Which he did not do. His left hand passed directly over the bag. If he’d held his arm differently he’d have touched it. (As also if he’d started his slide appropriately earlier and been lower by that moment of passage.)
It was a bad slide, but not wide.
I disagree that he could have touched it. His hand was way too far over the bag when he began the side, and when his hand was level to the bag he was feet past it.
The rule is also stupid because it should not rely on “could have” touched the bag. It should be “did touch the bag” or “made an attempt to touch the bag that was only disrupted by the collision.” Because the only thing preventing Utley from touching the bag was his intent not to touch it.
Phillies fan here. I watched Utley and cheered for him his entire career. (His “World Ph***in’ Champions” line at 2008 parade will always make me smile.) I wished him well when he went to the Dodgers. That said: The slide was cheap and dirty baseball and I look forward to him getting whatever is coming to him.
Which rule are you looking at?
Why in the world would he not intend to touch it, or at least appear to attempt to? What was his intent in slapping his left hand down as he passes the bag?
Not a fan of anyone in the NL (Go 'Stros and Rangers!) so didn’t see the game. Watched the replay.
Fortunately, when Donaldson tried a similar slide against Odor (albeit in fairness, he was sliding directly into the bag, not a yard outside it) the other day, Donaldson is the one who got the concussion and missed the rest of the game, but it could have been as ugly as this incident.
This was obviously an illegal slide by Utley, he had no intention of touching the bag and was going directly into Tejada from behind the bag to break-up the double play. The exact kind of play and injury the rules are meant to prevent. Should have called both him and Kendrick out.
Hopefully, the commissioner will have the wherewithal to review the tapes and suspend Utley from the rest of the post-season. And/or suspend Seager for the rest of the series with the Mets. Both teams lose their starting SS due to Utley being an idiot. That seems most fair.
You all realize that there’s nothing at all wrong, either formally or informally, with aiming a slide “a yard outside” a base? A player’s reach is more than a yard from his center of mass.
Not quite clear here. Exactly where in the rules would such a suspension of Seager be?
It seems fair to suspend a player who was sitting in the dugout at the time? Why would you punish the entire team for the actions of one player? That’s ridiculous. I’m fine with Utley being punished if that is what is deemed appropriate by MLB, but this is about him, not the team.
I was talking about people interpreting the rule that so long as he “could have” touched it, it wasn’t interference…
And I don’t see him trying to touch the bag. He’s a long way above the bag when he begins his slide, and then he gets slammed to the ground by the impact. No idea where you’re seeing him attempting to touch it.
And according to the rules, there’s no requirement that the runner has to not touch the bag to be considered interference. It’s strictly a judgement call by the umpire as to whether the runner made a willfull and deliberate attempt to break up the double play.
Utley had no intention of contacting the bag as he slid. He was going directly for Tejada the entire time.
The purpose of a slide is to reach base faster. If you’re going in with a feet first slide, your feet need to touch base or you’re not making a serious attempt to reach base.
You can take Utley out of Philly… 
I don’t know that the commissioner could or could not suspend Seager, to be honest. Not sure how much flexibility he has with in the best interest of baseball type decisions.
Why suspend Seager for the series?
Because it keeps it fair. The Mets just lost their best SS due to a bonehead play by Utley. While he fills some holes in the line-up, he was pinch hitting that night so he is not a full-time quality player for the Dodgers as Tejada is for the Mets. In fact, it’s a great result for the Dodgers and could swing the series their way as SS is a key position in the infield.
To keep the results of Utley actions the same for both sides, it seems fair that the Dodgers should have to go to their back-up plan for SS as well. That limits their ability to benefit from Utley’s actions.
Never going to happen, but would be interesting to see how the Dodgers handled a ruling like that. (I wouldn’t ban Seager from getting paid for the series, I’d just prevent him suiting up for the rest of the ALDS.)
Actually, it was a bonehead play by Tejada who, by trying to be a hero, disregarded everything he was taught and turned his back on a incoming runner while trying to make a play that was clearly impossible to make, rather than look out for his own safety. If Tejada did what he was taught to do, there would have been no injury whatsoever.
Dirty slide? That’s arguable. Boneheaded? There isn’t a manager out there that wouldn’t have been livid if Utley was on their team and hadn’t tried to break up the double play.
Interesting that a similar play happened a couple of weeks ago with the Pirates and not a peep from anyone.
One play like this isn’t as alarming as two in short order. For me, the second play changes this from “oh, that’s a shame” to “they should really revisit the rules.”
You mean the one that ended Kang’s season? There were calls to change the rule at the time. And blaming Tejada is ridiculous.
Other way round. The tibia is the larger weight-bearing bone of the lower leg, and the fibula the thinner splint-like bone next to it. It’s a lot easier to break a fibula than a tibia.
Annoying to have to root for the Mets now.
Since my Nats didn’t make the playoffs, let’s go Cubbies! Make Back to the Future 2 look really good. (Although they obviously won’t be beating Miami in the World Series. Also the Series will START a week after it ended in the movie. And fine, no flying cars either.)
Tejada disregarded his safety during that play, full well knowing that Utley was going to be coming in hard (history should have taught him that). He turned his back to an aggressive baserunner who is running full steam towards him. That is not what infielders are taught to do in that situation and it cost him a lot.