Quote:
Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve
Not correct. There is no "must slide rule." The runner must either slide, or avoid contact with the fielder. He may slide, give himself up, go around or otherwise try to touch the base without contacting the fielder if the fielder has the ball and waiting to tag the runner. A runner never has to slide as his only option.
Also, it's not that he has to "try" to avoid contact, he "must" avoid contact when these rules are in force. Trying is not good enough.
|
I didn't mean to say anything misleading. The OP is obviously a baseball novice, and I was trying to frame my comments within the context of my earlier situation (where I limited the runner's options to the most popular in the MLB - slide or collide.) Most of us here realize that the runner actually has several other alternatives, but those are probably secondary for anyone who refers to a collision between a base runner and a fielder as "bodychecking."
