By Joseph Staszewski
Instant replay was supposed to all but eliminate the feeling Mets fans experienced last Saturday night when the Dodgers Chase Utley “slid” into Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada at second base and broke Tejada’s leg.
Replay is there to try to prevent teams from getting “screwed” or “jobbed.” It is there so fans don’t have to scream helplessly at the top of their lungs at their television screens when an incorrect call doesn’t go their way. The video is there to get the call right so fans don’t find it hard to sleep at night or threaten bodily harm to an athlete on social media because possibly the biggest game of the season was taken away from them on a blown call.
Major League Baseball handcuffed itself from eliminating that. Instead, Mets fans were left heading to bed wondering if that play was going to haunt their dreams like Mike Scioscia’s home run in 1988, Timo Perez being thrown out at home in 2000 and Carlos Beltran striking out swinging in 2006.
Just because the MLB admitted that the second base umpire got it wrong doesn’t make the feeling any better. He should have ruled interference and awarded the Mets an inning-ending double play that would have kept the Amazin’s ahead 2-1 going into the eighth. Instead, Utley was awarded second base after it was clear on replay that Tejada never touched second base. The Dodgers proceeded to score three more times on their way to a 5-2 victory that evened the National League Division series at a game each. None of that should have happened if the call could have been corrected.
“While I sincerely believe that Mr. Utley had no intention of injuring Ruben Tejada, and was attempting to help his club in a critical situation, I believe his slide was in violation of Official Baseball Rule 5.09 (a)(13), which is designed to protect fielders from precisely this type of rolling block that occurs away from the base,” said Joe Torre, Major League Baseball chief baseball officer, in a statement.
Consider that a consolation prize for Mets fans, along with Utley being handed a two-game suspension. It dispensed a form of justice other than a potential Matt Harvey fastball right between the numbers. None of it replaces what the Mets lost on Saturday night.
No rule change is going to repair Ruben Tejada’s leg or potentially his career, but the suspension may make other runners think twice in the future. Still the inability to review whether Utley’s slide was legal cost the Mets a postseason win.
Kudos to MLB for taking the first step in protecting its players in the future by suspending Utley. It also shows youngsters learning that game that a play like that doesn’t qualify as “playing hard,” but as playing dangerously. The next step is to make an illegal slide reviewable at any base, so that punishments can be doled out on the field and the outcome of games are not affected by this type of play.
That is what replay is there for—to keep games, seasons and careers from changing due to one incorrect play. Mets fans had to deal with the pain, anger and confusion that comes with that happening. Replay is supposed to eliminate that. Let’s make sure it does.
