Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
Major League Baseball's spring training is underway right now and teams are getting ready for the upcoming season.
One of the things players will have to adjust to is a new rule banning what are called "rolling block" slides, the kind a player would do to try to break up a double play at second base.
If that sounds familiar, that's because it's come about in response to this play in last year's playoff series between the Dodgers and the Mets when the Dodgers' Chase Utley slid into Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada, breaking Tejada's leg:
Now, players will have to do a "bona fide" slide ahead of the base, and a violation could result in the runner and batter being called out.
Nick Theodorou, a former Dodger middle infielder, joined Take Two to discuss how the new slide rule changes the game.