Dodgers infielder Chase Utley said he has known for weeks that his two-game suspension for a late slide in Game 2 of the National League Division Series was rescinded, and that he is ready to move forward.
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Utley immediately appealed the suspension, but did not appear in either of the two games in NY – where the Dodgers had a beefed up security detail at their hotel and Citi Field.
March 6, 2016Torre on Utley’s slide: “There wasn’t anything clear-cut to say that play violated a rule”.
Utley will now be eligible to start opening day for the Dodgers in what could be his final season in the league.
“I’m healthy here”, Tejada said Sunday, according to ESPN, “I’m happy here and I don’t care about their decision”.
“I’ve been playing this game for a while now, and being a middle infielder, I’ve come across a ton of slides that were similar and I understand that it’s part of the game”, Utley said. “Now we have a new rule in place I believe will keep guys healthy, like the slide rule at home plate”. “And like I said before, you never want to see anybody get hurt”.
It seemed logical that MLB would uphold the suspension when it created a rule that indicates Utley’s slide would have been illegal – he threw himself into Tejada and did not attempt to tag the bag – but the league instead cleared Utley for the Dodgers’ opener April 4 against the Padres.
“I talked to Joe Torre at length on the phone, and he expressed to me that what happened in the playoffs, after looking at other slides over the course of the years, it was not much different”.
General manager Sandy Alderson had some choice words for the situation, saying, “As long as they’re dropping penalties, they might as well drop his”, in reference to Robles. “Nobody is happier about that than me”. The amendments were announced last month, and although they officially make Utley’s slide illegal, the veteran will not serve a suspension for his actions in October.
“I think it would have been an issue”.
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“I’m glad there’s some clarification and I’m not going to try to be judge and jury of Major League Baseball discipline”.
