Ok here's the deal on the Tex slide.  THIS IS NOT A DIRTY PLAY! 

As you look at the replay pay attention to how hard Tex is running FROM 2nd BASE!  Ok this big guy has his motor running at full throttle and has one thing on his mind at this point . . . SCORE!  It's what ANY baseball player would be thinking.  I GUARANTEE he didn't have ANY time to think about how he was going to level the Angel's catcher.

Now . . . everyone put yourselves in Mark's shoes and imagine running up that 3rd base baseline and seeing out your left eye that throw coming in and at the same time picking up Jorge telling Mark to slide.  Lot's going on here ok?  Now . . . notice that the ball hit the catcher's face mask so when he went up to get the ball off his mask it put him in a vunerable position. 

IMAGINE the play had the ball HIT HIS GLOVE!  Mark didn't know it would carom off his facemask . . he's thinking and SO WOULD ANY OF YOU, the catcher HAS the ball!  Instincts then send you into collision mode and the rest is history.

It is IMPERATIVE to look at what would have happened IF the ball hit the catcher's glove because that's all Tex is seeing.  No time to see it go up in the air.

I challenge ANYONE to show me in the tape at what point Mark should have decided to hook slide!  There was no time to make that decision.  Now, we'll all get to listen to the nimwits on the FOX broadcast today chastize Mark for playing solid hard-nosed baseball.  Oh the agony!