Chase Utley remains public enemy number one in the City of New York after a hard slide into second base broke Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada's leg, but prepares to play tonight at Citi Field. Utley was issued a two-game suspension from Major League Baseball. As Utley gets ready to take the field, he issued a statement.
Via Yahoo's Big League Stew, Utley said:
“The Players Association and my agent are handling the appeals process. I have nothing more to say other than to reiterate that I feel terrible about Ruben's injury. Now my teammates and I are focused on Game 3 and doing everything we can to win this series."
While an appeal was set to happen quickly, the appeal will not take place prior to the game in New York, or Tuesday night's game, for that matter.
With no real precedence for the suspension, Major League Baseball may not wish to rush this decision during the playoffs. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, Utley's former manager and bench coach Larry Bowa took to Power Alley on MLB Network Radio today and defended Utley. The problem, Bowa says, was Tejada's positioning, not Utley's slide.
"Once you expose your back like that…if you've played shortstop for any amount of time, you get the out and get your back out of the way."
"I know Utley. I know he didn't try to hurt anybody. If he did it again he would have tried to slide earlier."
You can listen to Bowa's full interview on MLB Network Radio here:
