Utley Suspended for Games 3&4

[HeavenlyHalos]

Tejada was turned the wrong way and Utley ended up with a face plant. It's the playoffs and it's hard nosed baseball. The slide was intended to break up a double play but not intended to hurt Tejada. Aybar slides wide all the time. It's baseball.

 

Bullshit. He started his slide pretty much at the base, went wide and had his torso up by the time contact was made making it incredibly dangerous. He made zero attempt at touching the bag. It's an illegal slide and I really hope they suspend him for this.

[tomsred]

It's a dirty play made even dirtier by Utley. Came in way too late and way too high.

 

That being said, I'm not sure what Tejada was thinking. No way in hell he was going to get the runner at first.

 

Tejada wasn't thinking, he was reacting.

[tomsred]

Blog This

Bullshit. He started his slide pretty much at the base, went wide and had his torso up by the time contact was made making it incredibly dangerous. He made zero attempt at touching the bag. It's an illegal slide and I really hope they suspend him for this.

 

I think they will suspend him for this, at least for the remainder of this series.

[ELEVEN]

Bullshit. He started his slide pretty much at the base, went wide and had his torso up by the time contact was made making it incredibly dangerous. He made zero attempt at touching the bag. It's an illegal slide and I really hope they suspend him for this.

Yep. He should be tossed from postseason play.

[arch stanton]

 

Remember this one?

 

When I started watching sports 40 something years ago there were certain things you didn't do because there was a consequence for it. You didn't run certain routes over the middle, you didn't go weak for a layup, you didn't crowd the plate, and you didn't stay planted at 2nd base because you knew the runner couldn't go back to his dugout if he let you do a pirouette and turn a pretty double play. I'm not saying it was right or wrong, just the reality of the game. I personally hate overreacting to every incident. I'd prefer to let each play stand on it's own merit and let the players decide what can and can't be tolerated in the game.

[HeavenlyHalos]

"Always called him one of my toughest teammates...Utley showing why I always called him a winner!!!" - Shane Victorino

 

Yes, making an illegal and dangerous play where the chance of injury is high is the sign of a true winner.

[Stradling]

Why is it 2nd base is the only place something like this is even questionable, for the record I like hard clean baseball, but this wasn't clean. Here's a different perspective for all of you. Let's say Aybar is at second with one or zero outs. There's a slow ground ball to third, Aybar runs to third and turns and heads for home, the guy who hit the ball runs to first and slides like that, takes out the first baseman and Aybar easily scores. If that happened MLB would absolutely lose its collective shit. Well it really isn't any different than what happened tonight.

[Sciosciapath]

Remember this one?

When I started watching sports 40 something years ago there were certain things you didn't do because there was a consequence for it. You didn't run certain routes over the middle, you didn't go weak for a layup, you didn't crowd the plate, and you didn't stay planted at 2nd base because you knew the runner couldn't go back to his dugout if he let you do a pirouette and turn a pretty double play. I'm not saying it was right or wrong, just the reality of the game. I personally hate overreacting to every incident. I'd prefer to let each play stand on it's own merit and let the players decide what can and can't be tolerated in the game.

I don't want to get old . I'm hanging onto my 20s for deer life.

Back to the slide. An underrated part of the play was the crappy flip to 2nd by Murphy. Hung Tejada out to dry and "pulled him" out of range of the neighborhood play. A better, more crisp flip and Tejada isn't set up to be bulldozed like that, and they possibly turn the DP.

[ScottT]

Remember when dudes didn't wear helmets?

[Guest]

Like others have mentioned, this type of play is despicable. Utley slid way too late and was clearly gunning for Tejada.

Edited October 11, 2015 by failos

[arch stanton]

As far as Utley's slide, I thought it was more incompetent than malicious. He decided way too late to get down and I think Tejada's spin move caught him by surprise. He's been a middle infielder long enough to have an idea of when to give up on a DP turn. I would have called interference because he never got close to touching the bag.

[tomsred]

Why is it 2nd base is the only place something like this is even questionable, for the record I like hard clean baseball, but this wasn't clean. Here's a different perspective for all of you. Let's say Aybar is at second with one or zero outs. There's a slow ground ball to third, Aybar runs to third and turns and heads for home, the guy who hit the ball runs to first and slides like that, takes out the first baseman and Aybar easily scores. If that happened MLB would absolutely lose its collective shit. Well it really isn't any different than what happened tonight.

 

Exactly Strad, it's the inconsistency in the rules that will be brought to question here, or should be anyway.  We protect catchers now, I guess the rest of the players in the infield are easily replaceable, and are not worthy of further injury protection.  Maybe if good shortstops were as rare as good catchers someone would take action.

[Ohtaniland]

If Tejada didn't get injured on the play....nobody would be talking about the slide. The game is turning really soft.

[HeavenlyHalos]

So that makes an illegal slide less-illegal or something?

[gotbeer]

Looking at the play.  Hard but clean.  Utley had his hand on the base.  Not that far off the base at all.  Tejada did the spin move putting him in danger.  

 

[tomsred]

If Tejada didn't get injured on the play....nobody would be talking about the slide. The game is turning really soft.

 

Better soft than inconsistent or stupid, don't you think?  The first part of your statement is not entirely correct, because I think if the league does not suspend Utley the Mets would most likely retaliate, and that may get someone injured worse.  Maybe they will anyway, but you know the league officials will be keeping a close eye on it.  I think it's entirely fair that if you lose a player in this manner, then the initiating team should also lose one as well.

 

By handling it this way I think you will foster some respect between players that causing injury is not in the spirit of the game whether the intent was there or not.  Baseball players, though rather young compared to other professions, have devoted their young lives to playing this game as a means of providing for their families, and building a career, maybe the only career they will ever have, and a serious injury can end that suddenly.  The NFL doesn't seem to get this, they need to protect their players more.  Because they haven't done a very adequate job of this, someday (my opinion) it may severely hamper professional football.

Edited October 11, 2015 by tomsred

[ScottT]

Remember when players didn't wear gloves?

[Season Over]

A Howie Kendrick double play ball is national news. How about that.

[Season Over]

Dodger fans cheering their extra out while the injury cart was taking an opposing player off the field was just fantastic.

[arch stanton]

The more I watch that play the more I realize that I've never seen a MI with so little situational awareness that he actually spun back into the path of the oncoming runner assuming he could make a turn that late in the process without a collision.

[nando714]

"@ShaneVictorino Always called him one of my toughest teammates...Utley showing why I always called him a winner!!! #MLBPlayoffs"

[Adam]

Bummer the dude got hurt. I'm cool with the slide

[Tank]

congrats to Chase Uttley for getting the rule changed next year.

[Tank]

it's a dirty slide and should have been called so immediately by the ump, who i assume has some discretionary power out there.

 

tejada, whether or not he should have, put himself in a position where he couldn't defend himself. Uttley has every right to break up the double play, but this slide happened about one foot before he hit the base, and that makes his intent more than just breaking up the DP. 

 

this is a dangerous slide that will continue to result in more players being injured, and that's why it needs to be outlawed immediately.

 

if Uttley isn't suspended for this, and he should be, i imagine he's going to be hit pretty regularly by mets pitchers for the rest of the series.

[fan_since79]

I've watched the play many times now and it looked like Tejada touched the side of the bag with his toe. He spun around with his back to Utley and put himself in a bad position to get hit.

 

One of the rare times I agree with you. Tejada should have kept going in the direction he was running and then tried to throw. Utley would have had to go even further out of the baseline to hit him.  Of course, Kendrick would have probably beaten the throw in that event.