Slide... Crash

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by jmkupka

My reasoning is that, while there is no "must slide", there is a slide, avoid, or surrender-whatever is needed to avoid a collision-that didn't happen here. Catcher had the ball, was waiting to apply the tag, and the collision took her out.

As umpires, we must be careful not to insert our own personal views of fairness into the game, when we already have rules that tell us what to call. In this case, the softball rules makers have had ample opportunity to revise their rules if what you seem to want to do was what THEY want to do. They have not. They DO not. "whatever is needed to avoid a collision" is not the rule, nor is it the intent of the rule. Collisions happen. The one you describe is NOT meant to be penalized.