Slide (baseball)

Adult amateur players may also consider the question of whether or not the increased risk of injury will make a slide worthwhile.

This alternate method has been used in Major League Baseball at least since the middle-1880s when the innovation was popularized by the St. Louis Browns of the American Association.

This makes it slightly more difficult for the defensive player to apply the tag in time to put out the baserunner.

Sliding helps a runner stop his forward momentum through the friction created between the body and the ground, thus reducing the likelihood that he will run past the base after touching it.

Sliding can sometimes be used as a means of interfering with the play of the opposing defensive player who is covering the base being approached.

The television series MythBusters tested participants' baserunning speed with and without sliding, and found that in cases where the runner needs to stop on the base, sliding into that base instead of staying upright provided a split second of advantage, suggesting the more rapid deceleration as the key.

[2] Nonetheless, this conventional wisdom is not universally accepted, and as such, some players may feel that sliding will get them to the base more quickly and will thus choose to do so despite advice to the contrary.

Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves sliding into home plate
A shortstop attempts to tag out a player sliding head-first into a base
An infielder is forced to jump while throwing to avoid a sliding runner.
Legendary early 20th century American player Ty Cobb sliding safely into third base .