When I was 10 years old, I was ejected for a late slide into second base. I cried all the way to the dugout in shock. Looking back, I was either too big of a kid to fold my legs in mid-air (sorry, but frosting is too delicious) or simply had the biggest brain fart of all time. That led to a spikes-up slide into a poor kid's arm.
I deserved to be tossed. Sliding into anything but a base in baseball can be incredibly dangerous for both the runner and the fielder. Ask Ray Fossey how he felt after Pete Rose leveled him, or Buster Posey when a player broke his leg.
Sometimes, a slide is so bad (no, terrible!) that it can't be ruled as anything other than intentional. That's what took place at the 2015 Cache Valley Clash in Utah.
Intentional Slide Takes Out Catcher
RELATED: Little Leaguer Trucks Catcher, Gets Ejected Immediately
It doesn't get any more obvious than that.
A runner for the Davis Bulldogs 12U squad makes his way home on a simple ground ball that the fielder is throwing to first. He could have scored standing up if he wanted to.
Instead, he chose to take out the innocent opposing catcher. The player is standing a good four or five feet away from home plate. He's basically telling the runner, "hey, go ahead and score. There's not going to be a play here."
The runner goes for the latest slide of all time and kicks the catcher in the process. He goes down hard and needs help for a few minutes but looks to be OK. Who knows what could've happened? He could've torn something in his knee or ankle.
What was he thinking here?
Screenshot from YouTube
The worst part is that the umpire saw it all and didn't immediately eject the freakin' kid. What gives? The Bulldogs player walks right off like nothing happened. Hopefully he at least said sorry.
We've seen umpires pull the trigger on ejections for nasty collisions like this one. Why this one didn't do the same is beyond me.
