"Chase Utley rule" forfeits game for Blue Jays

​a blog by Iron Horse

For those of you who don't know what the Chase Utley rule is coming from....
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"Under the new Rule 6.01(j), a runner will have to make a "bona fide slide," which is defined as making contact with the ground before reaching the base, being able to and attempting to reach the base with a hand or foot, being able to and attempting to remain on the base at the completion of the slide (except at home plate) and not changing his path for the purpose of initiating contact with a fielder." MLB.com

Okay baseball fans (and I know our numbers are fewer every day because of shit like this) last night if you didn’t see Toronto Blue Jays 1B Edwin Encarnacion hit a ground ball that was a routine double play ball that would’ve put away the game for the Rays. Unfortunately, when the ball reached second for the first part of the turn, Logan Forsythe threw the ball wildly and the Jays ended up scoring the tying and go ahead runs on the throwing error. The bases were loaded with 1 out in the top of the 9th after a bottom of the 8th where the Rays had just taken a 3-2 lead in the game.  So when Rays manager Kevin Cash strolled out of the dugout to challenge it, most people expected the play to uphold. But upon further review it shows that last year slugger Jose Bautista did in fact reach out of his way for the foot of Logan Forsythe on the play while sliding into 2nd. So the call was overturned and a double play was rewarded by default to the
Rays, meaning that they would win the game 3-2.
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Okay so here’s my problem here, and I’m going to steal one right out of Barstool Sport’s list of phrases and go ahead and say that this is the pussification of America. When I was a kid I love seeing teams that hated each other play each other, and now these types of rivalries are less and less frequent due to rules like this. I hate this whole conversation because on the one hand I agree that this rule is more fucking stupid almost as dumb as trying to replace umpire’s duties with the “QuesTec” (see what QuesTec is if you are unaware in the link at the end). But on the other hand there does need to be a rule for this type of scummy grabbing action that Bautista displayed last night.

​My final take on the whole situation if you watch the clip through, is that Logan’s leg barely moves, and I played baseball. Yes, you throw more with the bottom half of your body than anyone watching the game realizes. But he’s still gotta fucking make that throw. Yes Bautista is a douche for reaching out and grabbing his foot/leg but in the end make the throw dude.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuesTec

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