Sliding or jumping
Sun, 2010-07-11 14:33
LL Green book rule 7.08 (3) says that a runner is out when he does not slide of attempt to get around a fielder who is waiting to make the tag. I have seen a couple of times when the catcher is on the ground waiting to make the tag on the slide and the runner jumps over glove and lands safely on the plate. Umpire has called safe, fans are yelling for the runner to be out on the no-slide. Intent of the rule is to avoid collision and injury. A quick catcher could come up under the hurdler and flip him onto his head, so I might lean toward calling runner out as jumping is neither sliding nor going "around". What should the call be?
Ask yourself, why does this rule exist? The rule is there to prevent kids from dropping a shoulder and plowing fielders down. It's added for safety, to reduce collisions.
With that in mind, are the runner's actions in line with the intent of the rule?
If he's jumping over the catcher's glove, it sounds like he's successfully avoided the fielder. If he's hurdling the catcher, however, then he's probably not avoiding the fielder.