb on a headfirst slide in 2014, said he would prefer bases that were tethered with straps instead of anchored with posts.
“I'd be all for going back to something like that, something you slide into and it stays there, but it's got softness to it and is going to a little bit,” Zobrist said. That, he added, seems “so much safer.”
Asked its position on headfirst slides, Major League Baseball noted that its rules did not distinguish between head-first and feet-first slides. And it pointed to recent changes to enhance safety: Catchers cannot block the plate without possessing the ball, and on potential double plays, runners cannot change their path to the base or use a roll block to make contact with fielders.
The players' association said in an email that it “constantly monitors the health and safety of our players; and that takes into account concerns in every aspect of the players' workplace.”
