History of The Slide in Baseball

Overview

You have many ways to help your baseball team win. One of them is baserunning. It's not just about speed. Great baserunners have instincts about the fielder who is throwing the ball and the situation his team faces in a game. He also knows how to get a good jump off the base and slide properly to avoid a tag. A proper slide can be the difference in winning and losing.

Early Slides

The slide was made famous before the 20th century by "Sliding" Billy Hamilton, who played for the Kansas City Cowboys, Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Beaneaters. Hamilton was an excellent hitter who used his speed to become the first prolific base stealer in the game's history. Hamilton finished his career with 937 stolen bases and once stole seven bases in a game.

Spikes High

In the early part of the 20th century, the game turned quite vicious and players not only tried to win games, they also tried to injure their opponents. John McGraw, the manager of the New York Giants, urged his players to go into a base with their spikes high and attempt to cut a fielder who tried to tag a Giant base runner out. McGraw's Giants were one of the game's dominant teams and they set a trend that others followed. Nobody picked up the "spikes high" sliding routine more than Ty Cobb. The Detroit Tigers' star center fielder may have been the best hitter to play the game and he finished his career with 892 stolen bases when he retired after the 1928 season. Cobb would sharpen his metal spikes before games to intimidate opposing fielders who attempted to tag him out. Baseball eventually stopped base runners from sharpening their spikes and attempting to injure competitors.

Head First Slide

While the practice can lead to injury, the head-first slide is often looked at by baseball players as one of the most efficient ways of sliding into a base effectively. The upside of sliding head first is that you can easily maneuver your body and your hands on a close play, and you have a better chance of avoiding a tag. The downside is that it can lead to injury. A fielder may slap a hard tag down and injure a player's wrists or fingers. That tag could miss the player's hands and end up hitting him in the head, leading to additional injuries. Many players have used the head first slide over the years but Pete Rose mastered it during his career with the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos. Hall of Famer Ricky Henderson, baseball's all-time leader in stolen bases, also used the head first slide to dominate the game. He is baseball's all-time leader in stolen bases with 1,406.