Phillies fans know Chase Utley to be a hard-nosed player, one that is willing to go all out to get the job done. He did just that for the Dodgers on Saturday night as a base runner in the seventh inning, after getting a pinch-hit single. On a ground ball hit up the middle by second baseman Howie Kendrick, Utley went in to second base hard to try to break up the double play. While he succeeded in doing so, his late slide caused him to also collide with Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada, with the latter having to leave the game due to injury. It was later reported that Tejada had a fractured right fibula, and will likely be sidelined for the rest of the postseason.
To put it simply, this was a controversial play. While his aggressive slide broke up the play and allowed the Dodgers to tie the game and later tack on more runs to win, Utley's decision to slide so late was one that severely injured another player and upset both fans and players.
Twitter blew up after the play, with many former and current players sharing their thoughts on the legal, but questionable, slide. Some called the play dirty, saying that Utley's intent was to hurt Tejada. Others pointed out the legality of the play, noting that Utley plays hard and was trying to do his job in breaking up the double play.
While talking to reporters after the game, Utley made it clear that there was “no intent to injure” the Mets' shortstop.
“Any time you have an opportunity to try to break up a double play, you should do your best to do that … My focus was seeing the ball. I didn't realize that his back was turned. Everything obviously happens fast and I tried to break it up.”
His counterpart in the incident was not made available for comment, but both managers tried to stay calm when asked about the play during each of their respective press conferences. Neither chose to directly convey their feelings about Utley's last minute slide.
Ironically, this is not the first time that Utley and Tejada have crashed at second base. A similar play occurred in 2010, while Utley was still with the Phillies. The play itself was similar, and Mets players made it known that they did not appreciate the last minute slide.
Chief Baseball Operator Joe Torre made a note of mentioning during his press conference that Major League Baseball is going to implement rules in the upcoming fall leagues regarding slides into second base. One can't help but wonder if this could have prevented what happened tonight.
Rebecca Serad (@rserad26) is a contributor of Philliedelphia.com.
