Legal slide? Interference?

[greymule]

Even though Upton's interference would not have been called in MLB in the past, it is the fourth such INT called in MLB recently. Apparently umpires either decided on their own or were instructed to crack down.

Yes, Upton ludicrously claimed he had simply done the type of pop-up slide that he is "supposed to do."

It was the right call, even in MLB.

But whatever MLB did or does, in Fed, ASA, NCAA, definitely a double play. "Malicious contact" applies only in Fed (which I have not done for years), but I would not have ejected a runner for doing what Upton did. Nor would I have ejected the runner in ASA or NCAA.

In ASA and NCAA, the only question would be if there had been no play whatsoever at first (or anywhere else)—not whether the runner would have been safe, but simply no expected throw (such as on a slow roller in which a double play is obviously not going to be possible).