SIAP...So what do you think about this whole Chase Utley kerfuffle?
- Thread starter Peetz Pool Boy
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Not dirty at all, he could reach the bag on the slide, Mets should blame the second baseman on his throw to put the shortstop in that position, back in the day this wouldn't even be a conversation piece. Fox sports Eric Karros, Frank Thomas, Pete Rose all say this is the way baseball is played, not dirty but would expect the other team to be mad and to retaliate.
Chase was my favorite Philly during his time with the Phils and I love the way he plays with his hustle and all out effort, but what I saw last night was uncalled for and I think he really went out of his way to take the Met out and he probably should have been called out.
No problem at all --- it was a legitimate baseball play and Utley could have still touched 2nd base with his slide.
Murphy could have taken the easier out at 1st base (and conceded the run). He instead flipped to Tejada in an attempt to pull the double play (in an attempt to end the inning). You take your chances .......
Murphy could have taken the easier out at 1st base (and conceded the run). He instead flipped to Tejada in an attempt to pull the double play (in an attempt to end the inning). You take your chances .......
I can also, but in the end it may be the turning point of the series. if Utley has changed the series in favor of the Dodgers he did his job. I guess I am old school.
Legal under the current rules or not it was dirty and shouldn't happen. Intent must be to slide into the base and in a textbook manner. None of that was present on that play. Clear intent on simply hitting the player and taking him out. And then to be called safe? Outrageous and makes absolutely no sense.
IMHO: Utley didn't even make a token move to ever reach for second base - I loved him as a Phillie, but he shouldn't be allowed to play another game until the player he targeted is able to play again. Comparable cheap shot to the IU player that targeted Mauti several years ago. If the second baseman was on the bag or in the baseline, that's one thing.....but he was well behind and beyond second base
MLB will address (or try to address) this type of play in the off season.
MLB will address (or try to address) this type of play in the off season.
Wrong. Intent is to break up the double play while still being able to get to the bag. The relay to first is thrown between the oncoming players eyes, if he is in the way, for a similar reason, in trying to complete the double play. That's baseball. If you don't have the stomach for it don't play or watch.
That's ridiculous. First - he didn't even try to get to the bag. Second, football abolished the type of tackle that was. It has nothing to do with having the stomach for it. It has to do with safeguarding a player in a vulnerable position. I have no issue with trying to break up the play - but you have to (a) actually slide and (b) have an intent to hit the bag. Otherwise why fool ourselves - just let the guy do a football style tackle. Utley's "slide" was closer to that than a slide.
Totally correct. He doesn't need to try to get the bag, just be close enough to reach it. Totally legal play and it happens all the time. You can't Monday morning quarterback the play just because you don't like the outcome.
In the end there are opinions on both sides but this got LA one game but it will win the Mets the series. Already with a big advantage with Harvey vs Anderson at Citi but now the Mets are the aggressor, right or wrong they are pissed off and they are a little fired up. The Dodgers won the game but have been defensive about the play, defending the slide, his attempt, his intentions. The serie won't get back to LA now.
2 game suspension for Utley, total BS. Another great job by MLB.
The umpires know the rules and how the game has been played for eons. They got it right. The shortstop has an opportunity to protect himself and not make the play. If he doesn't suffer a broken leg, it is no big deal.
Joe Torre, an old school guy, states:
"After thoroughly reviewing the play from all conceivable angles, I have concluded that Mr. Utley's action warrants discipline," MLB chief baseball officer Joe Torre said in a statement.
"After thoroughly reviewing the play from all conceivable angles, I have concluded that Mr. Utley's action warrants discipline," MLB chief baseball officer Joe Torre said in a statement.
America's National pass time has gone the way of America. Kicking butt has been replaced by wearing skirts for the lawyers and public relations.
That is just asinine. You shouldnt be barrel rolling into second base.
Thrilled to be asinine and old enough to perhaps not witness the future search for "a few good men".
As dirty as it gets. Should have been suspended longer
Harvey said something like ..... he was going to do the right thing for Ruben and the team tomorrow night.
I doubt it would happen now and I assume Harvey means the right thing is to go out and win the game.
But next year...Even if it isn't Harvey throwing 98, Degrom throws 97, syndergaard throws 100, matz throws 95+, familia throws 100, Robles throws 98, wheeler throws 97. It may not be now but Utley will certainly be paid back very hard.
I doubt it would happen now and I assume Harvey means the right thing is to go out and win the game.
But next year...Even if it isn't Harvey throwing 98, Degrom throws 97, syndergaard throws 100, matz throws 95+, familia throws 100, Robles throws 98, wheeler throws 97. It may not be now but Utley will certainly be paid back very hard.
Agree, and Utley's callous attitude about it makes it even more justified.
And where was Torre when the Pirates' Kang and Jordy Mercer were both taken out by similar dirty tactics? Oh, I forgot. A small market team doesn't matter. Same reason no suspension for Kirk Gibson having his boy intentionally hurt McCutchen two years ago.
