In perhaps a baseball first, Utley was actually awarded second base by an umpiring crew and replay unit back in New York when he wasn’t even trying for second base; he had been appropriately called out on the field (though out for the wrong reason).
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He hasn’t stopped running and playing hard. There’s going to be someone who slides, makes a amusing slide or something, and it’s all part of the game.
The six-time All-Star second baseman is an old-school ballplayer who avoids the spotlight and has never been confused for a look-at-me, bat-flipping showboat. The league was unable to hold a hearing for his appeal before Monday’s Game 3 at Citi Field, making Utley eligible to play in the game. His appeal over his 2-game suspension won’t happen until after game 4. That meant the penalty could not start until after a hearing and a decision. Although, to be fair, if a base runner took out Utley or shortstop Jimmy Rollins in, say, the 2008 playoffs and ended either of their seasons, Phillies fans would want that player to go to jail for assault. “It was completely illegal”.
Having the big left-hander draw the starting assignment on Tuesday leaves his co-ace Zack Greinke available to pitch a climactic Game Five, if needed, back in Los Angeles on Thursday.
“They protect the catcher”. “The roar from it I think even exceeded my expectations in terms of the energy and the entire fan base just coming together to show their support for him and everything he’s been through”, Granderson said. “I had no intent to hurt him whatsoever”. “We came into this knowing we were going to see him twice”, Mets manager Terry Collins said of Kershaw. “Ruben knows that. He knows that when Chase is on first, he had better watch out”.
Utley heard it pretty good from the crowd as you might have imagined he would. “That’s what everybody will do, especially in the postseason”, Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus said.
Fans booed fiercely when Utley was introduced. He epitomized a gritty city that loves hard-nosed players. A town notorious for its toughness never booed Utley no matter how badly he slumped.
To add insult to injury, it was explained that if either a prone, wrecked Tejada or a few other Met tagged either Utley or the bag, Utley would have been out.
The issue isn’t just that Utley was rewarded for his absurd excuse for a slide and unhinged recklessness that’s only applauded by folks stuck in the ’70s or wearing Dodgers blue.
Tejada isn’t the first player to be injured on a questionable slide in an effort to break up a double play. Mets public-address announcer Alex Anthony paused for several seconds as the camera remain fixed on Utley, whose typically stoic expression never wavered.
Utley’s style is more appreciated as a teammate than an opponent. Juan Lagares also scored three times in his first start of the series.
During this postseason, Granderson is hitting.545.
Utley didn’t play in Game 3. It inspired beloved former broadcaster Harry Kalas to declare: “Chase Utley, you are the man!”
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Granderson drove in five runs with two doubles off the wall, Travis d’Arnaud and Yoenis Cespedes homered, and New York’s unsafe bats busted loose for a 13-7 victory Monday night that gave the Mets a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-five NL playoff.
