Dodgers infielder Chase Utley will not have to serve a suspension for his controversial slide into Ruben Tejada in last season’s NLDS, a source tells Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). Utley was supposed to sit out two more games to round out his suspension.
During the seventh inning of Game 2 of the NLDS, Utley’s hard slide broke up a double play and broke Tejada’s fibula. In the end, the Mets bested the Dodgers and went on to the World Series, but they were subsequently without the services of their starting shortstop.
MLB’s Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre determined that Utley made a “rolling block … away from the base” when he took out Tejada. However, there was no rule against such a slide until this winter.
The 36-year-old Utley joined the Dodgers after an August trade with the Phillies and hit just .202/.291/.363, numbers that don’t come close to his All-Star years. In December, the Dodgers and Utley reached agreement on a new one-year, $7MM deal. This year, the Dodgers might be hoping he improves somewhat offensively, making him a valuable player when coupled with his defensive abilities.
When asked for his reaction to today’s news, Mets GM Sandy Alderson said he’s just glad the sliding rule has been changed, as Adam Rubin of ESPN.com writes.
The right outcome. Utley should never have faced any sanction for a play that was ruled to be within the rules of the game at the time it occurred. Not sure what Torre was thinking. Maybe that he needed to get the conversation started on changing the rule, but that was already in process.
Torre acted so he wouldn’t take heat from the public eye.
If that same play happened between Freddy Galvis and Justin Bour in the middle of June, no one would even mention it.
What does he care about that? Maybe he was trying to accomplish something politically, but I can’t see what it was, and it’s really clear now that his overruling of the umpires on the field did not have any influence on the rule change.
And a needed correction to the wording of the story: Utley appealed his suspension, so he sat out no games as a result of it.
Suspending him in the first place was an overreaction. MLB did exactly what they needed to do, in the wake of the issue of takeout slide they changed the rule in the offseason. Keeping him suspended would have been a bad joke.
True enough, but just to clarify, he appealed the suspension, so technically at least, he never missed any games as a result of it.
Agreed. Get rid of the “Pansy Posey” rule.
a play like that may not have been against the rules, but it was a deliberately dangerous play and it needed addressing. And doing away with the Posey rule? seriously? If you want to watch brutal career threatening hits, go watch football.
I don’t have a problem with keeping players safe, but the Posey rule has its issues. Some of the calls that have been produced from that rule are a joke. Don’t get rid of the Posey rule, but fix it.
This is absolutely absurd. The slide was dirty, no question about it. This is the most ridiculous solution: his suspension just WENT AWAY. There was no appeal process or actual appeal. The suspension was just removed?
Chase Utley did appeal, the hearing was then postponed, and the suspension has since been dropped.
Presumably, because the MLB had no grounds within the rules to suspend him.
He appealed immediately. Supposedly the appeal hearing was to occur before the NLDS resumed in New York, but of course that never happened, so the suspension was never in effect. I am still puzzled by what Torre thought he was accomplishing by ordering it.
Likewise – completely puzzled, it was based on absolutely nothing. There wasn’t even a cloudy case to put forward.
The slide wasn’t technically against the rules. Granted everyone who saw the play knew touching second wasn’t his primary goal, but still it wasn’t technically illegal. The rule has been changed which is the only necessary outcome of this incident.
I see the Dodgers, Braves and Phillies fans have been active on the site. Most of the remaining baseball world feels differently about this subject and does not like it when football meets baseball.
But there is one very necessary outcome of this incident which has not occurred yet, and cannot occur until May 27th, when the Dodgers play the Mets for the first time. Somewhere around May 25th, the Mets need to call up a flamethrowing RP from AAA, whose only job will be to go headhunting when Utley comes to bat. If Utley gets hit in the face with a 98mph fb, THEN justice will be served. When he can take dirty play, as well as give it, then we’ll talk. Until then, he’s just a hypocrite like most posters on here.
If the Mets have a guy who can throw 98 on the button like that, get him up already!
This is rich. You preach against hard hits in baseball and then say you want a player to get hit in the face with a 98 mph fastball. If you want a hypocrite why don’t you try looking in the mirror.
