Ten years later, Chase Utley is getting candid about the play that made him infamous in Flushing.
Utley, the former Phillies and Dodgers second baseman, joined Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” on Wednesday when he was asked about his 2015 NLDS Game 2 slide that took out Ruben Tejada and fractured his right fibula.
Utley — who was playing with Los Angeles during the series — expressed some regrets about how the whole situation played out.
He said on the show that he went in hard at second base in that fateful seventh inning, but he had no intention to hurt Tejada, whom Utley expected to jump when he caught the ball at the second base bag off a feed from Daniel Murphy.
Instead, Tejada turned and didn’t get high enough, leading to the violent collision that knocked Tejada out for the rest of the postseason.
“There was zero intention to F anybody up on that play,” Utley said. “I’ve always gone in hard, and that was no different. Obviously, the outcome was different than other slides that I’ve had. I didn’t anticipate actually hitting him nearly as hard as I did. I was anticipating him jumping up in the air because of the way it unfolded, and as you can imagine, it’s happening pretty quick. As he took the feed, I’m thinking, ‘OK, he’s going to hit the bag, get up off his feet, and try to throw it.’ I’m trying to slide a little bit with my body higher so I can clip a leg and get his throw off. But instead, he spun, which I was definitely not anticipating.”
Utley then said he didn’t feel great about it all shook out, going as far to say he “felt terrible” about the situation.
“And looking back on it, I didn’t feel good about it,” Utley said. “I actually felt terrible about it. I had no intention of hurting him whatsoever.”
The six-time All-Star said he attempted to apologize to Tejada, who apparently wanted no part in that, which Utley said made total sense.
Utley was initially suspended two games by MLB, but appealed and was allowed to remain active in the series, getting booed mercilessly by the Citi Field crowd during the Game 3 introductions before one more at-bat in Game 5.
The league eventually dropped the suspension entirely but changed the rules to make it clear about how a runner should slide into second base. Not long after in 2016, the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard threw behind Utley when the two teams met in Queens the following season, leading to a viral ejection and argument from then-New York skipper Terry Collins.
Utley, at the end of his response, said he’d do things differently now knowing the outcome for Tejada, who played just 83 more big league games.
“If I could go back in time and knowing the outcome that happened, of course I would’ve done it differently,” Utley said. “I would’ve realized that he’s not going to jump, he’s going to spin, and I could’ve disrupted his throw differently.”