Ridiculous.........Maybe major league baseball will start protecting middle infielders like the NFL does QB'S. it was his job to break uo the double play and that's exactly what he did. Joe Torre is a fool bcause in his playing and managing days he has watched base runners slide 5 feet from the bag trying to break up double plays. In my opinion Utley's suspension was done to "control" the behavior of the Met fans...........that's why 2 games
and he would have been kicked out. retaliation would have to wait til next year... and were i chase, i might retire now rather than go to nyc next year.
my opinion is that if a broken leg weren't the outcome, this would be a lot of talk and little more. but it did result, and here is what bothered me.. he made NO attempt to touch the bag. his hand could easily have swiped at it but he had no intent on getting to the base.. just taking out the SS.
As someone put it somewhere in this thread.. i can see both sides. and i'm a chase fan.. but this one maybe went a bit far. maybe.
Was it dirty? Perhaps. Was it illegal? No! Has any other player been suspended for a take out slide before? NO!! And yet former Yankee manager and Met player Torre suspends Utley. What a crock of $hit!
I didn't see the play live but heard about it and then watched the replay a dozen times. I'm old school but this was grossly reckless and deserved the suspension.
Easy rule fix. 99% of today's players have grown up (high school and college) playing with the direct slide rule on all force plays. Make it part of professional baseball. Feet to the bag. MLB protects catchers who want to block the base wearing all that gear but allows all out contact on middle infielders by a runner who has pretty much given up on the idea of beating the throw.
The Mutts have hit Chase many times. He never whined like a bitch about it.
that is a fact. like him or hate him, he has taken it on the chin countless times and never said a word.. just trots off to first base.
that said, it's an entirely different thing to be up there knowing a guy is going straight at your cranium with high heat. and if he plays next year, it will happen.
He's a long time MLB player. No pitcher will scare him. You guys have no idea how mentally tough players like Utley's are.
Actually, yeah, i do. And you can bet your a$$ he won't show it.. but i can promise you neither his wife nor family will not want him to bat against the mets next year. and whether he shows it or not, there is something about a pitch that gets away from a pitcher at 100mph and one that is deliberately aimed at your noggin. tough means bupkis if ball and skull collide.
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Keep talking. All of this over a tough takeout at second base. The pussification of America rolls on.
In part, I agree with you. I dislike much of what has become of sports, and especially football (too many rules about how you can whack somebody). that said, it's awfully hard to ignore the head injury issues nor that 5 high school players died on the field this past month.
generally speaking, i attribute much of it to a wide disparity in athleticism that wasn't as evident in centuries (oops, decades) past. today, you have kids playing who are badly outclassed by other athletes, and when they take a vicious hit in the wrong place, bad things happen. and i get all the ballyhoo about the old timers playing sans helmets (as we did on the streets in the 60s and 70s) and they were all just fine... bottom line is the velocity and impact has changed and the concussive impact today is beyond the body's ability to protect. that might change.. the body might evolve and adapt... but i doubt it happens fast enough.
put another way, our 1969 DL averaged about 230 pounds... and i'd wager not many ran better than a 4.9 40. we've got safeties today playing at the same size and running 4.5 and lifting 60% more. times change. the only question is whether or not to try and minimize the devastating effects or chalk 'em up to part of the game and let the chips fall as they may.
i boxed and played football and i (still) love hitting... and yet i can't honestly say i'd want my kid to box or play football now. fortunately, i don't have to make that decision anymore. but it would be a hard one given what is happening on the field. At the very least, no parent should be letting his kid play contact sports unless they've spent hours in the gym preparing. no guarantees (sometimes the hitter gets it worse than the hittee), but at least try to be prepared.
if that is pussification.. well, i'm ok with it.
I played middle infield my whole life and had my fair share of being taken out, I also did my fair share too. This is a simple fix and the way you were taught anyways. 2 simple rules, you should have to hit dirt before fielder, actually be SLIDING. Second simple rule is you should have to be on the ground at some point on the first base side of second. That is it. Have at. I have never in my life threw my body airborn at someone's legs in an attempt to take someone out. I have broke up a lot of double plays the right way. I have no problem with Chase, like him and the way he plays but this was over the and even though he and his teammates are backing up his actions, no one in that clubhouse would want this to be the normal takeout of middle infielders. Donny baseball said if it were the other way around and wright did that....first off Wright would not do that, second if that happened and their big SS was injured they would be crying too.
Another note, Utley is one of the few Dodgers who have good stats vs Harvey, and Mattingly said he was in the discussion to start at second base tonight. Boy that would make things interesting.
Another note, Utley is one of the few Dodgers who have good stats vs Harvey, and Mattingly said he was in the discussion to start at second base tonight. Boy that would make things interesting.
" I have never in my life threw my body airborn at someone's legs in an attempt to take someone out. I have broke up a lot of double plays the right way."
Bingo. There is a difference between a hard slide and a tackle - hard slides don't begin 1-2 feet from the base. The MLB PLAYERS that saw it know the difference. That is why there are PLAYERS that are upset about this and they aren't just Mets or Pirates fans.
Bingo. There is a difference between a hard slide and a tackle - hard slides don't begin 1-2 feet from the base. The MLB PLAYERS that saw it know the difference. That is why there are PLAYERS that are upset about this and they aren't just Mets or Pirates fans.
Only an issue because it involved a NY team. Exact same thing happened a few weeks back to Kang of the Pirates and you hardly heard a word about it.