But remember, he speaks for most of the baseball world. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Been watching baseball for over 30 years, maybe it’s the millenniums that think it’s a dirty play (wouldn’t surprise me, they are America’s softest generation …ever, with few exceptions) … But it was a true heads up play, given the rules at the time. It was old school,… I loved ever moment of it, except the freak accident that happened with tejada breaking his leg. They could redo that play 100 times and 99 times tejada would get up and shake it off… Complete over reaction. tejeda needs to look himself in the mirror too. … He should know that impersonating a ballerina why trying to force a double play throw that had a 100% chance of not happening at best …. Isn’t good for the game of baseball or his own personal career …
Lastly …. Somewhere Harry K is saying “Chase Utley …. YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!” True then, true today.
I’m definitely not a millennial but I thought it was a dirty play. Remember old school also included high leg spiking. Slides like Utley’s and Coghlan’s were not the 1 in a 100 slides. They were the kind of slides that were meant to injure. They barely tried to touch the bag. It was lousy sportsman ship.
Now before you try to claim I’m “soft,” I personally believe a catcher’s job is to block the plat at all cost and should be prepared for collisions. The catcher isn’t just wearing protection because he’s expected to catch over 100 hard and fast pitches. He’s also there to get beaten up. The thing with Posey was an overreaction especially when you consider several gold glove catchers felt Posey’s injury was a result of him misplaying his position. But again that’s different.
If we’re going to keep the takeout slide then we need the new rule because Utley, while committing a legal play at the time, didn’t have his priority on second base. His priority was to attack.
Agree with everything you said, except one thing: Posey’s injury was a result of a throw from right field that came up on Posey and forced him to put himself in a vulnerable position with his weight planted on the leg that got torqued when he got hit. The hit was mid body and I felt was ok. A throw that took a high hop put Posey in a planted position, not one where he could absorb the hit and roll with it. And I am a big Posey fan…that hit cost us our 2011 season.
Honestly I can’t remember the play. But I do remember Johnny Bench’s and a few others commenting afterwards. That’s what I’m basing my comments about Posey on, the opinions of the experts.
I remember some guys coming out and saying that Posey put himself in a vulnerable position, which he did as a result of the throw. I suppose he probably shouldn’t have tried to lean back and field it, he probably should have just tried to catch it on the short hop and make the play. Even if he can’t come up with the throw, he is not going to put his weight on one foot and will just get rolled across a batter’s box. But he would have been in the rest of the game and season…just with sore ribs.
You don’t like when football meets baseball, but you condone bringing up a player to purposely hit a batter. You’re not a hypocrite at all…
Wow.
I just watched a replay of the slide on the Mets pre season game. Watching the play now , it is obvious that Utley made no attempt to reach second base. He didn’t start his purported slide until he was past the base. He never even made contact with the base. He took out, and seriously injured an opposing player that had no opportunity to make a double play. For his vicious effort he was awarded second base. Baseball spends the offseason debating how to stop such plays, and today they condone it. Sad.
There’s a difference between condoning something, and having zero grounds to punish someone.
Oh well, guess the players will have to keep policing themselves. Which, I’m perfectly fine with. So don’t be surprised if this guy gets plunked again by Harvey.
Speaking of high and tight. Syndergaard, the Royals are waiting for you.
While you’re at it the rest of the league will be waiting for volquez
I’m pretty sure you mean Ventura, but nice try.lol
It was not a perfectly clean play he deliberately ran out of the basepath to break up a double play and injure a player he never touch second base walked off the field of play and set down on the bench that means you’re out
hes being sarcastic
First, he’s right (sans sarcasm).
Second, what’s this “further” business? He didn’t serve any suspension, and rightly so.
For all that say there is no rule against a take out slide are technically correct. The rule is to make an effort to touch second base, and no rule stating when you should start your slide, etc. However, there is no rule stating that a pitcher who beans a guy gets suspended, but yet they are suspended all the time. And why? Because there is intent to injure. They are within the rules to go up and in, but if there is deemed to be intent, then they are subject to suspension. I don’t feel that there is any doubt that Utley acted to injure with his rolling chop block. I feel two games was light considering how he rolled into Tejada, so at least Torre could have kept the two game penalty.
And to go on record, I am not a fan of Posey rule. But if someone goes into a catcher or middle infielder at a vulnerable spot (head, knees) they should get a suspension or not complain when they get drilled or get the favor repaid to them or a teammate.
