There have been many comments made about Chase Utley‘s “slide.”  Depending on your intellect (or fandom), Utley was either hard nosed (no) or dirty (yes). The competing narrative is Ruben Tejada put himself in position to get hurt:

https://twitter.com/brettanderson35/status/653387476694867968

"I know a lot of people are coming down on Chase Utley. I know it looks dirty…. I thought Tejada put himself in harm's way by spinning."

— Harold Reynolds Says (@HReynoldsQuotes) October 12, 2015

(Yes, I know that’s not Reynold’s Twitter account. The person publishes his quotes). 

You know what I don’t hear?  I don’t hear what Noah Syndergaard was saying:

Much respect for my man Tejada in sacrificing his body for THIS TEAM! #LGM!!!!

— Noah Syndergaard (@Noahsyndergaard) October 11, 2015

Tejada knew who was coming. He knows how dirty Utley plays. He was anticipating the slide by using a spin move to get away from the bag. He knew that by doing this he was leaving himself vulnerable. He did it anyway because he was trying to get the double play to preserve the lead in a playoff game.

What he did took guts. What Utley did was callow. Let’s change the narrative to reflect what Tejada was willing to do to help his team win, instead of the other way around.