MLB disagrees with you and they make the rules:
http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/p...op-5-the-slide-heard-round-the-baseball-world .
SHOULD it have been legal? No, I don't think so. I think the rules need to be changed.
You must have missed this in your quoted article.
I'd argue the rule already exists to call Utley out, but the rule is rarely, if ever, enforced.
And he would argue correctly. The relevant rule in question is clear. If Utley was intending to take out the fielder to break up a double play, rather than slide into the base then both he and the runner going to first are out. Clearly he had no intent to slide into the base. He didn't even in fact slide into it or even try. The umpire erred in not calling it. Unfortunately, that particular judgement is not subject to any review and no mechanism exists to reverse said error by the ump.
From Joe Torre, MLB chief baseball officer.
"I recognize that there has been much commentary and many questions regarding the unfortunate play in last night's game in which Ruben Tejada was injured. As I said after the game, the determination of whether a baserunner has intentionally interfered with a player attempting to turn a double play is left to the judgment of the Umpire on the field, and that judgment call is not subject to review. I should add that determining where to draw the line between an illegal slide and a legitimate hard play is an extremely difficult call for our Umpires.
"However, 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.
Illegal. MLB agrees with me.
Here's the rule quoted by Torre.
(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.
There is even an explanation in the rule book.
The objective of this rule is to penalize the offensive team for deliberate, unwarranted, unsportsmanlike action by the runner. . . 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.
MLB obviously agrees with me. The umpire erred in his judgement. It was an illegal play.
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