Cal Ripken League Rules Major 50/70

[Guest Brittany]

Can runners slide head first at home Cal Ripken majors league? Had a play where catcher was getting ready to receive a throw from first to make the tag and feet straddled apart. Runner slid head first under his legs to avoid collision and beat the throw (little guy didn’t touch catcher). Defensive coach argued can’t slide head first. Offense coach argued he avoided a collision and was only way to the plate without knocking the catcher over. Ump called safe but we want to check for future reference. 

[ErichKeane]

I believe Babe Ruth (of which Cal Ripken is a division of) just plays OBR rules (which has no limit on head-first-slides) with some modifications, but I see no alterations for head first slides.  See the rulebook here: https://www.baberuthleague.org/documents/RulesBaseball.pdf

So unless local rules modify it (or I missed something in the rule book above!) there is nothing about a headfirst slide being limited.

[RBIbaseball]

I concur with @Erichkeane. OBR does not prohibit head-first slides, and there is no additional rule in Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth (at any level) that prohibits head first slides.

TLDR: Head first slide is legal, but ill advised in that scenario. Obstruction probably occurred. IMO Runner risked malicious contact with the slide.

That being said, I am trying to visualize this play...

If the catcher is straddling the plate to the point the runner can slide completely between his legs without making contact, then I would have to believe his lower half is perpendicular to the baseline (facing toward 3B), yet you said he was receiving a throw from 1B? ... a bit awkard to say the least, but at that age very plausible I suppose.

I believe it would also be safe to say that the catcher had that wide stance straddling home plate for more than few seconds prior to the slide (considering the runner had time to think about and execute diving through his legs). I'm not sure how long after the runner began his slide that the throw reached the catcher, but I think there is a very high probability, that this should/could have been obstruction had there be a need for the call. 

There was a recent example in the MLB where the only access to the home plate was between the catcher's legs, and IIRC it was deemed as completely blocking the plate. In other words, straddling the plate with a space for the runner to slide through your legs (as the only access to the plate) would be considered as blocking the plate without the ball. Not exactly the same scenario, but similar:

 

Why bring all this up? ..... well, let's say that the runner did not feel comfortable sliding in between the legs. The runner has an obligation to not make malicious contact with the catcher. If the runner had slowed down to try to reach in to tap the plate or to shuffle around the catcher to touch the back side of the plate, and in doing so gave the catcher the extra second needed to receive the ball and apply the tag, then imo the way it was described would absolutely be obstruction... and the runner would be awarded home plate regardless. But this would require an umpire that understood that and to make that call - not always the case at those levels especially.

If the runner would have misjudged that opening and swept the catchers legs out from under him, or if the catcher bent down at the last second and the head first slide caused a nasty collision... then I think it would be hard to not judge that as malicious contact on the runner... runner is OUT and ejected. This is all judgement call by the umpire on whether the contact was malicious or just a "baseball play" that warrants no penalty.

 

A couple citations from the CRL/BRL rulebook:

"CONTACT RULE (ALL Divisions) – If a runner attempting to reach home plate or a base intentionally and maliciously runs into a defensive player, he will be called out on the play and ejected from the game. The objective of this is to penalize the offensive team for deliberate, unwarranted, unsportsmanlike action by the runner for the obvious purpose of crashing the defensive player. Obviously, this is an umpire’s judgement call."

"NOTE: The catcher, without the ball is his possession, has no right to block the pathway of the runner attempting to score. The baseline belongs to the runner and the catcher should be there only when he is fielding a ball or when he already has the ball in his hand."

[LRZ]

I did find several on-line rule books for local Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken leagues that prohibited head-first slides except back into a base; others said it was ok except into home; some prohibited head-first slides for 8 and 9 y/os only.

Brittany, you will have to check your local league rules, which are often posted on the league website. If that doesn't work, try contacting the league's UIC (Umpire-in-Charge) for a definitive ruling.

[RBIbaseball]

3 hours ago, LRZ said:

I did find several on-line rule books for local Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken leagues that prohibited head-first slides except back into a base; others said it was ok except into home; some prohibited head-first slides for 8 and 9 y/os only.

Brittany, you will have to check your local league rules, which are often posted on the league website. If that doesn't work, try contacting the league's UIC (Umpire-in-Charge) for a definitive ruling.

Good point. Very well could be a local league policy.

[LRZ]

ErichKeane gets the credit, as he said it before I did: "unless local rules modify it."

Every day I was umpiring, I would double-check the rules for that particular organization or league. It can be bewildering.

[RBIbaseball]

7 minutes ago, LRZ said:

ErichKeane gets the credit, as he said it before I did: "unless local rules modify it."

Every day I was umpiring, I would double-check the rules for that particular organization or league. It can be bewildering.

Off topic here, but one particular assignor I "help out" sometimes can never tell me the rules of where he's sending me... "I think Cal Ripken" or "Modified USSSA" ... what's the modification "I don't know". I can tell I'm annoying him. 95% of his umpires are there to make $ and could care less about the ruleset, and he's exactly the same way. I've slowly weened myself from being a part of his schedule now that I've got my name out there and have other options.

I usually get to the game and ask the coaches what the rules are... innings, run rules, rule set - they guess at them too... I do my best and no one complains, because we all know that none of us know. It's very frustrating. 

[LRZ]

Brittany, I have another suggestion. If you cannot find pertinent rules about a number of potential problems, your coach might ask to clarify them at the plate meeting. The following are things I usually ask about when they are not addressed in the local rules.

1. Head-first slides.

2. Uncaught ("dropped") third strikes.

3. Balks and balk warnings.

4. "Catch and carry."

There may be others, but these are the major issues I have found at pre-teen games. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for one coach to say "The rule is X" and the other coach says "No, it's Y." Frankly, I don't care what the answers are, on any given day, as long as we (the two coaches, my partner and I) all agree ahead of time. Although this might be heretical to many U-E members, let me emphasize for my fellow umpires that I take this approach only when the local rules are not available. 

 

[Guest Thanks!]

Thanks!