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Injuries

Nightengale: The Chase Utley Rule is inevitable, and not a moment too soon

Bob Nightengale
USA TODAY Sports

CHICAGO - It will forever be known as the Chase Utley Rule.

Ruben Tejada's broken leg suffered Saturday night may be the tipping point for violent plays at second base.

Or, perhaps. the Ruben Tejada Rule.

Utley has had a wonderful career and will be revered in Philadelphia for helping the Phillies win a World Series, but all he’ll be remembered for - in the minds of casual fans, certainly- will be that slide on the night of Oct. 10.

It will be the night baseball changed forever.

The moment this postseason ends, the takeout slide at second base will be declared illegal.

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We had the Buster Posey Rule two years ago, with players no longer permitted to clobber catchers at home plate, reducing the number of concussions and other injuries.

Now we’ll have the Utley Rule, where players can no longer wipe out middle infielders at second base, reducing the number of broken legs.

It was just three weeks ago when Chicago Cubs outfielder Chris Coghlan slid full speed into second base against the Pittsburgh Pirates, crashing into shortstop Jung Ho Kang and breaking his leg, ending his season and putting a significant dent in the Pirates’ World Series hopes.

Now, in a much more aggressive, reckless and perhaps even dirty slide by the Los Angeles Dodgers' Utley, shortstop Tejada’s season is over with a broken leg, perhaps also ruining the New York Mets’ championship dreams.

The baseball world spent all night debating and arguing and screaming about whether Utley’s slide was simply an old-fashioned aggressive slide or an absolutely sickening dirty slide with baseball men calling for his immediate suspension.

The slide was high.

The slide was late.

And, yes, we agree with Mets outfielder Michael Cuddyer: It sure looked more like a tackle than a slide.

“That was a (expletive) terrible late slide that’s not hard nosed!!,’’ former All-Star outfielder Mike Cameron said in a tweet. “Sorry, and everybody who played baseball knows that, including Utley.

“I was the one who always went in hard but never tried to hurt the defensive player just disrupt the throw that’s all you suppose to do.’’

Really, all we can agree on is that Utley didn’t intentionally try to injure Tejada, but we’ll never be able to agree on whether it was ultra-aggressive or cheap and dirty.

“A guy has a damn broken leg on a freaking horrible slide," one former All-Star said in a text message, “and players are tweeting, 'Way to go Utley.’ What in the hell is going on?"

Even Major League Baseball  chief baseball officer Joe Torre said of the slide: “I’d hate to think that Utley tried to hurt somebody. It certainly was late. That concerns me, the lateness of the slide. I’m looking at it just to see if there's anything we feel should be done.''

Dusty Baker, the former veteran manager, said Utley should be suspended immediately.

All we know is that the last time we saw Kang on the field during the Pirates’ wild-card loss to the Cubs, he was in a wheelchair, being pushed to the baseline for the pregame lineup announcements.

If we see Tejada again in this series, he might be in a wheelchair, too.

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There were 10 teams that made this year’s postseason tournament, and two of the teams’ shortstops are out with broken legs.

That’s an epidemic, folks.

It must be stopped.

Sure, you can argue that aggressively breaking up double plays is simply part of baseball and has been around since the game has been invented.

Yet, Abner Doubleday never imagined when he drew up the rules that it would be more dangerous to be a middle infielder these days than an NFL quarterback.

MLB executives were alarmed when Kang’s injury happened, particularly when Coghlan went straight for his legs, but the controversy dissipated almost immediately when the Pirates never complained, calling it an aggressive play.

“”It’s unfortunate that what would be considered heads-up baseball would cause such a serious injury,’’ Kang said in a release from the hospital. “That said, Coghlan was playing the game the way it should be played. I’m confident he meant me no harm. I appreciate everyone’s support.’’

Kang and the Pirates helped douse a potential nasty retaliation, and all that happened to Coghlan was being vociferously booed when his name was announced during the introductions.

This time, it’s completely different.

The Mets are outraged, calling the slide dirty.

