JUSTICE DELAYED trumps justice denied.
Occasionally, hard-nosed baseball devolves into dirty play; never more so than when Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley is involved. For his late, vicious slide that broke the leg of Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada in Game 2 of the NLDS, Utley deserves at least the two-game penalty levied by Major League Baseball. If it were the regular season, a greater penalty would be justified.
Even if the suspension is altered under Utley's appeal, MLB finally has drawn a line: Recklessly violent play that flaunts the rules will not be tolerated.
No player of his generation better exemplifies baseball played at its grittiest edge.