On the other hand there is a trend, and one I'm not too fond of, toward “kinder and gentler baseball”.
It should be illegal to slide into second during a possible double play. The only reason to slide is to injure or interrupt the relay. May as well allow the runner to slap the ball out of the hand of the relay man. It is faster to run to second, than slide. Therefore the purpose is not to advance a base. I played baseball for many years, and what Utley did was dirty and he should have been disqualified for the rest of the year.
To put in football terms, it was a very sloppy tackle..but it served its purpose in removing Tejada from the 2015 baseball season.........
That is my understanding as well... the rules state it is at the umps discretion, but my reading is that it needs to at least mimic a slide that looks like one trying to get to the base... his first knee did not hit the ground until past the base and the 2nd directly impacted Tejada’s lower leg. To me, not a slide, but intentional interference... I understand that it happens every day of the regular season though... the difference here is that Tejada put himself in a vulnerable position and it resulted in a serious injury.
We'll see how much "kinder and gentler" baseball has become if and when Utley faces another Mets pitcher...........
If I were the Mets manager, I'd start a non-starter whose sole objective would be to nail Utley the first time he comes to bat. And if he wasn't ejected that first time, I'd leave him in until Utley comes up to bat again and nail him again........