Oh boy what an afternoon it was in my mentions after posting this slide by Anthony Rizzo at home, where he took out the Pittsburgh Pirates catcher.
Here’s the play.
Here's the Rizzo slide at home #Cubs #Pirates pic.twitter.com/u9HHXmFmNr
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) May 28, 2018
The play was reviewed and the call stood, as no rules were broken by Rizzo, who touched home plate after taking out Elias Diaz. Immediately everyone wanted Rizzo’s head on a platter.
Cubs' Anthony Rizzo slides into home while clipping the leg of Pirates catcher Elias Diaz. The Pirates challenged the play, lost, and Hurdle got ejected. pic.twitter.com/YIJ1XaLA62
— Matt Freed (@mattfreedpghpg) May 28, 2018
It obviously looked very bad, but I’ll put the blame on MLB. Make the rule clearer. If something is so universally called dirty, then make that play illegal. The problem here is that it wasn’t illegal and Rizzo was playing within the rules. He was trying to break up a double play.
Anyway, this will be debated forever, but just know that even Pirates players told Rizzo the slide was clean.
Rizzo said a few Pirates players told him later that his slide was clean. Rizzo said he checked with Diaz to make sure he was OK.
— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) May 28, 2018
Nothing happened after the slide. Rizzo wasn’t hit and he and Diaz had a short talk before Rizzo’s last at-bat in the game.
