the institute for preventative sports medicine

College and professional minor league baseball players sustained 80 percent fewer sliding injuries on "break-away" bases than on a stationary base, in a study presented at the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) Winter Meeting.

The study looked at 19 teams that played NCAA and professional minor league baseball games using both break-away and traditional bases for two consecutive seasons. The teams played 498 games on stationary bases (away games) and 486 games on break-away bases (home games). Players sustained ten sliding related injuries during games when traditional bases were used and only two during games when break-away bases were used. Furthermore, the amount of time missed as a result of break-away base injuries was significantly less than time loss due to stationary base injuries. Season ending injuries only occurred on stationary bases.

Dr. Janda pointed out that college and professional baseball players receive sliding instruction and develop better techniques than recreational players, and, therefore, do not sustain as many injuries. Nevertheless, significant numbers of sliding injuries occur among high performance athletes even at the major league level. (Last year Dione Sanders of the Atlanta Brave, Chris Sabo of the Cincinnati Reds, Dave Gallagher of the New York Mets and several other major league players missed games due to injuries sustained sliding into bases.)