Quote:
Originally Posted by BigRedChief
Was that a dirty slide by Holliday? The Giants seemed upset about the slide.
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It was late. It was poor execution of a clean takeout slide.
If he goes down a step earlier, it's fine. He started his slide right at the bag though. If it happens to Descalso, I'd be pretty pissed off about it.
That said, Scutaro was foolish to hold his ground there - everyone knows that Holliday is going to bull your ass at 2b (he's done it for years). And really, it's one of the things that is
always admirable in Holliday - he may be a lummox at times, but that guy absolutely plays his ass off. He's a gamer in the same sense that Rolen was - he knew it was his job to bust up that DP and he did everything he could to make it happen. Scutaro used the back of the back to dig in and get more muscle on the throw as opposed to getting in the air and mitigating the impact.
Moreover, it's the 2b (or SSs) job to drop down sidearm and get that runner on his ass. I know when I was playing infield, I was taught that if I take a pivot and a runner is bearing down on me, tilt my shoulders and come in from low with the throw. That runner will get his ass on the ground or he'll take it in the face. It's pretty damn apparent as a baserunner what's happening as that windup starts - they
always get down.
Holliday's slide was late, Scutaro didn't do nearly enough to protect himself. Both parties had some fault in it but in the end I'll at least recognize that I'd be looking for heads if someone did that to one of our middle infielders (unless it was Tyler Greene or Ryan Theriot).
Danny D should keep his head on a swivel around the bag.