It’s probably a pride thing or perhaps even an ego thing, but no major leaguer will ever admit that a loud, obnoxious or even verbally hostile crowd bothers them, gets their goat or affects their game. But if the Dodgers players were trying to sell this bill of goods to Dodger fans watching or (Heaven forbid) attending Monday night’s NLDS game at Citi Field that the vile hatred and contempt towards Dodgers utility infielder Chase Utley didn’t rattle their cage, they are lying.

The taunting began long before the turnstiles even opened. Angry Mets fans upset over the broken leg suffered by their star shortstop Ruben Tejada by what everyone east of the Rockies considers a dirty slide by Utley, showed up with signs proclaiming that the 36-year-old/13-year major league veteran was a disgrace or, in one instance, loves terrorists.

I haven’t quite figured out how a takeout slide ties Chase Utley to a terrorist organization.
(Photo credit – Corey Kilgannon)

And then came the player introductions. The excessively loud boos began when the training and clubhouse staffs were introduced and went downhill (or uphill if you were a Mets fan) from there. And when Chase Utley was finally introduced, the 44,276 at Citi Field were screaming “Ut-ley Sucks” so loud that the names of those introduced by the stadium’s public address announcer after Utley couldn’t even be heard.

The verbal trashing that Chase Utley received during player introductions was arguably the worst any player has ever received – except perhaps Alex Rodriguez or Barry Bonds.
(Photo credit – Julie Jacobson)

After a five-minute delay due to faulty telephone equipment between the Dodgers dugout and their bullpen the game finally got underway – although the fans had gotten underway two days earlier. The Dodgers even put up a good front by taking a quick 3-0 lead in the second inning which brought the crowd down from an 8.5 on the Richter Scale to a 5.5. But that would be as quiet as the crowd would get and it went into hyperspace when the Mets pummeled Dodgers left-hander Brett Anderson for seven runs by the third inning.

Once it was obvious that Anderson was going to be pinch-hit for in the top of the fourth inning, the chants changed from “Ut-ley Sucks” to “We want Ut-ley” – and they weren’t chanting for a curtain call. They wanted him to pinch-hit so that he could be drilled (or perhaps burned at the stake). And when Dodgers manager Don Mattingly denied the frenzied mob their sacrificial lamb, they got even louder and more hostile in a scene reminiscent of angry townspeople in a Frankenstein movie. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, with every additional run the Mets piled on – and there were many – the crowd got louder and louder.

The point here is that no matter how much the Dodgers deny that they weren’t bothered by the crowd, they most certainly were; and it will happen again tonight for Game-4 of the NLDS. And while there is absolutely nothing they can do to silence the crowd (other than scoring a bazillion runs), perhaps they can eliminate the hostility towards Utley if they simply send him home – if for no other reason than if Mattingly inserts him into the game as a pinch-hitter or as part of a double switch, he will – in all probability – be targeted by the Mets. But don’t just take my word for it. Check out this tweet posted by Mets beat writer Joe Trezza after Monday night’s 13-7 shellacking.

The thing to remember is that Utley finished the regular season with a slash-line of .202/.291/.363 for an OPS of .654 in the 34 games in which he appeared for the Dodgers. And while no one will argue that his clutch base hit and subsequent takeout slide wasn’t a huge factor in Saturday night’s Game-2 win at Dodgers Stadium, the simple truth is that the negative national attention caused by Utley’s takeout slide – warranted or not – and its associated verbal hostility (and probable death threats) are absolutely positively a distraction to the team.

Go on home, Chase. Your work is done here.