KC Royals: Was Brett Lawrie Slide Into Escobar Really Dirty?

Apr 17, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar (2) lays on the ground after getting hurt on a play at second, as he is attended by a trainer against the Oakland Athletics during the sixth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

With the KC Royals beginning a three game set in Oakland this weekend, the Brett Lawrie slide that injured Alcides Escobar two months ago will, inevitably, be on both team’s minds.

Will the Kansas City Royals and Oakland A’s endure another ugly weekend of beanballs, brawls, and bitter words?

Who knows? Which, of course, is a big reason we watch.

WE JUST DON’T KNOW.

Back in April, Brett Lawrie’s spikes-high slide into Alcides Escobar’s ankle touched off multiple bench-clearing brawls. KC Royals pitchers Yordano Ventura and Kelvin Herrera, two pitchers who throw north of 100 miles per hour, launched beanballs at Lawrie on successive days.

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So with the Royals/A’s tiff now back in the baseball world’s consciousness, it’s a good time to revisit the issue: Was Brett Lawrie’s Slide Dirty?

ESPN.com’s Tim Kurkjian wrote a fantastic piece on the issue of what makes a dirty slide. Of course, the Lawrie incident formed a big part of the story, and Kurkjian found that opinions among players and coaches were divided about the Lawrie/Escobar collision.

Kurkjian, however, discovered a lot of interesting information that applies to this question.

Next: Today's Players Don't Know How To Slide

Jun 21, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics infielder Brett Lawrie (15) prepares to slide safely into second base after hitting a double against the Los Angeles Angels in the second inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

CURRENT PLAYERS DON’T KNOW HOW TO SLIDE 

Thirty years ago, collisions at second base were far more common. Breaking up a double play was a baseball fundamental that guys practiced every day.

Betsided

Part of it was the lower run-scoring environment in the pre-steroid era. Teams had to do the little things to score runs before station-to-station baseball became the norm due to the rise of sabermetrics and an offensive era when balls regularly flew out of the park.

Clawing for extra baserunners by breaking up a double play didn’t seem worth it.

Consequently, players don’t practice breaking up the double play like they did in days gone by.

Current Phillies bench coach and former six-time All-Star shortstop Larry Bowa told Kurkjian:

“These guys today have no idea how to slide. It’s unreal to me. [Back when I played] we’d wear pads, we’d do hook slides, we’d practice how to get to the infielder if he was on the inside of the bag or if he stepped back to throw. There are so many intricacies of the game that good players today don’t know. How can guys be so athletic today and not know how to slide?”

Seattle coach Andy Van Slyke is also disturbed by the lack of sliding craft among today’s players. He told Kurkjian:

“Guys don’t know how to slide today,” Van Slyke said. “So many of the finer points of the game have been lost because we don’t teach them on the minor league level. When I came up with the Cardinals, [legendary instructor] George Kissel used to take us in the outfield grass — so we wouldn’t tear up our legs — throw a base down, we’d put on sliding pants, and we’d practice sliding into a base. We practice sliding today, but it’s in spring training, it’s indoors and it’s on mats. That’s not sliding. And we’re not teaching how to break up a double play.”

However, today’s players lack of sliding craft explains only part of the problem:

Next: Today's Middle Infielders Don't Know How To Protect Themselves

Jun 13, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar (2) tags out St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

TODAY’S MIDDLE INFIELDERS DON’T KNOW HOW TO EVADE

Along with the lost craft of sliding, today’s middle infielders don’t know how to protect themselves.

Guys like for KC Royals designated hitter Hal McRae, George Brett, and Kansas City Royals/Oakland Raiders legend Bo Jackson routinely slid hard into second base to break up the double play.

It was how the old school KC Royals played baseball.

Heck, Hal McRae used to cross body block middle infielders, hitting opponents with his shoulder or the side of his body.

Take a look at this play from the 1977 ALCS:

Thus, middle infielders practiced how to avoid collisions out of self-preservation.

Former Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg (he resigned Friday), who was a Hall-Of-Fame second baseman during his playing days for the Cubs, told Kurkjian:

“I watch guys take ground balls, and for three days in a row, they don’t even work on making the double play [under fire]. We did that every day!” Bowa said. “Look, when Lou Brock came into the bag that hard, you had to learn to get the ball and get out of the way. You have to practice that. You had better have some diversity on your turns, or the runner will be right on you.”

Kurkjian attributed the Lawrie/Escobar collision to the perfect storm of a base-runner that didn’t know how to slide, an infielder playing out of position due to a shift, and a ball hit in an awkward position.

I’m not so charitable. As I explain on the next slide:

Next: Why I Believe Brett Lawrie Knew What He Was Doing