GLENDALE, Ariz. — Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley has known for “a few weeks” that Major League Baseball dropped the 2-game suspension it imposed on him last October.
“I talked to Joe Torre at length on the phone,” Utley said Monday. “He expressed to me that what happened at the playoffs, after looking at slides over the years, that it wasn’t much different than those slides. There were not penalties then. So they rescinded the suspension.”
On Feb. 25, the league announced new rules banning the kind of slides Utley used to take out Ruben Tejada in Game 2 of last year’s National League Division Series. Utley appealed immediately and was allowed to play out the remainder of the series, which the Dodgers lost in five games.
While the league delayed its announcement for months, Utley became a free agent and re-signed with the Dodgers on a one-year, $7 million contract in December. Now, both he and the Dodgers can move forward without the specter of a possible suspension.
That should come as little surprise. Rule 6.01(j) wouldn’t have been needed to explicitly ban a slide like Utley’s if it were illegal in the first place. Monday, Utley reiterated that didn’t intend to injure Tejada.
“I can’t say enough how terrible I feel about what happened to Ruben,” Utley said. “I had no intent to hurt him whatsoever. Anybody who thinks I did, they’re completely wrong.”
More of a surprise is that the league decided long ago to drop the suspension. Prior to this weekend, Utley indicated he was still waiting for his appeal to be heard. A league spokesperson said that MLB typically doesn’t announce settlements that result in no discipline. Ultimately, the news was anonymously leaked to the media before Utley or the league addressed it on the record.
The story won’t die a quiet death, though. The new rule will serve as a reminder of Tejada’s broken leg and Utley’s late slide every time it’s invoked.
“I’ve been playing this game for a while now as a middle infielder,” Utley said. “I come across a ton of slides over my career that have been similar. I understand that it’s part of the game. But bow that they have a new rule in place, I definitely think it will help keep guys healthy. Same with the slide rule at home plate.”