Iowa Force Play Slide Rule, Manager Ejection & Missing TV Camera

[Lindsay]

When umpires called Iowa runner Kyle Huckstorf for a force play slide rule violation in extra innings vs Illinois, a call confirmed via video review, #Hawkeyes manager Rick Heller was ejected, an automatic penalty for arguing a replay decision. Let's review NCAA/college's rulebook as we roll back the tape and find a curious decision by television broadcast led to a lot more confusion than it should have.

NCAA Rule 8-4, the Force Play Slide Rule (FPSR), states among other things, "On any force play, the runner, in the vicinity of the base, must slide on the ground before the base and in a direct line between the two bases. It is permissible for the slider’s momentum to carry them through the base in the baseline extended." A diagram accompanies this provision, indicating prohibit area in grey shading that a runner may not slide into—namely to the left or right of the base at its leading edge or further back.

Whereas Official Baseball Rule 6.01(j) (Sliding into Bases on Double Play Attempts) lists four criteria, the third of which requires a runner to remain on the base after completion of the slide, NCAA's rule allows runners to overslide. This is just one key distinction.

Another is that while OBR requires the violative non-bona fide slide to impede the defensive team for interference to be called (e.g., if a double play is unrealistic anyway, there is no interference call to make), NCAA's FPSR applies a much stricter standard: "Whether the defense could have completed the double play has no bearing on the applicability of this rule." This is also a key difference.

All in all, for OBR/professional/MLB/MiLB games, the camera position known as high third provides a very useful angle for determining whether criterion three of OBR 6.01(j) (able and attempts to remain on base) is satisfied, since high third allows a view of whether or not the runner has slid off the back edge of second base.

But in NCAA/college, high first is much more useful because it shows a clear look of the baseline between first and second base, which is vital for determining whether or not the baserunner violated FPSR.

The television broadcast, for whatever reason, showed only the high third angle but not high first, leading the public and the teams—including Iowa—in the dark about the call which replay was able to not only uphold, but confirm, perhaps because the umpires had access to high first...unless the network for whatever reason decided not to staff that vital camera position.

Video as follows:
Alternate Link: Replay-confirmed FPSR call gets Heller ejected as Iowa loses to Illinois

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[The Man in Blue]

Reading the Youtube comments . . . did nobody on there actually watch the video explaining it?

The "high home" angle wasn't great, but there is enough there, IMO, to confirm that call.

[dumbdumb]

8 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

Reading the Youtube comments . . . did nobody on there actually watch the video explaining it?

The "high home" angle wasn't great, but there is enough there, IMO, to confirm that call.

they need to show all the angles period, not just those that are manned versus unmanned. now, with all the angles that are available operating and manned, a much truer picture from all the available angles could be seen by john doe public, just like the 'replay' has that high first angle, then that angle should be shown along with the other more borderline angles.

and if all the angles give a crummy picture, then at least you have used everything at your disposal, till someone comes up with a better system, which might already be there and no one wants to use it, or it is too expensive/not cost effective (so 'they' say, and it's up to 'they' to quit crying expensive or deal with the results of that inefficiency and quit pointing fingers at others, and say, that's on me, not the umpires and those on the field, players, coaches, etc). oh well.

[BLWizzRanger]

If you are going to have replay be apart of the game - an important part now - than there should be a required functioning cameras at every field. High home, high third, high first being three of them ( I have no clue to the actual camera positions, I am only using what I learned in CCS video).  But, if it isn't 'manned' how hard is it to turn it on, focus it in, lock it in, and go get a coffee?  So you lose the panning and moving of the camera angle but you still have an important directional view of the right side of the infield.  That is baffling if there isn't actually a high first view on that play or that it wasn't shown at all.

[Tborze]

So, if R1 would have slid to the RF side of the bag in the grey area the slide would still be illegal in NCAA?

102 ways to ruin a baseball game!

Glad FED doesn’t have a “FPSR”!  

[grayhawk]

1 hour ago, Tborze said:

So, if R1 would have slid to the RF side of the bag in the grey area the slide would still be illegal in NCAA?

NO

Exception—A runner need not slide directly into a base as long as the runner slides or runs in a direction away from the fielder to avoid making contact or altering the play of the fielder

[Mussgrass]

So what did the runner do wrong?

 

[Velho]

16 minutes ago, Mussgrass said:

So what did the runner do wrong?

 

He slid to the 3rd base side of 2B. That's what Lindsay was referring to with "you see the bag disappear as he slides"

[The Man in Blue]

5 hours ago, Mussgrass said:

So what did the runner do wrong?

NCAA requires the runner to slide directly to the base … not within arm’s reach, not somewhere near the bag.

@Lindsay provides an excellent break down, however the people in the YouTube comments totally missed the message.  They seem to think it is an “in bounds/out of bounds” situation and complaining a person cannot stay within the 15” width of the base.  That is not what the rule is, nor is that what is being said.

You can easily see in the video that the runner’s front foot does not come in contact with the bag and that his whole body is to the inside of the bag as his legs pass by the base.  His slide is not direct to the base.

 

10 hours ago, dumbdumb said:

they need to show all the angles period, not just those that are manned versus unmanned. now, with all the angles that are available operating and manned, a much truer picture from all the available angles could be seen by john doe public, just like the 'replay' has that high first angle, then that angle should be shown along with the other more borderline angles.

I am not disagreeing, just saying the angle shown is sufficient.  And, as was said, replay may have that other angle but the broadcast may not have access to it.

[Tborze]

10 hours ago, grayhawk said:

NO

Exception—A runner need not slide directly into a base as long as the runner slides or runs in a direction away from the fielder to avoid making contact or altering the play of the fielder

I know!  I was being a lil facetious based on another thread.   
NCAA=Call it even tho it had “zero” effect on the play!!!!!!!

Where was contact or play altering?  

[SeeingEyeDog]

Thank you for chiming in on this, all...

As soon as I saw the angle late in the video, I said the same thing Lindsay said...he slides between the bag and the camera so, not it's not the optimal angle but, we see the "bag disappear" so we know roughly the path of the slide. Just a great call here, frankly in a big game. And that's why our brother is out there working this game.

~Dawg

[Velho]

1 hour ago, Tborze said:

Where was contact or play altering?  

Slid on the same side as the fielder. Based on the discussions we've had on U-E, that's callable. This is academic ball, not pro.

[SH0102]

11 hours ago, Tborze said:

I know!  I was being a lil facetious based on another thread.   
NCAA=Call it even tho it had “zero” effect on the play!!!!!!!

Where was contact or play altering?  

Since this is also a safety rule, they’re trying to prevent collisions and injuries, not just punish the times they occur.

To permit a runner to slide towards a fielder or run through the base so long as nothing happens is to risk the next time it will.  A runner will slide or run through thinking they won’t interfere and then the fielder or throw takes the fielder a direction different than the runner anticipated, and boom.

And that’s assuming the runner isn’t trying to INT. If they slide same side or run through with the hopes of preventing the double play, well then that’s intent.

The idea is to require them to go opposite or legally slide into the base so that it’s not up to chance.  Letting it go bc nothing came of it this time is simply accepting that the next time it might and eventually it will.