Play ball!
Thứ Ba, 13 tháng 10, 2015
The Dodgers infielder was suspended two games Sunday for a late slide on Saturday night.
Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images
Dodgers infielder Chase Utley will be available to play Monday night against the Mets in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.
Utley was suspended for two games Sunday for a late slide on Saturday that left Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada with a broken leg. Utley immediately appealed the suspension, but MLB moved to settle the appeal early Monday. The MLB Player's Union successfully argued that they would not have a fair shot to assemble an appeal case and said there was a lack of precedent. The appeal will now be held at a later date, giving Utley the chance to take the field.
When Utley and the Dodgers take the field in Flushing, Queens, they are certainly in for a chorus of boos from furious Mets fans.
On Saturday, Utley was ruled safe at second base upon replay review, a call that remains controversial but is technically compliant with MLB's own rules.
Neither Utley nor Tejada actually touched the base while making the play, which many believed would give preference to Tejada based on the "neighborhood play," which allows infielders to be in the proximity of the base while turning a double play to avoid collisions and injury. However, MLB officials determined Tejada would not have been able to turn a double play as the Dodgers' Howie Kendrick ran to first, so the neighborhood play was not applicable. MLB's rules give preference to the baserunner over the infielder if neither touch the bag in this scenario.
MLB
On Sunday, Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre announced a two-game suspension for Utley on the basis of a different part of the play: Interference. The rule Torre cited reads in full:
[A batter is out when:] A preceding runner shall, in the umpire's judgment, intentionally interfere with a fielder who is attempting to catch a thrown ball or to throw a ball in an attempt to complete any play;
The objective of this rule is to penalize the offensive team for deliberate, unwarranted, unsportsmanlike action by the runner in leaving the baseline for the obvious purpose of crashing the pivot man on a double play, rather than trying to reach the base. Obviously this is an umpire's judgment play.
Had the interference been called correctly by field umpires — it is not a play reviewable by replay — the Mets would have been awarded a double play that would have ended the inning and sent them into the next inning up one run on the Dodgers.
Instead, the Mets came undone during the seventh inning, and allowed the Dodgers to score four runs, taking Game 2 with a score of 5–2 and tying the series at 1–1.
Fans and analysts pointed out Sunday night and Monday morning that Utley likely has a good case for his appeal because there is very little if any precedent for suspending a player for such a slide. In giving Utley the harsh suspension, Torre was certainly trying to send the message that MLB will take steps to protect middle infielders going forward, and it is very likely that rules will be modified this offseason to establish clear-cut procedure for situations like this in the future.
Before Utley's final league sanction can be determined, though, he — or a teammate — is almost certain to face on-field retaliation from the Mets. Baseball players engage in a loose determination of "unwritten rules," which allow them to take justice into their own hands. Most commonly, retaliation is served by a pitcher intentionally hitting a batter, usually in the side or glutes.
Of course, baseball's masculinity complex combined with the pressure needing to win playoff games could escalate or deflate the Mets' retaliation. With a conflict as intense as this one, pitchers are known to throw more dangerously at batters. If this happens on Monday night, it would likely escalate the situation, and could lead to more retaliation throughout the game or a bench-clearing brawl.
However, escalation stands to hurt both the Mets and Dodgers tonight during Game 3, which will put the winning team only one win away from clinching the five-game series. First, the benches might be warned ahead of time that fighting or retaliation would lead to immediate ejection. For the Mets to take those chances with their starting pitcher during an important playoff game would be a form of shooting themselves in the foot. Even without a pre-game warning, if the situation escalates to a bench-clearing fight, it could lead to more injuries or more league sanctions.
The Mets and Dodgers' managers, Terry Collins and Don Mattingly, will certainly consider the risk/reward of bringing this drama onto the field in Queens.
Thứ Hai, 12 tháng 10, 2015
Utley will appeal, and be allowed to play until it is settled.
Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images
MLB has suspended Dodgers infielder Chase Utley for Games 3 and 4 of the National League Division Series against the Mets for a late slide into second base during Game 2 that left Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada with a broken leg.
Utley will appeal, according to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal. He will be able to take the field until the appeal is settled.
The Dodgers won Game 2 5–2 over the Mets, tying the best-of-5 series at 1–1. Utley was ruled safe on second base upon replay review, which was immediately noted to be a controversial interpretation of MLB rules.
MLB Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre said that "after thoroughly reviewing the play from all conceivable angles, I have concluded that Mr. Utley's action warrants discipline."
"While I sincerely believe that Mr. Utley had no intention of injuring Ruben Tejada, and was attempting to help his Club in a critical situation, I believe his slide was in violation of Official Baseball Rule 5.09(a)(13), which is designed to protect fielders from precisely this type of rolling block that occurs away from the base.
