Oakland Athletics Roundup: Chase Utley Slide Is Not Like Brett Lawrie Slide
Oakland Athletics Roundup: Monday, October 12
If you have television or internet access, you probably saw – or at least heard about – the late slide by Chase Utley on Saturday night. Dodgers fans may have felt that it was just a “hard-nosed baseball play”, but Mets fans were (rightfully) outraged about the slide, which sent their shortstop Ruben Tejada to the hospital with a broken leg, eliminating him for the season and forcing New York to call up Matt Reynolds, who will become just the second player to make his major league debut in the postseason.
The slide, which was deemed illegal by Major League Baseball and resulted in a two-game suspension for Utley, brought back memories of a play earlier this year, when
Brett Lawriewent in hard to break up a double play and injured Royals’ shortstop
Alcides Escobar. Twitter was overcome with Royals fans comparing the two. Let’s take a look:
While no one ever wants to see a player get hurt, Utley’s tackle-like slide was certainly much more horrific that the play in which Lawrie went in. Utley, who can be seen in the video below, drops to his knees before rolling into Tejada, who has his back turned and is no where near the bag. In fact, Utley’s outstretched arm can barely reach second base, as he tried to swipe at it at the last minute. It’s almost hard to believe that the two plays can even be compared, considering the Royals’ shortstop Escobar was directly on the bag when Lawrie came in, and he started his slide long before reaching the bag.
Comparing the relatively-calm reaction of the Mets to the retaliate-at-all-costs attitude of the Royals, as well as the level of poor sportsmanship by the sliders and the resulting injury of the players who were hit – and it seems like the Royals may have been disproportionately mad. But then again, that’s nothing new for Yordano Ventura. Overreaction is practically his middle name.
In Case You Missed It:
A’s Pitching Prospect: Casey Meisner – Samantha Riley takes a look at Casey Meisner, who was acquire at the trade deadline and has spent the second half of the season in the A’s minor league system. How did he do, and when can he help the A’s big league club?
Remembering Game 2 of the 2001 ALDS – Daniel Martinez looks back on a much better time in A’s history: Game 2 of the American League Division Series in 2001, when Tim Hudson was on the mound for the Green & Gold.
A’s Will Have to Rely on Rookies Next Season – Samantha Riley talks about the makeup of the Athletics’ roster in 2016, and who is most likely to help them as they try to return from a dismal 2015 campaign.
Are the A’s Better Off Not Contending in 2016? – Katrina Putnam offers an alternative idea – perhaps the A’s should take a page from the Astros’ and Cubs’ books, and throw away next season in the hopes of becoming a long-term contender in 2017 and beyond.
Why the A’s Should Lock Up Josh Reddick – Casey Witt examines the contributions of Josh Reddick, and makes the case for why he belongs in an Oakland uniform for the foreseeable feature. Will Billy Beane hand out a long-term deal to the A’s veteran slugger?