Why do the Mets fans hate Chase Utley?

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Why do the Mets fans hate Chase Utley?

The New York Mets are one of the two recognized baseball teams based in New York City. The team has some of the most loyal and engaging fans you’ll ever find in the world. But there have been many instances where the fans took the criticism to a whole new level. They are known for synchronized booing of their opponents at the perfectly wrong times. Chase Utley played for the Phillies and had knocked off the Mets several times before he got traded to the Dodgers. He was considered a team leader by the fans. He is a six-time All-Star that holds the major league record for the most stolen bases in a single season. 

Why do the Mets fans hate Chase Utley?

When Chase Utley joined the Dodgers, he once went against the Mets in the playoffs, and in attempts to play the inning-end double, he made a very aggressive slide which led to Ruben Tejada, one of the Mets’ ace players, breaking his right leg through collision. This triggered the fans that adored him the most. But the sticking point was that he suffered consequences that didn’t satisfy the fans. He was suspended for two games for his wrong conduct and violation of the rules. However, he appealed his suspension and remained active for the rest of the season. This upset the fans of the Mets causing them to boo harder. The rivalry continued with throwing disses at each party for a long time.

What was the infamous slide everyone talks about?

Utley had been on a team that knocked off the Mets several times, in addition to that, he had angered the fans by dissing them in many interviews. In 2015, during the second game of NLD, the Dodgers were losing 2-1 and at the end of the inning, Utley had to slide to break up the double play and he decides to make it aggressive in the heat of the moment to cover his bases. Later, he was ruled safe by the umpires on reviewing. The fans were thrown by a curveball and they continued to boo him hard which was when the fight turned slightly ugly. Most fans and players think the whole sliding was utterly unnecessary and intentional. Fans move out of their way to show anger by making bulletins and cards while throwing disses and swears at him. A set of fans even made a life-sized cut out of Utley and placed it on the subway where people threw fists and broke out fights. They turned his cut-out into a life-sized punching bag. One of his fans was so upset that he called into Mike Francesca’s Sports Radio show in tears and Mike surprised the fan by making arrangements to sit with him in the game to help him feel better fortunately for him, the Mets crushed Dodgers 13-7 in that game. 

Utley on Radio

“It could have been worse, I held back when I realized, I might slide hard into him.” Chase Utley on the infamous slide in the show ‘FAIR GAME’. He justifies the slide by talking about how people do not recognize how fast the game moves and he has always taken games extremely seriously and admits to getting aggressive at times, he feels terrible it had happened and that it wasn’t intentional. Utley was then suspended for two consecutive games for his conduct. He was deemed to have violated the ‘Official Baseball Rule 5.09 (a) (13), which is explicitly designed to protect fielders from this type of rolling block. He later appealed the suspension and remained active for the rest of the games. “There wasn’t anything clear-cut to say that the play violated a rule,” says Joe Torre, Chief Baseball Officer on dropping his suspension. Utley has always been open about his hatred towards the Mets fans after this incident. The fans continue to boo him in the All-Star Game in New York during player introductions. “Boo?”  Chase screams during the rain marking this as one another infamous response. It then became the second most infamous F-bomb in his career.

In the New York Radio, he admits to having gone a little lighter knowing that he broke someone’s leg but it is something he never wants to do. He also says he reached out to Tejada but Tejada didn’t want to talk to him and that he sent a nice bottle of tequila to apologize. But at the same time, he spoke about how he loved playing against the Mets while being sarcastic about how it was obvious for their fans to not like him and about how they were always intense and loud which created more adrenaline, elevating the game even higher.

The rivalry between Chase Utley and the Mets fans started from the infamous slide in 2015 and kept continuing for a very long while, even until he retired. The infamous decline was the big header followed by dissing at the interviews, media, game-plays, and player introductions. Turns out there is a snowball’s chance in hell for the Mets fans to not hate Chase Utley after a series of screwballs.

Frequently Asked Questions:
  • Who is Chase Utley?

He is an American former professional baseball second baseman who played in the MLA for many seasons.

  • Who are the Mets?

They are a baseball team based in New York City.

Why do the Mets fans hate Chase Utley?
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