Intent To Injure

Regarding "L.A.’s rally breaks Tejada’s leg" (Sports C11), why does Major League Baseball tolerate the attempts of players to injure the opposition?  In the Angels/Yankees game yesterday, it was LA Dodgers Chase Utley running out of the basepath to take out the Mets Ruben Tejada at second base, breaking Tejada's leg in the process.  Utley never even attempted to touch the base until after he had untangled from Tejada.

Last Tuesday, the Yankees Didi Gregorius did exactly the same thing to Astro's superstar Jose Altuve, passing the base and taking out Altuve's knee and only afterwards reaching back to touch the bag with his hand.  By the grace of God, the Astro's second baseman was not injured.  MLB players and coaches all defend this brutality, saying things like "that's baseball", or "he didn't mean to hurt him", and my personal favorite as paraphrased by Utley's manager Don Mattingly: "that's just the way the game is played".  That doesn't make it any less a crime.  

Sliding into second basemen with cleats up has been happening since before Ty Cobb perfected the practice a century ago.  What is new - and more outrageous by the day - is base runners who literally stop playing baseball in order to collide with and disable opposing team infielders.

I don't understand why this practice is tolerated.  I also don't understand why people who do this are not in jail.  Workplace violence is no more acceptable because it happens on a baseball field.

Pete Smith
Cypress, TX