There is no doubt that Utley was trying to break up the DP and absolutely none whatsoever that he wanted to hurt anyone. In fact that accusation is baseless and pretty seriously awful. Middle infielders get upended thousands of times a season on similar plays, without anyone getting hurt, but if every so often someone does, it doesn’t suddenly prove an intention to cause injury. The Torre ruling was bizarre because it was outside of the rules as they were in effect at the time the play occurred. No way it was going to be upheld on appeal and Torre has already essentially admitted as much. The rule is different now, and that’s probably a good thing, but the flip side is the neighborhood play is now reviewable, and that’s likely going result in a bigger change to the play of the game than the Utley rule.
If you do not intend to slide (which Utley clearly did not), then I do not know what you are intending to do other than injure someone when you dive directly into their knees. Do infielders get upended? Sure, I’m not saying they don’t. But Utley was close enough on the play to break it up without having to break Tejada’s leg. If Utley actually slides, he would have forced Tejada to jump and not get much on the throw, or make a bad throw.
Would Torre have felt the same way if a Boston player had broken Jeter’s leg in an ALCS when Torre was managing? I am going to bet he would not call that a ‘good baseball play.’
Now you seem confused. Torre did attempt to overrule the on-field umpires the day after the game by issuing the suspension, but just a few days ago, he admitted that in fact Utley broke no rule that was actually in effect at the time. Even Tejada and the Mets GM have no problem with the outcome, but some fans, they are going to carry this torch forever, no matter what anyone says, even if it takes fabricating the ludicrous assumption that Utley was actually tying to break Tejada’s leg. The principals have all gotten over it. Maybe it’s time for the holdout fans to get over it too.
Not confused. Not playing Dodger apologist either. So Torre issued suspension, then recanted. Who is confused? Why did it take Torre 4 months to change his mind? Go look at Torre’s interview with Rosenthal the day after the suspension. Torre mentioned it was ‘egregious and completely unacceptable.’ But now it is not. Sounds like Torre is confused. And I already mentioned that Utley did not break a rule (if you had read my first post). But that doesn’t matter with intent to injure. If a beanball war breaks out, there are no rules broken. But there are suspensions.
Not ludicrous to assume that Utley intended to injure. Just go look at his past slides. Late (past bag) and into players knees…even on plays where he could have been safe! There is a reason nobody likes Chase Utley. Even my Dodger friends said it was a dirty slide.
If you have any theories about why Torre did what he did, by all means, come out with them. As I have said several times already, I am puzzled by him taking a position that he could not possibly defend. It seemed so in October, and even more so now that has admitted as much.
What your friends say does not matter. Who likes or dislikes Chase Utley does not matter. Only the rules of the game do.
I am not going to get into why Torre changed his mind. I have no idea why he did it. All I know is what his actions were and what he said in his interview after the slide, and now he has changed his mind. Why? Who knows.
You are not grasping what I am saying about the rules. Utley did not break a rule, because the rule was vague at best. But there is no rule against putting one in a guy’s ribs either. But yet, a pitcher gets suspended if there is deemed to be intent. Happens all the time.
And I will agree with one thing: what my Dodger friends say doesn’t matter. 😉
But no one likes Chase Utley.
I completely grasp your argument about the rules, I just don’t find any basis to agree with it. Torre did not attempt to assign any rule violation to the play that actually existed. I said his action didn’t make any sense at the time, and anyone who did not see that then should certainly see it now. A lot of the discussion on this subject is about how we’re supposed to feel, and who we are supposed to like or dislike, as if this is a sandlot game where the rules get made up on the spot. In a pro game it should not work that way at all. That’s the meat of what I am saying, so I suppose I could claim that you are not grasping that. Though I imagine you are.
We will see if the rule change results in fewer collisions and injuries on that play. An argument could be made that it will produce just the opposite result. No telling how it will affect real life game situations until it’s around for awhile. I predict that fans may end up not loving the rule a whole lot.
Hypocrite huh? MLB apparently does not care what you do on the field. Nothing happened to Utley, so I am advocating that they take care of it on the field, and Utley will get exactly what’s coming to him. My only lament is that we don’t have Verlander on our team this year, because that’s a guy who knows how to hit someone. EVERY team ought to be headhunting with Utley to let him, and MLB know they don’t like this kind of thing and if the MLB won’t take care of it off the field, then the players will take care of it ON the field.
That’s exactly why you have a guy from AAA do it. They don’t have the control for the bigs yet, which is why they are still in AAA. Can’t find anyone in AAA who throws 98? Maybe your farm system isn’t very deep, because it’s not that hard to find one. Just hard to find the ones who can control it.
