The Unwritten Rules

A lot has been made of the "unwritten rules" of baseball this season and those unwritten rules were highlighted in the brawl between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Texas Rangers. A hit by pitch led to a hard slide that ended up with a punch to the chops. The unwritten rules dictated that the Mets pitcher Noah Syndegaard throw behind the Dodgers Chase Utley in order to make a statement for Utley's takeout slide during last year's playoffs.

Chase Utley was the leadoff hitter for the Dodgers. I believe if this pitch would have been thrown behind Utley with the first pitch of the game rather than the top of the third inning, Syndegaard probably would not have been tossed from the game. Was something said in the Mets dugout to Syndegaard? I do not buy Syndegaard's claim that a 99 MPH fastball "got away" from him. That pitch had a purpose behind it and Mets manager Terry Collins is an old school manager. Utley knew it was possible that some sort of retaliation was headed his way. It was the top of the third inning in a scoreless game and Syndegaard had only given up two hits to that point so I would have to question the timing of the pitch but the message was sent.

Chase Utley is a veteran player. His hard nosed slide in last season's playoffs was seen as a dirty play by some but no one would have raised an eyebrow 30 or 40 seasons ago. Utley's slide caused baseball to re-examine the way players go into second base to break up a double play and adjustments were made to the rules. Utley is not going to be intimidated easily and he responded to Syndegaard's and the Mets statement with a statement of his own. He hit two homeruns and drove in five runs off of Mets relievers and led the Dodgers to a 9-1 win. Hopefully the Dodgers and Mets can get back to playing baseball.