mets just got screwed bout 6 times in 1 play, first off tejada hit the bag, secondly utley should have been ejected for that collision, he never came close to bag, 3rd utley never touched bag, 4th the never checked to seee that utley never touched bag and he ran out of the baseline, 5 the go ahead run just scored 6 th tejada done for PS ... what the FOOK ?
That play could be the turning point of the series. Beyond that I would imagine Tejada has ligament damage to the knee or an ankle issue. Ripken and Darling are certainly split on whether it was a dirty play or not. Ripken says good hard play and Darling says it was a late slide and dirty.
Unbelievable...."The Slide". Will there be a Tejada or Chase rule to come??? Sheffield made no sense at all, neither did Pedro, who can make a lot of sense. Baker kept too quiet; and didn't say much....remaining silent to long, to much. Then an exasperated tired Torre, had to put on the Soft Shoe... I'm glad I'm not in Torre's 'soft shoes', I never could even shuffle step without tripping over backwards..... Why can't a On the Field Umpire over ride plays like this. Simply put, Tejada was not impeding Utley's slide. With No touching of the bag by either runner of fielder???? Stunned to say the least.... 'MLB Command Re-Play Central'. should be analyzed with changes made.....?? Revision #1 of this replay beast... To Follow ???
Facts; 1. Tejada never touched the bag. 2. Utley's slide was within the currently stated rules...the base runner only has to be within reach of the bag. 3. Utley was never forced out or tagged out. 4. Umps did review the play and they declared Utley safe. 5. The rule about running out of the base line only applies if the runner leaves the base line to avoid the tag. FWIW, Though I'm a Baseball purist and generally don't care for altering the game or changing rules, but this is the 2nd time in the last few weeks that a team's SS has had his season ended by this same play at 2B. Losing a key player like Kang or Tejada can change a team's fortunes in the PS and the play with Utley and Tejada clearly influenced the outcome of the game and quite possibly the outcome of the series. ...IMO, they need to make changes to this rule and also make changes as far as what is considered a "late slide", as well as doing away with the unwritten "neighborhood" play.
I'm all for good hard nosed play. Breaking up the dp is certainly a huge part of the game. That being said after watching the replay the 30 times they showed it. Utley goes way out of his way and slides way late and way too high. A major injury was no surprise on that play. To me you look to take the feet out and not the knees.
^^^like I said, they need to change/alter the rules...they changed the rules for catchers blocking the plate at home to protect catchers/runners from injury...they need to do the same for these dangerous plays at 2B. ...Utley was actually close to the bag and his slide was low and hit Tejada at the ankle, but I think the if a runner slides past the bag and makes contact or interferes with the fielder he should be ruled out...the Ump also has the power to rule a DP at his discretion.
...btw, anyone wanna take odds on whether or not Utley gets drilled at some point during this series?