The Dodgers awkwardly support Utley, but certainly understand the Mets’ anger.

"Well, I don't know if I need to get into whether it's clean or anything else," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “The one thing I probably know 100% ... I know Chase is not trying to hurt anybody.’’

Said Mets manager Terry Collins: “It broke my shortstop’s leg. That’s all I know.”

Mets infielder Kelly Johnson, who has played 842 career games at second base, was the most vocal in his disgust with Utley and had no filter discussing his view of the play.

“It was dirty,” Johnson said. “There are so many things wrong with that play. Our starting shortstop is out of the playoffs with a broken leg. …I want a rule about a guy going into Ruben like that. We don’t have a rule about that slide or whatever that was, that tackle. ... Obviously he went in and got our player before he even touched dirt.

“It’s sad. I don’t get it, I really don’t.’’

No matter your viewpoint, Utley has become the most hated baseball player in New York since John Rocker.

You can be assured that MLB will have extra police protection at Citi Field for Utley’s safety, just as they did for Rocker after he littered New York with racist comments.

But there’s no cop on the planet who can stop the Mets from their own vigilante plan, drilling  Utley when he’s at the plate or sliding as hard as they can into second base, deliberately trying to break a bone or two.

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It’s going to get nasty, and baseball had better change the rules this winter, making sure we never see anything like this again.

MLB must rewrite the rules and require that baserunners slide directly at the base, not at the infielder. Torre acknowledged Saturday night they are testing just such a plan in the Arizona Fall League, a setting for prior experiments such as instant replay and between-innings clocks.

We all love aggressive plays, but when you’re talking about players' livelihoods and potentially ruining careers, permitting beanball wars makes more sense than what’s happening now.

At least in the batter’s box, you’re wearing a helmet.

And you can be assured that changing the rule will be the hot topic of conversation in November at the general managers’ meetings in Boca Raton, Fla., and by the winter meetings a month later, the rule will be adopted, signed off on by the owners.

Simply, this can no longer go on.

“I just want to know why there’s not something in place that’s going to protect us,’’ Johnson said. “I just don’t get that. He (Utley) is in the vicinity of the bag, yes, (Utley) probably could have touched the bag had he put his hand out on it. But there’s got to be something in there that says we’ve got to hit dirt.

“We’ve got to slide, not jump into, break fibulas and knock players out of games.’’

You’re’ talking about plenty of money lost, too, with these injuries. You aren’t on the disabled list for two weeks. You’re done for the season.

Can you imagine if anyone ever took out Derek Jeter and prematurely ended his career?

How about being the guy who wiped out Cal Ripken Jr., ending his consecutive games streak?

For everyone’s sake, and even the guys who love to play good old-fashioned hardball like Utley, it must stop.

It’s a shame that Utley, whose career is coming to an end, will be remembered for the slide more than anything he accomplished as a player.

“I did not intend to hurt him whatsoever,’’ Utley said. “I was just trying to break up the double play. I was trying to put a body on him to break up the double play. That’s winning baseball.

“I feel terrible that he was injured.’’

It doesn't matter. The damage is done. Tempers are flaring.

Utley will never again be looked upon the same.

And should the Dodgers go on to win the World Series, everyone will remember the key rally that turned around their division series was aided significantly by a dirty play.

That's still a ways off, though. Both clubs are tasked with handling the emotional fallout as Game 3 looms Monday night.

“You've got to take the emotion and keep your focus,’’ Mets manager Terry Collins told reporters. “You can’t lose control. … We’ll control it, but, yeah, (Mets players) are angry. You lose in a playoff series to that serious of an injury, yeah, they’re not very happy about it.

“I think our guys will be certainly very, very anxious to get back on the field on Monday."

And perhaps just as eager to see Utley being taken off the field himself.

Yes, we’re talking vengeance, and that’s the scariest part of all about this mess.

It’s not over, and it will never be over, until baseball steps in and stops it with a rule change.

Enough is enough.

  Follow Nightengale on Twitter: @BNightengale

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