The Utley Slide That Broke Tejada’s Leg

Chase Utley began his slide just as he reached second base. Ruben Tejada, turning with the ball, went head-over-heels and landed awkwardly. The collision in the seventh inning of Game 2 of the 2015 National League Division Series fractured the Mets shortstop’s right fibula. As the tying run scored at Dodger Stadium on October 10, the Mets lost a player who, the team announced, would miss the rest of the postseason.

New York led Los Angeles 2–1, with one out and runners at first and third. Utley had reached on a pinch-hit single. Howie Kendrick then hit a ball up the middle, and Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy fielded it and flipped it toward Tejada. The throw was off line. Tejada had his back toward the bag as he gathered the ball and spun; Utley came into his legs while trying to break up a potential double play.

Second-base umpire Chris Guccione immediately called Utley out. Mets trainer Ray Ramirez tended to Tejada on the field. After his leg was fitted with an inflatable splint, Tejada was taken away on a cart. Meanwhile, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly asked the umpires about the ruling at second, then requested a replay review.

The question was whether Tejada had received the benefit of a “neighborhood” call—the allowance for a middle infielder to record an out without touching second. Such calls were not reviewable. The umpires said this was not one: Murphy’s throw had drawn Tejada away from the bag, and he was reaching and spinning to catch it. The review showed that Tejada’s foot had missed second.

Utley had not touched the base either. But because he had already been called out, MLB chief baseball officer Joe Torre explained, replay rules allowed the umpires to correct that call and put him on the bag. The Dodgers scored three more runs in the inning and won 5–2, tying the best-of-five series at one game apiece.

The ruling did not settle what the players thought of the collision. “That’s not a slide,” Mets outfielder Michael Cuddyer said. “That’s a tackle.” Utley said he had been watching the ball and had not realized Tejada’s back was turned. “There was no intent to injure Ruben whatsoever,” he said. Dodgers infielder Justin Turner defended the attempt to break up the double play while saying the team did not want anyone hurt.

The following day, MLB announced a two-game suspension for Utley. After reviewing the play, Torre said the slide violated a rule designed to protect against “this type of rolling block that occurs away from the base.” Utley’s agent called the penalty “outrageous and completely unacceptable,” maintained that the play was legal and said there would be an appeal. The Dodgers backed that decision.

For Mets manager Terry Collins, the immediate consequence was losing Tejada for the playoffs. “I lost a pretty good piece of the puzzle,” he said Sunday. “I’m not very happy about it.” Asked after the game whether the slide was clean, he had answered more simply: “Well, it broke my shortstop’s leg.”