I’ve never done this before. But we’re going to lead off with …

Today’s Hate List

1. Chase Utley

One of the first posts I ever wrote on this blog actually praised Chase Utley. I was at a game where he ran out every ground ball hard, even the most routine of routine grounders. And I actually said that “I’m never putting him on the hate list.” I’ve thought about it a few times when he probably deserved it. Like here:

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I refrained. Because I try to keep my promises even if nobody remembers that I made them except me. I don’t renege that easily.

But when a dirty slide breaks Ruben Tejada’s leg, all bets are off.

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I’m a Mets fan but I’m also a baseball fan. I applaud other players and respect great plays, effort, and being a decent human being. Chase Utley breaking Ruben Tejada’s leg was none of that. That was a hockey check. And if that’s the way we’re going to play the game, then Tejada should be replaced on the roster with Tanner Glass to beat the crap out of Utley, take the 15 game suspension and be on his way. (Not like the Rangers are using him much.)

And Utley defining a dirty slide as hitting a body before you hit the dirt … which is exactly what he did? And then responding to the question of “do you think this was a dirty slide watching it on replay” and only being able to say “everything happens so fast”? Child, please. No, I don’t think he intended to injure him. But when you consistently slide late, somebody is going to get injured. And it was a Met in Game 2 of the damn NLDS.

Concussion or not, he knows he screwed up.

2. The Umpires

Remember when Marlon Anderson got called out for interference and it ended a game against the Phillies? Yes, this was just like that, except back then nobody’s leg got broken. Utley made no attempt to touch the base even though he slid over it. Anderson gets called out. Utley, meanwhile, is awarded second base because Tejada never touched the bag. The umpires should have clearly called a double play because of …

https://twitter.com/jareddiamond/status/653060457297678336

But I guess umps only make the tough calls that benefit home teams, right? (Maybe Bill Simmons was on to something.)

3. Major League Baseball … More specifically, the division series replay officials

Kerwin Danley, Paul Nauert, Brian O’Nora and Tim Welke are the replay officials. And they jumped through hoops to try to explain why they called Utley safe because Tejada never touched the bag even though MLB made clear when replay was instituted that the neighborhood play wasn’t meant to be looked at by replay. Their explanation was that Murphy’s throw pulled Tejada off the bag so it wasn’t a neighborhood play. Total crap. Tejada was moving towards the bag during the throw and all Tejada did was reach up for it. His line to the bag never changed, so he wasn’t pulled off anything. And yet the replay officials still never came up with a suitable explanation as to why Utley was ruled safe when he never touched the base himself because he never made an effort to do so!!!

So the replay officials will look at a toe off the base all day but nobody looks at that slide?

And neither did Joe Torre, who at least to his credit said the slide was late. I wish he would have conceded that because the slide was late, he should have been called out and so should have Howie Kendrick.

But I do applaud MLB’s ability to make stuff up on the fly to cover their own. Their own who changed the outcome of a playoff game by awarding a safe call to a runner who never had any intention of touching a base.

4. Cal Ripken

You would think a shortstop would have a little more vigor in him to complain against “slides” like Utley’s. Or maybe his experience at shortstop was what jaded him to begin with. But the TBS analyst was coming off as victim blaming. To say that (paraphrasing) it looked worse than it was because Tejada had his back turned to the play and was spinning? Tejada is being carted off in an air cast! How exactly did it “look worse than it was”?

Then after the diagnosis of “broken right fibula” came in, he says “well you certainly can’t begrudge Tejada for trying to make a play.” Gee, thanks a whole lot, Iron Man. Thanks for sounding like an imbecile.

5. Shane Victorino

Always called him one of my toughest teammates…Utley showing why I always called him a winner!!! #MLBPlayoffs

— Shane Victorino (@ShaneVictorino) October 11, 2015

Enough said.

The result of all of this is that the Dodgers got four runs during/after the play in the seventh, at least three of which shouldn’t have scored (and probably all four). The Dodgers, as a result, have now tied the series 1-1 despite a great start by Noah Syndergaard. The Mets still have their split, and still have home field advantage. You just hope that this isn’t the turning point of the series. And I for one hope that the Mets worry more about winning the game than retaliation. There are bigger fish to fry than that idiot. But if Chase Utley is at second base turning a double play and a runner is bearing down on him … well let’s just say that there’s precedent that this is legal now.

It’s “winning baseball”, right?

Oh, and I never want to see Addison Reed again.