6/22/12

Ruben Tejada "Diving" into First--Setting the Record Straight

For weeks now, Metsblog has been stating that Ruben Tejada injured his leg "while diving into first base" (the most recent: http://www.metsblog.com/2012/06/21/ruben-tejada-ronny-cedeno-appearing-in-rehab-games/).

For those fans who did not see the game, Ruben Tejada did not dive into first base. He tripped. Yahoo! Sports got it right, writing, on May 6th that:

"Tejada left a tilt between the Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks with a right quad injury when he tripped and fell awkwardly at first base while sprinting to beat out a bunt attempt in the fourth inning". 

Eric Holden from Yahoo! Sports got it right (link). Tejada was flat-out sprinting and tripped. He was not "diving into first base".

If you are still not convinced, consider the picture to the right. How many baseball players do you know who start their "dive" into first base after they're already past the bag?

It is bad enough that Ruben got hurt going 100% on a play and this adds insult to injury because diving or sliding into first base is not considered an intelligent or effective way to beat a throw. If you were like me and did not get to see this game and trusted Metsblog, you might think that Tejada brought this upon himself. He did not.

Luckily, I follow the Mets enough to have seen many a replay of his injury and I can set the record straight for you that Tejada simply tripped. He was running as hard as I have ever seen him run and stumbled. That is how he injured his leg. I was at work when this play happened and smacked my head when I read the recap on Metsblog. If you were like me and missed the game, you might have thought  the same.

The worst thing of all of this is that they still claim that he injured his leg "diving into first". The link at the top of this post is from yesterday.

Set the record straight, please, Metsblog.

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