We have been in discussions with the Players Association throughout the year regarding potential rule changes to better protect middle infielders, and we intend to continue those discussions this offseason."
Rule 5.09(a)(13) reads in full:[A batter is out when:] A preceding runner shall, in the umpire's judgment, intentionally interfere with a fielder who is attempting to catch a thrown ball or to throw a ball in an attempt to complete any play;
The objective of this rule is to penalize the offensive team for deliberate, unwarranted, unsportsmanlike action by the runner in leaving the baseline for the obvious purpose of crashing the pivot man on a double play, rather than trying to reach the base. Obviously this is an umpire's judgment play.
If the applicable rule had been applied correctly during Game 2, the Mets would have been awarded a double play, and the inning would have been over, with the Mets up 2–1. Because Utley was the runner on base — "preceding runner" — and interfered with Tejada's play at second base, MLB rule 5.09(a)(13) calls the batter out as well.
The Mets quickly released a statement in support of the suspension, calling it "the appropriate course of action."
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT — The first paid professional women’s hockey league in North America kicked off its inaugural season in Stamford, Connecticut Sunday afternoon.
The New York Riveters faced the Connecticut Whale on the ice for the first time in a local community sports center in front of a sold-out crowd. The Riveters and Whale are two of four inaugural teams in the NWHL, along with the Boston Pride and Buffalo Beauts, who faced off in Buffalo a few hours after the puck dropped in Connecticut.
Each of the NWHL’s four teams will host nine home games throughout the season, which will conclude following the playoffs in March 2016. The Pride and Riveters will each play exhibition games during the regular season, and all four teams will meet in Buffalo on January 24 for an All-Star game.
The National Women’s Hockey League, as it stands in its early stages, is a league run by women for women. On the ice prior to the Riveters–Whale game, local girls' hockey teams stood on the ice while and gave grazing high fives while the inaugural rosters were announced one by one. The National Anthem, was sung by Lisa Disimone the wife of an assistant coach for the Riveters, and the four referees patrolling the rink were, of course, women.
The NWHL began its season with a fast-paced game in which the Connecticut Whale scored four goals over the New York Riveters’ one. Fans packed the small community center rink around the edges of the ice, faces jammed to the plexiglass and with signs in tow to support the return of professional hockey to Connecticut.
The voices of young fans echoed through the small rink, which normally fits 500-700 spectators, but had 750 bodies crammed to watch the women on the ice today. Girls in the bleachers with their parents chanted “I believe that we will win,” the rally cry started during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and continued through the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Whale adopted its color scheme, team imagery, and name as an homage to the Hartford Whalers, Connecticut’s beloved NHL team that left the area for North Carolina and became the Carolina Hurricanes. When Whale forward Jessica Koizumi scored the first goal only 2:28 into the NWHL season, “Brass Bonanza,” the Whalers’ popular theme song played for the home team.
Though the Riveters scored a tying goal early in the second period, the Whale matched with their own less than a minute of play later and went into the 3rd period with a 2–1 lead. Things fell apart for the Riveters late in the 3rd period, though, and the Whale were able to score two quick goals against goalie Nana Fujimoto, who also plays for Japan’s national women’s team.
After the game, players from each team noted the the fast pace of play, which brought the level of the game up a notch from what they had played in the NCAA.
"We were all NCAA players and we were the best in the NCAA,” said Whale forward Kelli Stark, who scored the first goal of the game. Stark who is also a member of the United States women’s national ice hockey team, is the highest paid in the league thus far, with a 2015-2016 salary of $25,000. Baseline salaries for the inaugural season start at $10,000, with the league schedule is built to accommodate players’ needs for other jobs at this time, with practices taking place only twice per week on evenings, and games played on Sundays.
Player salaries are listed on NWHL’s official website, which NWHL Commissioner Dani Rylan explained matches the transparency of the NHL and other men’s professional leagues. For the players, Rylan said, publicly available salaries "gives them incentive to know what their teammates are making so they can work hard for the next year.”
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images
For the girls in the crowd, the formation of a paid women’s professional league gives them a goal beyond what the players themselves could have imagined at their age.
“Seeing the little girls was awesome,” Stark said after the game. “It shows us that what we’re doing is inspiring the next generation. For a lot of us, that’s what we want to do with this league. We absolutely want to keep playing for ourselves, but also lay the foundation for all those girls who are 14, 15, 12 years old so they have somewhere to play and do what they love.”
Stark grew up playing hockey with boys, and her hockey heroes were NHL stars. But for the many girls lined up around the rink and waiting after the game to get autographs from the Riveters and Whale, the NWHL has given them more role models to add to their rosters.
“It’s really fun and exciting,” said 10-year-old Anastasia, who is a forward for a Connecticut girl’s hockey team. “It shows that girls can play whatever boys play, and that girls are strong too.”
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