Seems like i see alot of players do this anymore.  Seems like i always heard that you get there quicker if you continue to run instead of diving.  If so, why do players do it?  And arent they told by their managers/coaches not to do it, it slows them down?  Or do replays indicate you do indeed get to the bag quicker if you dive?

Thoughts?

Rat

Right you are, Rat. In practice, many a coach has taken a player out to test which is the quickest way to get from home to 1st......running or running and then diving as you near the bag. On average a player loses .035 seconds by diving.....this may not sound like much, but it is in fact significant on those bang bang plays at 1st. However, during these test runs a significant finding emerged. If the 1st base ump was playing in(positioning himself too close to the action), he could have his view obstructed if the sliding player kicked up enough dirt. And studies have shown that when umps get dirt kicked in their eyes they call runners safe at a clip of 73%. Why the 23% discrepancy? Psychologists have studied this question and have come up with a startling but logical conclusion; the act of calling a runner safe(the sweeping motion of the arms) acts as a very efficient way of removing the dust from his immediate vicinity. Watch the ump on these plays.....their calls are very prolonged and emphatic.......done basically to remove the dust and dirt from their area quickly. Also, observe the baserunners when they are in the midst of their dives. The better ones like Schu are most proficient with the art of thrusting dirt upwards towards the umpires, using their right hand as a scoop. Great question and I hope this helped you better understand the play, Rat.

Pretty good description, pugs. I would add that the thing that really slows you down when sliding in to first isn't necessarily the friction of your body sliding across the dirt, but the time it takes for gravity to do its job and get you on the ground in the first place. You really lose all your time in that motion.

I get the tossing dirt argument, but I also know that umps do a lot of decision making by sound. Sliding over the base also jumbles the bang-bang noise of a step and catch, meaning you've got dirt and noise to content with as an umpire. A high school ump once told me that he will just call a guy out if he thinks the player is intentionally trying to deceive him sliding in to first.

Some players, like Schumaker, seem to instinctively do it even though it's better to hit that bag like a sprinter - although you don't need to exaggerate the lean forward since you're not hitting a tape - but you want that momentum going straight ahead. Whoever saw a sprinter slide across the finish line?

But some runners seem to have this habit that they cannot break where they see the bag, and their instinct is to jump for it, as if they think their foot hitting it won't count or something. Or perhaps they feel they could get tagged out if they run upright and the throw is offline to the home plate side of the base. And that is a legitimate possibility, but how often does that happen? That would be the one time that diving towards the bag would make sense.

bicyclemike wrote: Some players, like Schumaker, seem to instinctively do it even though it's better to hit that bag like a sprinter - although you don't need to exaggerate the lean forward since you're not hitting a tape - but you want that momentum going straight ahead. Whoever saw a sprinter slide across the finish line?

But some runners seem to have this habit that they cannot break where they see the bag, and their instinct is to jump for it, as if they think their foot hitting it won't count or something. Or perhaps they feel they could get tagged out if they run upright and the throw is offline to the home plate side of the base. And that is a legitimate possibility, but how often does that happen? That would be the one time that diving towards the bag would make sense.

Or perhaps they wouldn't want a short tap within their stride.  Like when I'm running and I am coming up on a curb and it's within my stride, I leap over it to avoid twisting my ankle.