Chase Utley's slide

[o2cui2i]

It's not within the confines of the rules, though. He was already even with the base before he laid out for a slide. It was straight up interference. There wasn't even a pretense of getting into the base.

 

That MLB brought the hammer down while the umps did nothing should tell you all you need to know about trusting an ump crew's judgment.

 

umps are given a line of how to "judge" the rules and this is a play that has been outside the rules for decades, but almost never gets enforced. To have the commissioners office come out after and punish Utley is odd considering how many very similar tackles have happened in the past 2 weeks without the commissioners office getting involved.

 

If there was no injury this play wouldn't even have been looked at. Was it wrong? HELL YEAH! Should utley have been suspended? NO! Changing how the rules are interpreted in the middle of the playoffs is lame.

 

I really think mlb has seen the bad press that the NFL has had the last couple of years and this is a move to subdue the critics.

[Jim_Ackers_balls]

It's not within the confines of the rules, though. He was already even with the base before he laid out for a slide. It was straight up interference. There wasn't even a pretense of getting into the base.

 

That MLB brought the hammer down while the umps did nothing should tell you all you need to know about trusting an ump crew's judgment.

 

Joe Torree being "MLB" is not someone's judgment I'd trust in rulings involving a New York team. Torre called it a "rolling block" and it certainly wasn't that. It appears Torre is seeing what he wants to see in order to appease the New York fans and avoid having Utley playing in New York at least. The only rolling was Utley getting off his back after the collision. If the umpires had a problem with it, they would have thrown him out of the game. These are the best judges of the interpretation of the rules, not what the rule should be (in some people's eyes).

 

There's nothing in the rules that says Utley can't do what he did.

 

Utley appealed and is playing at least for now. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree and we'll see how it plays out.

[intentional wok]

umps are given a line of how to "judge" the rules and this is a play that has been outside the rules for decades, but almost never gets enforced. To have the commissioners office come out after and punish Utley is odd considering how many very similar tackles have happened in the past 2 weeks without the commissioners office getting involved.

 

If there was no injury this play wouldn't even have been looked at. Was it wrong? HELL YEAH! Should utley have been suspended? NO! Changing how the rules are interpreted in the middle of the playoffs is lame.

 

I really think mlb has seen the bad press that the NFL has had the last couple of years and this is a move to subdue the critics.

 

 

I agree with all of that, except that I interpret Utley's slide as way past the vague definition of 'breaking up the DP'.

[intentional wok]

 

There's nothing in the rules that says Utley can't do what he did

 

Rule 6.05(m): A batter is out when --

 

A preceding runner shall, in the umpire’s judgment, intentionally interfere with a fielder who is attempting to catch a thrown ball or to throw a ball in an attempt to complete any play:

Rule 6.05(m) Comment: The objective of this rule is to penalize the offensive team for deliberate, unwarranted, unsportsmanlike action by the runner in leaving the baseline for the obvious purpose of crashing the pivot man on a double play, rather than trying to reach the base. Obviously this is an umpire’s judgment play.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/batter_6.jsp

[o2cui2i]

I agree with all of that, except that I interpret Utley's slide as way past the vague definition of 'breaking up the DP'.

 

then you agree with me on everything? lol