There are no shortage of reactions from around baseball on the dirty take-out slide by Chase Utley that resulted in a broken leg for Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada.
Terry Collins – “Broke my shortstop’s leg, that’s all I know. I’m not going to get into it. It’s over. It’s done. Not much we can do about it except come out in a couple days and get after it.”
Justin Turner – “I think everyone knows how hard Chase plays the game and did what everyone would do going hard to break up the double-play. Unfortunately the ball put Ruben in kind of a bad position to be there. We don’t want to see anyone get hurt, but hopefully, I know it’s a fracture, but he’s a good friend of mine. I hope it’s not too bad and doesn’t effect anything with his career.”
Kelly Johnson – “The issue is, he hit our shortstop first, before hitting the dirt. At what point is that illegal? At what point do we say, ‘Hey, we missed something here?’ We have rules at home plate to protect our guys, what’s the difference. Ruben stuck his next out there and before he could get the ball out of his glove he’s getting tackled. I don’t get it. It’s sad.”
Joe Torre – “After viewing all relevant angles, the Replay Official definitively determined that the fielder’s foot was not in contact with second base at any time when he had possession of the ball. The fact he was called out means he was not required to touch second base. When the play is overturned he’s awarded second base. If they had tagged Utley before he went off the field he would have been out.”
Adrian Gonzalez – “Chase is trying to break up the double play. At the end of the day, the replay confirmed it all, it was as big play for us. The slide saved a victory. We get another win and then we have our two big guys going for us again.”
Jose Reyes – That was a really weak attempt at a slide by Chase Utley.
David Wright – “Only Chase knows what his intent was. There is the way to play the game hard. I have a problem with the play on a number of different levels. He’s a second baseman. If he wants guys sliding like that into him, then it’s perfectly fine. He knows how to play the game. If he doesn’t mind guys coming in like that when he’s turning a double play, then we don’t have any problem with it. It’s a legal slide. It’s within the rules. But somebody is going to get hurt.”
Michael Cuddyer – “That’s not a slide. That’s a tackle. That’s for you to decide if tackling is legal in baseball.”
Shane Victorino – “Always called him one of my toughest teammates. Utley showing why I always called him a winner. Never wanna see anyone get hurt but I have seen worse but the magnitude of this one will bring up a lot of debate for sure.”
Pedro Martinez – “A lot of people are fuming in New York. I have a hard time watching this play, not because of what happened to Tejada. But just watching Utley up close, it seemed to me like he never had the intention of sliding and breaking up the double play. He went straight after Tejada. And that is something that is mind-boggling coming from a second baseman. It kind of bothers me to see that.”
Gary Sheffield – “This is baseball. It’s the shortstop’s job to know where the runner is. Any time a runner can take him out, he’s going to take him out. He’s coming in there like a bulldog, and you never turn your back on a runner like that. He should’ve just gotten the out and not tried for the double play.”
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