Chase Utley and Ruben Tejada Still Haven't Talked

Chase Utley barreled into Ruben Tejada in the 2015 National League Division Series, breaking the New York Mets second baseman’s leg. It was a particularly vicious slide and led to a Major League Baseball rule change attempting to legislate such contact out of the game.

Shortly after, Utley attempted to apologize to the young player. He did so, as most guys in their late-30s do, through a text message to a totally different person named David Wright.

Tejada, who has struggled to stay in the bigs since the incident, was called up to the Mets to fill in for the injured Jeff McNeil this week. During an interview with reporters, he revealed that Utley never followed up with an actual human-to-human interaction about what happened.

Ruben Tejada says it took him about a year and a half to fully recover from the Chase Utley slide in the 2015 NLDS. He hasn't talked to Utley since that day. pic.twitter.com/bcGpCfLlNQ

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) August 14, 2019

Now, there are no hard-and-fast rules for when you snap a guy’s leg. But one would think that a personal touch would be appreciated. It seems like a small gesture of contrition that could go a long way.

Former MLBer Preston Wilson handled things a much different way when Hall of Famer Craig Biggio was lost for the year after a slide back in 2000.

When Biggio was injured as a result of my slide the first thing I did after the game was call their clubhouse to check on him and talk to him about it. Call it professional courtesy or just human decency. You should at least reach out to show you care. It could be you one day. https://t.co/chhfOFJeii

— Preston Wilson (@PrestonWilson44) August 14, 2019

Different strokes for different folks.

from The Big Lead https://ift.tt/2KIJz8I