As for speaking for the league, the results on this were pretty clear at time it happened. Braves, Phillies, Dodgers and dirty players/fans lined up on one side, while almost everyone else condemned it.
MLB had their chance to remedy the situation and does not want to. The players will have their say now. I imagine if your ability to make millions of dollars was threatened by one of the dirtiest players in the league, you would feel otherwise and could wear the hypocrite hat for a while.
Are you trying to insult anyone in particular, or a whole lot of people in general?
No, I’m saying that many people have blinders on right now. Chase Utley himself has a TERRIBLE time with things when he’s at 2b and players try to take him out on totally legitimate slides. If Utley is the one doing the dirty play, it’s totally fine, but if he’s on the receiving end, it’s unacceptable. Philly fan never brings any of this up though. He’s just a hard nosed player.
Braves fans: Try this one on for size: Rewind the clock back to 1995 WS game 7 in against the Indians. During a fluke play, Chipper covers 2nd base. During the play, Albert Belle pulls an Utley, breaks Chipper’s leg, and ends his career while the Indians go on to win the game and WS. Would Braves fan still feel the same about the play now?
Dodger fan, try this one out: It’s the 2016 NLCS, Dodgers vs Cubs. It’s Game 7 and Vin’s last shot at another WS and it’s been a magical season because Kershaw is a gimme for the CY, while Seager will get the ROY. The Dodgers are winning 3-2 in the 8th inning, while fans are making plans for the WS. Then Shane Victorino pulls an Utley, breaks Seager’s leg, and scores the winning run on the next play, while Seager is on his way to the hospital. Seager comes back next season, but his leg is never the same and he is forced to retire. Now how does Dodger fan feel about it?
You can argue about it all you want, but it doesn’t change anything. Try wearing the shoe for a while and then see how you feel about it.
No different, to people who at least try to be objective.
What you fail to grasp is that while Chase dishes it out he also takes it . The guy has been HBP over 175 times in his career. By your logic he should have charged the mound a few times and beat the crap out of whomever was pitching. And you are out of your mind if you think he was intentionally trying to injure Tejada.
Matt Holliday did the same thing to Marco Scutaro a few years ago in the playoffs. Darn near the same slide, in the same situation, with the same result. Why is nobody talking about that?
“Further”? Further to what? He gets zero suspension, and rightly so.
Ever since I started playing ball we were taught to slide similar to what happened there. There’s a lot of things to the game that should happen as they are part of the tradition. Some people get hurt, but when you play a sport like this there’s always a chance of getting hurt. You might get hit in the face with a fastball, might take a come backer to the noggin as a pitcher, might take a bad hop to the face…..All sorts of things can happen. Should they play with incrediballs? I mean really……There’s risks you take when playing a sport and there’s ways to help prevent injury. I played 3B mainly however I also played middle infield as was always told about the risk of having a broken leg from someone trying to break up a double play. I also had catcher instincts and took plenty of cleats to my legs and even chest playing the infield, blocking the base. We don’t need to keep poosifying sports because of the media and internet. We need the next generations to grow a pair and stop being coddled.
Pitchers use to be taught to be in a defensive position after they pitch but it’s all about throwing as hard as you can now. The pitchers that get smacked in the face with a come back shot….oh well! Jeremy Guthrie is one of the best examples of this. 99% of the time he’s ready for anything to come back to him.
The lady from Long Island medium contacted Ty Cobb, he said that it was a clean play
It’s funny that so many of you think Utley even slid. He actually made a flying tackle in an upright kneeling position. So much so that he couldn’t reach down and to the left to even touch the base because his upper body was….. upright. A flying tackle is exactly what Michael Cuddyer called it. He was right.
Look at this video and you’ll see that his knees didn’t even hit the ground until after they passed the bag.
youtube.com/watch?v=Y-d-cxj6LJM
The only part of him that touched the ground between 1st base and 2nd base were his cleats. That’s an illegal slide and it should have been called interference and that was his intent, to interfere with Tejada. I don’t believe he intended to hurt him, just interfere with him under the guise of being able to touch the base while breaking up a double play. He couldn’t touch 2nd base because he was not in a position to do so. His intent by virtue of not being in a position to touch the base was over-ridden by his intent to interfere with Tejada.