Game 2 of the 2015 NLDS between the Mets and Dodgers turned chaotic after a controversial slide by Chase Utley. With the game tied and a double play in motion, Utley crashed hard into second base trying to break it up. Ruben Tejada, the Mets shortstop, got hit mid-spin, shattered his leg, and never returned to form. He would only play sporadically over the next four seasons. Utley didn’t even make an effort to touch the bag, and by his own admission, the slide was more about disrupting the play than reaching the base.
Despite the violent outcome, nothing was called in the moment. The Dodgers challenged to see if Utley had touched the bag, and with the new replay system, the umpires ruled him safe. He stayed in the game, later scored the go-ahead run, and the Dodgers won. The fallout was massive. MLB suspended Utley for two games, but he appealed and won, because the slide, at that time, wasn’t illegal. That changed the next season. MLB updated the rules, requiring runners to make a bona fide attempt at the base. The new rules stressed safety over old-school contact plays.
The clip became a symbol of baseball transitioning away from reckless physicality. A year later, the Mets tried to get some payback. Noah Syndergaard threw behind Utley on the first pitch and got tossed, showing how much the game’s culture had shifted. Utley’s play wrecked a career, led to rule changes, and highlighted how replay and shifting norms were reshaping baseball.