Bochy declares Holliday takout slide on Scutaro 'illegal'..

[Upton]

“I really think they got away with an illegal slide there,” Bochy said. “That rule was changed awhile back. And he didn’t really hit dirt until he was past the bag. Marco was behind the bag and got smoked. It’s a shame somebody got hurt because of this. That’s more of a rolling block … and that’s a big guy running.”
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The Official Rules do support Bochy’s interpretation. According to Rule 6.05(m): A batter is out when “a … runner shall, in the umpire’s judgment, intentionally interfere with a fielder who is attempting to catch a thrown ball or to throw the ball in an attempt to complete any play.”

The official Comment under Rule 6.05(m) continues: “The objective of this rule is to penalize an offensive team for deliberate, unwarranted, unsportsmanlike action by the runner in leaving the baseline for the obvious purpose of crashing the pivot man on a double play, rather than trying to reach the base. Obviously, this is an umpire’s judgment play.”

http://www.csnbayarea.com/baseball-san-francisco-giants/giants-talk/Bochy-declares-takout-slide-on-Scutaro-i?blockID=789337&feedID=2796

I don't know if the slide was illegal or not, apparently it's a judgement call.....but as you can see, Holliday hardly makes any attempt to even touch 2B, just goes over the bag into Scutaro. It may have woke the Giants up, some of them are going to be righteously pissed should the injury turn out to be serious, but outside of Posey, Scutaro has been the Giants best hitter. It would be a big loss.

If the Cards want to play dirty..I'm sure the Giants can oblige.

[Auggie]

1. X-rays were negative ...

MRI exam maybe today.

[Upton]

2. I hope Scutaro is okay..

though no reason for worry...Cards announcer Bill Frist, er, Mike Shannon, instantly diagnosed him as being just "winded"...

I'm getting tired of hearing a defense from Holliday and the Cards about how he's not a dirty player. Maybe he's not, but he was involved in a similar incident last year..in which he went out of his way to take out Starlin Castro.



http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=17460093&c_id=chc

[Auggie]

3. I was listening on radio ...

Duane Kuiper's initial reaction is that the injury looked bad. I was surprised Scutaro stayed in the game.

The players' consensus on the slide is that it was legal but late -- bad judgemnet on Holliday. Holliday was quoted as saying he wished he had slid a step earlier.

Best thing the Giants can do is keep hitting the ball to him. He doesn't run or throw well.

Now, I'd like to see Sandoval and Pence contribute. At the very least make productive outs. Posey will see better pitches.