Four months after the Dodgers' Chase Utley triggered a national debate on takeout slides at second base, Major League Baseball has explicitly outlawed the kind of slide that Utley used.
Under new rules announced Thursday, runners trying to break up a double play must make "a bona fide attempt to reach and remain on the base." Contact with the infielder is permitted, but runners cannot change direction once they start their slide or use the "roll block" that Utley used on New York Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada in the National League division series.