Seth Vigdor
Last Wednesday we told you how Chase Utley cost the Toronto Blue Jays a ball game that he wasn’t even playing in. That’s because of the new “Chase Utley Rule” in Major League Baseball, which tries to eliminate “illegal slides.” We knew that it wouldn’t be too long before another team was screwed out of victory because of the new rule and we were right.
On Friday night, the latest victim of the “Utley Rule” were the Houston Astros when a slide by Colby Rasmus was ruled illegal. Here’s the slide in question:
https://vine.co/v/iTBiMZD1n1U
Needless to say, the Astros were pissed. Here are the reactions by Houston Manager A.J. Hinch, last year’s AL CY Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel and Colby Rasmus courtesy of LarryBrownSports.com.
Hinch: "It is a joke we lost the game based on that when there wasn’t intent or contact. It was a baseball slide.”
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) April 9, 2016
Are we even playing baseball anymore??? #unbelievable
— Dallas Keuchel (@kidkeuchy) April 9, 2016
Rasmus: "I don’t see much wrong with that slide."
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) April 9, 2016
I’m predicting that somewhere in the playoffs or World Series, the “Utley Rule” will strike again and totally taint the playoffs. This is so predictable that it’s not even funny.