Malicious contact rule in youth baseball
There's no must-slide rule in youth baseball, but there are must-avoid rules, and I'd make sure every runner knows them. Run over a fielder and you're out, and in most rulebooks you're ejected too.
Does a runner have to slide? It’s a question that comes up every few seasons, usually right after a player goes into home standing up and drops a shoulder into the catcher. He saw it on TV. Now he’s out, he’s ejected and he has no idea why.
The answer surprises a lot of parents: There is no must-slide rule. Not in Little League, not in high school and not in the pro book. A runner can go into any base standing up. If the catcher is up the line without the ball, running past him is fine. If there’s no tag coming, no slide is required.
But there are must-avoid rules. In Little League, a runner has to slide or try to get around a fielder who has the ball and is waiting to tag him. Run into him, and you’re out. In high school, the standard is malicious contact. Initiate contact with intent to hurt, above the waist or with your arms up, and you’re out and you’re ejected.
High school also requires a legal slide on force plays, either straight into the base or away from the fielder. An illegal slide is an out, and the batter-runner is out too.
So what do we teach? Slide when there’s a play — low, feet first, hands up. Go around the fielder if he’s got the ball and you can. And never, EVER lower a shoulder. There’s no situation in youth baseball where that’s the right play.
The fielder has responsibilities as well. Blocking a base without the ball is obstruction, so the catcher can’t set up in the baseline waiting for a throw that hasn’t arrived.
Which rulebook? No youth rulebook requires a slide. Little League 7.08(a)(3): a runner must slide or attempt to get around a fielder who has the ball and is waiting to tag. NFHS 8-4-2e and 3-3-1m: malicious contact is an out and an ejection. NFHS 8-4-2b: on a force play an illegal slide gets the runner out and the batter-runner too. Official Baseball Rules 6.01(i) covers home plate collisions at the pro level.
The runner on first slides into second on a double-play ball and grabs the second baseman’s leg as he throws. The throw sails. What’s the ruling?
Still have a question? Ask Coach Fungo.
“I don't care what you saw on TV. Don't ever lower a shoulder into a fielder.”
Which umpire makes the fair or foul call?
The plate umpire owns both lines up to the bag and the third base line past it. The base umpire gets the first base line past the bag only when he starts in foul territory with no one on.
“It doesn't matter how close the base umpire was standing if it wasn't his line.”
Wild pitch or passed ball: how do you tell?
I'd settle it by asking whether the catcher could have caught it with ordinary effort. If he couldn't, it's a wild pitch on the pitcher, and if he should have, it's a passed ball on the catcher.
“Judge him like an average catcher at his level. Don't hold your 11u catcher to big league standards.”
The rules quiz
Ten questions, two minutes. Would you have gotten the call right?
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