Chase Utley (26) was suspended two games for this slide in Game 2 of the NLDS on Saturday. Utley is appealing the suspension and is eligible to play tonight. (Keith Birmingham/ Staff photographer)

Rob Manfred spoke to reporters for about four minutes on the field at Citi Field prior to Game 3 of the National League Division Series. The Major League Baseball commissioner touched on a host of issues surrounding Chase Utley‘s slide, two-game suspension, and subsequent appeal.

Here’s a rundown of Manfred’s comments, edited lightly for clarity, in Q-and-A format:

“First of all, I think from our perspective it’s important to realize Joe [Torre] took disciplinary action. There’s going to be an appeal. So I’m going to be a little limited about what I want to say on the merits. I think it’s important from our perspective that we have a process that deals with on-field issues like this during the regular season, and that process is up to dealing with them in the postseason as well.”

(Q: When will there be a hearing?) “We had some conversations with the union. Usually we agree on a date. We’re hopeful that we’ll agree on a date quickly.”

(Q: So it’s unlikely to be heard by the end of the series?) “I wouldn’t say that. I’m not going to speculate — we’d like to have it heard as soon as possible. The union, let me say reasonably, wants some time to get things pulled together. Given the issues involved I’d like to think it would be done before the end of the series.”

(Q: Your response to Clayton Kershaw’s suggestion that the league was “bullied”?) “I’m not sure who said exactly what. When you have a situation like this that involves two teams, usually one team is unhappy with the outcome and sometimes people say things that probably later on they might have wished they didn’t say. The thought of Joe Torre being bullied by anyone, I find to be just a little laughable, to tell you the truth.”

(Q: Are you disappointed the story has overtaken the game?) “I’m really confident that we’re going to go out tonight, the teams are going to play baseball, and the game is going to overtake this story.”

(Q: Your response to the thought that similar slides in the past went unpunished, so why punish this one with a suspension?) “No two on-field incidents are exactly the same. To say there was one slide at second base that kind of looks the same to laymen, and that’s the same as the incident we had (Saturday) night, I just think it’s hard to jump to that conclusion. Each one of these is unique. I think Joe articulated very well why he saw this particular one as a problem.”

(Q: Do you think the rules will be different next year?) “Prior to this incident, we had an interest in dealing with issues around second base. When you think about it, we’ve gone through the issues with (Rule) 7.13, with respect to home plate collisions. They’re not really that different in terms of the issues. We do have an interest in making a change.”

(Q: Will there be a pre-emptive discussion before the game?) “We are going to sit down the managers and the field managers, just to make sure everybody’s on the same page. Whether it was necessary or not, I don’t know. We decided to do it out of an abundance of caution because we want the focus to be on a nice, clean game on the field.”

(Q: will the umpires be involved in that meeting?) “We’ll talk to the umpires separately.”